
Defeating Republican Jeff Bell, US Senator Cory Booker  has won re-election  his first full six-year Senate Term according to CNN and other media outlets.
Written from the heart and experiences of Patty Blanchard, ‘Patty’s Turn: It took faith, courage and the love of her children to save her from attempted murder’ sees the author piece together her memories following almost six-decades of abuse at the hands of parents, siblings and lovers. Blanchard’s survival is nothing short of a miracle and, by sharing her story, she hopes to empower millions of abused women to take a stance against their malefactors and embark on their own journey to a better life.
Bayonne, NJ — (ReleaseWire) — 11/1/2014 — Memoirs about abuse are certainly not rare, but hardly any span a lifetime and come from the family members of those in the public eye. Tammy Blanchard may be known to audiences and critics around the world, but her mother Patty has kept quiet about her own life, until now.
This is the memoir of Patty Blanchard, one of 14 children raised in a tough Jersey City family during the 1950s. Patty survived many things during her childhood, but it was the attempted murder she experienced as a mother-of-three that helped her discover what courage, faith and the love of family is really all about.
“I start right at the beginning, aged four years old and at the hands of a physically-abusive mother who had six kids packed into a cramped Jersey City flat without enough beds, clothes and often just stale pieces of bread for dinner,†explains Blanchard. “My baby sister died of Croup and I became the punching bag for my mother’s grief, who physically and mentally abused me for the next decade and a half. We also lost a brother, Arthur, who was murdered at fourteen. I left home and married an older man when I was just seventeen. This was my ticket to a new life, or so I thought.â€
Continuing, “He and my next husband abused me. At the age of thirty-two I packed up my belongings, my kids and we set off on my promise of a better life. Things were looking up as I built a successful cleaning business from the ground up and was both confident and independent for the first time in my life. I was determined to stay away from abusers. But at the age of thirty-five I found myself fighting for my life, with multiple hammer wounds and being left for dead. Somehow, through the grace of faith and love of my children, I survived.â€
Patty didn’t write her book for commercial gain. In fact, it started as personal therapy.
“My therapist asked me to write down my thoughts and memories as they came back to me. I did this for years but didn’t ever read my notes back. Over twelve years I accumulated more than four-hundred pages and the power of my words caused me to break down when finally reading them. I decided to compile them into a book to help others facing the demons of abuse. If I can help just one person avoid a life like mine, then I’ll see it as a huge success.â€
Since its release, the book has garnered a string of rave reviews. Charlotte McNamara comments, “I absolutely loved this book! The writer was very brave, honest and real. Some like to portray” our lives to be perfect. Some of us like to read what really happens in someone’s life, whether good or not so good. This writer however captured my soul. Reading of her childhood and through her life was a heartfelt and left me in tears. Tears for that little girl, tears for that struggling teen …tears for all the other women who can’t tell their story, but sometimes can identify with some things in her book.â€
River View Observer adds, “An excellent read -a real page turner about an American family and a young woman’s abusive life and triumphant return from an attempted murder on her life by a former spouse. Ms. Blanchard has created a road map for women looking to move past abusive relationships to a place of empowerment.â€
‘Patty’s Turn: It took faith, courage and the love of her children to save her from attempted murder’ is available now: http://amzn.to/1usDPU9.
About Patty Blanchard
Patty will celebrate her 60th birthday on Nov.3th with her 3 children, William, Tammy, Thomas and her 4 grandchildren, Ava, William, Kaylee and Jaidah. Patty can finally say she knows what true love is, she met her soul mate Joe and has been skipping down the road of happiness for the past 8 years.
Event offers prospective students opportunities to learn more about the College, the financial aid and scholarship programs available;
The application fee will be waived for attendees.
October 21, 2014, Jersey City, NJ – Hudson County Community College (HCCC) will hold a Fall Open House for potential students from 10 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday, November 1, 2014. The Open House will take place at the College’s Culinary Conference Center, 161 Newkirk Street in Jersey City, NJ – two blocks from the PATH Journal Square Transportation Center.
Continue reading HUDSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE TO HOLD OPEN HOUSE NOVEMBER 1ST, 2014
 By Sally DeeringÂ

New York’s Broadway and London’s West End resuscitated Noel Coward’s 1941 farce BLITHE SPIRIT, last season, with the iconic Angela Lansbury in the role of the eccentric Madame Arcati.
Jersey City’s Attic Ensemble follows in those theatrical footsteps as it ushers in its 44th season with this kooky supernatural stage comedy – just in time for Halloween.

