We bring back About Town this week, just in time for spring into summer, when South Orange is on the move.  Carolyn Maynard-Parisi, a three-year resident and Patch contributor, will author and edit About Town.  She welcomes your ideas, photos, events and news.  Contact her at: CarolynAboutTown@gmail.com. 

Close readers may have noticed that Laura Griffin, who previously edited About Town, is now the Millburn Patch editor. Congratulations to Laura!

Today is the eve of Passover, and many South Orange residents will be sharing Seders with family and friends.  For Christians it is the start of Holy Week, the most solemn week of the year, which culminates in Easter Sunday.  We wish all of our readers and their families a joyous and peaceful week. 

New Jersey Blood Services is sponsoring a blood drive today, April 18 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., at Seton Hall University (SHU University Center), 400 S. Orange Ave.  Refreshments for all donors.  To schedule an appointment, please call 1-(800) 933-BLOOD.

Book Arts Roundtable exhibition BOOKED 8, is at The Baird in South Orange until May 21.  Open daily from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., except Mondays and Tuesdays.  See handmade books by artists locally and from the tri-state area. 

Speaking of books: The South Orange Public Library is accepting donations for its 2011 Friends of SOPL Book Sale.  Bring your books to the parking lot of the library between noon and 4 p.m. on the following days: April 26, April 28, April 30, May 3, May 5 and May 7.  If you would like to volunteer to help with the sale, sign up at the circulation desk, email friends@sopl.org or call the library at (973) 762-0230. The sale is Sat, May 14th from 11a.m. - 4 p.m.   

Scott Carter, executive producer of  HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, will be in town to lead a discussion of his new play, "The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy," following each performance at SOPAC on April 22 at 8pm and April 23 at 2pm.   The play, based on the fact that Jefferson, Dickens and Tolstoy each authored their own unauthorized Gospel of Jesus Christ, is billed as "a delightful Easter and Passover holiday treat suitable for teens and adults of all creeds and politics."  Admission is free.  

Tickets are on sale now for SOPAC's annual Spring Gala on June 4.  This one-night only benefit performance will feature The Midtown Men, singing catchy 1960s hits from The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Temptations, The Jackson 5, and The Four Seasons.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.SOPACnow.org  or call (973) 313-ARTS.   

Attention civic-minded second-graders:  if you have an idea for how to make your town a better place, enter the Littlest Volunteers Contest hosted by The Junior League of the Oranges and Short Hills.  Contestants should describe what they would do to help their communities with $100.  Entry forms are available at school libraries or at www.thelittlestvolunteers.org.  Deadline is Friday, May 6, 2011. 

Last year's winner was South Orange's own Sydney Tindall of South Mountain Elementary School. 

Also in the news at South Mountain Elementary School: students just published the first edition of the South Mountain Scoop, a student-written newspaper.  The spring edition features articles about the school's new mascot, a recipe for matzo ball soup, reviews of books and movies and more.  The Scoop will be published quarterly. 

UMDNJ President and South Orange resident William F. Owen, Jr., MD, received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the National Medical Fellowships at the UMDNJ's 65th Anniversary Gala in New York City recently.  NMF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare experienced by low-income and minority communities by increasing the number of underrepresented minority physicians and researchers in the United States. 

Conor McCarthy, ’11, of South Orange, was recently named a Dorothy Day Society winner at Saint Peter’s Preparatory School in Jersey City.  Conor was recognized for his work with Habitat for Humanity International, Boy Scouts of America, and his parish Youth Group.  Conor is the son of Barbara and Laurence McCarthy and is a graduate of Our Lady of Sorrows School. 

A sad note: South Orange resident, longtime village employee and crossing guard extraordinaire, Hank Gibson, passed away recently.  We send our condolences to his family.

Finally: if you would like to be the proud owner of a 5-lb chocolate egg (and who wouldn't?), this is your chance.  Eden Marketplace is holding a contest to give away this delicious monstrosity.  Just fill out an entry form with a cashier or at customer service.  The winner will be announced on April 22.