Welcome back to Banana Tree News -the hyperlocal website for Glen Rock, NJ.
As many of you know, we started as the hyperlocal news site for Glen Rock back in 2015. In 2017, we rebranded as Glen Rock News Today. This past year has made many people slow down, and re-evaluate their lives and direction. That is what happened here. Thinking about why I started Banana Tree, I realized that I lost my passion when I changed the logo and the name. I know several of you have seen fewer and fewer articles and news. This is the reason why. Because of this, I have decided to go back to my tree and start over.
Banana Tree News is not just news. It is the community – a place for the residents to have a voice. How can this happen?
- Submit articles about things you are passionate about and what you want to teach this community.
- Businesses – write about your business, who you are, and why people should shop at your store or service.
- Organizations – submit articles about what your doing – events, etc.
Cost? FREE. This is a great free resource to toot your own horn and promote your business and craft.
Yes, there are advertising and sponsorship opportunities. But I want to rebuild your trust in my brand and myself first before I ask. But, if interested – don’t hesitate to browse our advertising page.
Let me now re-introduce myself. My name is Julie Maxwell Allen. I grew up in Glen Rock, NJ, and graduated from GRHS in 1988. When I was still living in Glen Rock, I was very involved with GRVAC, the Glen Rock Pool. I own GR Web, LLC. GR originally stood for Grassroots and was primarily a web and graphics design company. However, Glen Rock friends began thinking GR meant Glen Rock. You may choose whichever you prefer.
Over the years, I have continued to want to know what is happening in the hometown I love. Anyone who has lived in Glen Rock knows it is a distinctive family and community-oriented small town despite being in a vast suburban environment. I and many other former Glen Rockers used to follow and blog on The Glen Rock Patch. I loved how local it was. In our opinion, when it started to merge with Ridgewood, and then AOL sold it, it lost its focus. Because of this I wanted to recreate a website similar to what we had a few years ago with the patch but keep it focused strictly on Glen Rock. We plan to become a quick and single source for all local news and events. So Glen Rock news comes fast, first and foremost.
We have several different methods of getting local news to you. We have communicated with Mayor Morieko, the Glen Rock Police department, the Recreation Department, and the schools. We have reporters attending pertinent borough meetings. We ask that all other town organizations and churches contact us to have their news and events posted on this single-source Glen Rock news website. For our website launch, a number of Glen Rockers have already submitted articles and photographs pertinent to Glen Rock. We are always looking for contributors to write for BTN. If you are interested, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
One big question I have received is why the name Banana Tree News. You probably know Kilroy’s Wonder Market has had a Banana Tree in its store for more than 100 years. For most of those years, people would gather around and exchange town news and gossip. And you can’t gossip and exchange news at the banana tree without one or a few pretzels from the yellow pretzel barrel.
So please wander around the Banana Tree News (sorry, no pretzels here). Sign up for email alerts and sign up to be able to post on the BTN. This is a friendly environment … no nastiness here. If you do not see some news or articles that you think we should have – please let us know. We want to be the quickest single source for all Glen Rock News (well, except for the real banana tree – can’t compete with that!.)
