A HUGE Breach in Tradition

SBHS Tradition of over 50 years

DISCLAIMER: This blog reflects the views of many alumni of Saddle Brook High School between the years of the 1960s up to current day students and does not reflect the education or ability of today's students in SBHS Choir, but the complaint of respecting tradition.

Note: all links are to other blog posts on related topic so you can follow the tradition. 

Mr. Charles Broadhurst,
SBHS Choral Director 1964-1994

Mrs. Cynthia Verost,
SBHS Choral Director 1994-ish- Dec 2015

I was always taught in martial arts to know when to value tradition, and to know when to innovate. You need to have a balance to knowing when it is important to evolve because those who see the future first evolve the most. At the same time it is a skill to preserve strong tradition because you preserve a way of life that brings value, and not detriment.

In 1964, a man named Chuck Broadhurst taught choral music with 8 or 9 members in the choir. Two years later in 1966 he had 80 or 90. He taught for 30 years, retiring in 1994. In those 30 years he had so many choir members (record being 250 members) he had split them into Boys' Glee Club, Girls' Glee Club, Concert Choir, and a select a cappella group called the Choraleers. He also began the high school Spring musicals that still go on today.

After his retirement an alumnus named Cynthia Verost (Class of '75) took the position of Choir Director. She at this time had about 15 years of her own teaching experience in one or two districts already. He came and brought in her own knowledge and choice songs, but still preserved many of the strong traditions the school had like the Choraleers and Spring Musicals.

If anyone can tell you that times have changed, it would be Cindy Verost. Things you deal with, with an administration and Board of Education, parents of the present day, people's attention spans and appreciation not what it used to be, but she dealt with the changes of the time and still did her own thing while preserving the strong traditions which were deeply rooted in the school.

Mr. Broadhurst teaching and singing with alumni

Mrs. Verost with 2005-2006 Choraleers

Something very deeply rooted to Saddle Brook High are the traditions shared by the alumni. That deep seated root continued over two decades after Mr. Broadhurst's retirement by Mrs. Verost. In 1978, spear headed by my mother, Karen Lazzaro-Trento (Class of '78), 14 years worth of alumni got together for a Choir reunion. Not everyone knew each other but their love for music had been passed down to all these "students" and they shared the same experiences of what it meant to them in the process of learning and performing. In 1990, another reunion of Choraleer alumni came together to sing like the old days and enjoy each other's company. And in 1994 at Chuck's retirement they all came together to celebrate the career of Mr. Broadhurst and sing as if not a day went by the last time they did (I have the video of it). And in 1999 and 2000, alumni got together to perform around the community almost 20-30 years later singing under Mr. Broadhurst again.

Then in 2014, Mrs. Verost had done a 50th Anniversary Concert  to celebrate the program's existence in the school for 50 years. The program was a selection of popular and favorites songs from the SBHS archives, a mix of Chuck and Cindy's repetoire. Local alumni gathered together for maybe 3 rehearsals which were a small portion of people. Then the day of we spend morning to night rehearsing with about 80-90 alumni. That evening we performed our concert, and it was a beautiful reunion. Mrs. Verost did a fantastic job as always, she showed great appreciation to the ones who showed up, and I think she was surprised by how many alumni actually showed up to participate. Her only mistake was only doing ONE of the alumni songs instead of all three, since it was an ALUMNI tradition. I was the only one vocal about it, although most felt the same way. But hey, it's only one concert. Not like the tradition will die or anything......

Mr. Broadhurst conducting the alumni choir in 1999.

Mrs. Verost rehearsing choir for concert in 2006

The Alumni before 50th Anniversary Concert

Well I was wrong. The Alumni Sing is a 51 year tradition. Every Holiday concert ended with Carol of the Bells, Do You Hear What I Hear?, and The Hallelujah Chorus. It began with Chuck, continued with Cindy. Did it have some hiccups over the years? Sure. Maybe Cindy did Carol of the Bells for the processional instead. Maybe she put Have Yourself A Merry Little Christimas in the alumni sing instead. But the tradition for the most part has always been standing of the three songs. It is something that is supported heavily to by the community, it's alumni, staff and faculty, and families of several generations.

After 22 years, last December Mrs. Verost retired. A new director has taken over. I hear he's good. The kids sound great. This year's holiday concert was December 15th. We find out the day of that ONLY the Hallelujah Chorus will be sung for the alumni. Students in the choir currently were unhappy about it (I've spoken to many of them as several are students of mine), alumni from a range of the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and 10s are upset about it, faculty current and former are disheartened, and families who have come to see the new generation of students and remember the old were disheartened.

