Scott's NJ Blog - Luxury Homes/Top Towns

Cranford Scarecrow Stroll 2020 Brings Halloween Fun to Downtown

October 23, 2020 by Scott Gleason

It feels like we lived a decade in the last 7 or 8 months. With a global pandemic going on, many wondered what the end-of-year holidays would look like. We kick off this year’s holiday season with the Cranford Scarecrow Stroll.

Local businesses, organizations, and individuals created some magnificent works of art for this year's Cranford Scarecrow Stroll. Help choose the winner by casting your vote for your favorites. Then, enjoy a cup of free cider at the Spider Cider stand. Enter the Scarecrow Selfie Contest. And try your hand at Halloween Bingo.

Cranford Scarecrow Stroll 2020

When you visit downtown Cranford, you might run across some very interesting public displays of “scarecrow” art. These were created by local businesses and residents. Some of the entrants took the term “scarecrow” figuratively rather than literally. But that just made it more fun.

Organizers need your help to determine a winner. Visit the downtown Cranford offices at Lot 7 next to King Strength and Performance tomorrow, October 24th. Give them a food donation for Cranford Family Care and receive a special Scarecrow Stroll bag. If you find a golden pumpkin inside, you win a special prize. Then, walk around the downtown area anytime between now and November 1st to cast your vote for your favorite displays. Cranford Family Care needs cereal, hot chocolate mix, cookies, fruit cups, juice boxes, toilet paper, and paper products.

But Wait…There’s More

Scarecrow Selfie Contest

While you wander around downtown, looking and judging each entry in the Scarecrow Stroll contest, feel free to take a selfie with the ones you love the most. Then, email the photo to dmc@cranfordnj.org, by the end of the night on October 31st. Make sure you write “Scarecrow Selfie Contest” in the subject line. Winners will be chosen from entries received. Enter as many photos as you’d like. Wear your Halloween costume and receive two entries into the contest per photo.

Spider Cider

Stop at Track 5 Coffee this Saturday, October 24th. Exchange a canned good item for a free cup of apple cider. Come in early and you might also receive a complimentary muffin and a plastic spider ring. But that offer’s only good while supplies last.

Halloween Bingo

Download your very own Bingo card here. Complete the action in a square to mark it. Once you “cover” four squares in a row, you get a “bingo”. Take a photo of your completed bingo card and email it to dmc@cranfordnj.org by Monday, October 26th. Add “Halloween Bingo” to the subject line to make it easier for organizers to identify. The winner receives a gift card to a downtown business.

Scott Gleason, CRS at RE/MAX Select, Luxury Homes

Get Out the Vote for the AddamsFest Haunt Your House Contest

October 16, 2020 by Scott Gleason

By now, you already know that Westfield will be celebrating AddamsFest this year. But, as with everything else in 2020, it comes with a twist. Large crowds are so 2019. Instead, some of this year’s celebrations go virtual. Social distancing, face masks, and hand sanitizing stations play a part in many of the in-person festivities planned. But you can stay safe while celebrating the season by voting for your favorites in the AddamsFest Haunt Your House Contest going on right now.

AddamsFest Haunt Your House Contest

Dozens of people entered this year’s Haunt Your House contest for AddamsFest. (51 to be exact). Download your AddamsFest Haunt Your House Driving Guide to find out where all of the Westfield homes entered in the contest are located. Drive by each location anytime between now and the end of October. Make a note of your top four favorites. To show your love for your favorites, take a photo and post it on your social media. Include #HauntYourHouse in your hashtags and make sure you tag @AddamsFest on your Facebook and/or Instagram posts.

Rules for Voting

Visit the AddamsFest website to cast your vote for the four homes you like the most. No stuffing these ballot boxes either. Only one vote allowed for your four favorites per email. And you cannot vote for the same house more than once. Voting ends at 10 pm on Halloween night.

2020 Election Voting Info

Yes, in the midst of everything going on in 2020, we have an election taking place on November 3rd. Early voting is now open. If you haven’t dropped off your vote-by-mail ballot yet, you may take it to any of the 22 official drop box locations around Union County. Or bring it to your polling place on November 3rd to drop it in their ballot box. You may also drop it off anytime between now and Election Day at the Union County Board of Elections (271 N Broad St) or County Clerk’s Office (2 Broad St) in Elizabeth. The Westfield offices of the County Clerk’s Office (300 N Ave E) also accepts sealed ballots during regular business hours. For a list of Westfield polling locations for in-person voting on November 3rd, visit the City of Westfield’s election information site here.

Scott Gleason, CRS at RE/MAX Select, Luxury Homes

Westfield Applefest 2020

October 12, 2020 by Scott Gleason

For most people, October means Halloween and pumpkin spice lattes. On a local level, it also means Addamsfest. But those are not the only events taking place in our neck of the woods this month. This weekend, we celebrate Westfield Applefest 2020.

