events – Julie's Corner

Denville’s Haunted History Tour featured creepy tales from the town’s past. According to an introduction at the Denville Museum, all of these stories were based on official documents and police reports.

The stops on the tour seemed to have little to do with the stories themselves as much as they contributed to the ambiance. One of the first stories, about a man being buried alive beneath a Burger King, was told next to St. Francis, a senior living residence.

Wendy McDonald, one of the tour participants, said that she liked some of the older history, like the idea that St. Francis was built in place in an old mansion and parts of that building are still visible.

McDonald’s husband, Danny, said that he liked learning more about the town in general. “I love Denville,” he said, “I like the history of it. It’s interesting.”

#Denvillehaunted https://t.co/ZQnOWG68x1

— Julie Trien (@SHUSocialJulie) October 26, 2018

Stories ranged from historical factoids to unexplained disappearances. However, a tour that was meant to be creepy turned out to be a heartwarming display of community.

About 15 minutes and to live tweeting this tour, I hit a bump in the sidewalk and was sent flying from my wheelchair into Diamond Spring Road. One of the tour assistants and my high school history teacher, Peter Zablocki, had been helping my mom and I navigate through the various terrains, from grass to concrete.

When I fell, he and the McDonalds ran over to help. In a remarkable stroke of luck, Danny McDonald is a volunteer firefighter and EMT. His wife is a special education teacher. Danny quickly checked me for injuries and, with the help of the others, lifted me back into my wheelchair.

The McDonalds said they would help me catch up to the tour.

In the next moment, Sgt. Dennis Subrizi, who was my high school’s student resource officer, pulled up beside us, saying he got a call about the incident. When he recognized me, he smiled and said that he would give us a police escort until we reached the group again. This allowed us to walk in the road, where the terrain was easier to roll over.

The McDonald’s broke into a full sprint, Wendy scanning the ground with her flashlight for cracks while Danny pushed the wheelchair and my mom ran beside us.

We eventually caught up for the tour in time to hear about a suit of armor on display at the museum. I was so busy profusely thanking the couple that I barely heard the story. Wendy said that, when she and Danny first saw us walking, Danny immediately expressed a desire to help so they hung back in case they were needed.

That innate desire to help shocked me and moves me to tears even as I write this. The tour was about Denville’s history but, to me, it’s people like the ones I encountered at this event that define the community of Denville.

Barbara Goldberg, a corespondent for Reuters, will be speaking at 6:30 p.m. in Nursing Room 105. All journalism and public relations students are encouraged to attend. However, this talk is open to all. She will be speaking about how social media plays a role in modern-day reporting.

Reuters is an international news wire service, similar to the Associated Press. The media outlet was founded in 1850 and since then, has garnered award-winning coverage. In 2017 alone, two of its pieces were finalists for a Pulitzer Prize.

According to Victor Jeffrey Serote, the organization’s coverage is widespread. Reuters boasts a staff of approximately 2,400 reporters in nearly 150 countries. The website also claims that Reuters is “the worlds largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day.”

Serote also wrote that, because Reuters corespondents are stationed all over the world, deadlines do not exist at the organization. There is an understanding that stories and other components such as video and photography are due as soon as possible. Serote suggested that this understanding among reporters creates a 24-hour schedule where news is constantly flowing into the organization and being put out.

Reuters’ coverage seems to show a fair deal of variety. It covers everything from economics and politics to entertainment. For example, as of today, the homepage of the Reuters website features stories such as “Turkey demands to know who ordered ‘savage’ Khashoggi killing” to “Caterpillar’s shares tumble on disappointing profit outlook.”

According to Barbara Goldberg’s Twitter account, she covers news in the Northeast region. She seems to frequently feature the work of other journalists on her page, from Reuters to The New York Times.