Key Clubs Present at Kiwanis Meeting – March 22, 2011

Chatham and Madison High School Key Club Officers and Advisors presented an overview of their activities. Betty Anne Keat (see above photo) did the introductions.

Sitting in the “Library room” at Charlie Brown’s are (Left to Right) CHS Key Club Recording Secretary Erin, Treasurer Natalie, Faculty Advisor Kiera Spadaro, Vice President Christina, President Annie and Corresponding Secretary Kallan.

Five officers and the faculty advisor of the Chatham High School Key Club made a presentation to the March 22 Chatham-Madison Kiwanis breakfast meeting held at Charlie Brown’s in Chatham Township. The Kiwanis Club sponsors all Key Clubs.

Key Club officers reported that they recently sponsored a successful “Restaurant Night” fund raiser for The Children’s Specialized Hospital in Mountainside, NJ. The Key Club will also be taking a field trip to visit the Hospital where they can visit with the patients and see first-hand where funds are used. Club members also participated in a NJ state-wide “American Idol” style fund raiser. Chatham band “Castle Park” placed third in the competition, which also raised funds for the Children’s Specialized Hospital.

CHS Key Club meetings are held in the evening in the school cafeteria. Outside speakers make presentations and members sign up for volunteer projects. Officers for the 2011-2012 school year will be elected at an upcoming meeting.

Sitting in the “Library room” at Charlie Brown’s are (Left to Right) MHS Key Club Treasurer VJ, Points Secretary Henry, 2011 Vice President Andrew, 2012 President Brenna, Publicity Caroline, 2012 Vice President Shannon, 2011 President Rebecca and Secretary Kelly.

Eight officers and the faculty advisor of the Madison High School Key Club made a presentation to the March 22 Chatham-Madison Kiwanis breakfast meeting held at Charlie Brown’s in Chatham Township.

The officers reported that funds were raised recently by selling “Pots O’ Gold” (a type of candy-gram which students give to their friends). Small leprechaun kettles filled with candy were sold for five days during lunch and then delivered to recipients on St. Patrick’s Day. A car-wash is also planned. The Key Club will be assembling goody-bags for the participants in a Special Olympics Bocce Ball Tournament to be held at Madison High School.

The club has been collecting funds for several years and now has $4,000 which will be given to the Children’s Specialized Hospital, located in Mountainside, NJ.

Madison High School Key Club Faculty Advisor Peggy Cox speaking to the Chatham-Madison Kiwanis Club at the March 22 breakfast meeting held at Charlie Brown’s in Chatham Township.

Announcements: Kiwanis March 22 Meeting

VP Joan May officiated at the March 22 breakfast meeting and announced that Fish and Chips food was ordered for pick-up next week. She also has submitted a request to Madison Borough for the Kiwanis Community Yard Sale to be held at Cole Park on May 21. Karen Swartz reported that the CHS Key Club will hold officer elections at the 7:30 PM meeting tonight. Nancy Holt reminded members that the Awards Reception will be held at Charlie Brown’s on April 12 and there will not be a regular club meeting on that day. She also asked that nominations be submitted for the Community Aid Award.

Joan Thuebel Presents: Polar Bear studies with Earthwatch near Hudson Bay

Joan Thuebel presented an illustrated talk on her Earthwatch scientific research of Polar Bears at the Research Station near Churchill on Hudson Bay. The March 15 program was very interesting and well-attended. In above photo, Mary Anne thanks Kiwanis member Joan for giving the talk. Joan has been on 27 Earthwatch adventures.

She started with some facts: Male Polar Bears (1500 pounds) live 18 years; females (500 pounds) live 25 years. They range over an area the size of the British Isles so they are not “territorial”. They live on ice flows, eat seal blubber, and they carry about 6 inches of blubber. In April the ice melts and they come ashore, where there are no seals. From then until late October when the ice begins to freeze, the bears have nothing to eat.

Bears mate while on land. However, the babies do not develop until the bears return to living on the ice. Earthwatch tundra buggies travel on unpaved trails to serve the “DEW-Line”.  Joan’s Earthwatch was in October.  One task was to observe play-fighting between males. Earthwatch was trying to determine why the males do this. Females are friendly to each other but they avoid male bears. Another task was to determine the reaction by bears to helicopters, which flew over from time-to-time.

