June 21
...serving up your daily dish.
It's not every day the Barista can wish someone a happy 100th birthday, but today, Glen Ridger Marion Brown enters the triple digits. A spry 100, we might add. She pops up out of her chair like a Jack-in-the-Box and, and is completely alert and talkative. Or should we say opinionated? "I don't like Glen Ridge anymore," says Marion, who was born on Winsor Place and now lives on Washington St. "I can't afford to live here anymore." And don't get her started on the subject of Hillary Clinton.
Marion Brown started the Animal League of Bloomfield-Glen Ridge in 1968 and has rescued and placed countless abandoned pets since then. And here's another complaint: she says the borough of Glen Ridge didn't offer any help. Freeman Gardens (a rose garden at the corner of Hawthorne and Maolis) was 
started the same year, she says, and got the support the animal group didn't. "Rose bushes are a lot more important than animals!" she huffs.
Marion's own dog, Itchy, is 19 years old -- that's 110 years old in dog years, according to this calculator.
As for the secret of her longevity, "Don't go to doctors." (Later, however, she praises Dr. Geraldine Meanor of Glen Ridge.) As for mental acuity, she swears by Ginkgo, which she's been taking since age 90. "I advise everybody to take that," she says.
June 21, 2005 in Major Dudes | Permalink
Happy Birthday Marion!
Thank goodness Corzine's "REAL Property Tax Plan" will put $62.40 more in her pocket, perhaps she'll be able to afford Glen Ridge again!
Posted by: Right of Center™ | Jun 21, 2005 9:31:53 AM
Can't even have a feel good human interest story without ROC turning it into a political diatribe. Predictable. You must be a lot of fun to live with if every birthday wish becomes a cause for political ranting.
Posted by: montclair_is_crazy | Jun 21, 2005 9:44:50 AM
What? huh? Marion mentioned how expensive it was to live in Glen Ridge. I am just spreading Corzine's "Good News". Diatribe?
Posted by: Right of Center™ | Jun 21, 2005 9:48:40 AM
What a neat lady! Happy birthday, Marion, from a fellow animal lover. :-)
Posted by: Miss Martta | Jun 21, 2005 9:52:16 AM
What a neat lady! Happy birthday, Marion, from a fellow animal lover. :-)
Posted by: Miss Martta | Jun 21, 2005 9:52:47 AM
(you'll also notice I assiduously avoided the Hillary bait. Diatribe?)
(p.s. why do you thinks those things are there? I am but the "snout" sniffing out Barista's "truffles" -'cmon)
Posted by: Right of Center™ | Jun 21, 2005 9:53:52 AM
since i have a 13-year old doggie, i'd like to know the secret to Itchy's longevity!
Posted by: E. | Jun 21, 2005 10:07:01 AM
I am but the "snout" sniffing out Barista's "truffles" -'cmon)
No, you are a garden variety bore. I'm sure your family members and friends, if you have any, stopped listening a long time ago. That's why you troll around here all day looking to make silly political points.
Posted by: montclair_is_crazy | Jun 21, 2005 10:09:21 AM
I truly wonder if Marion up there would think that an empty promise of property tax "reform" is a "silly" subject?
Though, considering her age, she has, no doubt, seen it many many times before!
Posted by: Right of Center™ | Jun 21, 2005 10:17:00 AM
Happy Birthday, Marion! What a sweet story...I hope Itchy and you both celebrate many more birthdays!
(ROC - Do you have a copy of that tax plan tucked under your mattress??)
Posted by: butchcjg | Jun 21, 2005 11:04:52 AM
Butch,
I can assure you nothing so cavernous as the "inside of a mattress" is required. The "plan" will fit comfortably under one of these or, more appropriately, inside any of these boxes.
Posted by: Right of Center™ | Jun 21, 2005 11:23:58 AM
Today while having a post-yoga snack at Raymond's (every time I go there,Bluestone looks better and better), I bumped into Bonnie, a shiatsu masseuse who has had her practice across the street for 10 years. She said she is moving to U.M., because Dick G just tripled her rent. She said that DG also convinced the Raymond's side of the street landlords to hike their rents too. She said the energy on the street has totally changed -- there's no spiritual energy anymore; just capitalism.
Who's going to rent these offices and stores when the rents triple? Who will shop there?
Posted by: Jessica | Jun 21, 2005 12:09:33 PM
"She said she is moving to U.M., because Dick G just tripled her rent. She said that DG also convinced the Raymond's side of the street landlords to hike their rents too. She said the energy on the street has totally changed -- there's no spiritual energy anymore; just capitalism."
This is abominable. The whole character of the town is changing...looks like I moved out at the right time.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Jun 21, 2005 12:54:12 PM
Anyone looking for "spiritual energy" at Bangz, Suzette's Creperie or other stores in the Hinck is sure to be disappointed, eventually. Either by erudition or commercial attrition will the "exit" door become clear.
Posted by: Right of Center™ | Jun 21, 2005 1:12:26 PM
"...looks like I moved out at the right time."
Whenever you say this, Miss Martta, it fills me with despair. Just wanted you to know.
Posted by: walleroo | Jun 21, 2005 1:21:44 PM
I haven't heard the term "spiritual energy" used when referring to for-profit businesses since about 1972. Thank you for letting me do the "Time Warp" again! (But the phrase still reads as silly and futile as ever.)
Posted by: cathar | Jun 21, 2005 2:42:46 PM
Thanks, Walleroo. I think. But I only moved 5 minutes away. This way, I can experience the good things about Montclair (the great restaurants, sidewalk events/festivals, the parks, the Montclair Book Center, etc.) while not having to deal with the bad (the parking, overzealous meter maids, snooty yuppies, sky-high rents).
Posted by: Miss Martta | Jun 21, 2005 4:58:36 PM
What a pistol!
I do take issue with her characterization of Freeman Gardens, though. I found wandering amongst the roses to be of great solace the year I moved here and was missing California terribly.
Posted by: Pam | Jun 21, 2005 6:22:00 PM
(But the phrase still reads as silly and futile as ever.)
This is definitely a comment with negative spiritual energy!
Posted by: Jessica | Jun 21, 2005 8:33:05 PM
Marion Brown is an institution and an inspiration! She is a living, breathing example of what one small, determined and STUBBORN person can accomplish when they are passionate about their cause. Because of Marion Brown and her Animal League, hundreds of lost, unwanted animals have found safe havens in foster homes and permanent, loving homes. She and her League are the forerunners of every other animal rescue group in the area. Most people got their start in animal rescue through Marion Brown.
Happy 100th Birthday to the unsinkable, intrepid, inspirational spit-fire Marion Brown!
Posted by: Karen | Jun 21, 2005 10:18:05 PM
Happy Birthday Marion! I don't know who you are, but I think the secret to longevity is to be opinionated, spunky and love animals! I wish you many more.
Posted by: MurphyEyes | Jun 22, 2005 9:09:45 AM
"She said she is moving to U.M., because Dick G just tripled her rent."
Jessica -
I just bumped into Dick G. on Church Street and asked him about the poor masseuse. He told me that this "poor" masseuse had a magnificent 1200 s.f. apartment with kitchen and bath and was paying a mere $950 a month - and that he gave the masseuse more than a year's notice to break her lease at her convenience. He also encouraged her to find a partner to share the rent. She decided to move to a much smaller space in Upper Montclair - near Talbot's - no bathroom - and will pay about the same rent she was paying Grabowsky.
Why doesn't Dick G. ever get a break?
Posted by: jack | Jun 22, 2005 11:02:01 PM
