Like his grandfather and uncle before him, John Ryan wanted to be a fireman in New York City. “My father talked me out of it,” Ryan said. Today Ryan is an expert on fire. He is one of a handful of specialists in the country in the field of fire suppression and special hazard fire protection. He designs, builds and inspects quick suppression systems that prevent, contain and extinguish fires. His specialty is in protecting information systems. Ryan is also a volunteer fireman. Ryan’s father encouraged him to pursue a degree in electronics and computers from Bergen Community College.  Ryan …

Rochelle Levin enjoys making a connection. The new Butler Library Director accepted the part-time position last month despite an hour commute each way because she wanted to make personal connections with library patrons. “The social aspect to working in a public library attracted me because, yes, you could do your work -- yes, you did do your work -- but, you could also have fun at the same time and talk to people,” she said. After 24 years working in an office answering e-mails and doing electronic research, the former administrator of the Internal Technical Documents Collection at Alcatel-…

Butler Fire Department Chief James Neill often has two phones in his hand and one on his ear. “It never stops,” he said. Neill entered the Carey Avenue station, passing young volunteer firefighters who he silently greeted. Along the way he checked his other two phones for messages. “It really never stops,” he said again, as he juggled the communication devices. Four separate firefighting companies comprise the Butler Fire Department. Each has a chief. Every two years, one of those chiefs becomes chief of the entire Butler Fire Department. Twenty months ago, Neill, of the Kiel Hook and Ladder …

Nine months ago, Theodore Carrozza dreamt of flamingos. This weekend, he will transport the product of that vision, four 6-foot wooden flamingo sculptures, to Grand Rapids, Mich., for the third annual ArtPrize exhibit. Once there, Carrozza will install his vibrant pink statues in a 25-foot wide setting at the event’s Open Concept Gallery. He hopes to receive the most votes from ArtPrize attendees between Sept. 21 and Oct. 9 in order to win the ArtPrize exhibit’s top prize of $250,000. Carrozza’s work of art, entitled, “Flossy the Flamingo and Friends,” will feature the four flamingo …

When the 130-year-old St. Anthony of Padua School opens its doors on Wednesday, the 169 students will be welcomed by new Principal Lynn DeLuca. DeLuca begins her tenure with St. Anthony's School after four years with The New York Foundling, a 140-year-old children’s welfare organization established by the Sisters of Charity in New York City. The veteran educator and experienced fund-raiser lives in Verona with her husband, Louis. The couple has been married 25 years. Their son, Christopher, is a second-year law student at Pace University. Since her arrival in July, DeLuca has been both …

Name: Margie Sweet is the principal library assistant at the Bloomingdale Free Public Library. She is also the programs coordinator for adult programming. Sweet is in charge of acquisitions. “I order the books and the CDs,” she said. “I always tell people, ‘Don’t go buy a book. Come to the library. We can get you the book.’” Sweet also helps with educational programming by scheduling classes such as English, Spanish, computer skills and many others topics each semester. The English and Spanish classes meet weekly year-round. Others, like computer skills, “will start back up again in October…

Name: Carol Janicke and Janardan Vyas have worked in the Butler Post Office, on Main Street, for 25 years. The two started with the United States Postal System (USPS) in 1986, “a day or two apart,” said Janicke. “In the 80’s, this was the most secure job,” explained Vyas. Children: 63-year-old Vyas has two kids and four grandkids. “The grandchildren are 7, 6, 5, and 4,” he said. Life in Butler: Butler is both home and work for Janicke. She and her husband have been a part of the community for 27 years. Vyas, on the other hand, lives with his wife in central New Jersey. He commutes two hours a…

Name: Butler resident Vikki Anderson is an author, lecturer, radio talk show host, reverend and teacher. Her business, Feng Shui Moon, helps others to bring balance and harmony into their lives. “I’ve been teaching for 40 years,” said Anderson, whose classes have been held at venues throughout New Jersey, including the Butler Public Library and Fairleigh Dickenson University. “I have clients [and] I have students.” Anderson has studied metaphysical topics since she was 14 years old. She is an astrologer, tarot reader, interfaith minister, certified hypnotherapist, certified crystal therapist…

Name: Meg Gray is 39 and an active volunteer in Bloomingdale. “Everything I do involves the kids,” Gray said. Family: Gray and her husband, Christopher, moved to Bloomingdale 14 years ago.  “As married people, this is the only town we have lived in,” said Gray. The couple came to the borough because Gray’s sister, who has been in Bloomingdale 25 years, “lives right down the street,” she said. Children: Gray and her husband have two daughters, Alexandra, 10, and Sarah, 6. Current Activities: In addition to serving as a Girl Scout leader for her daughter’s Junior Girl Scout troop, Gray was the …

