[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 176 (Wednesday, November 14, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2408-E2409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING NEWARK'S NORTH WARD CENTER'S ANNUAL GENO BARONI BIRTHDAY 
                              CELEBRATION

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                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 14, 2007

  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker. I rise today to recognize the annual 
celebration at the North Ward Center in Newark, New Jersey honoring the 
birthday of its inspiration, Monsignor Geno Baroni, on November 15, 
2007. Msgr. Baroni--Geno to those of us who knew and loved him--was a 
most remarkable man, and though he passed from this life more than two 
decades ago, his memory and his mission remain strong.
  Following riots at the end of the 1960s, Msgr. Baroni convinced 
Stephen Adubato, Sr. to leave the Newark public schools and organize 
the North Ward Educational and Cultural Center. In 1970, the center 
began providing information on services available to the residents of 
Newark's north ward, with a particular emphasis on higher education 
opportunities for students.
  Built on the principles of community, opportunity, responsibility, 
and equity, the North Ward Center remains true to its mission ``to 
provide educational, cultural, and meaningful social services to low 
and moderate income families who reside in the greater Newark 
community. The center plays a major role in helping families overcome 
barriers to self-sufficiency, works to improve the health and well-
being of those families, and helps revitalize their community, thereby 
improving the quality of life for all residents.''

[[Page E2409]]

  Over the decades, the North Ward Center expanded to include the 
Newark Business Training Institute, the North Ward Child Development 
Center, the Robert Treat Academy, and Casa Israel, a state-of-the-art 
wellness and medical center. The initiatives and services of these five 
institutions are widely recognized as among the finest, and the center 
has received many accolades over the years. Yet, true to the standards 
of its heart--Geno Baroni--the center has never wavered from its 
mission and founding principles, and it continues to celebrate the 
diversity of its people. The North Ward Center hosts ``the society of 
Italians who celebrate St. Patrick's Day'' with prominent Italian-
Americans honoring Irish-Americans, an annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther 
King, Jr. remembrance, and a Puerto Rican scholarship dinner 
recognizing four outstanding north ward students.
  Geno Baroni was a many-faceted man, a gifted and passionate leader, a 
builder, a doer, and thoroughly committed to Christ's message of social 
justice. The North Ward Center reflects this charismatic man and his 
life's work. Msgr. Geno Baroni's impression on the lives of those of us 
privileged to know him and those whose lives he touched through his 
work is indeed profound. As the North Ward Center honors this 
extraordinary man by celebrating his birthday, the final words in the 
Shaker hymn Lord of the Dance seem most fitting: ``. . . they buried my 
body and they thought I'd gone, but I am the dance and the dance goes 
on.''

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