Jon Huntsman at Liberty State Park on Tuesday June 21st to join the Republican race for the White House in 2012
“This is the hour when we choose our future. I’m Jon Huntsman and I’m running for president of the United States,” with those words  Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman announced on Tuesday, June 21st, at Liberty State Park in Jersey City his candidacy for President in the 2012 race thus becoming one more Republican contender to join the race for the White House. Liberty State Park is also the location chosen by  former President Ronald Reagan to announce his bid for President in 1980.Â
Huntsman was President Obama’s Amabassdor to China until this past spring.
Fox Televison Anchor Sean Hannity and Jon Huntsman share a quiet moment before Huntsman's interview for Hannity's show- Hannity's America.
Sean Hannity from Fox’s Hannity’s America was on hand to interview Huntsman. When asked by Hannity why the former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China decided to enter the race;Â Huntsman said, “Because I love my country. And I can’t stomach the thought that we are passing down to the next generation, a country that is less viable, less good, less competitive, less compassionate than the one we got. You have a choice then, you can either stand on the sidelines or you can do as Teddy Roosevelt used to preach, and you can get in the arena and do something about it.”
New Play at LaMama in New York based on The Carmelettes, the 1950s All-Girl Doo-Wop Group from Jersey City
The Carmelettes: Angela LaPrete, Vicky Cevetello and Virginia Verga
By Sally Deering
Susan Murphy
When I think of girl groups that influenced my teen years, my mind goes straight to The Shangri-Las, four big-haired girls from Queens and their 1964 hit “Leader of the Pack.” That rocking tune about an ill-fated crush on a biker boy became the song for 60s teen-girl angst, inspiring us to iron our hair, slather our lips in Yardley pinks and Frug in white go-go boots. Â
 Before the Shangri-Las and girl groups of the 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond, there were girl doo- whop groups and one fondly remembered was The Carmelettes, a Jersey City trio of teen girls christened their girl-group name by their parish priest at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. In 1959, the girls Angela LaPrete, Vicky Cevetello and Virginia Verga recorded two songs, “My Foolish Heart” and “Promise Me a Rose,”  and in 1960 “Aching for You” and “Something Tells Me I’m in Love.” They sang backup for Neil Sedaka’s hit “Oh Carol,” and Carole King’s hit “Oh Neil.” And when the group regrouped under the name “The Kittens,” (after Verga left for a solo career,) the LaPrete and Cevetello sang backup on several songs including the Top 40 hit “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” – which bombarded the airwaves during the summer of 1960. When the group disbanded in the 1961, the girls went on to start other careers and raise families. LaPrete married James Murphy (folks just know him as “Murphy”) and the couple raised their  daughter Susan, who went on to earn a BFA in Drama at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and become a singer in clubs and cabarets while performing in Off-Off Broadway plays. A drama teacher at Snyder High School, Susan Murphy continues to reinvent herself and her latest career turn is her new play, “Girl/Group: A Daughter’s Tale” a personal piece about her mother’s life as a doo-whop singer and the affect it has had on Murphy’s life. (“Girl/Group: A Daughter’s Tale” features Murphy along with Tom Cappadona, Drew Citron, Alison Scaramella, and Jenna Smith and is directed by Mario Giacalone. It opens at LaMama’s The Club in New York City on June 17 and runs through June 26.)
Local Residents Raise Thousands of Dollars for the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society Relay for Life is a 24-hour event that gives people across the globe the chance to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. Each year, more than 3.5 million people in 5,000 communities in the U.S., along with communities in 20 other countries, take part in Relay for Life to raise funds and awareness to save lives from cancer.
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On Friday, June 17, beginning at 6 pm 84 Relay teams will gather at the Don Ahern Veterans Stadium on the Bayonne High School campus for the American Cancer Society’s annual fundraising event that will continue overnight and into Saturday. Throughout the event, teams – which have raised more than $84,000 so far, will be walking and/or running the stadium’s track in support of friends and loved ones affected by cancer. Continue reading Bayonne Laces Up for Relay for Life→
On Sunday June 12th the 65th Annual Tony Awards were held at the Beacon Theater and our Photographer Steve Mack was there to capture all the excitement.
Hudson County Nominee Tammy Blanchard arrived at the Red Carpet as did Al Puccino, Christie Brinkley, Lynn Redgrave, Kelsey Grammer, Brooke Shields, John Legusiamo, and others.
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 Ideas sometimes come to us in dreams and that’s exactly how Bill Sorvino conceived the Golden Door International Film Festival to be held in Jersey City in October. What started as images flickering in his sleeping mind will now be images flickering on the silver screen.
 “I had a dream last year about having a film festival in Jersey City,” Sorvino says,” and it was like lightning in a bottle. Jersey City is close to my heart. I grew up here and my family has a 100-year history here. I want Jersey City to have something in its own right.”
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Actor Paul Sorvino and nephew Bill Sorvino
Dreaming of a film festival is not much of a stretch for Sorvino. He’s a screenwriter and actor who studied at the William Esper Studios in New York City and has appeared in several indie films. He also hails from a theatrical family – his uncle is celebrated actor Paul Sorvino and he’s cousin to Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino – and throughout the years Bill Sorvino shared conversations with his Uncle Paul and cousin Mira about film, theater and acting held during family gatherings at the dinner table.  Continue reading Golden Door International Film Festival Director Invites Filmmakers to Screen Their Dreams in Jersey City→
A Presentation by Cavaliere Ufficiale Aldo Mancusi
Founder of the Enrico Caruso Museum of America
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Wednesday, June 1 at 7:00 PM
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Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear “The World’s Greatest Tenor”
Played on the cutting-edge technology of his day
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Staten Island, New York, May 24, 2011 – Casa Belvedere, The Italian Cultural Foundation is pleased to announce that Cavaliere Ufficiale Aldo Mancusi, founder of the Enrico Caruso Museum of America will present “The Life & Times of Enrico Caruso” on Wednesday, June 1 at 7:00 PM. Continue reading Casa Belvedere PresentsThe Life and Times of Enrico Caruso→
 Jersey City’s artist community – painters, sculptors, musicians, film and theater professionals – give this urban city an added vibrancy with a dash of cool. Arts collectives like Pro Arts and Art House Productions – and the Hudson County Division of Cultural Affairs – do their part to support artists through exhibitions, performances and group shows and the Jersey City Redevelopment Authority has been giving well-known street artists highway embankments and building facades to enhance the city’s visual beauty and community identity. Continue reading Cool School-Express Yourself at the Jersey City Art School→
Grand Banks Restaurant, Cocktail Lounge and Sushi Bar offers Chinese, Japanese and Fusion Dishes to Downtown Jersey City’s 9-to-5ers and Neighborhood Regulars
 By Sally Deering
 Ten years ago, David Ng, converted an old bank building on Montgomery Street in Downtown Jersey City into a restaurant, cocktail lounge and sushi bar known to neighborhood residents and business professionals as Grand Banks. Located two blocks from the Exchange Place station on the PATH and the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, Grand Banks serves some of the tastiest Sushi, Chinese, Japanese and Fusion Cuisine in Hudson. Continue reading Fine Asian Cuisine close to the Jersey City Waterfront→
Roger Muller Jr. and Erica Muller, grandchildren of John Muller gather with family and friends in front of the 106 years old Muller Insurance business after the street naming for “John Muller Way.”
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