Name:  Clinton Ackerman, 90, and his wife, Ruth, 87, are a team. The couple, who once appeared on national television in a segment with Regis Philbin about marriage, enjoys life together. They have been married 64 years. “But don’t I get half time for engagement?” asked Ruth. “We were engaged five or six years.” Clinton is a Marine who served in both World War II and the Korean War. Ruth is a domestic engineer who makes her own clothing and raised three children. Both worked for E. I. Du Pont, in Pompton Lakes, making explosives. Marriage: Ruth, whose maiden name was also Ackerman, met …

Name: Det. Colleen Pascale, 40, has grown used to being a woman surrounded by men at work. At 19 she was the first female firefighter in Butler. “It was 99 men and myself,” Pascale said. “Then, in 1992, along with being on the fire department, I joined the Butler Police Department and I’ve been the only female here. So, for me, it’s just a matter of routine.” Today Pascale is the only woman, and the only detective, on the Butler Police force. Honor Legion: Pascale is also the only female police officer currently serving on the board of the Honor Legion of the Police Departments of the State …

Name: Marie Weber doesn’t need to be asked to volunteer. When the Kinnelon resident sees something that needs to be done, she often just does it. Recently she brought her clippers to the Kinnelon Public Library, in 80 degree weather, to cut the dead blooms off the pink rose bush out front. “I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes,” explained Weber. “I’ve been watching this bush for a while now, and I keep watching it, and nobody’s clipping it, or doing anything to it. So I told the library director, if it was okay with her, I would come and clip.” Years in Kinnelon: Weber, her husband and …

Name: Ron Leavesley retired from the corporate world and had begun consulting when he decided to take a course in painting at the Kinnelon Public Library’s Center for Lifelong Learning [CLL]. “I got involved with the library when I took an art course,” he said. “Then all of a sudden, I wound up being president of the organization, as well as the Friends of the Library. Since 1995 that’s what I’ve been doing.” Part of Town: In 1973, Leavesley became president of the Oral-B Toothbrush Company. Leavesley, his wife and three children relocated from New York state. Leavesley said he knew nothing …

Name: Greg Kassar, 53, is a gourmet chef with a culinary arts degree from Johnson and Wales University. This year, Kassar said he celebrates “40 years from the day I started” as a chef.  The Kinnelon resident is the owner of the catering firm A Chef’s Affaire and head chef at the Rockaway River Country Club, where he also manages the club's pool and concession stand seven days a week in the summer. Kassar works 70 to 90 hours a week, every week, he said. Kassar also runs Snack Bar Heaven, the gourmet snack shack at the Kinnelon recreation baseball field on Boonton Avenue. Menu: Along with …

Name: Laurence "Budd" Bennett was born on Gifford Street in Butler in 1911. “I’m 99 and 8 months,” said Bennett. The second of six children, Bennett received his nickname from his older sister. At 22 months, “she couldn’t say Laurence,” he said. “It’s stuck with me all these years.” Bennett will celebrate his 100th birthday on October 14. He claims not to know the secret of longevity, but says he eats everything, “I don’t think there’s anything I don’t like,” he noted. And “I have a glass of red wine every afternoon.” Married: Bennett married in 1936. “I was married 4 months short of 55 years…

Name: Carol Sventy has lived in Kinnelon 28 years. On May 25 she was awarded the Lakeland Hills Family YMCA Kinnelon Citizen of the Year Award. How Long in Town: Originally from Montclair, Sventy’s family moved to Michigan when she was five. She attended college in Virginia where she met her husband.  When they married, Sventy’s in-laws had an opportunity to work in Hong Kong and needed someone to run her mother-in-law’s antique business in Boonton. Sventy and her husband moved into her in-laws’ home in Kinnelon and ran the Boonton business. Later they purchased the home from her husband’s …

Name: Paula Kelly, 51, has been an administrative assistant in the Kinnelon school district for six years. Recently, she was awarded a Teachers Who Rock Award by the radio station WDHA 105.5. The station’s 3rd Annual North Jersey Teacher Awards program recognized 24 outstanding teachers and an Educational Support Professional. According to the WDHA website, “Educational Support Professionals (ESP) take care of our children every day and make sure they have the tools and resources to succeed in our schools and classrooms.” Kelly received a glass apple to commemorate being the 2011 North Jersey…