BUZZWORTHY
To be considered for Buzzworthy , contact Cindy Schweich Handler at handler @ northjersey . com
Montclair & Little Falls
WORDSOFBASEBALL WISDOM
The last time we spoke toBILLY PINCKNEY [“ Buzzworthy ,” Fall 2019 ] he was a high-achieving high school senior and former bat boy for the New Jersey Jackals who ’ d interviewed the team ’ s coaches and players , and included them in a documentary he made called The Past , Present , and Future of the New JerseyJackals . Now a high-achieving senior at Montclair StateUniversity , Pinckney is still doing interviews of baseball players and makingthem availabletothe public . In his book Passion Prevails : Baseball ’ s Top Performers Advise Youth Players on Maximizing their Experience , professional athletes share wheretheir passion for the game comes from — hint : it ’ snot imposed on thembycoachesand parents — aswell as how to face adversityand deal with failureand self-doubt , how to stay inspired , the implications of proper and improper coaching , and more . — CINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER
Montclair
RYANDEPERSIO MOVESON
FASCINO , the award-winning , 20-yearold , beloved Italian restaurant owned by acclaimedchefRyanDePersio , isno more . DePersiosoldittogeneral managerMary Cumella , whorenamed the restaurant Gioia Mia . The newchefis Logan Ramirez , who was Fascino ’ s chef de cuisine . Ramirez did stints at Gramercy Tavern in NewYork City as well as Battello in Jersey City ( which DePersio owns ) and The Highlawn Pavilion in West Orange .
“ It ’ s bittersweet ,” says DePersio , who alsoowns KitchenStepinJersey City and the Newark InternationalAirport . He and his business partners — Joe Calafiore , DominiqueBorzomati and CoryChecket — are also building a 40,000-square-foot events venueand restaurant in Eatontown ; the event space is being dubbed Tilling House .“ I just felt it was time ,” DePersio says .“ With me growing and having bigger projects , I did not have thetime I wantedtogive to Fascino . I ’ m more a restaurateur than a chefnow .”
— ESTHERDAVIDOWITZ
Montclair
ESSAYWINNER CONNECTS HISTORY WITH PRESENT
It ’ s a well-known adage that those who don ’ t know history are doomed to repeat it . DESIREE LAWRENCE , the 2023 recipient of Montclair History Center ’ s $ 1,000 Hortense Tate Scholarship , is not one of those people . In her winning essay , she recounts a 1925 cross burning outside the Lexington Avenue home of William E . Jackson , a local businessman and Columbia University graduate of Black and Irish descent targeted because he proposed marriage to a white Bloomfield resident . Desiree relates the event to “ hardships African Americans have faced all over this country ,” and cites steps leaders in Montclair ’ s Black community have taken to improve racial justice . Her essay concludes , “ It is important that we remember the story of William E . Jackson and use it as areminderofhow farwehave come as a community . We must strive to continue to make progress towards social justice and equality .” Lawrence , who has involved herself in multiple community service projects during her years at MHS , is beginning her freshman year atAmerican University in Washington , D . C .
— CINDYSCHWEICH HANDLER
PINCKNEY : COURTESY OF BILLY PINCKNEY ; DEPERSIO : COURTESY OFROBERT YASKOVIC ; LAWRENCE : COURTESY OF THE MONTCLAIR HISTORY CENTER
4 BACK TOSCHOOL 2023 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE