Cranford Radio

Throughout this summer labor unions have been in the news; writers on strike, actors walking picket lines, and autoworkers shutting down production, are three of the more prominent examples. 

Here in Cranford, most public school employees are represented by the Cranford Education Association. It's not just teachers, but support staff, nurses, para-professional and others who are part of the membership. 

In this week's podcast I speak with CEA President Kevin Jala and Recording Secretary Colleen McDonald to learn more about the organization as well as the two teachers themselves. 

When nearly everything shutdown in March 2020 at the start of COVID, some organizations stayed open. FLAG of Cranford was created with a duel purpose of providing for those front-line providers and supporting Cranford restaurants which were hard hit by the pandemic.

The organization has pivoted with a slightly new name, FLAG for Cranford, and an adjusted mission. On this week's podcast I speak with the two women who started the volunteer group, Rebecca Tantillo and Caren Demyen. They discuss the group's origins, what it's doing today and how Cranford residents and businesses can help support their work.

From Day 1 of TV35's existence the one constant presence was Ed Davenport. After 37 years at the Cranford channel, both as a volunteer and as the station's manager, Ed retired at the start of August. Before exiting, Ed chatted with me about his experiences and recounted some of the highlights and lowlights of his years working at TV35.

The New Jersey Bankers Association represents financial institutions throughout the state.  The guest on this week's episode of the Cranford Radio podcast is Jenn Zorn, the executive vice president for education and business development for NJBankers.  She tells us the organization's primary role is to represent its members' interests in Trenton and Washington, DC. The Cranford resident also notes the association's role in attracting new talent into the industry as well as educating current bankers and we touch on how NJBankers and its members help support Cranford non-profits.

Chelsea Selby, along with her husband Joe Randazza, is the owner of Witch Baby Soap and Magick Manor. Witch Baby came to Cranford in 2019 at 11 Eastman Street and Magick Manor opened this spring at 11 North Union Avenue.

Guest host Sofia Little, who worked at Witch Baby and Magick Manor, talks with the Cranford resident about what the stores offer and why she started the businesses.

It was January of this year when Rev. Jin Bae was installed as the senior pastor at Cranford's First Presbyterian Church. Rev. Bae's journey to Cranford had a number of interesting twists and turns starting with his birth and early childhood in South Korea, a degree in electrical engineering and his first preaching in an Assemblies of God congregation in California.

In this week's podcast, we hear more about what led him to become a minister and how an early visit prompted him to compare Cranford to a Hallmark Channel movie.

Cranford resident Dr. Daniela Shebitz has had an interest in the environment going back to seventh grade. She's a professor at Kean University as well as the chair of the Department of Environmental and Sustainability Sciences. In addition, she serves as a board member for the Hanson Park Conservancy.

On this week's podcast we talk about global environmental issues and how they impact Cranford. We also get into the town's ecology including the Rahway River and how the indigenous people who lived in what is now Cranford used the land we now live on. 

Marine, cop, surgeon. Just a few of the roles that Terry Curran has performed during his career. On this week's episode of the Cranford Radio podcast we learn a bit more about Cranford's new deputy mayor.

To drive past the Cranford Elks lodge there's nothing remarkable about the building, but what happens inside and what its members do is what makes it special.  On this week's Cranford Radio podcast, I speak with Kevin Carney, the Exalted Ruler of the lodge, and Mike Tona, the Chairman of Charity for the Community to learn more about the organization and to get more specifics about their various projects and charities.

While Union County is still criss-crossed by multiple active rail lines, there are several that haven't seen a train in years and have been slowly returning to nature. Three of them converge near the Cranford/Roselle Park line.

Union County Connects was created to turn these assets into recreational and active transportation pathways. On this week's Cranford Radio podcast I speak with Michael Dury, the group's president, to learn more about what they hope to do and what is already happening.