Dan DePalma at the Giants ticker-tape parade on Tuesday

It looks as if the Giants are pleased with Dan DePalma’s help in getting the team prepared for its Super Bowl victory. ESPN is reporting that the Giants have re-signed DePalma and eight other players on their practice squad as free agents.

In addition to DePalma, ESPN says the other players are running back Andre Brown, quarterback Ryan Perrilloux, defensive back Brandon Bing, offensive lineman Selvish Capers, defensive tackle Dwayne Hendricks, tight end Christian Hopkins, wide receiver Isaiah Stanback and defensive end Adrian Tracy.

The service will be on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Church, which is on North Fullerton Avenue between Bloomfield and Claremont.

The full obituary is here. There is a request that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Brady and Caroline Swanstrom College Trust, P.O. Box 1, Millburn, N.J. 07041.

This past week against Livingston, Nutley, Columbia and Golda Och Academy, Farrell scored 65 points, with nine 3 pointers. Farrell put up 12 points in the most recent 44-33 Verona victory against Golda Och, which seems almost like slacking when you compare it to the 23 points he scored against Columbia on February 4, the 21 points he scored on Nutley and the 26 points he got in the 58-44 win over Montclair Immaculate. In the 12 games he has played this season, Farrell has piled up 169 points and hauled down 23 rebounds. For this, Brian Farrell is this week’s Verona Sports Boosters Senior Athlete of the Week.

When not dressed in maroon and white, Farrell plays for the highly competitive NJ Crusaders AAU basketball team. He is being recruited to play basketball by Drew University, the University of Scranton,
Ithaca College, Hartwick College, Connecticut College, and Randolph-Macon University, where Verona High School graduate Tim Lawrence is an assistant coach.  In the spring, Farrell will trade basketball sneakers–briefly–for tennis sneakers. As a sophomore, he was part of a doubles team that clinched a key match in Verona’s state sectionals victory.

During the 2011-2012 school year, the Verona Sports Boosters will be recognizing a different senior athlete at Verona High School every week. The Boosters support male and female athletes in all VHS sports through a variety of fundraisers and recognition events.

The large window to the left may be from Tiffany.

By unanimous acclaim on Monday evening, the Verona Town Council designated the Verona United Methodist Church as a town landmark.

The church, located at the corner of Montrose Avenue and Hill Streets, was built in 1909 and is a so-called Akron Plan structure. Some of the interior walls can be raised or lowered with pulleys to change how much space is available for worship or Sunday school classes. The Verona Landmarks Preservation Commission, which had pushed the designation, told the Council that the New Jersey Historical Commission was “astounded” to learn that the church’s pulley system was still intact. Windows in the church have been tentatively attributed to the workshop of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Pulleys in the bell tower help raise and lower the interior walls.

The present church was the second building for Verona’s Methodist community, which the Landmarks commission says was the first congregation to organize in Verona, back in 1833.

In granting the Methodist Church landmark status, the Council makes it possible for the church to seek landmark designation by the state and access to larger, state-level historic preservation funds.

The Methodist Church is the second structure to be landmarked in Verona, which is done with the express consent of property owners. In February 2010, the Council designated the Erie Railroad Freight Shed at 62 Depot Street. While landmark status will not prevent an historic structure from ever being demolished, it will ensure that proper procedures are followed for changes to that building.

And now it’s the first Monday in a new month and we have a new contest photo to share. But where, oh where, did Fred Goode take it?

If you’re a Where In Verona veteran, you know the drill. If you’re a newbie to the contest, here are the rules: Put your best guess about the photos we show you in the Comments field below, along with your real name and real e-mail address. (Don’t worry, we won’t show your e-mail address to the world or sell it to spammers.) Every so often during the week we will add more photos to the contest in progress, so be sure to bookmark this page and check back often.

If you guess correctly, you will win a newly designed “Where In Verona” T-shirt.

UPDATE: We’ve added a second third fourth photo to the slideshow.

[Show as slideshow]

Dan DePalma with Verona cousin David Karpinski at the Timex Performance Center where the Giants practice.

The world looks very different when seen from the field after your son’s team wins the Super Bowl. Just ask Diane DePalma.

We reached her on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis just after she and her husband had caught up with their son,  Dan DePalma, a member of the practice squad for the team that just won the biggest game in football. After Ahmad Bradshaw scored what would turn out to be the winning touchdown in the 21-17 game, family members started to make their way to the field. Diane DePalma says she didn’t even see the Patriots’ final effort but she did hear the noise. “We heard the cheers and we knew things were going our way,” she said.

And somehow, in all the chaos on the field, the DePalmas found their son and gave him a big hug. “He said, ‘Mom, I’m getting a Super Bowl ring’,” Diane DePalma said.

