The Best Places To Live

Imagine beautiful streets lined with lovely homes, top-rated schools, wonderful parks, vibrant downtowns, restaurants, theatres, symphonies, museums, Mid-Town Direct access to New York City. Doesn’t this sound like the perfect place to live? Well good news–if you live in one of the towns served by Lois Schneider Realtor, then you’re already there! And if you’re not familiar with our towns, we’d love to take you on a video tour. This week we are featuring the towns of Summit and Chatham. With the help of the wonderful crew YouHere Productions, you can see why we love being part of these communities.

At Lois Schneider Realtor, we’ve always known that the towns we serve are some of the best towns in New Jersey. That’s why we live here, work here and play here. And now, thanks to NJ Monthly Magazine, everyone else will know what we’ve known all along.

This month, NJ Monthly Magazine released its “Best Places To Live” issue, complete with rankings for 513 towns throughout the state of New Jersey. We are proud that so many of the towns we serve are in the top 100! #7-Berkeley Heights, #15-Chatham Township, #16-Summit, #21-New Providence, #31-Chatham Borough, #37-Madison, #51-Millburn/Short Hills, and #77-Harding Township.

For complete rankings, visit the NJ Monthly website at www.njmonthly.com, or pick up a copy at your favorite newsstand!

Think Local First

The sun is shining, the sky is blue, the humidity is low…a perfect day to head outdoors and walk the town. And if you are strolling from local business to local business this afternoon, you are sure to notice posters, buttons, even gift tags branded with the clear reminder that local is where it’s at! Shop LOCAL, dine LOCAL, gift LOCAL, celebrate LOCAL, sustain LOCAL, grow LOCAL, connect LOCAL…the list goes on!

The City of Summit, in partnership with the Summit Environmental Commission, announced the “Think Local First” campaign earlier this Spring and held a great “Walk the Town Friday” event on June 3rd, where local merchants and business owners showed support for the campaign by offering specials, promos, gifts, and giveaways! Sustainable Jersey helped to fund the campaign with a small grant; and, thanks to residents Amy Cairns Harrison and Debra Trisler, promotional materials and a “Think Local First” toolkit were made available to local merchants.

The initiative is similar to the popular “3/50 Project” that reminds us that we can help sustain our local economies simply by spending $50 per month in 3 local businesses that we would hate to see disappear. Summit’s “Think Local First” campaign takes it one more step by asking residents to consider ALL local businesses first, before heading to the malls or the big box stores or the chain restaurants. We are blessed with local merchants that are our neighbors and friends, and that give back to our community not only with their tax dollars, but with the time and financial support that they donate to our schools, artistic endeavors, theatres, hospital, and non-profit and charitable organizations.

As an independent business with deep roots in Summit, Lois Schneider Realtor is committed to joining other local business owners in an effort to keep our town the vibrant, interesting, service-oriented and customer-friendly community that it has always been.

So, the next time you need to find the perfect outfit, meet friends for lunch, pick up some medication for a sick child, go on a dinner date, send your teenagers to the movies, sign up for an exercise class, celebrate with a special bottle of champagne, order wedding invitations, or choose a wonderful gift, won’t you please “Think Local First”?

Dinner And A Show

One of the best things (and there are many!) about Summit, New Jersey, is its proximity to New York City.  Because of this, residents of Summit often take advantage of the Mid-Town Direct train line or the easily accessible major highways and head to Manhattan for dinner and a show.  But this weekend, dinner and a show can be experienced right here in town.  Downtown Summit is home to an array of wonderful restaurants, with Italian, Indian, Middle Eastern, and American cuisine as just a few of the international dining options.  For a more detailed list, visit the Downtown Summit web site.

After dinner, round out your evening by heading over to Summit High School to catch the show.  Last night, students from Summit High School debuted their production of the Mel Brooks Tony Award Winning musical The Producers, and performances will continue through Saturday night.  The musical is about a producer and his accountant who collaborate to create a Broadway show so bad that it is sure to flop, thus allowing them to run off with the surplus cash from their investors.  The show’s director, Anne Poyner, is quoted in an article by Rayna Lewis for Summit Patch, as saying this is one of  the “best shows we’ve ever done,” with the cast of 55 bringing energy and excitement to their roles. Poyner adds, “this is absolutely the right show for this group because we have so many talented, funny kids this year and this allowed them to shine.”

Summit High School is no stranger to great performances either.  For the last four years, Summit has been entered into the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Competition, and in 2007, the school was honored with 7 out of 18 awards, including Best Overall Production, for their production of  Titanic.  100 New Jersey high schools enter the competition, and are judged in a variety of categories.  Final nominees get to perform on the Paper Mill Playhouse stage at the Awards Gala Ceremony.  For more information, visit www.papermill.org.

Come out and show your support for our local aspiring performers.  Shows will be performed Thursday, March 4th-Saturday, March 6th at 7:30 pm.  Tickets can be purchased online at www.summit-nj-online.com or for more information, call (908) 918-2122.

A Breakfast a Week for a Year!

On Tuesday, February 16th, the first 100 guests at the opening of the new Manhattan Bagel in Summit, NJ, will receive coupons for 52 free breakfasts–that’s one breakfast every week for a full year! Hurry on down to 25 Union Place (between Beechwood Road and Summit Avenue) and support our newest local business!  Doors open for commuters at 5:30 am…will you be the first in line?

Post a comment and let us know if you were a winner at the Grand Opening of Manhattan Bagel in Summit!