Rotary and Kiwanis partner toward another successful Street Fair

Photos by Janet Markman

Everyone in the Caldwells looks forward to the first Sunday in October. For the past 19 years, it's been a day of celebration for the community as Bloomfield Avenue shuts down and downtown transforms into the Rotary/Kiwanis Street Fair. More than 35,000 people attended this year's festivities, enjoying the food, rides, vendors, beer garden, music, entertainment and one another. Three lucky winners ended their day by splitting a 50/50 with proceeds over $28,000.

The Rotary/Kiwanis Street Fair exemplifies what can be achieved when two service clubs collaborate toward an end. What began as an idea for a community event has grown into a major fundraiser for both organizations, contributing significantly to their annual budgets. The proceeds are invested back into the community or into national or international service projects through the work of Rotary and Kiwanis volunteers.

Planning and executing an event of this magnitude is no small feat. Work begins each year in November for the following year. A Rotary and Kiwanis Chair and Co-chair is assigned for The Street Fair and for each committee, ensuring parity in decision making and responsibility between the clubs. Rotarian Kevin Hersh, 2010 Street Fair Chair, partnered with Kiwanian Bob Hodge to lead a team of 48 committee chairs and members in working through every detail of the event from planning logistics to securing sponsors and vendors. Every member of Rotary and Kiwanis volunteers to work the Street Fair. Together with volunteers from across the community and emergency services, they make the day possible.

Past President June VanZandt recalled the genesis of The Street Fair and Rotary’s partnership with Kiwanis. “The idea for a community event came from Rotary, inspired by the Denville club, but we knew it was too big to manage ourselves. After exhausting the potential for partnership with other Rotary Clubs, I decided to approach Kiwanis. Their president was excited by the idea and very reasonable. The two organizations worked together for two years to plan the first Street Fair. Irene Gibbons, who was then Mayor and is still active in Kiwanis, was extremely supportive. A reputation had existed that Rotary and Kiwanis were competitors, which we did not believe. Our collaboration demonstrated the value of both clubs and that we could work together toward the betterment of our community.” Hersh agreed, “working with another service group adds community cohesiveness and makes for an extraordinary event.”

Please mark your calendar for the first Sunday in October 2011 to join The Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs of The Caldwells as they celebrate The Street Fair’s 20th anniversary.

Rotarian Christy Berg

Rotary Service Day at Camp Merry Heart

In the hills of Hackettstown, Camp Merry Heart has provided recreation and respite opportunities to over 30,000 children and adults with disabilities or special needs since 1967.

For almost three decades, Rotary District 7470 and the Rotary Club of the Caldwells have supported Camp Merry Heart financially and through volunteer service.

“I’ve been a Rotarian for 23 years and the Caldwell club has supported Camp Merry Heart as long as I’ve been a member,” recalls President Tom Cocchiola. “I can honestly say that it’s one of the best uses of the money we raise because of what we’re doing and who we’re doing it for.” Rotarian Keith Calandra agrees. “I’ve got a real soft spot for the kids. I give them everything we possibly can give them.”

Calandra has led Caldwell Rotary’s support of Camp Merry Heart for the last seven years. For this year’s Rotary District Service Day on August 11, he coordinated volunteers Tom Cocchiola, Dora Hillyer, Paul Marinaccio, Sam Kent, Jonathan Barrett, June VanZandt, Christy Berg , Bob and Janet Markman to help host a day of festivities for the campers. The team sponsored and ran The Moonwalk and served a barbeque dinner to 250 campers, staff and volunteers.

Other Rotary clubs from the district sponsored and ran refreshments stations, games and activities such as karaoke, therapy dachshunds and a dunking booth. “It was a wonderful and rewarding day,” said Berg. “Seeing the children smile with such happiness made me know that we were doing something very special.”

The Rotary Club of the Caldwells also funds $3000-$4000 in Camperships each year, helping pay the way for children who couldn’t otherwise attend Camp Merry Heart. “These one or two weeks make a difference not only to the child, but also to the parents,” explained Cocchiola. “Imagine how much work is involved in care giving. This gives them a much needed break.”

