Kiwanis Annual Recognition Reception on April 24, 2012

Karen Swartz, Benevolence Chair, opened the Annual Chatham-Madison Kiwanis Awards Reception on April 24, 2012 at Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse, 522 Southern Boulevard, Chatham Township. Recipients of Kiwanis benevolences grants were acknowledged and light refreshments were served. The club also gives a number of scholarships to Chatham and Madison high school graduates in June.

Organizations included are Chatham Emergency Squad, Chatham Education Foundation, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, SAGE Meals on Wheels, Chatham Community Band, Robert Wood Johnson Children’s Specialized Hospital, Awards to ECLC of New Jersey Graduates, Senior Services Center of the Chathams, Chatham and Madison High School Music Awards, Madison YMCA, Project Community Pride, Madison Little League, Good Grief and the ELIMINATE Project: Kiwanis eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT).

This year, a new Community Aid Award was given to an organization selected by membership of the club. The Food Pantry of Morris County received the award this year.

Scroll down to see the awards recipients and presenters. Each recipient gave a brief overview of their current charitable activities. These organizations all provide wonderful services to our community. Recipients invited everyone to visit their facilities.

Mary Anne Maloney, President of the club, gave an Overview of Project ELIMINATE. Kiwanis eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus is a global campaign that will save and protect the lives of millions of mothers and their future babies. The club is selling bracelets to raise funds – many in attendance bought them.

Beth Anne Myarick, Director of Community Relations & Volunteer Services, Children’s Specialized Hospital in Mountainside, accepted a grant. Total New Jersey District Kiwanis Focus Project pledge is $500,000.

Past President Doug Bryant gave grants to local community organizations.

Myra Cole, President of the Chatham Community Band, thanked Kiwanis for their continuing support. The excellent band has about 60 members and will be giving a free concert 3:00 PM May 6 at the Chatham High School.

Bruce Johnson, Board President of Sage Eldercare accepted the grant. He mentioned that the organization is 58 years old. Today, it offers 12 services. It delivered 50,000 meals last year. The many volunteers served over 5,000 clients last year.

Mickey Chaput, Executive Director of the Senior Services Center of the Chathams, accept the grant for her organization. She said they are developing activities which appeal to all ages covering the range of seniors from 50 to 100 years of age. She mentioned the website: http://chathamseniorcenter.org/ which has a newsletter and calendar of events.

Rich Crater of the Chatham Emergency Squad accepted the contribution on behalf of the organization.  He said the organization was started 76 years ago and Kiwanis has provided ongoing support for many years. The Squad is a volunteer organization which is on the job all the time, serving the Chathams. They are in the midst of a fund drive and he invited everyone to make a donation.

Jerry Cunningham, past Benevolence Committee Chair, presented awards to Community Youth Organizations.

Bridgitte Kelly, Director of Project Community Pride accepted the grant. She explained how the organization helps families in our community get back on their feet. The needs keep increasing so the donation is appreciated.

Al Thomas, Senior District Executive of Patriots Path Council, Boy Scouts of America, accepted the grant. He said that they started a new Law Explorer post this year. They meet at the Morris County Courthouse.  Also, Venture Crew 77 which meets at the Madison Elks is an excellent organization. Boy Scouts gives young people the opportunity to grow in leadership.

Colleen Egl, Service Unit Manager, Girl Scouts accepted the grant. The grant was presented by Nancy Holt, past president of the Benevolence Committee. Colleen thanked Kiwanis for the donation, which will help fund girls who are earning the Girl Scout Gold Award. There are over 800 Girl Scouts in Chatham, part of the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey.

Tom Mullin spoke about the Kiwanis support for the Library of the Chathams. Every year, Tom leads the Kiwanis in putting on a picnic for the Children’s Summer Reading Program.

Kiwanis President Elect Joan May (right) introduced Chelsea Creo (left) and Linsey Cozeworth of the Madison Area YMCA. Joan presented the YMCA with a grant and Linsey responded by presenting overview of recent programs at the YMCA. She thanked Kiwanis for their continuing support.

Heather Robinson, Board Member of the Chatham Education Foundation, was given a grant by Kiwanis. Heather said that since 1987, the Foundation has been privately raising money for public education. They have given over $500,000 to important education projects since 1987. She thanked Kiwanis for their support.

