When it comes to Valentine’s Day, florist Frank Delli Santi knows from three decades of experience that “everybody wants roses.” So Delli Santi, owner of Caldwell Flowerland, Caldwell, makes sure to order an ample supply three months ahead of the holiday. This week, some 9,000 long-stem roses from Holland and South America arrived at his Bloomfield Avenue shop for one of the busiest holidays of the year for florists. Two-thirds of the roses Flowerland ordered were red and the other third consisted of a mix of pink, lavender and other shades.  “I’ve been doing this personally for 30 years, but…

The Patch has unearthed the secret to the Green Bay Packers’ success – and it has nothing to do with Head Coach Mike McCarthy or the Wisconsin football team’s star players.  According to West Essex High School senior Geordy Boveroux, 18, his special game day outfit is what got his all-time favorite team through the playoffs. Ok, not really. But a superstitious Boveroux will no doubt be sporting the lucky black hat, Clay Matthews jersey and “certain pair of jeans” this weekend when Green Bay faces the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.  He’ll throw it all on Sunday morning when he and his …

Garrett Bell is one of those rare 13-year-old boys who know exactly what he wants to do with his life. For Garrett, the future is all about music. This weekend, after years of lessons and countless hours of practicing, the Grover Cleveland Middle School eighth-grader will play his biggest gig to date – two live performances of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” in its entirety. Garrett, of Caldwell, and fellow students of the School of Rock in Montclair have been preparing since September for the concerts that will include him singing and/or playing guitar or bass on at least 10 songs. “I really like …

Garrett Jones' work might have him on call 24/7, but the lifelong Caldwells resident still finds time to give back to the community he grew up in. In fact, he's quite "jolly" about doing so. Jones is the manager of Dancy Funeral Home in Caldwell. He has lived above the funeral home for some 22 years and in January will mark 25 years of employment with Dancy. "It's usually busy during the holidays and when people need me, I need to be there for them," he said. Indeed, Jones will be working on Friday night during a visitation, which will be followed by a funeral service on Saturday morning that…

Andrew Pollara has been making a list and checking it twice, just like another big guy everyone loves this time of year. Only Pollara's list contains more than 200 gifts donated by area businesses for the Caldwell Fire Department's Tricky Tray this Saturday evening. This is the fifth year that the 27-year-old Caldwell volunteer firefighter has co-chaired the fundraiser held following the borough's tree-lighting ceremony; co-chair and honorary firefighter Tamara Bross started the tradition 15 years ago. Pollara said that planning starts on the first of September and that he and Bross hit the …

Akiko Axe has a lot she hopes to accomplish by the end of the weekend, from seeing the new Harry Potter movie to sewing for the upcoming craft show at Washington School to finally getting to that pile of dishes in her kitchen. The West Caldwell stay-at-home mother of two plans to get these things done in between her and her family's scheduled events. On Saturday morning, Axe is loading up the minivan with her fifth-grade son and members of his Cub Scout Pack 9 for a visit to the Glenfield Middle School planetarium in Montclair. After that, Axe, 43, will finally make use of a gift certificate …

This will be a typical fall weekend for Denise Condit, which means football, football and a little bit more football. Condit, a lifelong West Caldwell resident, is Junior Team Mom for the James Caldwell High School football squad, which starts its playoff run Saturday at home. Her son, Tyler, a junior, is a linebacker for the Chiefs. The childcare provider's weekend will start at the West Caldwell Fire Department's firehouse, where the team will have its weekly pasta party; this week she was in charge of bringing a couple of cases of drinks and coordinating the location with Fire Chief …

JoAnn Yates doesn't get a lot of opportunities to get away from baby talk. Yates, a Certified Nurse Midwife, founded Avalon Women's Health in West Caldwell with her partner Donna Roosa a decade ago. Their practice has grown from 90 births a year to an expected 375 in 2010. They now total five midwives and a nurse practitioner, and have a second office in Morristown, as well as an affiliation with Morristown Memorial Hospital. This weekend, for the fifth year in a row, the Roseland resident giddied on up to the Adirondacks with four other families to spend a long weekend at Ridin'-Hy Ranch. "…

This weekend marks the culmination of a month or more of planning for Marc Kotocavage's favorite night of the year–Halloween. The Caldwell resident's front lawn has become a destination for local trick-or-treaters every Oct. 31, and as many as 400 princesses, superheroes, witches and vampires are expected to come knocking at the Gladding Road home. They'll get candy, a glow stick, and if all goes as planned, a good scare. Kotocavage, 48, said he works for PSE&G and took off the entire week to prepare–although he began bringing things out of the basement, aka "the dungeon," as soon as the …

Sr. Justine Pinto will be putting on her walking shoes this weekend for a cause she cares deeply about–eradicating hunger at home and around the world. Sr. Justine, who is in charge of social concerns and social justice for St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Caldwell, will join about 100 others for the annual interfaith West Essex CROP Hunger Walk on Sunday, Oct. 23. The purpose of the walk, Sr. Justine said, is to collect food donations, while raising money and awareness about hunger. "I think we raised $30,000 last year," Sr. Justine said, "a lot of people pledge online which is great." The …

With all the hustling around that suburbia is known for, Barbara Salvador, of Caldwell, has a somewhat refreshing take on her schedule. "I don't plan that far ahead," said Salvador, a single mom of two daughters, who has her own business and volunteers with the Caldwell Farmers Market. Friday night she is getting together with girlfriends for dinner–something she said she does at least a couple of times a month–at Bistro 18 in Montclair. Salvador runs www.nannymama.com, a nanny recruiting service, and said she plans to spend some time this weekend looking for matches for families in Upper …

Caldwell resident Stash Costigan is a hard-working guy–he co-owns a general contracting business, Costigan Contracting LCC, with his brother, Luke, and is also a firefighter in Montclair. This weekend, however, Costigan, 38, is taking some time away from work for a night that comes along just once in a lifetime–his 20th high school reunion. Costigan graduated from Verona High School in 1990, where he was active in baseball and football; friends still remember him as "No. 22." The reunion will take place at the Barnyard & Carriage House in Totowa on Saturday evening. Costigan said he is …

This Saturday is all about community for Tammy Wysocki, a 14-year resident of Caldwell. In the morning, the Project Main Street volunteer will roll up her sleeves for the first ever Caldwell Beautification Day. Wysocki and fellow volunteers plan to plant fall flowers and trees, paint 65 light posts and refurbish the bus stop by Dunkin' Donuts, as well as pick-up trash in the downtown.  "I will be working on the flowers in the Green," Wysocki said. Caldwell Beautification Day will be a family affair; her daughter, Sophie, will also plant flowers, while her husband, Chris, will assist with the …

Rich Porfido has been the athletic director at James Caldwell High School for the past five years. Rarely does he have a free Saturday in the fall, when he can usually be found at a Chiefs varsity football game. But the Chiefs had an afternoon match-up against the West-Essex Knights Friday, making this a rare Saturday off. So what will the busy father of two-year-old twin girls do with his found time? Work and watch football, of course. Porfido has a voice-over audition tomorrow morning in Brooklyn for an upcoming PBS "American Experience" documentary on American Polar explorer Adolphus …