Destination Livingston
By Janet O. Penn
(Background and historical information supplied by Nancy Dinar)
Livingston Today
The new Town Center is designed to encourage residents to shop locally. Town leaders oversaw all of the details of architecture and construction to ensure the new buildings were kept in the Federalist style as are the high school, Town Hall and library.
I purchased a home here nine years ago, drawn by the strong sense of community that exists in Livingston. Many people who grew up in town come back to raise their families here. There is also a very active volunteer corps, including a highly rated volunteer Fire Department, which has become a community hallmark.
 Lots to Do
The Livingston Symphony Orchestra, the Children’s Theatre of Livingston and the Livingston Community Players are under the umbrella of the Livingston Arts Council and offer entertainment options for people of all ages and interests. The newly renovated public library will be a venue for art displays, a center of education, information and recreation.
The Livingston Committee for Diversity, started ten years ago, encourages the citizens of Livingston to recognize their commonalities and to appreciate the potential strength of the racial, ethnic and cultural diversity that so richly enhances our great community. It sponsors various events, including a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Unity and Service, in January and in October is Reach Out to Your Neighbor Month.
Education
The town boasts a highly rated public school system, with six elementary schools, two middle schools and a comprehensive high school that received the U.S. Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon Award in 1998.
 In addition, the Horizon School for People with Disabilities, run by United Cerebral Palsy, caters to grades K-12. The Darcy School also teaches children with ‘special needs.’ The Kushner Academy offers Yeshiva studies for grades K-12. The Newark Academy, dating back to 1774, has a rich history and a forward-looking educational program. Also, Gibbs College offers students an opportunity to become “market-ready.”
Livingston is home to the Northern NJ headquarters of The ARC of New Jersey, a statewide, private, nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1947 by a group of parents who had a vision of building a better quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities and their families. There are several group homes in town. Project HIRE helps employ and train adults with developmental disabilities.
Healthcare
Saint Barnabas Medical Center, which opened its doors in 1865 in Newark and moved to Livingston in the early 1960s, is the oldest and largest nonprofit, nonsectarian hospital in NJ. It is also the second largest private employer in the state.
 The seeds for this orchestra were planted during a performance of the Mikado in June, 1956 with a “pickup” orchestra providing the music. On February 20, 1960, the group performed its first public concert. The women’s auxiliary, “The Distaffers”, sold tickets from door to door. The Symphony quickly gained recognition as a cultural asset to the community.
The Livingston Symphony Orchestra, as it is now known, welcomed the assistance of Musicians Local 16, AFM, Newark, to fill temporary needs for rarely used special musical instruments. But for the most part, even today, the local communities have been the source of creative and passionate volunteer musicians.
The Livingston Symphony Orchestra (LSO), under the direction of Istvan Jaray, brought its 50th anniversary season to a close on May 19 with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth (“Choral”) Symphony.
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