Community
The Township of Washington offers various sports activities - baseball, softball, football, cheerleading and soccer - which are played at the numerous parks and fields throughout the town. Clark Field includes a little league baseball field with two large dugouts and electronic scoreboard, a basketball court, a playground, sandbox, and a concession stand. The playground has many slides, monkey bars, games, gliders, fire poles, regular swings, baby swings, and a tire swing. Memorial Field is in the center of the township and provides facilities for multiple use: baseball, softball, soccer and youth football. Adjacent to the Washington Elementary School, it also includes a recreation building with concession stand and a covered picnic pavilion.
As the township does not provide for any recreational pool service, the Washington Township Recreation Club (WTRC) fills this void. Membership at the Washington Township Recreation Club, more commonly known as the 'swim club' or 'pool', is not limited to township residents and is open to any individual or family who wishes to join. In addition to the Olympic sized outdoor pool, the WTRC also offers a game room and picnic area. Additional recreational facilities include the Bergen County YJCC, offering fitness programs, indoor swimming and a variety of classes for all denominations. The town also has a privately-owned Racquet and Health Club.
Schlegel Lake, once referred to as Schlegel's Pond and commonly referred to as Washington Lake, is a 28-acre (110,000 m2) artificial body of water privately owned and managed by the Washington Lake Association (WLA) since 1947, whose members have exclusive rights to use of the pond and surrounding property. WLA members may enjoy fishing, boating, picnicking, nature observation, etc.
Washington Town Center is a shopping mall located in the center of town, on Pascack Road. Stores include A&P, Rite Aid, PNC Bank, a Post Office and several restaurants and shops along with a movie theater which offers a variety of theatrical films. Due to high rents, approximately half of the available store fronts remain empty. The privately held Washington Town Center is the township's single largest tax payer. Through a quirk in the town's tax code, the not for profit Washington Township Recreation Club remains the township's second largest taxpayer.
The Township of Washington has its own TV station, WCTV, Washington Community Television, composed entirely of all volunteers. The non-profit, community access group provides a 24/7 electronic bulletin board telecast over several cable systems in surrounding towns and provides live programming and coverage of local events and activities on the Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable tv channels. WCTV provides coverage of a variety of high school sporting events and its volunteers have been honored for their efforts.
As the township does not provide residential trash pickup service, residents must pay for trash pickup services though a choice of several private garbage companies.
Read more about this topic: Washington Township, Bergen County, New Jersey
Famous quotes containing the word community:
“There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies.”
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965)
“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
—Aldo Leopold (1886–1948)
“When a language creates—as it does—a community within the present, it does so only by courtesy of a community between the present and the past.”
—Christopher Ricks (b. 1933)