Socials bring friends together

BY ELIZABETH MOORE
STAR-LEDGER STAFF

The DJ plays songs as the men and women dance, sing and spin in circles, filling the dance floor set up at the West Caldwell Civic Center. Cold drinks and hot Mexican food are served to the guests, accompanied by their caregivers.

“It’s fun — we dance, we play bingo,” said Peter Ibsen, 40, of West Caldwell, who participated in the recent party for disabled adults sponsored by West Caldwell Township and hosted by a crew of staff and volunteers. Ibsen said he routinely goes to the biweekly social events, including pool parties, baseball games and dinners. “I made friends; we have a DJ every week,” he said.

Mayor Joseph Tempesta said the socials — also called “canteens” — are part of the township’s at­tempt to be responsive to the local disabled popula­tion, including providing wheelchair-accessible curb­ing and accessible public buildings, bus shelters and playgrounds. “We wanted to do more for our developmentally disabled citizens,” he said.

Organizer Sue Falk, who works full-time as a teacher in North Caldwell, has been running the so­cial programs for the adults for the last nine years. “This is my way of getting happiness,” she said. “Their parents thank you; it gives (the guests) a chance to interact.” Though the parties are held in West Caldwell, those who attend come from throughout Essex County, includ­ing Livingston, West Orange, East Orange, Cedar Grove, Fairfield and North Caldwell.

The socials are paid for from the townships budget and some state grant money at an average cost of around $15,000 a year, Tempesta said. They were started by long­time West Caldwell resident Tern DiMasi around 20 years ago, he asid. Many of the dancers have be­come old friends since meeting at the parties.

John Manna and Pam Palmieri, both of Fairfield, spent the evening ballroom dancing with their friends. “I met him 10 years ago, and he didn’t know how to dance,” Palmieri said of Manna. “I taught him to be a good dancer.”

About 30 people, including many group home residents, at­tend the socials. Linda Bing-You of Cedar Grove said she routinely sings “New York, New York” dur­ing the karaoke portion of the eve­ning. “We go dancing, sometimes we have talent shows, we have Christ­mas carols,” she said. “We make friends. A couple of people sing songs.”

The evenings also have drawn a group of volunteers, many of them students from West Essex High School, who help out at the dances and on field trips. “It’s a nice thing to do and it’s not that time-consuming,” said Lauren Yontef, 17, of North Cald­well. “We serve food and drinks; we come all the time and they dance. It makes them smile”. “I told my friends about it,” said Jason Goode, 14, of North Caldwell, who said teenagers shouldn’t be re­luctant to get involved with disa­bled people. “They have fun and eat together.”

Aside from a $15 registration charge, Falk said the programs are free for the participants, many of whom are bused to the events. She said the social activities take place every other week except during the summer months. Tempesta said future plans in­clude expanding events for disa­bled youth.

Besides the social programs, the township has spent around $1.1 million since t995 in money from Community Development Block Grants to improve access for the disabled. Public buildings, includ­ing the library, police station and township pools, have been reno­vated and major intersections have been repaved to provide dropped curbing for wheelchairs,

The next social event will be an evening of Christmas carols at the civic center on Dec. 18.