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North Jersey officials marked the Oradell Reservoir Dam's 100 years of providing drinking water to Bergen and Hudson counties on Wednesday.

“The dam and the reservoir that it creates provides a really reliable drinking water source," said Alan Weland, the vice president and general manager of Veolia New Jersey, the for-profit utility that operates the reservoir and provides drinking water to nearly 1 million customers in North Jersey. Without it, he said, North Jersey "as it exists today couldn’t be the way it is.”

Bergen County Executive James Tedesco called the dam an “essential component of New Jersey’s water infrastructure.”

'Amazing engineering feat'

At the turn of the 20th century, entrepreneurs began developing a system to provide safe drinking water to a growing population in North Jersey. The Hackensack Water Company, now known as Veolia, already served about 100,000 people. But the area soon needed a larger reservoir to supply high-quality water for a post-war boom.

Work began on a 250 million-gallon reservoir in 1901. Between 1911 and 1923, laborers took on an “amazing engineering feat” to replace a wooden dam with a 23-foot-tall concrete structure that “has stood the test of time” for a century in Oradell, Weland said. “The structure was built to withstand all conditions while meeting an ever-increasing demand.”

By the time it was completed in 1923, the concrete dam was 402 feet long and 23 feet high and could hold 3.5 billion gallons of water.

Today, an average of 98 million gallons a day are drawn from the Oradell. The highest single-day draw was 163 million gallons on July 22, 2011. “The growth and development of this water company over 150 years made possible the growth and development of Bergen County," said Mary Amoroso, a Bergen County commissioner. "Without this water, we would not be thriving and growing as we have been.”

The existing reservoir can hold 3.5 billion gallons of water.

More:A third of N.J.'s most critical dams need repairs

Biodiversity projects to protect the watershed

Beyond providing water, the reservoir is home to 12 types of fish and is visited by other wildlife. Veolia has implemented biodiversity projects as one method to preserve the watershed. People can also enjoy recreation on the Hackensack River, which the dam contains, with the installation two years ago of a kayak launch.

“We've now given access to a body of water that no one ever had access to," Tedesco said. "And now people get to see the beauty of this section of the river that no one was able to.”

Veolia’s team works daily to maintain the dam and reservoir, and officials praised the century-long efforts of people who kept the system alive and well. Tedesco recalled their ongoing efforts and “significant progress” to bring “truly clean” drinking water to people when the county announced that lead was present in the water.

Flooding vs. protecting water supply

Many residents in towns surrounding the Hackensack River, including Oradell, where the dam is, were affected by flooding last year. At the time, Tedesco urged Veolia — then called Suez Water — to mitigate flooding after the watershed surged twice within seven months. Water levels in the river reached 6 feet after Hurricane Ida’s aftermath caused flooding across the region.

Rich Henning, then the executive vice president of communications for Suez, said there's a misconception that the company's reservoirs function like a flood-control dam. Rather, they're constructed as water supply dams that the utility wants as full as possible so that "we have the water when we need it the most."

More:Bergen blames Suez for flood damage, saying utility should warn of brimming reservoirs

Unintended consequences for Meadowlands

The dam's construction had unintended consequences down the river. The Hackensack River is tidal, flowing into Newark Bay and ultimately the Atlantic. Since the Oradell Dam was built, it has held back some of the Hackensack's freshwater flow downstream, which has allowed saltwater from New York Harbor and Newark Bay to reach farther up into the Meadowlands.

As a result, the Meadowlands was transformed from a freshwater marsh into a tidal saltwater one, destroying large stands of Atlantic cedar trees.

The Oradell Reservoir Dam turned 100 and Veolia — the utility company that owns and operates the dam — celebrated the milestone Wednesday, noting its importance in the growth of Northern New Jersey.

Without the reservoir, company officials said, North Jersey would look much different than it does today. Oradell is a vital water supply that provides 35 billion gallons of water annually to nearly 1 million residents and businesses across Bergen and Hudson counties, including Fair Lawn, Hackensack, Hasbrouck Heights, Wood- Ridge, Teterboro and Paramus

“Today we celebrate the Oradell Dam as an engineering feat that has withstood the test of a century, and we also recognize the people at our company and in our communities who had the foresight to build it,” said Alan Weland, Vice President and General Manager of Veolia’s operations in New Jersey. “Without a reliable source of drinking water, North Jersey would not exist as we know it today.”

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Weland was joined by Bergen County Executive James Tedesco, Oradell Mayor Dianne Didio and other state and local officials, who spoke about the importance of the dam to the region.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Rep. Bill Pascrell, Hudson County Executive Thomas DeGise and numerous other elected officials honored the company with proclamations commemorating the dam's 100 years of service.

“For a century, the Oradell Reservoir has been the source of clean drinking water for residents and businesses in Bergen and Hudson counties,” Tedesco said. “Unless you have been to the plant and see what happens on a 24-hour basis, you don't know the amount of effort and the quality of the work that's done by the employees here."

