Tag: heritage

On Being Philistines



Pelican Gate

Some of you have been following along with a local story I have been following for quite some time (last October):  the proposed destruction of an old-growth forest in West Orange, NJ by the administrators of Seton Hall Prep and the Archdiocese of Newark, as abetted…or in some cases just ignored…by the West Orange Zoning Board and elected officials.

Originally this was a story of people who had no concern for the environment or the value of old trees.  Then it became the story of the destruction of the habitat for an endangered species.  It progressed to being a story of civil irresponsibility when workers for Seton Hall Prep were instructed to demolish some 90 year old Japanese yew trees in favor of what were called “test pits.”  Exactly what was being tested was unclear.

But that report also moved us into the area of saving our history, which was continued in the fourth report.