It is not safe to be outside of the buggies when bears are close. They are extremely aggressive. They are curious about people and come right up to the buggies (see above photo). People go out on the buggies from 8:00 am until about 3:00 pm. They observe them, photograph them, use range-finders to estimate their size and log the location with using GPS. Bears are identified and tracked via scars on their faces. Bears are lethargic when temperature is warm (over 35 deg. F). They roll around in snow when they find it.

Between about October 15 and November 15, you can go to website www.polarbearcam.com and watch the bears. Photos are taken every 30 seconds. They also saw wolves, Snowy Owls and Artic Foxes. Also, they saw the Northern Lights. See photo of Artic Fox.

Residents of Churchill manage the local Polar Bears when they come into town. There is a bear jail where some are put. From the library in the Research Station, they could see bears through a window at night. She went to Churchill via airplane.

Announcements: Kiwanis March 15 Meeting

Betty Anne announced that the CHS Key Club made about $200 for Children’s Specialized Hospital at the New Providence Friendly’s Restaurant Night. Mary Anne reported that the CHS Key Club held a well-organized meeting last Wednesday. Karen announced that the CHS Key Club will have a field trip on March 28 to the Children’s Specialized Hospital in Mountainside. Kiwanis members can attend, drive themselves and should arrive by 10:00 am.


Alan reported that things are going pretty well for the Fish and Chips Dinner. He has more tickets if people need them. Also, please place posters where they can be seen. Ron and Betty Anne handed out posters to members who need them. Nancy Boucher announced Parsippany Club Wine Tasting on March 24. Nancy Holt asked for more nominations for the Community Aid Award. Rich announced that the recent Wine Tasting event will be discussed first at the March 16 Board Meeting. All members can come and leave the meeting when they want to.

March 8 Kiwanis Meeting Program: Time-travel to Mackinac Island

A multimedia show describing Mackinac Island, Michigan was presented by Ron Whalin. Located in Lake Huron, the entire island permits travel only by walking, bicycles, horseback and horse-drawn carriages. The island is about 8 miles in circumference and has about 15,000 visitors on a typical summer day. Ron and his wife participated in a “Road Scholar” program which began the day before Labor Day, 2010. People can travel to Mackinac Island via ferryboats, other types of boats or small airplanes (there is a small airstrip).

Ron showed photos of the many attractions which were viewed while riding in carriages and walking on some of the 60 miles of trails. The photo above shows Fort Mackinac.

One afternoon, the class toured the Grand Hotel, one of the finest hotels in the USA and the site where the film “Somewhere in Time” was filmed. High Tea was served after which Road Scholars were free to explore the hotel on their own.

The above photo shows the class on a walking tour of historic summer cottages. These homes are generally occupied only in the summer and were built on land leased from the Michigan State Park on the island.

After Labor Day, almost all of the 700 horses leave the island for farms on the Upper Michigan Peninsula. Only about 20 horses remain on the island in the winter.

About 500 residents live on the island year-round and they can use snowmobiles to get around - to make the best of the difficult winters. The last ferryboat leaves the island in mid-January - the ice freezes solid. Some years, the ice is thick enough to support the “Ice Bridge”, a trail across the ice marked by left-over Christmas trees. Length of the bridge is about three miles. This year, the warm, windy February weather melted the Ice Bridge after only a few weeks of operation. Ron showed part of the movie “Ice Bridge”.

The above photo shows a ferryboat returning to St. Ignace on the mainland with the Mackinac Bridge (which links the Lower Peninsula to the Upper Peninsula) in the background. There is no bridge to Mackinac Island.

Announcements:Kiwanis March 8 Meeting

Charlie Brown's delicious lunch buffet

Betty Anne Keat announced that CHS Key Club is holding a Restaurant Day fundraiser at Friendly’s in New Providence on Thursday, March 10 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. CHS Key Club is meeting Wednesday at 7:30 pm in the cafeteria. She also has Fish and Chips posters for placing on bulletin boards. Alan said preparation for Fish and Chips is going fine. Nancy Boucher announced that Parsippany Kiwanis will be having their 9^th wine-tasting event on March 24 at Bretton Woods in Morris Plains with a served dinner and silent/live auctions, all for $65.  Nancy Holt spoke about the April 12 Awards Reception, 7:30 pm at Charlie Brown’s. NJ District Governor Marc Litwack announced that Nancy Boucher will be the 2011-12 NJ District Coordinator for the Kiwanis International Foundation.