Ernest Cicconi, President of the Little League of Madison was given a grant by Kiwanis. The Chatham-Madison Kiwanis Club sponsors the Kiwanis Team. Ernest mentioned that a member of the Kiwanis Team read the Little League Pledge as part of the opening day ceremony. See article in Madison Patch. The Madison Little League has had an official charter since 1952. There are about 700 children in the program.

Marsha Ann Zimmerman, Treasurer of Madison Downtown Development accepted a donation from Kiwanis as part of the May Day in Madison program. Marsha said that this is the 15th year of the event. Volunteers beautify the parks and public spaces around town. Kiwanis and St. Vincent RC Church spruce up Cole Park. Between 700 and 1000 people volunteer for the program. There are 150 hanging baskets on the lamp poles around town, paid for by the Downtown Development organization.

Heather Alonge, Director of Development at ECLC, accepted a grant from Nancy Holt (right in the photo). These funds are used to present an award to each of the students who graduate from ECLC in June. ECLC supports developmentally challenged children and adults in Northern New Jersey. The ECLC school on Lum Ave. opened in 1989. There are also other ECLC programs in buildings on Passaic and Fairmount Ave.

Monty Montague, Treasurer of the club, spoke about the scholarships and awards which Kiwanis presents to local students every year. The largest scholarship is funded by the Chatham Kiwanis Scholarship Foundation. Two 4-year scholarships are given to Chatham High School Students every year. The total over a four-year period is $8,000, $2,000 per year. Since there are two scholarships awarded each year, the total paid out by the club is $16,000 per year.

Ron Whalin explained the process for selecting the Chatham High School Scholarship winners. The CHS counseling department provides the applications to a committee of six Kiwanis Members. The committee carefully analyses the applications, which are identified by code numbers. Selection is based on academic record, extracurricular activities and outside activities.

Betty Anne Keat is Chair of the Sponsored Youth Committee of the Kiwanis Club. This committee provides advisors and oversight for the Builders Clubs of Chatham and St. Patrick’s, the Key Clubs of Chatham, Madison and ECLC, and the Circle-K Club  of Drew University. She explained current activities in these Youth Service Clubs.

Rosemary Gilmartin, the Interfaith Food Pantry Executive Director, was presented with the Community Aid Award. Rosemary graciously thanked Kiwanis for this grant and noted that her organization works with many if not all of the organizations present at the Recognition Reception.  She noted that the number of clients for the Food Pantry is growing. Over 12,600 people have been given food in the past year. They come from 5,500 families who live in Morris County.

April 17 Program: "Actions to protect the Passaic River Watershed" by Ella Filippone, Executive Director, Passaic River Coalition.

Ella Filippone, Executive Director of the Passaic River Coalition, was introduced by Dick Plambeck, who is Chairman of the Board of the Passaic River Coalition. Dick mentioned an excellent article which appeared in the Grassroots section of the Daily Record on April 12. Click here to view the article on the work that Ella is doing to protect water supplies. Ella has been involved in the non-profit private organization for 40 years - she started it and is the heart and soul of the organization. In her talk, she told the audience about the organization, the scope of the work and some of the exciting things they are doing right now. Her talk was very interesting and inspired everyone to support this worthy cause.

The Passaic River Basin covers over 985 square miles. It starts in Mendham Township and ends in Newark Bay. There are eight major tributaries and many smaller ones: Whippany, Rockaway, Dead River, Ramapo, Pequannock, Pompton, Peckman, Upper Saddle and Saddle Rivers. To learn more about the Passaic River, visit website http://www.thefullwiki.org/Passaic_River

Ella got involved in establishing the Coalition in 1969 when the Army Corps of Engineers planned to build two huge reservoirs on the Passaic River, one of which would close the Millington Gorge. The other large lake would extend from Chatham Borough to Fairfield. Nearby towns did not want these large reservoirs to be built. She wrote a paper, “Passaic River and its Role - 1970” (a paper which is still relevant today). It relates to improving water quality, controlling flooding, making sure that the water is sustainable for drinking water supplies and basically protecting the public health of the people of the Passaic watershed. This was the starting point for growing the organization.

Ella pointed out that right now we in New Jersey are in a very serious drought. This issue will be addressed by the Coalition as it develops.