In addition, the club has donated and helped build amenities for the camp. In recent years, Caldwell Rotarians built a fire pit, created a butterfly garden, fenced in the playground, laid the foundation for the infirmary, constructed an outdoor chapel, and purchased benches. Last year the club donated athletic gear including fishing poles, soccer and baseball equipment and life jackets. Each year a team of does spring clean up, maintaining the trails, furniture and equipment.

Camp Merry Heart’s programs help people with special needs build confidence, cultivate a sense of independence, increase social skills, build relationships and reduce disability related health consequences. To learn more about Camp Merry Heart and watch a video featuring their campers, visit http://nj.easterseals.com/CampingampRecreationalServices.

To learn more about The Rotary Club of the Caldwells and their commitment to service both locally and internationally, please visit http://www.caldwellrotary.org or call 973-226-2344.

Submitted by Rotarian Christy Berg

Rotary helps WEFAS purchase Protective Gear for Volunteers

When an emergency call is made to 911 in Caldwell, Essex Fells, Fairfield, North Caldwell or West Caldwell, the volunteers of the West Essex First Aid Squad (WEFAS) will be there to help - any time, any day. The squad of 80 trained volunteers responds to an average of 7-8 calls each day.

To provide emergency service to five communities properly, WEFAS needs volunteers and up-to-date, well maintained equipment. Most of their funding comes through donations from local residents, business and civic organizations. “We are extremely grateful to our community donors who are there for us every year,” said WEFAS President John Taylor. “It is through their donations that we are able to safely respond and to help save lives."

The Rotary Club of the Caldwells continues to support WEFAS this year by donating $2,500 toward turn-out gear. This personal protective equipment is clothing is worn by the WEFAS volunteers in emergency situations. "The safety of the volunteers is extremely important," said Past Rotary President Kevin Hersh. "I cannot even imagine our community without our emergency service network. WEFAS volunteers are part of this network and their safety is paramount."

The Rotary Club of the Caldwells has a long heritage of supporting WEFAS. In 2009, the organization donated all proceeds from their annual golf outing – over $12,000 – to help WEFAS purchase a new rescue vehicle. "It is an honor to contribute to WEFAS. They are a remarkable group,” said Tom Cocchiola, Rotary President. “By supporting WEFAS, The Rotary Club of the Caldwells is supporting both WEFAS and our communities. To the volunteers of WEFAS, The Rotary Club of the Caldwells says THANK YOU!"

During the presentation of the check on Tuesday, John Taylor expressed his appreciation to the Rotary Club of the Caldwells. “Organizations such as Rotary have been very generous to us through your donations and we thank you.”

To learn more about volunteering for WEFAS or to make a contribution, please contact 973-403-8568 or visit www.westessexfas.org. To learn more about The Rotary Club of the Caldwells and their commitment to service both locally and internationally, please visit http://www.caldwellrotary.org or call 973-226-2334.

Submitted by Rotarian Christy Berg

Rotary District Conference - a personal perspective

Okay...had I known that Gettysburg was at the far edge of the middle of nowhere, I might have had second thoughts about attending the District Conference there at the end of May. However, I decided it would be a great opportunity to try out my new motorcycle (a 2003 Honda Nighthawk 750, for those with an interest in such details) on a road trip, as well as a chance to see a larger segment of Rotary up close.

The trip there was longer than anticipated and much of it was after dark. Note to self: that part of rural Pennsylvania basically shuts down and turns out the lights around 9PM, so it got pretty lonely on the road. I arrived at the very spiffy conference venue outside the town at about midnight, and was welcomed by the hotel staff as if it were a perfectly normal time for a guest to arrive, carrying low-end motorcycle luggage and looking fairly bedraggled.

By early next morning--Rotary conference organizers seem to have a fetish about starting the program at 7:30AM and going until the wee hours of the night--all was sorted out. The welcome table had all my "stuff"--name badge, goody bag, miscellaneous info about the area and a mini stuffed bear, which later on I donated to our president's, Kevin's, collection for shipment to Haiti as "packaging" for medicine, etc.

The days in Gettysburg were, frankly, a tad longer than I am used to and much of the meeting time was taken up with formal reports about official District business. But....there was also an awful lot of information about what the District and individual clubs, such as ours, have been doing to make the world a better place. The boards and circular picture displays that our president, Kevin Hersh, and his wife Rita had painstakingly put together were a huge hit, and Kevin's presentation, although brief but accompanied by eye-catching and informative videos, was very warmly received.