The reservoir that would become essential to the state's water supply had humble beginnings. In 1892, the Hackensack Water Company, now known as Veolia, was serving 100,000 people, a population that would quadruple over the next two decades. To meet this demand, the company expanded the reservoir.

In the early 1920s, work began on another expansion to satisfy the needs of a postwar population boom. By the time the dam was completed in 1923, the concrete dam was 402 feet long, 23 feet high and could hold 3.5 billion gallons of water.

Today, an average of 98 million gallons a day are drawn from the Oradell to meet the needs of North Jersey. The highest single day draw? That record — 163 million gallons — was set on July 22, 2011.

“The growth and development of this water company over 150 years made possible the growth and development of Bergen County. Without this water we would not be thriving and growing as we have been,” Bergen County Commissioner Mary Amoroso said. “I congratulate Veolia on the 100th anniversary of the wonderful dam."

As the community grew, the water system grew,” Weland said. “It is an integral part of our community here, including the economic health of our community as well as public health.”

ORADELL — A hole in the roof of the Blauvelt Mansion that alarmed preservationists has been repaired, but there are lingering worries about the fate of the historic mansion.

The shingle-style, 25-room estate, which sits atop a long grassy hill on Kinderkamack Road at Soldier Hill Road, has been in limbo for years. CareOne, a network of assisted living facilities, had contracted with the mansion's former owner, Jeffrey Wells, to build an assisted-care facility on the property’s front lawn in 2007, but two proposals have been rejected by the borough.

CareOne bought the property outright in a foreclosure auction in 2013, and no new plans for the site have been proposed since.

In recent weeks, residents complained about the condition of the property. Stephen Depken, the borough’s construction official, spoke with a representative of CareOne, who let him inspect the exterior last month. He discovered a hole in the roof and a possible infestation of animals.

Last Friday, representatives from CareOne said the entry point into the building had been fixed by an animal control officer and a roofer, and "the situation has been resolved."

JoAnn Young, a member of the Oradell Historical Committee who has been leading the charge to preserve the estate, over the weekend replaced her “Save the Blauvelt Mansion” sign along Kinderkamack Road for the fourth time, highlighting how long the effort to ensure the historical home is preserved has gone on.

"It's a landmark in Bergen County and Oradell," Young said. "We really hope it's preserved and will be there forever."

Young is worried about the state of the building, especially the interior, which she hasn't seen in years. She is concerned that raccoons may have entered through the hole in the roof and possibly made nests in the third floor of the mansion. She's also concerned about ivy that’s been growing on the front wall of the mansion, which could damage and weaken the stone foundation.

Young is hoping that one of the mansion highlights, a double staircase, with turn-of-the-20th-century carved banisters, and a wooden balcony on the second floor that matches the staircase, had not been damaged as a result of the hole and possible rodent infestation.

Young's dream for the Blauvelt Mansion would have the property become a community center. She said she would love to see local nonprofits share a space on the second floor to allow them to be closer to the communities they serve, and maybe even a small restaurant in it to host benefits.

There was a renewed effort in 2019 urging community members to reach out to Bergen County commissioners to continue discussions on the preservation of the mansion, but nothing new seemed to have come from this effort.

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At one point, it seemed the county might be interested in purchasing the mansion from CareOne. Discussions between the county and CareOne concerning the mansion date back to 2016, when then-Freeholder John Felice said, "The county is working diligently [with CareOne] to see if there is a way that they can incorporate some type of partnership in keeping the Blauvelt and the great lawn there and using it for a different purpose."

It's unclear where these negotiations stand now. A call to the Preservation Section of the Bergen County Parks Department was not returned, and representatives from CareOne did not comment.

Mayor Dianne Didio said she has not heard any news about where talks are between the county and CareOne, but added that she would like to see the property preserved.

"It's been a very long process and I'm hopeful something good will come of it," Didio said. "I hope that someone will step in and take it over and restore it, but it's not something that the borough can afford to do."

Stephanie Noda is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Noreen Springstead remembers what led to her first job after she graduated from Rutgers University.

"Originally, I thought I was going to go into the Peace Corps, and then I ended up getting married at a fairly young age, at 23, so I wanted to have a job, have a career that would make a difference," Springstead said.

That first job was in 1992 as an administrative assistant sitting at the front desk of the New York City office of WhyHunger, a nonprofit founded in 1975 as World Hunger Year by singer-songwriter Harry Chapin and radio personality Bill Ayres.

Springstead, now 50, never left. The Oradell native and current New Milford resident has served as executive director of the organization since 2015.

The founders of World Hunger Year sought to end hunger and poverty by supporting grass-roots movements and community solutions. Today, WhyHunger is known for its annual Hungerthon campaign, running this year through Dec. 12, to raise money through concerts and radio programs, among other ways.

Springstead, a mother of three, spoke to NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network New Jersey about WhyHunger and the challenges of her work.

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Q. What are some accomplishments for WhyHunger under your term as executive director?

I will give numbers in the past five years: We've invested about $2 million in 355 front-line organizations that are really providing solutions to hunger in their communities. We've helped 2.4 million children access healthy meals. We've connected 1.4 million families to healthy food. And we've trained 104,000 farmers in sustainable food growing, what is called agro-ecology.