Indeed.

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray and Verona Police Chief Douglas Huber have announced that the Essex County Prosecutor’s Major Crimes Task Force is investigating a death in Verona, NJ on Saturday, February 4, 2012.

At approximately 8:00 a.m., the Verona Police Department responded to a residence on Linden Avenue on a request for medical assistance. The arriving officers observed an unresponsive female, subsequently identified as Kellie Swanstrom, age 41, in the basement of the residence. Swanstrom, who resided in the home with her family, was pronounced dead a short time later.

Swanstrom’s body was subsequently taken to the Regional Medical Examiner’s Office in Newark. The cause of death is still pending at this time, according to Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas S. Fennelly, of the Prosecutor’s Homicide Unit.

Bands like Angmar, Feux Johnny, Fusion, Leo’s Arrow, The Loop and Where Eagles Dare from Verona, and NaH from Little Falls (they have cousins in Verona). Take a minute to get to know the bands, and the artist who won the contest to design this year’s logo.

THE ARTIST
VHS senior Tim Hatcher took his first graphic arts class this year, and it turned into him becoming the winning artist for the competition to design the Cops & Rockers logo.  “I started out trying to make something with a skull and crossbones and it looked awful,” he says. The final design evolved from random sketches of instruments–amply critiqued by his friend and fellow senior Kate Percevault.” As Hatcher and the other graphic students finished their work, it was posted to an internal Web site where students could vote anonymously for their favorites. Hatcher’s design advanced, but he didn’t think much of it. And then one day he got called down to the office of VHS Principal Glenn Cesa. “I show up and a police officer is there,” says Hatcher. “They asked me, with straight faces, to sit down,” he recalls. “And then they both started laughing and told me I won the competition. It was priceless.” Hatcher’s design was used on the tickets and posters, and you can buy it on a T-shirt tonight at the show.

THE BANDS

ANGMAR
If you were at last year’s show, you remember Angmar, a wild, loud ride of heavy metal and heavy showmanship. If you know your Tolkien, you’ve already guessed that the band’s name comes from Lord of the Rings:  Angmar is the mythical place where the Witch King resides. Though the bands in the Cops & Rockers were only required to perform one original song, all of Angmar’s are its own creations. The titles are “Fallen, Forgotten”, “As Shadows Rise”, and “Tiamat”. When not at Cops & Rockers, band members Conor Lawless, Brian Fong, Tyler Butkovsky and Ryan Cardoza perform anywhere they can, including most recently Champions Bar and Grill in Trenton. You can download the demo of “Fallen, Forgotten” here.

FEUX JOHNNY
“Feux” is a French term used before the name of someone who has passed on. We’re not sure who Johnny was, but Feux Johnny is Giancarlo Cordasco, Alex Campbell and Patrick Cichetti. Inspired by California funk, the band likes to play funk covers like tunes from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

FUSION
The name is Fusion, as in a melding of musical interests and they were the winners of last year’s Cops & Rockers.  “We were impressed that we won,” says vocalist Austin Williams. “We were the only band that had any freshmen and we were almost entirely freshmen. In addition to Williams, now a sophomore, the band includes Steve Wynen, Andrew Capuano, Nick Celfo and Ryan Yeates.  They are going to be performing an original song “I Want To Be” and covers of “The Anthem”, “Dying in your Arms”, and “Monkey Wrench”. Since winning Cops & Rockers 2011, they have performed at the Presbyterian church in Montclair, Battle of the Bands in Sparta, Our Lady of the Lake’s Kinderfest and some private parties. As a result,  the band is promising an amped-up stage presence this year. “We’ll be doing much more of a performance than a list of songs,” says Yeates. And the band, several of whose members perform in the regular VHS band, has focused on getting their music tight. “All that training from Mr. Lynch comes in handy,” says Williams. (Listen to a song)

Angmar: Tyler Butkovsky, Conor Lawless, Ryan Cardoza, Brian Fong,

LEO’S ARROW
Watching Evan Yee, Mike Bartell, Matt Bartell, Patrick Sullivan and Torsten Kolind on stage, you might not think that, around VHS, they are thought of as quiet guys. The band, which got its name after a flash of cell phone messages about lions, draws its inspiration from groups as diverse as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Vampire Weekend, Weezer, and even a Japanese band they discovered through YouTube. Their original song is entitle “Home”. “Mike came up with a good guitar line and we decided to build a song around it,” says Yee. They’ll be doing covers of “My Own Worst Enemy”, “Dammit” and “Handlebars”. This is their second Cops & Rockers, and they are gunning for the big prize. “If people haven’t seen us perform, they should,” says Sullivan.

