HILLSDALE—Hundreds of people turned out in downtown Hillsdale Sept. 24 for the Eighth Annual Joan’s Joy Child Safety Festival, drawn to messages of love, unity, and standing up for good.
All the proceeds of the event, at the Joan Angela D’Alessandro White Butterfly Sculpture and Garden at the Hillsdale Train Station, on Broadway, will go to organizations fighting domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault and poverty.
Thanks to generous “Sapphire Spirit” sponsorships from TD Bank and Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center, and more than two dozen others as “Yellow Daffodil,” “White Butterfly,” and “Green Ribbon” sponsors, the event was a success that built on last year’s introduction of lively entertainment.
Guests — many of whom were young families there to enjoy face painting and balloon twisting — came together in a circle “to stand up and do something for social justice.”
As well, there were speakers, a butterfly release, a silent auction, tricky tray, and 64 raffle winners.
This year, Montvale Troop 95833 Girl Scouts Juliana and Taleen, pursuing their Silver Awards, presented on Internet safety and gave out school
supplies donated by the Park Ridge Staples and funded by community donations.
Mayor John Ruocco, there with his wife, delivered opening remarks.
A recording of recent Pascack Valley High School graduate Luca Focella playing piano — Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in G Minor Op. 3, No. 12 — captivated the crowd. Focella, who has been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall, was this year’s recipient of the Second Annual Joan’s Joy Stand Up and Do Something Scholarship.
Performers also included Terry DeCarlo, Ernie Van Den Heuvel, the Nikki Manx Dance Project, and the Bergen County Players.
Rosemarie and her family — she was aided at the event, as in most things, by sons John and Michael — formed the foundation in 1998 in memory of her daughter, who as a Girl Scout delivering cookies, was sexually assaulted and murdered by a neighbor on Holy Thursday in 1973. Joan’s body was discovered that Easter Sunday in a sepulchre-like space in Harriman State Park in New York.
The killer was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes. He died last summer while serving out his term at the South Woods State Prison in Cumberland County.
Rosemarie is working on a book based on the revelation of letters the killer had written.
Joan’s Joy promotes child safety via programs it provides and legislation it advocates. It provides support to neglected and abused children through fun and educational excursions and it helps victims of crime by way of consultation.
The foundation is offering a new course that teaches teachers — who teach students, who then teach their families and friends — how to practice mindfulness: building confidence in kids to find their own voice and spread kindness organically.
On Joan’s birthday, last Sept. 7, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office renamed its Child Advocacy Center in Paramus for Rosemarie.
Beneficiaries of the 8th Annual Joan’s Joy Child Safety Festival include:
- Mercy House in Hackensack and Newark;
- healingSPACE in Hackensack;
- Center For Hope and Safety in Rochelle Park
- Center for Safety and Change in New City, N.Y.;
- Covenant House in Newark;
- YCS Holley Center in Hackensack;
- Hearts and Crafts Counseling Center in Woodcliff Lake; and
- Ukrainian children.
“This was made possible by all the people who take part. A wonderful difference is being made for these beautiful children and victims,” Rosemarie told Pascack Press on Sept. 28.
She said, “Children from the YCS Holley Center came to the event and it gave me great joy, they were so happy to be there because they know Joan’s Joy helps them.”
And she said, “We are thankful for our outstanding unity together and the outstanding volunteer donors — businesses and individuals.”
In addition to hoping for a bigger turnout at the Ninth Annual Children’s Safety Festival, she said, “We are planning a 50th anniversary celebration for April 2023,” at which Joan’s presence, as always, is sure to be felt.
Asked her impressions of this year’s event, Rosemarie said, “I liked seeing the new families coming in with their children. Some of them came up to me and said they’re going to come back next year. And these are the new families moving in. There were children that were coming, and they wanted me to tell them more about Joan.”
She said, “Two children from St. John’s [Academy] said they thought it would be nice to learn more about butterflies. So I suggested, Well, maybe you could look it up and make a little booklet and we could have it for next year.”