b'Celebrating the Notable People of MaplewoodPast and Present Dan Kaslow writes a compendiumBY ELLEN DONKERD anKaslowlovesresearch.Perhapsitcomesfromhistively reflecting the towns long many years as a consultant to midsize companies andheritage. The information is or-nonprofits where he had to come up to speed quicklyganized across an array of topics on an industry or business. He also loves Maplewood,all associated with some aspect where he has lived in the same house for 38 years. Heof Maplewoodthe organiza-says, When I meet people, and I talk about Maple- tions, clubs and religious groups wood, I sort of have to halt mid-conversation, because Ithe residents formed; the busi-can wax eloquent on how many things that are distinctive about Maplewood.nesses they created; the houses, He then proceeds to list what he loves about the town, from the school archi- communityandeducational tecture to the park system to the fact that no county road runs through Maple- facilitiestheybuilt;thetrans-wood Village, a rarity in New Jersey. portation modes they used; the Combininghistwopassions,KaslowwroteabookentitledMaplewoodroads and places they traveled; Dan Kaslow (R) has lived in Maplewood for 38 Compendium.A127-page,12-chapterbook,and the meaningful events theyyears, raising his children Chuck and Stephanie it is a collection of short biographies of hun- celebrated. here.dreds of Maplewood residents, past and pres- Readers will learn tidbits of ent, whose outstanding life accomplishments heMaplewoods history in ways they might not have thought about. For instance, considered notable. the Education section lists the education buildings in order of construction date Estimating that he devoted 700 hours to thestartingwiththeOldSchoolHouse project, Kaslow got started with what he callsandendingwithWyoming(South casual research: reading primary books on localMountain) Avenue School. The Roads history that added to the knowledge he had ac- sectionliststhelocalfamily-name quired in his years as a docent at Durand-Hed- streetssuchasCourterAvenueand denHouse.(HetaughtthechildrensschoolSalter Place. And the towns oldest ex-programthatfocusedonhowchildrenlivedisting business? Gefkens Florist.during the colonial era.) He says, I had no in- ItisKaslowshopethatthebook tention of a book at that point. It was going towill encourage readers to interact with be like a monograph that Id give to the library. And then as it built, you know,Maplewoodshistoryandbespurred one day (of research) would lead to three other names, which would lead to twoon to do their own inquiry. He says I businesses and four organizations.have tried to create a book for Maple-When the pandemic hit, Kaslow decided to devote his extra time to researchwood locals, former and current, that is his subjects more thoroughly. Most of it was done online since facilities such asfun and informative, to read and enjoy. the library and town hall were closed due to COVID restrictions. Eventually,But I also hope that I provided a use-his collection of information grew to 700 carefully researched entries and thatsful service and valuable resource for the when he knew he had a book on his hands.community.Kaslow writes in the books introduction that he created written snapshotsTheMaplewoodCompendiumis on many aspects of Maplewood, focusing on people and families with mini- This excerpt from the Compendiumavailableat Wordsbookstorefor$15 lists the local family-named streets in biographies of the earliest settlers to many who currently live in town, collec- Maplewood. and at the Maplewood Library.36/ matters magazine / winter 2023'