What: Westfield Applefest 2020
Where: The Reeve House (314 Mountain Ave
When: Saturday, October 17th, 12 pm to 4 pm (two 2-hour sessions)
Admission: $5 per person, free for veterans and kids under 3
Contact: Mary Konoslaki, Westfield Historical Society, (908) 654-1794 or via email

Westfield Applefest 2020

A beloved annual fundraiser for the historical society, Westfield Applefest 2020 will be held on the lawn of the Reeve House. Tours of this piece of Westfield history will be off limits this year. As an outdoor-only event, weather plays a part. Currently, the weatherman predicts rain in the morning but letting off by the afternoon. If organizers must cancel the event due to rain, they plan on holding it the next day instead (October 18th). Right now, the skies could be cloudy at that time, but rain should not be a factor.

While not considered an official Addamsfest event, Charles Addams influenced some of the events taking place at Applefest. Ron MacCloskey hosts his popular “Lightning Talks” throughout the afternoon that feature stories about Westfield’s native son. And you will find an exhibit featuring Addams’ “Dudley the Skeleton” drawings on display.

Other events include a mask decorating contest, a history walk, and a history-themed treasure hunt. Kids will have the opportunity to play some old-fashioned games. Feel free to kick up your heels on the dance floor while listening to local band “Save May” perform. And grab a bite to eat from the Apple Cafe. Chef Greg Hichok has some delicious treats on the menu to feed any hungry guest.

Pre-Registration Required

To keep people as safe as possible during this global pandemic, organizers divided up the Applefest festivities into two sessions: 12 pm to 2 pm and 2 pm to 4 pm. So, you must register for whichever session you wish to attend ahead of time. To pre-register, contact Mary Konoslaki with the Westfield Historical Society at the phone number or email listed above. Also, all guests must wear masks. Social distancing measures will be put in place as well. Each activity includes a hand sanitizing station for your convenience.

Scott Gleason, CRS at RE/MAX Select, Luxury Homes

More AddamsFest Fun Announced in Westfield

October 2, 2020 by Scott Gleason

October brings all things spooky to light. But in Westfield, this month has special meaning. We celebrate cartoonist and former resident Charles Addams. With a global pandemic taking place right now, organizers needed to come up with a different way to honor him. So, they created an Alt-AddamsFest for 2020. Haunted trails, scary movies, painted windows in downtown shops. They all make appearances in the upcoming weeks. Just recently, organizers announced even more fun added to their schedule of events. But they need your help to make them happen.

A pumpkin decorating contest and special drawing contest add to the fun you'll find in Westfield for AddamsFest 2020 this month.

More Alt-AddamsFest 2020 Fun

Painted Pumpkin Contest

Part of our Alt-AddamsFest festivities includes a walk along the Painted Pumpkin Path in Mindowaskin Park. If you fancy yourself a bit of an artist or simply want to be a part of the fun, submit your ideas for a painted pumpkin to publicart@westfieldnj.gov by October 9th. As a tip of the hat to Westfield’s 300th birthday, organizers plan on choosing 30 pumpkins from all submissions received to represent each decade of our city’s existence. If they choose your submission, you will need to paint it (no carving allowed) on a pumpkin and submit it before the official Mystical Midowaskin Painted Pumpkin Path opens on October 25th.

Need a pumpkin for the contest or to decorate your Westfield home? Visit Williams Nursery on Springfield Ave. They’re open from 10 am to 5 pm daily. Visitors over the age of two must wear masks. Social distancing is strongly encouraged. If you feel ill, please stay home and come back when you feel better.

Drawing Contest

Another way to be a part of the Alt-AddamsFest fun is to submit your drawing in the Draw This in Your Style Addams Family Challenge. You don’t have to be a pro to participate. Simply visit the AddamsFest website to view Charles Addams’ Addams Family portrait. Then, make it your own by recreating it in a style of your choosing. The only limits are your imagination. Once you complete your vision, upload it to your Instagram account using #DrawThisInYourStyle_Addams as a tag. It must be uploaded by October 20th for consideration in the DTWYS contest. Winners receive fun prizes and become part of a virtual art exhibit later this month.

Scott Gleason, CRS at RE/MAX Select, Luxury Homes

October 2020 Market Update

October 1, 2020 by Scott Gleason

Curious about your home’s value?