The Coalition deals in water and land. There are three basic programs: education, research and public service. There is a land trust, and they use the Green Acres program to buy land. At this time, they are buying a 220 acre parcel in West Millford because it is the most endangered land in the state with the highest ecological benefits. The track has two Bald Eagle’s nests. Today, they have 19 parcels that they want to acquire. Raising funds to purchase land is an important activity. There are over 1000 acres of Coalition land in the Land Trust.

The sewage plants that line the Passaic degrade the quality of water in the river. They are located in the flood plain and should not have been built there. In times of flooding, plants overflow and release raw sewage into the river.

The “Blue Acres” program was started to buy homes located in flood plains in areas like Wayne Twp., NJ so that people can move to a safe home. This was accelerated when Federal funds were used to increase the purchase of homes in the flood plains. The land will now become a park.

The Coalition supports land and buildings of cultural value. They purchased Willow Hall in Morristown and that is now their headquarters. They also support clean-up and improvement of forests near Camp Hope. The number one item picked up in clean-ups is tires.

Another issue is an underground pollution plume caused by a munitions factory in the Pompton Lakes area. The pollution is under 450 homes. People are getting sick. Help is needed.

The Coalition sponsors high school rowing clubs, where students practice rowing on the Passaic. Many graduates have gone on to Ivy League Universities on rowing scholarships.

She invited everyone to join with the Coalition. Members of the audience applauded this excellent talk covering urgently needed environmental work.

To learn more about the Coalition, please visit the website: http://www.passaicriver.org/

Bria Metivier (left) with Kiwanis Sponsored Youth Chair Betty Anne Keat (right) at the April 17 Kiwanis meeting. Bria gave an overview of her goals and objective as the newly elected 2012-13 Division 14 Lt. Governor. She plans to maintain a close bond with Key Club officers and advisors in her district and wants to build a K-Kids club in Union. She also plans to spread more knowledge of Key Club and improve communications between her clubs.

Drew University Circle K Officers Presented an Update at April 17 Kiwanis Meeting

Drew University Circle K President Victoria Dayton (left) and Vice President Savanna Arabi-Katbi (right) with Bob Stannard, Kiwanis Circle K Advisor at the beginning of the April 17 meeting. Victoria and Savanna gave an update on status of the Circle K Club, listing the newly elected officers. The also described several honors given to their club at the Circle K New Jersey District Convention in March. Awards were given for most improved club, collection of canned food, for outstanding President Dayton, for outstanding Advisor Stannard and for outstanding support by the Chatham-Madison Kiwanis Club. Circle K  also participated in the Free Rice competition at Drew. The Walk to Eliminate will be held on the Drew campus on Sunday, April 29.

Kiwanis April 17 Meeting Announcements

Gary Arnesen reminded everyone about the April 18 Bowers Lane cleanup in Chatham. Dick Plambeck asked members to participate in the Shepard Kollock Park annual trail clean-up on Earth Day, April 21. Nancy Boucher is going to an Interclub at the Montville Kiwanis Club dinner meeting on May 2. She invited others to join her. Randolph Kiwanis will also attend. Jerry reminded everyone about the May 5 clean-up of Cole Park as part of May Day in Madison. The CHS Key Club will hold a meeting on April 18 in the cafeteria at 7:00 PM. Next week’s Kiwanis meeting will be the Awards Reception at 6:30 PM on April 24 at Charlie Brown’s. There will be no regular breakfast or luncheon on that date. All members are invited to attend

April 10 Program: "Finding a Bird-A-Day using the Audubon e-Bird application" by Jim Mulvey.

Jim Mulvey spoke at the April 10 Luncheon about "Finding a Bird-A-Day using the Audubon e-Bird application." He was introduced by Dick Plambeck, on the right in the photo. During the luncheon while everyone enjoyed the delicious buffet luncheon, Jim shared a timed PowerPoint slide show of the 100 birds he photographed in the first 100 days of 2012.

A resident of Long Hill Twp., Jim, his wife and daughter started doing a Bird-A-Day at the beginning of 2012. Places they photograph birds include The Great Swamp. Day one, New Year’s Day, they got a Cooper’s hawk.

