Brian Harris and his family have lived in Oakland since 1994. I met him when our children attended boy scouts together. I always knew he loved the outdoors and loved to run but I never knew how much until a good friend of mine told me about this “guy in town” that plans to run a marathon in every state! Well of course, as the town Newsletter Commissioner, that piqued my interest. I searched through my phone for Brian’s cell number and called him right away to ask if I could write an article about him. Thankfully, he agreed!

You may have heard the Arts in Oakland Committee and the Oakland Recreation Commission are working on the highly anticipated Grand Opening of the Great Oak Park Arts Pavilion scheduled for September 9, 2023. We are happy to report that local Oakland acts, The Core and No Picnic are both confirmed performers for the event, and more to come! So, mark your calendars and save the date to join us for an extraordinary celebration of music, community, and fun! Stay tuned for the full line-up, along with pre-opening day events coming soon! 

Visited the following locations:

NJ State Police at MetLife Stadium

NY/NJ Port Authority at Teterboro Airport

Federal Air Marshal Service in West Orange

Demos from the Oakland Volunteer Fire Department and First Aid Squad

Boat ride on the Hudson River with the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police

K-9 Demonstration from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department

Demonstration from the Bergen County Bureau of Criminal Identification

Helicopter landing from the NJ State Police Aviation Unit

Team Bonding events at TreeEscapes Aerial Park in Vernon,NJ and TacOps Laser Tag in Fairfield, NJ.

If you’ve been watching the news, you’ve probably heard about the recent cases of malaria being locally acquired in the U.S., something that hasn’t occurred in 20 years. In the past two months, there has been a total of eight confirmed cases, seven in Sarasota County, Florida, and one in Texas. None of the patients had traveled outside the state, even though most cases in the U.S. are imported and occur in people traveling internationally. With travel expected to increase to pre-COVID-19 levels, below is information on mosquitos and malaria, and how to best protect yourself against transmission of mosquito-borne illnesses.

Staying with the summer theme that we shared last month (Book Recommendations by the Recreation Commission), in August we’re going to recommend sports documentaries. Most of you have probably watched the Jordan, Jeter or Brady documentaries. Instead, these are lesser known and a little off beat documentaries with high sports appeal and even higher learning value. By studying the path and mind set of highly successful athletes, coaches and programs, you are given an inside view to their path towards success.

HACKENSACK, N.J. – Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco, the Bergen County Board of Commissioners, and the Bergen County Parks Department announce that the swimming lakes at Darlington County Park will now open daily from 10am to 6pm through Labor Day (weather permitting). This includes the Wibit Splash Zone water obstacle course, which is available to individuals above 39” tall, for an additional fee.

Darlington County Park and the Wibit Splash Zone will accept cash payments as well as all major credit cards. For daily entry sales, and weekday Wibit sales, tickets will also be available for pre-purchase on the Parks’ website at www.co.bergen.nj.us/parks-recreation-areas/darlington-county-park.

Movie Schedule (All movies start at sunset, approximately 8:30pm)