Please click below for the market update of interest to you:

Fanwood

New Providence

Watchung

Warren

Westfield by Grade School:

Scott Gleason scott@luxuryhomesnj.com

RE/MAX SelectLuxury Homes for Sale in Westfield

Westfield Area Y Clothing Drive for October 2020

September 25, 2020 by Scott Gleason

I have been a proud member of the Westfield Area Y Men’s Club for a long time now. Perhaps you saw me at our Christmas Tree Lot last year (or any of the years before that). In fact, it’s almost time for our lot to start up again. (Just over two months to go!). The Y hosted a clothing drive back in May of this year. It went so well, that they decided to host another Westfield Area Y clothing drive in October.

Help raise money for the Y's financial assistance program by dropping off donations for the Westfield Area Y Clothing Drive in Oct 2020.

What: Westfield Area Y Clothing Drive
Where: Westfield Area Y (422 E Broad St)
When: Thursday, October 8th, 2020, 7:30 am to 2:30 pm
Contact: Westfield Area Y (908) 301-9622 x240 or via email

The Y is Back in Business

The Y offers dozens of programs for children and adults that encourage them to work on their physical fitness. After months of shutdown due to COVID-19 concerns, they recently opened back up for business. They worked hard to put measures in place to keep everyone as safe as possible. In fact, their yoga, pilates, senior classes, group cardio, and other classes are now back on the schedule. They include social distancing guidelines for safety, too.

Westfield Area Y Clothing Drive

The Y bases their membership fees on income. This allows lower income members of the community the chance to utilize their services just as easily as those members with higher incomes. To do so, they rely on grants from the government as well as donations from private companies, organizations, and individuals. That’s where you can help.

Bring your gently used clothing items, accessories, and linens to the Westfield Area Y’s parking lot on Thursday, October 8th, Organizers will set up a tarp for drop-off to minimize person-to-person contact. They also accept stuffed animals and small plastic toys. They take all of these donations and sell them to raise money to help supplement their financial assistance program. If you’d like to donate in other ways, please visit the Westfield Y’s website to find out how.

Scott Gleason, CRS at RE/MAX Select, Luxury Homes

September 2020 Market Update

September 21, 2020 by Scott Gleason

Curious about your home’s value?

Please click below for the market update of interest to you:

Westfield by Grade School:

Scott Gleason scott@luxuryhomesnj.com

RE/MAX SelectLuxury Homes for Sale in Westfield

Westfield Fall Foodie Stroll 2020

September 18, 2020 by Scott Gleason

If you love to eat but have trouble picking one restaurant to visit, then the Westfield Fall Foodie Stroll 2020 is for you. Almost two dozen local eateries promise to provide scrumptious samplings of their menu items for guests to taste. But you’d better hurry. Local foodies already snatched up almost half of the tickets available.

What: Westfield Fall Foodie Stroll 2020
Where: Various Downtown Westfield Restaurants
When: Sunday, October 4th, 12 pm to 4 pm
Admission: $5 per wristband
Contact: Nicki McAuliffe, Downtown Westfield Corp, (908) 247-6407 or via email

Westfield Fall Foodie Stroll 2020

Some of the best restaurants and cafes signed up to participate in this year’s Foodie Stroll. Each restaurant plans on preparing a few select items from their various menus to sell at discounted prices. The average price per sampling is about $5. Vendors accept cash only for purchases, no exceptions. All money raised benefits the Union County chapter of No Kid Hungry.

Guests must wear a face mask in order to obtain entry into the restaurants. Tables will be set up outside for diners to enjoy their purchases. Please stay safe and practice social distancing.

Valet Bike Parking

Instead of spending time searching for a parking space, ride your bike downtown and park it securely with the bike valet at the North Ave train station. All weekend long, special “bike only” zones will be coned off between Franklin School and Dudley. Of course, you also may use the permanent bicycle zones from Dudley to East Broad. Enjoy the fresh air on your face and bicycle to the foodie stroll.

Ticket Info

All guests must prepay for their $5 wristbands to gain entrance to the Westfield Fall Foodie Stroll. Then, stop by Williams & Sonoma on Central Avenue the day of the event to pick up your wristband.

To keep guests as safe as possible, organizers decided to limit the number of guests allowed to participate in the Westfield Fall Foodie Stroll 2020. They only plan on selling 400 tickets in total. The stroll will be split into two different times (12 pm to 2 pm and 2 pm to 4 pm). Each time slot allows up to 200 people.

Participating Restaurants

1958 Cuban Cuisine
Addams Tavern
Ahrre’s Coffee
Akai
Cinnaholic
Ferraro’s
Farinolio
Feast Cafe
Kings Bowl
Lavash
Limani Grill
The Liquor Basket
Manhattan Bagel
Nos Vino
Ono Bowls
Outta Hand Pizza
Rooster Spin
The Salad House
Spice Bazaar
Tinga Taqueria
Westfield Creamery
Westfield Wine & Liquor

That’s just a small sample of what you can expect at this year’s Alt AddamsFest 2020. Check back on the event website next month to see what else they have cooking up for you.

