General Information of the Recreation Department

Serving ages 18 months through 90 years plus, the Department offered a wide range of activities in 2000 at the Rodda Center, school facilities and outdoor parks. Highlights from the year included the ten-month popular Toddler Program, Sunshine Gardens, which completed its first year with the extended day program operating from 9:15 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. as well as the two half day sessions. The program was a resounding success. The full day enrollment reflected the ethnic diversity of the Teaneck community. The children were enriched by the incorporation of Christian, Jewish, Muslim and African American cultural information through participation in classroom projects and parental involvement.

The After School program provided care for children ages 5 through 13 from school dismissal until 6:00 P.M. These children participated in basketball, pool, table tennis as well as chess and checkers. There were daily supervised homework periods and special event snacks including monthly birthday parties and pizza Thursdays.

For the summer, the Day Camp for ages 3 though 8, provided a variety of experiences. Children played games, swam at Hawthorne pool, frolicked in the Votee Park sprinkler and enjoyed various arts & crafts projects. Each session provided special event days and trips to local amusement areas.

Other preschool programs continued to be extremely successful including the Kindergym, Creative Dance and Toddlekins Programs and the new and popular KinderCraft program.

The Teaneck Community Band celebrated its 56th season of free concerts in Votee Park at the Band Shell. Evan Cooper, Conductor extrordinaire, provided five exciting concerts featuring Ryan Zawel on the Trombone, Kristof Schneider on the Euphonium, resident Lewis Archer on the Alto Saxophone, Mark Donellan on the Oboe and our Mayor, Paul Ostrow, narrating.

The Department celebrated July 4th with the 9th annual community festival in Votee Park. Hundreds of families were in attendance for magic shows, children's comedy show, face painting, tattoo artist, petting zoo, and pony rides. Also on hand were vehicles from the Fire and Police Departments available to the community for tours.

Two new groups adopted parks in 2000: the Teaneck Community Charter School adopted a portion of Votee Park and the Friends of the Hackensack River Greenway adopted Andreas Park. These groups join a host of other organizations adopting other parks in town. Friends of Tryon Park-Tryon Park; Girls Scout Troops 40 & 88 Bookstaver Park; Chopstix-Votee Park; Temple Emeth-Windsor Park; Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County-Phelps Park; Friends of Herrick Park-Herrick Park; Teaneck Jewish Center-Martin Luther King, Jr. Park; and Friend of Lubavitch of Bergen County-Terhune Park. These groups take an active interest in their respective parks providing activities for their groups while promoting neighborhood cohesiveness and pride.

The Teaneck Senior Services Center's programs continued to grow by leaps and bounds. The number of registered participants rose to over 1,850 with Teaneck residents overwhelmingly dominating. In keeping with our commitment to serve as many Senior residents as possible and provide quality programming, the Senior Services Center added a number of new classes to facilitate the demand for some of our more popular fitness classes. We had 643 individuals participating in our Fitness classes and 388 in Educational programs. Our commitment to excellence and innovative programming lead to the introduction of a Men's Fitness program which was enthusiastically received. The program was featured in the Bergen Record as well as the Suburbanite and served 127 new male participants. It is the only Men's Fitness class with a male instructor offered in Bergen County. Another of our "crown jewels" in 2000 was our Osteoporosis Exercise classes which again is a unique offering. We were the only Senior Center in Bergen County to provide specialized programming for those diagnosed with or at risk for developing Osteoporosis. The class was taught by an Exercise Physiologist from Holy Name Hospital's Cardiac Rehab Unit who is certified to teach this specialty course.

Our focus in the Senior Services Center is the promotion of healthy aging through education, socialization, fitness, health promotion and nutrition. To this end, through collaborations with the Teaneck Health Department and Holy Name Hospital, the Center provided Health Consultation and Blood Pressure checks on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between the hours of 10:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M. and served approximately 200 residents. In addition we were able to provide one-on-one Nutrition Counseling as well as a weight management program entitled Lifestyle Changes. The program met with great success and was facilitated by a Nutritionist, who's a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator from Holy Name. This was an interdisciplinary program offering which included the Sr. Public Health Nurse, the Nutritionist and the Fitness Director. We've only cited a few of the many facets of the Senior Services Center, just enough to wet one's appetite. We extend an open invite to the Teaneck Senior Community to attend our Annual Open House held the first Wednesday in December, view our facility, meet the professional staff and see your tax dollars at work. We are confident that you will be impressed.

For our Disabled and Senior residents, the Department offered much needed transportation. This free service was in operation the entire year with the exception of municipal holidays and extremely inclement weather. Over 5,000 trips were furnished in 2000. On Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, the van transported residents to local medical appointments in Teaneck, Hackensack and Englewood. Weekly trips were furnished on Wednesdays and Thursdays to Pathmark in Bergenfield where each person was given a $2.00 shopping coupon, courtesy of the store manager and an agreement negotiated by the Senior Administrator. Upon returning to their homes, shoppers had their bags carried to the door by our drivers. Trips to the Bergen Mall were furnished in months containing a fifth Wednesday or Thursday.

To conclude, The Rodda Center was one of the headquarters for First Night, a townwide celebration on New Year's Eve sponsored by the Teaneck Cultural Arts Coalition. Thousands of residents attended this multicultural, inter-generational, non-alcoholic celebration. The gala, which provided activities and entertainment for all ages, featured parades, a five Star Dance Troupe, African American Art Exhibits, crafts projects for kids, food, and a Community Cabaret to name a few. Suffice to say, great fun was had by all in a safe, secure, open environment. The gaiety consumed all 50,000 sq. ft. of our facility with exuberance.

General Information of the Recreation Department

Each year, our Teaneck Community Band presents a series of concerts on five consecutive Wednesdays during the summer. These concerts are held in the Votee Park Band Shell starting at 8:30 P.M. In the event of rain, concerts are held in the Teaneck High School Auditorium.

This is the registration schedule for the four seasons (dates are approximate):

Pre-School Program

Kindergarten to Twelfth Grade

Adults Program

Senior Citizen Services Center

Organizations and Group Program

WHERE DO WE CALL?

The following Sports Organizations run independently of the Recreation Department, their registration, schedules, fees and organizational structure is their own.

Back to Teaneck Municipal Services 2001