"Waterfalls in your Back Yard" by Mark Lloyd - March 1 Kiwanis Program

Madison lawyer, naturalist and photographer Mark Lloyd presented an outstanding digital slideshow featuring waterfalls you can visit in a “day trip”. The above photo shows Mark (left) being introduced at the Kiwanis meeting by his father, David Lloyd.

Mark described named and unnamed waterfalls. First were Silver Thread Falls (80 ft. high) and nearby Dingmans Falls which are both in Dingmans Ferry area, just off of PA route 209 at milepost 14. These two falls are an easy, pleasant walk from an NPS Visitor’s Center.

Next, he showed Raymondskill Falls, which is off of 209, north of Dingmans Falls and closer to the rt. 206 bridge to New Jersey. He hiked on a treacherous, washed-out trail to view and photograph the falls, which is the highest (208 ft.) in Pennsylvania. He showed a photo of the deep pool of water which feeds the falls.

Next, he showed Tillmans Ravine, which is in Sussex County, New Jersey just off of Rt. 206.

He told the audience about a beautiful New Jersey secret, Buttermilk Falls (see above photo), which is located in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area near Walpack. Mark mentioned the recent Star-Ledger article about “ghost town” Walpack Center, NJ.

Mark showed photos from Shawangunk Mountain Ridge (The Gunks). This is a beautiful area in New York State, about 10 miles west of New Paltz, exit 18 on Interstate 87. The Minnewaska State Park Preserve has 5 lakes, like pools trapped in an uneven asphalt road. Mark showed the Awosting creek on the mossy glen trail and Rainbow Falls. There is some difficult hiking (and wading) to see a number of waterfalls between more easily traveled carriageways in the park.


The former George W Childs State Park in Pennsylvania is a few miles upstream from Dingmans Falls. Mark showed photos of a few of the many waterfalls in this area. The park is now called the George W. Childs Recreation Site and it is part of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

Ricketts Glen State Park is in Pennsylvania, exit 236 on rt 80 and then north on 487. A park ranger told Mark that this place was one of the most spectacular places he had seen. Mark and David traveled there during peak leaf season and they agree it is a special place. The park was once owned by lumber magnet, who thought it was so nice he never harvested the trees and now the forest is very old. Rickets left his property to the state of Pennsylvania. There are 23 named waterfalls and Genoga Falls is the largest, about 90 ft high.

After introducing scenic areas and falls, Mark showed photos of the attractions in different seasons and from different viewpoints. He gave anecdotes and showed the rivers feeding and leaving the waterfalls.

Mark ended the show with icy winter photos of Dingmans Falls (see photo below), Raymondskill Falls, and Awosting Falls, which is in Minnewaska Park.

Announcements - March 1 Kiwanis Meeting

The Chatham High School Key Club is holding a Restaurant Night fund-raiser to benefit the Children’s Specialized Hospital on Thursday, March 10 from 5:00 to 8:00 PM at Friendly’s Restaurant in New Providence (75 South Street). Betty Anne announced that Ten percent of customers’ bills will be donated to the Hospital. You can do take-out as well as eat-in. Alan Robertson reported that Fish and Chips placemat adds are doing fine. Other preparations are going fine. Gary Arnesen reported that Chatham Boro clean-up will be rescheduled from April to May or later in the year. Nancy invited members to the 7:30 PM April 12 Awards Recognition Reception to be held at Charlie Brown’s. Checks will be given to Benevolence recipients and a special Community Aid Award will be given to someone selected by Kiwanis. Members are requested to nominate candidates.  Rich gave a quick update on the successful Wine-Tasting event. He asked for feedback on the event. Members were asked to submit any last minute bills within the next two weeks. A very high percent of members participated in the event. Dick noted that the Wine-Tasting was a great Kiwanis Team event.