The Bird-A-Day challenge: See how many days in a row you can see/hear a different species. The Bird-A-Day Challenge website is managed by Trey Mitchell. Go to Internet address http://www.awm3.com/birdaday2012/ and you can find sightings (including Jim’s) describe there. You can also register and join the Challenge at the website. At some point during the year "you will be unable to see or hear a new bird" to add to your list. When this happens you have completed the race and have established for yourself a mark to try and better next year. Rules are included on the website, where individuals can log every daily bird, record where it was observed and give it a rank.

Jim recommended the following guides to bird-watching: The SIBLEY Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley and The Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America by Roger Tory Peterson. Also, he recommends The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/ to learn more about birds.

Jim described birds found very local, local, around the state, the country and the Worldwide Web. Another category was “Saw them once, didn’t see them again”. He gave a detailed account of a Snowy Owl (rarely seen in New Jersey) which he photographed at Merrill Creek Reservoir.

He encouraged everyone to visit http://ebird.org to learn more about birding. Other useful websites are http://birdingonthe.net/ and http://mocosocobirds.com/ .

The audience applauded Jim’s entertaining and informative presentation on birding.

Northern Cardinal

Kiwanis April 10 Meeting Announcements

Drew Circle K President Victoria Daytona and Vice-President Savanna Arabi-Katbi will attend the April 17 Breakfast meeting and share their plans for the ELIMINATE Walkathon (new date is April 29th) and other activities at Drew.  ELIMINATE bracelets have been ordered for the event. Gary reminded members to help with the Chatham Clean Communities project on April 18th at 9:00 AM.

April 3 Program: "State of the Borough and Goals and Objectives for 2012" by Bob Falzarano, Chatham Borough Administrator

Chatham Borough Administrator Bob Falzarano spoke on “State of the Borough and Goals and Objectives for 2012”.  In the photo, Kiwanis President Mary Anne Maloney presented Bob with the complementary “Kiwanis Pen” at the end of his very interesting presentation.  Borough Council member Len Resto attended the meeting and shared his insight about Chatham Borough.

Bob manages the overall planning process. He creates goals and objectives as part of the Borough’s annual planning process. Goals are quantifiable and they include detailed objectives and timelines. At the end of each year, there is an annual report showing achievements in meeting the goals and objectives. Click here to view the annual reports by category for 2011.

The Borough has a Mission Statement (click here to view the mission on the town’s website).

Bob mentioned that Chatham High School volunteers are updating the historic preservation property inventory.

The budget for 2012 was presented and discussed in detail. Revenues have been going down due in part to tax appeals. Also revenue from water, sewer and other fees are going down. To offset this, expenses are being reduced by sharing more services with neighboring towns. Efficiency has also been achieved through good planning. Through this difficult economic time, service level to residents is being maintained at a high level. Click here to view the 2012 budget on the Borough website.

An ongoing issue for the Borough is that they collect property taxes and give a fixed amount to the School District and the County. When tax collections fall off, the Borough must make up the money through a reserve for uncollected taxes.

Some money, $30,000, will be received from PSE&G due to the “monopole project” to upgrade their power lines and towers. The payment is based on a settlement agreement with all affected municipalities.  This is one-time revenue.  The monopole project also has a small effect on the Community Garden.

A key Financial & Administrative Goal is to develop a long range strategic plan for economic stability. One item under study is to grow revenue by adding parking spaces at the train station.

As part of shared services, Police Dispatch was moved to the County and that saved the Borough a huge amount of money. Improved local service for things like last year’s October snowstorm will be handled by a relocated communications center. 

A dog park is being studied and this year the town will try to find a location for it.

Bob acknowledged the many staff workers and volunteers who get things done in the Borough. At the close of his talk, he thanked Kiwanis for inviting him and then everyone in the audience applauded the interesting and helpful presentation.

Kiwanis April 3 Meeting Announcements

Mary Anne announced that the Pennies for Patients box was delivered to the CHS Key Club. A total of $36 was collected.  Monty announced that the Fish and Chips Dinner was very successful and over $3,200 net income is estimated.  Mary Anne reported that five Drew Circle K members helping at the Fish and Chips dinner presented plaques to Kiwanis thanking us for sponsoring them and to Bob Stannard for being their advisor. She also reported that four of our members attended the Division Election at Rockaway and that Gordon Meth was elected Lt. Gov. for a second term. It was a good Interclub. Gary passed around a sign-up for the Bowers Lane cleanup at 9:00 PM on Wednesday, April 18.  Copies of entrance forms for the Drew Walk for Eliminate were handed out. Mary Anne reported that plastic bracelets with ELIMINATE written on them will be ordered for sale at upcoming events.  Marge circulated an Easter card for Sam.