When I inquired and asked people in the establishment, the answers given to me were it took "too much time and prep" and it was "too alumni oriented" and the alumni have to ":get over it." OKAY.. Let's address the first part. Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors know all three pieces as their predecessor taught it to them and it wasn't like beating a dead horse to learn. TWO: The alumni was the last three pieces. The entire rest of the concert is the students? Every performance, including entire spring concert is student oriented. DO a hundred songs in the concert with the students, don't touch the last three! And ALUMNI are the ones who support the program, and HAVE for many years, and when budget cuts come in, the arts are attacked first, and when that happens, they come to the alumni! Not a good move. And as far as "get over it"? That's a sad way to look and respect tradition. I was also told not to make "a fuss" about it....o_O ME?! LOL!

Eleven songs were sung for the Choir NOT including Hallelujah. What's two more? That MAJORITY of choir knows. I believe only 7 alumni came. For me, it was the first one I've missed in I think 14 years. Christmas began for many of us at that concert. For us who knew Chuck, we felt most connected to him in those few moments singing those songs. And the CURRENT students looked forward to participating in that tradition. Some things are meant NOT to be touched. If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

 This SBHS Alumni is a Community. The sentiments shared about this tradition, or in this case lack of, is shared by such a span of people from even huge generational differences. Many of them still continue to keep music in their lives! Some became music teachers like Barbara Avento Weiner, Austum D'Esposito, Catherine Blankenhorn Boyes, Eric Zadoroznyj, and Anthony Ligouri. Some still sing in groups and Choirs like Lisa Lazzaro Graf, Arianna Pomo, Lynn Van Wyk Wojcik and her late husband Joe Wojcik, Annie Conway O'Shaunessey, and Barbara Pastuch Pernetti. These names are all from different generations of Saddle Brook music program.

Standing 50 year traditions should be preserved regardless who is in charge. It is an insult to Chuck's memory and Cindy's legacy, in my opinion. It's also a slap in the face to the alumni who have supported this program for many many years. I hope the new director reconsiders his future choice of this tradition. If not, then a tradition is dead......unless I can help it. Mrs. Verost said to me "Get your own choir!" Hmmm.....that's the best idea I've heard all day..... (BOWS)

Yours in service,
MASTER A TRENTO

Losing My Hobbit Hole

Early in the process of the water coming down and the before ceiling began to cave in. 

Twenty minutes later this entire couch was filled with water. 

I stopped taking pictures once the ceiling began falling in in bigger chunks, and I was soaked from head to toe.

I had just come back home from Atlanta, Georgia on Monday Nov. 28. I worked all day Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday night while watching the Dolly Parton movie on NBC, I received two boxes of pictures I ordered to be printed and began to organize them to put into photo albums (I'm probably the only person in the world who still prints pictures). I was even taking pictures of the pictures and sending them to people, all excited for my photo project Mega Omega I embarked myself on! I just printed pictures and put them in these new picture frames too and replaced them all on my walls. So I decided the next day, Thursday I would sleep in a little and work on my picture project.

Thursday December 1 as I'm working on the pictures, I hear this rapid "TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP", and I wonder "What the hell is that?" I get up from my couch and walk over to the opposite side wall where I have my shelves and Christmas tree. I see water running down the walls and dropping on my pictures! I pimmediately begin to take the pictures off the shelf, then I see there is water in the middle of the ceiling coming through straight down on the Chritsmas tree! THEN two seconds later one of the ceiling tiles falls in with a loud SPLASH of water!

I run upstairs to find my landlady yelling in Italian with her aide and there is an inch of water in her entire kitchen! I yelled in Italian "What happened!?" She couldn't remember how to turn the water off and no one called anyone! I immediately called her son and daughter in law and his place of business to send someone over! In seven minutes a man came and it took him 8 more minutes to find the main water brake. During that time I was a shrill version of the Rain Man going "Okay! Alright! Oh NO! Okay! As I kept moving objects into the dining room or to other sides of the room, then RE-moving them because water was spreading that way. I was drenched in water, which smelled horribly, and ceiling was caving in on all different spots.

I stopped taking pictures once larger pieces were falling. It was sporadic too. 

The lights filled up with water which had me worried about fires starting too. 

It was only my main living room floor at first but then it expanded into the bedroom and closets. Both my couches now drenched. 

I didn't know what to do! I messaged Master Kathy to which I received a phone call immediately. I knew she dealt with water before when she lost her house in 2010. Immediately she gave me direction, as I had none. I didn't know what to do, I was a bit stunned, and just getting more upset and I watched the water come down even more! It started off as just drops from all over, then fast dripping, then at one point it looked like it was actually raining inside the apartment.