THE LOOP
The Loop loops together musicians from middle school through through college: Theresa Courter, Joey and Nick Fierro, Chris Ehrich and Chris Buneo. The made a splash at Kinderfest last fall after performing at summer parties around town. Their original song is called “Drowning in Reality” and Courter says the lyrics were inspired by her first semester at college. “I was overwhelmed, but it all ends on a good note”, she says. Their covers will be “I Love Rock and Roll”, “The Ocean” (band members are big Led Zeppelin fans) and a rock version Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”. Courter, who goes by the stage name Tersa, just recorded a demo at a studio in Montclair. Look for it on iTunes.

NAH
NaH got its name during an 8th grade talent show in their home town of Little Falls. “We were interviewed,” recalls member Ben Shooter, “and upon being asked if we had a band name, one of us replied ‘nah’.” The band’s members all attend Passaic Valley High School, and play in its band and jazz band programs. Their original song tonight is “The Best Of You” and it was inspired by Guns n’ Roses and Saigon Saloon. Their covers are “Monolithic” and “The Time Warp”, from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Shooter and band members RJ Challice, and Zach Thomas, have played at Waynestock, Hey Jude and The Fine Grind in Little Falls, and the Canvas Clash in Boonton.

 WHERE EAGLES DARE
The band’s name? It’s the title of a song by Iron Maiden and The Misfits, and last year, they dared to take their first try at Cops & Rockers last year. Comprised of seniors Isaac Rubins, Dom Gagliano and Mike Basil and sophomore Nick Celfo, the band says that what they learned from that experience is that, says Gagliano, “it’s all about having fun and playing good music.” Their original song is called “Lunch Break”, written by Rubins and a follow up to an instrumental the band wrote last year, “Bathroom Break”. Their covers are “Am I Evil?”, “A Passage to Bangkok” and “No Remorse”.

Seven teen bands will take the stage (two were lost to illness and school commitments). You’ll get to hear them all and vote, by cell phone for your favorite. You can get ready to vote right now by following MyVeronaNJ.com’s Twitter page, where we’ll be broadcasting all the voting. (If you don’t have an unlimited texting plan on your phone, standard message rates will apply.) The doors open at 5 p.m. and the music starts at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 and will be available at the door.

Cummings has played in 11 games for the Hillbilly girls’ basketball team this season, and she has come away with points in all but two. In Verona’s victory over Cedar Grove last week, Cummings put up six points of the 30-28 final score.

Basketball isn’t the only sport she has played at Verona High School, where she has also been a fairly consistent presence on the honor rolls, too. Co-Captain Cummings was a key part of the defense for the Verona girls soccer team that went all the way to the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 1 title. Along the way, she had a hand in nine shutouts.

During the 2011-2012 school year, the Verona Sports Boosters will be recognizing a different senior athlete at Verona High School every week. The Boosters support male and female athletes in all VHS sports through a variety of fundraisers and recognition events.

Dan DePalma with Verona cousin David Karpinski at the Timex Performance Center where the Giants practice.

When he was a kid playing for the Verona Eagles and Verona High School Hillbillies, Dan DePalma was a huge fan of the Giants. But he never, ever imagined that he would be a huge fan playing for the Giants and traveling with the Giants to a huge game–the Super Bowl.

And yet, on Monday afternoon that was exactly where he was: On the ground in Indianapolis, getting ready to help the Giants take on–scratch, make that defeat–the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. “I’m playing for my childhood team,” he said in an interview Sunday night. “This is a dream come true.”

A dream with a lot of hard work behind it, which DePalma readily acknowledges.  “I had a goal to make it to the NFL,” he said. “The mind is a very powerful weapon if you put it to work.”

This week, he will be using his mind to get inside the minds of Patriots’ receivers Wes Welker and Julian Edelman. As a member of the Giants’ practice squad, it is DePalma’s task to imitate both players to help his teammates to learn how to foil them. “We’re trying to eliminate the surprise,” he says, “and the more we do that, the better. You only get one shot at this,” he says of the big game, “and I want to make sure that I have done everything I can for my team.”

Come Sunday, DePalma will have the closest view of the Giants of anybody from Verona–but he won’t be the only Veronan in Lucas Oil Stadium. The Giants have invited his parents to be among the family members attending the game. “My parents are extremely excited and proud,” he says. “I’m glad they can experience the game with me. The Giants are a great organization to do this for our families.”

And for those in Verona who helped him along the way and who’ll be watching the game, DePalma has this message: “I will make you proud.”

Home page photo by Marianne O’Leary via Flickr

UPDATE: Indianapolis station RTV6 caught a few seconds of DePalma dancing the salsa on Super Bowl Media Day on Tuesday. Much different motion than our video of DePalma at the Jets-Eagles game.