March 28 Fish and Chips Dinner Supports ELIMINATE Project

On March 28 the Chatham-Madison Kiwanis Club held a Fish and Chips Dinner to raise money for the  ELIMINATE Project: Kiwanis eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT). In addition to Kiwanis workers, volunteers from Chatham High School Key Club, Chatham Middle School Builders Club and Drew University Circle K Club served in the kitchen and in the dining room.

Bill and Nancy greet diners as they arrive.

The Chatham High School Cafeteria was a busy place with many "dining in". There were also many "take home" customers.

Barbara and Dick were served by Kate, who holds the office of Treasurer in the Drew University Circle K Club.

Nancy shows her card as professionald maician (and Kiwanis member) Simon Mandal entertains the table with his magic tricks.

Drew University Circle K Club President Victoria Dayton (holding microphone) presented plaques of awards to Kiwanis President Mary Anne Maloney and Circle K Advisor Bob Stannard. In the background, Lakota and Kate look on.

March 27 Program: "Single Stream Recycling" by Penny Jones from the Morris County Utilities Authority.

Penny Jones from Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority spoke on Single Stream Recycling. She was introduced by past Kiwanis President Dick Plambeck, who is a member of the MUA Board of Directors. MUA is a water wholesaler and collection of solid waste (trash). By law, all Morris County trash must be delivered to one of the two MUA transfer stations. MUA collects single stream (called “All in One”) recyclables in 16 of the 39 Morris County municipalities.

Penny noted that recyclables (like bottles) collected by Kiwanis as part of the New Jersey Clean Community program should be kept separate from junk (like cigarette butts) so that recyclables will be disposed of properly.

She displayed many instructive props during her talk to the delight of the audience.  She pointed out that we in North America consume a lot of resources and throw many items away instead of recycling them. To improve the situation, New Jersey passed the NJ Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act 25 years ago. It is against the law to mix garbage and recyclables together. Every municipality in NJ is required to report how much recycling tonnage is processed each year. Funds are given to the municipalities by NJ State based on the reports.

Leaves are to be left out of recycling. Metal lids should be removed from jars and recycled. Steel and aluminum cans must be recycled. Plastic bottles numbered 1 and 2 must be recycled. Plastic bottle caps should be thrown away or given to the Jabberwocky store in Chatham (they have a way of recycling them). Corrugated cardboard and virtually all kinds of paper should be recycled. Even cardboard food containers like juice cartons should be recycled, but rinsed out first. Large pieces of aluminum foil can be recycled. Large rigid plastic items (like construction buckets) can also be recycled but must be taken to a recycling terminal if they are too large. Plastic bags are only accepted if they are used to hold shredded confidential documents.

You can now mix bottle, cans and paper in the same container for curbside pickup. Only one truck needs to come pick up single stream recycled solid waste. MUA material goes to ReCommunity in Mine Hill, NJ where it is sorted into categories of materials. Both workers and machines do the separation. From there the materials go to specialized recycling firms.

Penny recommends that we purchase products made out of recycled materials. For example, Marcal “Small Steps” has a plant in Elmwood Park, NJ near route 80. Local supermarkets carry their napkins, paper towels, etc. She showed a baseball cap made from #1 PET bottles. She asked Dick Plambeck to demonstrate a small expandable bag made from recycled materials, including an aluminum carabineer. She also showed a very nice handbag made in Senegal from found materials.

To learn more, she recommended Grist Magazine, which is available on-line. Click here to visit grist.org where you can learn much about recycling.  You can also click here to go to the MUA website to learn more. Penny handed out goodie bags and was given a huge ovation at the end of the very informative, interesting and entertaining program.

Kiwanis March 27 Meeting Announcements

Mary Anne Maloney announced that Bob Stannard was recognized for being the best Circle K advisor of our district. The Madison Cole Park Cleanup is May 5. On April 2 there will be a Divisional Election/Interclub Meeting at the Exchange in Rockaway. Joan, John and Mary Anne will attend and if one more comes, we can have an Interclub. The NJ Clean Community Cleanup at Bowers Lane in Chatham will be April 18 at 9:00 AM.