AddamsFest is Back in Westfield With a Twist

September 11, 2020 by Scott Gleason

Even with New Jersey in lockdown for several weeks due to COVID-19, this year seems to have flown by. In just under three weeks, we enter October. That means pumpkin spice lattes, cooler temperatures, leaves falling from the trees, and AddamsFest. Yes, the annual tribute to Westfield’s favorite son returns next month with a pandemic twist.

AddamsFest 2020 (aka “Alt AddamsFest”)

It seems rather appropriate that we honor a man whose work embraced the macabre during this, a macabre year. In keeping with COVID-19 safety recommendations, organizers needed to tweak some fan-favorites from past celebrations. Instead of large gatherings like the parade, Family Fun Zone, and Pugsley’s Trunk or Treat like last year, this year’s Alt AddamsFest chose events that allow everyone to enjoy themselves while still safely keeping a social distance from others.

Wicked Windows of Westfield

When you shop in downtown Westfield next month, keep an eye out for creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky decorations in the shop windows. You can never be too sure what you’ll see there.

Haunt Your House

What better way to get into the spirit of the holiday than with this fun AddamsFest contest? Decorate your Westfield home in any way you want and enter the Haunt Your House Contest. Community members drive by each house entered in the contest to help determine the winner. Registration for this event begins on Monday, September 14th. Just visit the AddamsFest website to sign up. Judging begins on October 8th.

Mystical Mindowaskin

Take a stroll through Mindowaskin Park anytime in October along the Painted Pumpkin Path. Keep an eye out for magical fairy doors hidden in some of the trees around the park. Visit the Enchanted Forest and see the Addams Family house located right there on Mindowaskin pond. Plus, festival organizers plan a few other surprises around the park as well.

Tamaques Haunted Trail

The weekend before Halloween, load up the car and take your loved ones on a drive through the Tamaques Haunted Trail in Tamaques Park. The younger kids will love the more age-appropriate displays and immersive events happening during the daylight hours. But, for the older kids (Mom and Dad included), the night-time turns things a little spookier. This is one AddamsFest event you won’t want to miss!

Dudley’s Drive-In

Movie theaters took a real beating over the last few months. Drive-in movie theaters, on the other hand, experienced a bit of a resurgence. They allow you to enjoy movies on the big screen again while remaining at a safe distance from others. The South Avenue train station hosts a double feature on each of the last two Fridays of October (the 23rd and the 30th). On the 23rd, watch The Addams Family Movie (of course) at 6:30 pm followed by the chilling classic Psycho at 9 pm. On the 30th, enjoy a screening of Hotel Transylvania at 7 pm and then the campy classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show at 9 pm. As you can see, the early screenings are for younger kids. But they didn’t forget about the older demographic with a more adult-themed late night feature.

That’s just a small sample of what you can expect at this year’s Alt AddamsFest 2020. Check back on the event website next month to see what else they have cooking up for you.

Scott Gleason, CRS at RE/MAX Select, Luxury Homes

Westfield Adopt-a-Drain Program

August 28, 2020 by Scott Gleason

One of the best things about living in Westfield is that we take care of each other and our town. That’s an important contributing factor to why we continue to make the list of Top Best Places to Live in NJ each year. City officials created the Westfield Adopt-a-Drain program to encourage residents to assist them in keeping our storm drains clear. This also provides a wonderful opportunity to teach your children a pride in their community.

Westfield Adopt-a-Drain Program

When it rains (like this weekend), everything ends up in the storm drains. Grass, leaves, trash, animal waste, and anything else on our sidewalks and streets all make their way down the streets and into these drains. The build-up of materials creates a blockage, backing up water and causing flooding to occur. If left to pool for a period of time, it causes damage to our city streets and walkways.

These drains need to be cleaned regularly to keep the water from backing up. But with 3000 drains, the City has a tough job keeping up with regular cleanings. So, they created the Westfield Adopt-a-Drain program. Simply sign up online, choose a drain near your home, school, or office, and start raking away.

How Often Do I Need to Clear My Storm Drain?

Honestly, twice a month should be enough. But, please, check it before and after a big storm. We need a clear area for proper runoff before the storm starts. And since debris can build up during a storm, cleaning it afterward helps ensure that it continues to provide a clear pathway for future runoff.

Make sure you document your efforts by taking photos and posting them to your social media. Tag the City (@TownofWestfield on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) when you post. Also, visit the online tracking tool to update the stats after you clear the drain. You’ll be provided the information needed to do so when you sign up to adopt a drain. Encourage others to participate. Together, we can continue to make our community a great place to live.

Scott Gleason, CRS at RE/MAX Select, Luxury Homes