Tag Archives: Dean Martin

MOBSTER TALES-Jon D’Amore Who Grew Up in Secaucus, Pens Page Turner on Jersey Wiseguys and The Casino Caper

By Sally Deering

If you grew up in New Jersey it’s likely you knew somebody who had a friend whose second cousin had a brother-in-law whose uncle was connected to “the Mob.” Born in Jersey City and raised in Union City and then Secaucus, Jon D’Amore had family members who were “connected”. An accomplished musician and songwriter, D’Amore kept mental notes of a Las Vegas casino caper that went down back in the day and tells the fascinating and sometimes nail-biting story in his new book, “The Boss Always Sits in the Back.” Here’s an excerpt:

“This is my story, based on actual events, of living on the fringe of what some people call ‘the Mafia.’ You see, several members of my immediate family were connected. Connected simply means that through blood, honor or business…you have a direct connection to the Cosa Nostra, the Mafia, Our Thing, La Famiglia, the Mob. Continue reading MOBSTER TALES-Jon D’Amore Who Grew Up in Secaucus, Pens Page Turner on Jersey Wiseguys and The Casino Caper

COVER STORY-Leading The Kennedy Dancers

Diane Dragone (still) has the Dancer in Her Soul

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by Sally Deering 

 In the 1920s, when Shirley Temple tapped into America’s hearts with her bouncing ringlets, ruffled crinolines and shiny black tap shoes, mothers from Canarsie to Kenosha trundled their daughters off to their local dance school dreaming of their baby girl’s name in lights. Nowadays, child stars go by first names like Britney, but the local dance school still thrives as the only training ground for kids who dream of a dancing career.

 One local dance pioneer who has kept the stage lights burning in her neighborhood dance studio for the past 34 years is Diane Dragone, Artistic Director of The Kennedy Dancers, a professional dance company and dance school that stands in the wings of New York City.  Through her school and with her years as a teacher and choreographer, Dragone has trained and enriched the lives of thousands of inner-city kids – some who became professional dancers — and she has brought modern and classical dance performances to the multi-cultural and economically-diverse Hudson community. Continue reading COVER STORY-Leading The Kennedy Dancers

Introducing the One and Only “Johnny Martin”

Successful  Businesman and Former Hudson County Resident Follows His Passion for Music   by Evelyn Bonilla

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Record producers will tell you that in order to make it in the music business you have to be equipped with; a good strong voice, loads of confidence and the ability to perform on the spot, and to have passion! The passion to give it all you’ve got and the drive not to stop until you get there!

Just ask Johnny Martin (aka John Marino) a singer whose drive and passion have propelled him to record his first CD, “Johnny Martin, I Will Always Love You.” Continue reading Introducing the One and Only “Johnny Martin”

Hudson County’s Favorite Son-Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra is one of the first all round superstars of the entertainment business. A singer, actor, director and producer par excellence.

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But in Hudson County-He’s it!!    

frank-oldAlthough Frank Sinatra died over 11 years ago, his legend, and music and escapades as an entertainer on and off the stage and screen live on. Especially in Hudson County where stories about the boy from Hoboken are passed down from parents to children. In Hudson County we love Frank Sinatra .Everyone has a Sinatra story – it really is -Six degrees of Frank Sinatra here. You hear things like “Frank was at my mother’s wedding,” or “they say he use to ride the streets of Hoboken late at night in his limo, remembering the good old days. And   there isn’t a restaurant in Hudson County that doesn’t have  some kind of photo of Frank. Yep, In Hudson County we love Frank- here is a bio on Hudson County’s favorite son.       

Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Frank Sinatra’s father was a firefighter and amateur boxer named Martin Anthony Sinatra while his mother, Natalie Sinatra had political aspirations. Over the next eighty years Frank Sinatra was a singer, actor, director and producer who entertained generation after generation all over the world. Continue reading Hudson County’s Favorite Son-Frank Sinatra