I sent a mass text to people who may have been around. One of my students came to help. We saved the books, the electronics, a few DVDs and I put a bunch of clothes I saw and grabbed in a backpack. By then both couches, my clothes, pictures including all the new ones that were organized on the floor (easily replaceable), my bed, my cabinets, were all water and destroyed. It was almost and hour and a half when the water finally stopped coming in and by this time, 3/4 of the ceiling caved in, adding a lot of dirt on top of the wet. 

We took out the two couches, taking the doors off the hinges and leading them up the stairs. One opened into a bed for guests, and one had a full mattress in it for guests as well. We bagged a lot of garbage, tried to clean clothes across the street which some were salvageable, most not. We also saved as many of my Christmas ornaments that we could, some ruined, some fell and broke, but the tree itself that I keep up all year round had to go as it was a pre lit tree. 

By this time you can see the fast dribbles before it turned into what reminded me of a fire sprinkler. 

All I kept thinking was "My home..."

My pre-lit Christmas tree I would keep up all year long, gone. 

My two couches and the rug ripped up. 

I was so lost. I started one thing and would walk over and do something else then bounce to another part of the apartment. All I kept thinking in my head was "My home..." When I noticed the tears in my eyes I shook my head and told myself to snap out of it, and then attempted to shift my focus into the "It could be worse" mindset, see if I can see some silver lining. Well, I DID want to downsize and purge a bit, but this is ridiculous! I tried to make little jokes with my students there and with the landlord's workers.

We ripped up all the rugs and rolled them up, exposing this VERY old and retro looking floor. The workers had taken down the rest of the 1/3 ceiling that didn't collapse. I was just dumbfounded. Of course immediately people were offering me a place to stay and I always have my parents and Aunt Karen in Saddle Brook, my grandparents back in Saddle Brook now too, and Jessie, and Charlene, and Ara and Juneta across the street, and I thank them all who've been helping.

It's over a week now and I do miss my own bed. I've had stressful days of being on the phone all day with insurance companies, making lists, looking for things, continuously finding things that have been ruined, clothes we didn't catch still soaked, papers and documents gone. And of course the looking at options and credit checks and on and on and on. Did I mention it's the holidays?

Rugs ripped up and taken out.

Most of the ceiling caved in and was wet and old. 

How in the world my Hogwarts tapestry on the wall survived I'll never know!

First batch of trash.

So I went through the grieving stages quick. That Thursday I was so focused on what I had to do. Friday after I was shell shocked. Then Saturday I just sat in my parents living room all day after teaching and was just so incredibly sad. By Sunday I was with Aunt Karen and already accepted that it happened and move on! This past week of stress has had me emotionally eating everything in sight, not sleeping well, I even had a few dreams of water going down the walls, I see it in the corner of my eyes sometimes, and I have a twitch under my left eye LOL. 

But one of the things that this did do for me was not to realize I lost just about everything, but to realize I have EVERYTHING. Everything that really counts. What makes life is not our things, but the life we live and the people we get to share it with. I have been counting my blessings but even more than that to see how incredibly blessed I am. I have had such tremendous good wishes and calls and support from my family here in New Jersey, as well as my martial arts family now only here at home but all across the country. My fitness ladies at the gym have brought great support to me as well, and a blessed person bought me brand new clothes last Tuesday. 

The night of the apartment flooding out, I went to dinner when all was said and done across the street, where I showered and cleaned up the debris all over me, and then my student Robert and his girlfriend came by and asked me to go across the street. I told them there's nothing to see but they persisted so I went over where they met me in front of the house. I walked them to my entrance and I'm talking and then I stop dead and gasped. They had a three foot Christmas tree set up and decorated in front of my door to the apartment. I couldn't contain myself, my heart turned to mush. 

 I later saw that his girlfriend Amanda started this online GoFundMe account, someone showed me the link. When someone gave me the link to see this, this is where I finally caved in. I cried like a little baby. I couldn't believe so many people came together to do something like this for me. She even called it Trento's Hobbit Hole Help (everyone knows I call my apartment the Hobbit Hole). People from my family, students and families from my school, friends of mine from town and grade school, extended family from Georgia, Tennessee, Nevada, Maryland, I think even Misouri! I was and am so deeply touched and in awe. It would be impossible to thank all these people one by one so here I am to say to all those people: THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart.

Even though I am still incredibly sad, I am incredibly aware that I am incredibly blessed to have so many people who care about me in this way. Jimmy Stewart said in the movie It's a Wonderful Life, "No man is a failure who has friends." And I have always said, I am doubly-blessed to call them all my family! (BOWS)

Yours in service,
MASTER A TRENTO