Q. What has kept you at WhyHunger?

I have a really long view on what it's going to take to solve social problems and it's not an easy fix, and it's been really adventurous all along the way. I have traveled the world; I've worked with incredible people in the context of community and community efforts. And I have had incredible opportunities to work with some of the greatest musicians, who are drawing attention to hunger in America and around the world through Hungerthon and in other ways.

Q. Can you talk about how hunger affects the area where you live and grew up?

This is what's going to surprise people: The Center for Food Action in New Jersey [also founded by Chapin and Ayres and based in Englewood], who they help and the families they help. These are suburban and somewhat affluent towns — 45 people in Allendale [2017 numbers], that's an affluent town; 207 people in Ridgewood. I can point to maybe some of the more obvious ones: Lodi [3,241], Garfield [7,489]. Ninety-eight people in Northvale.

Q. How has doing this work for half your life changed you?

Everybody is so anxious, there's so much horrible news, and I get up to go to work every day to really do something positive in the world and get to see some of the most amazing people operating in communities, solving problems, being real participants in progress. It's very uplifting; it makes me very optimistic, in spite of the bad news, that through our everyday actions we can build a better world.

Q. What brought you to New Milford, not far from where you had grown up?

I love New York City, but really I live a very vibrant, rooted life in New Jersey with family and friends. It's kind of the best of both worlds — I get to experience and have our hub of activity in New York City, but I am part of the New Jersey community. It reminds me of how I loved growing up in Oradell and being involved in the community.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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ORADELL — A lifelong collector of trinkets and antiques has to answer the hardest question a man like himself can face: keep or sell?

"American Pickers," the History Channel reality show that showcases the adventures of "pickers" Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz as they travel the country to find antiques to either resell or keep, made a stop in the borough to visit Sam Tripsas, who has collected antiques for decades.

The episode will air on the History Channel on Monday at 9 p.m..

Tripsas, 60, can recall digging through old dumps to find bottles as a 10-year-old. His father would sometimes take him hunting, but he found himself more interested in searching for old bottles and trinkets than shooting animals.

"The Coca-Cola graphic caught my eye," Tripsas said.

Some of his prized possessions, in fact, are Coca-Cola machines from the 1950s, a jukebox from the early 1950s, and two phone booths from the 1930s.

“When I saw them in the movies, I wished I had one of those,” Tripsas said about the phone booths. “Instead of watching movies, I was looking at the props.”

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One is rarely enough, though. When he finds something he likes, Tripsas said, he'll find 10 more.

Being on "American Pickers," surrounded by people of similar interests, was a "thrilling experience."

Some items that cast members Wolfe and Danielle Colby pulled out of Tripsas' jampacked garage were things he said he hadn’t seen in years.

“Seeing them get excited about what I get excited about was neat,” Tripsas said. “They were very nice to us. It was an experience of a lifetime.”

A Coke and a smile

Before the History Channel came calling, Tripsas never considered parting with pieces of his collection. The experience, however, showed him that sometimes others can find value in the objects that brought him joy.

"I was thinking about how someone else is going to enjoy this," Tripsas said. "I would wonder where this is going to end up, and how someone like me is going to appreciate what I was collecting ever since I was a kid."

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While most of his treasures are packed into his garage, attic and basement, some special pieces are inside his century-old home. Tripsas has a 35-year-old Coca-Cola machine in his kitchen that still works.

“When my daughters were little, they would put in a dime and get a Coke,” Tripsas said. “I plug it in when I have company over.”

Preserving the past

His vast collection also includes clocks, gasoline pumps, signs and street lamps. Tripsas still has the bottles he collected as a child, and sometimes he attends a meeting of bottle collectors in Oakland to discuss his finds.

The hunt for new pieces is probably the most exciting part of collecting, he said.

He's routinely at flea markets and antique stores, but the real treasures often are hidden away. A stop at a gas station might lead to inquiring about any old signs that haven't seen the light of day in a while.

“It’s more fun when you’re getting it from the source,” he said.

Not long ago, Tripsas, who is also a member of the borough’s historical committee, discovered old pharmacy and milk bottles in a local dump. He is hoping to figure out where the pharmacy that provided the bottles — inscribed with the name “Ralph F. Finello, Pharmacist” — was located in town. He has donated the pharmacy and milk bottles to the Oradell Public Library.

Tripsas has filled his own house with pieces that complement the 1910 colonial, including bookcases and clocks from the turn of the previous century. Perhaps his oldest piece is a coffee grinder from the 1890s that may have been used in a local grocery store.

“They would grind coffee and put it in a bag for you,” Tripsas said.

He's keen on memorabilia from the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, which he loved to attend as a child.

Tripsas said his collecting has slowed down somewhat, but every so often something will catch his eye. A collection of old doorknobs. Vintage windows or doors for his house, where he's engaged in a years-long restoration project.

"I like to preserve the past," Tripsas said. "People liked to make fun of me when I was kid for living in the past, but, really, I like the present, too."