Forty-four years bringing theater to the locals is no small feat and Attic Ensemble keeps the curtain rising even though financially the troupe could use some help filling the coffers. The last few years have been tough-going for the little theater company and there were times the artistic team led by president Billy Mitchell thought the company would be closing its doors for good. But the last two shows attracted large audiences, so the plays go on and hopefully this upswing will lead to a theater angel who may want to adopt the troupe. Continue reading HALLOWEEN CANDY- ATTIC ENSEMBLE OPENS 44TH SEASON WITH ‘BLITHE SPIRIT’ – NOEL COWARD’S DELICIOUS COMEDY
Digital photograph  “Purple Haze” by photographer Sidney Montanez of Jersey City will be on exhibit at “Bayonne: The Peninsula (Water Colors)” art show on Sat, Oct. 25 at the Bayonne Museum.

Photograph by Patricia Mulligan for “Bayonne: The Peninsula (Water Colors).

By Sally DeeringÂ

 For one day only, the work of more than  30 artists pops up at the Bayonne Museum in “Bayonne: The Peninsula (Water Colors)†art show where each artist has a 4-foot display area to make their own.
On Sat, Oct. 25, from 1-10 pm, some pretty terrific painters, photographers, sculptors and mixed-media artists will display and sell their works, many depicting Bayonne’s beautiful vistas. The exhibit is a joint venture between Deb Peveler and Lou Segura of All Fit Studios in

Bayonne and Patty Mulligan and the grassroots group Beautify Bayonne, along with the support of Mayor Jimmy Davis and his new administration.
“Bayonne is a peninsula city at the southern end of the Gold Coast,†Mayor Davis says. “Our community’s location and natural surroundings provide great inspiration for artistic expression.†Continue reading POP UP ART SHOW — Bayonne: The Peninsula (Water Colors)
Walter Parks is scheduled to perform at Guitar Bar Jr. in Hoboken, NJ on Saturday October 25. Veteran blues and jazz guitarist Walter Parks has built an international career as the lead guitarist for Woodstock legend Richie Havens, as half of the folk-duo The Nudes, and as leader of the neo-southern rock group Swamp Cabbage. Inspired by the swampy gospel blues that wails from storefront churches and roadhouses in and around the southeast Georgia low country, Park’s performance is full of guitar picking tunes that explore matters of the soul and spirit, built upon a foundation of jazz, classical and folk.
Continue reading Guitarist Walter Parks performs in Hoboken, NJ for Guitar Bar Concert Series
The residents of Bayonne came out in numbers on Saturday October 18th, 2014 for the Bayonne Bergen Point Fall Festival.
The first festival for Bayonne in a few years and one that Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis and Bayonne Urban Enterprise Director Terrence Malloy and the Bergen Point Merchants felt the city should have.
The festival featured music, entertainment,great food, inflatable rides,balloon sculpture and much more
So join our River View camera for walk through the festival
Jersey City, NJ-  On October 17, the Jersey City International Television and Film Festival will celebrate its Opening Night at Parlay Studios in Jersey City with a Red Carpet Reception from 6:00-7:00 pm, with Mayor Steven Fulop in attendance, as well as Jersey City and Hudson County dignitaries, filmmakers and fans of the cinema. Immediately following the reception, the evening’s screening will begin at 7:00 pm. The screenings for the Opening Night event are – Birdwatching in Jersey City, a beautiful documentary by the acclaimed filmmaker John Dunstan, a Jersey City resident. The second film is Opening Eyes through Opera about a local singer, Giselle Bellas who wants to reach young people through the joys of opera and the touching short film, Dollar Night, by Marco Antonio Martinez, which gives audiences a look at the hardships faced by old-time projection theaters being replaced by digital. Continue reading JERSEY CITY INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION & FILM FESTIVAL –OPENING NIGHT FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17th, 2014
River View Observer Staff Writer
As Halloween approaches, many of us are gearing up to have some bewitching fun as witches, goblins and things that go bump in the night. In Bayonne, the UEZ and Bergen Point merchants are preparing to scare up some local fun at the Bayonne Bergen Point Festival to be held on Sat, Oct. 18, from noon to 5 pm.
A community celebration, the festival, which will be held on Broadway from 5th to Cottage Streets will feature entertainment, more than 30 food vendors and lots of fun things for the kids like rides, balloon sculptures, temporary tattoos, sand art, face painting and more. Continue reading BAYONNE MERCHANTS AND UEZ SHARE THE FUN