On the final evening, at dinner, there were musical presentations by the fairly large group of Rotary exchange students who were heading home after a year's stay here, and by a small group of Finnish young professionals who had been visiting the District for the past couple of weeks. (FYI, I got to practice my four or five words of Finnish.) Along the way, a lot of time was spent by DG Karen Castora giving out awards for an enormous variety of achievements. Our club, and our president, Kevin Hersh, in particular, were showered with our large share of such awards, for which I was extremely proud.

Two personal highlights of my time in Gettysburg: first, the opportunity to re-connect with my now dear friend, Leo Redmond, who has visited and spoken at our club meetings several times and who gave a fantastic presentation on his year in Turkey as our District's Ambassadorial Scholar. The older ladies, in particular, wanted to know if Leo had "met a girl" while in Turkey, and after some good-natured banter he shyly admitted that he had and that the relationship was moving ahead slowly but steadily.

The second highlight was a motorcycle outing of the countryside around Gettysburg and of the battlefield itself led by the president of one of the Denville clubs. There were four of us bikers, plus two wives and one of the Finnish ladies, who stopped for lunch at one of the historic houses in the town and then spent a very enjoyable few hours leisurely wandering the back roads. The ride was, regrettably, cut short by a sudden downpour, but we had a convivial time even so.

The ride home to New Jersey was in daylight and thankfully uneventful, except for a very unpleasant first 1/2 hour or so in a chilly drizzle.

I was so pumped by the whole experience that I am seriously considering riding the bike to next year's Conference in Annapolis, Maryland. I would urge other club members to consider going (in cars, if you must), as well, as the experience is worthwhile and enables us to get out of our sometimes parochial perspective and to see the wider world of Rotary at the District level.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Batkay

Rotarian

Rotary Awards Three Scholarships to Outstanding Students

On 6/1/10, I attended the James Caldwell High School Awards night assembly and presented the club scholarships of $1,500. each to Deanna Marinucci and Paula Aristizabal. On June 2, 2010, June VanSandt attended the West Essex High School Awards assembly to present the scholarship of $1,500. to Lee Holtzman. These students were outstanding candidates and demonstrated high academic acheivement, strong community service and wide participation in extra curricular activites. They would make any parent very proud.

John E. Burgio

Caldwell Rotarian

In freedom they died, so in freedom we'd stay. We honor these heroes this Memorial Day. Thank you to the men and women who have served our country.

Girl Scouts deliver HOPE for Haiti

Kevin Hersh, President, Rotary Club of the Caldwells, Darion Triplett, Kathy Malkinski, Kelly Malkinski, Kendall Gregory, Nelson Diego Checo, Daniela Dellanno, Marianna Colavita, Rotarian Gerardo D’Emilio.

The girl scouts of troop 2090 of East Hanover delivered clothing, food and toys to Terzako Furs in Caldwell, NJ on May 15, 2010. The donation was for the people of Haiti. The girls arrived at 1 PM, unpacked the vehicles and Nelson "Diego" Checo, Rotary's Dominican liaison in the Dominican for Haiti immediately started packing for a 3.30 PM shipment. Fifteen boxes or an approximate 2,625 lbs of goods were then shipped for distribution in Haiti.

After the delivery, Marianna Colivita, project leader, presented Kevin Hersh, President, Rotary Club of the Caldwells with a check for $275 collected by the Girl Scouts. Marianna also presented Kevin with an application for a matching grant from Kraft Foods for an additional $275 bringing the total donation to $550.

Kevin Hersh, Diego and Rotarian Mike Kambourakis gave the girls a brief history of the project and Rotarian Gerardo D'Emilio brought out photo books to show the girls how we are all making a difference to so many lives.

A big thank you goes out to Monte Erenkrantz of the Livingston Sunrise Rotary for making the arrangements to get the delivery to The Rotary Club of the Caldwells for "The Haiti Relief Effort."

The girls could not stay long, they had to leave for a scheduled softball game. We hope they Won, they deserved it. THANK YOU GIRL SCOUTS!

Kevin Hersh

President

Rotary Club of the Caldwells