A Guide to Our Virtual Kitchen & Bath Design Process NOVEMBER 2020 FREE
What’s SHuP? Send Hunger Packing WW-P collecting money for grocery store gift cards By SaM SCIarrOTTa
Send Hunger Packing West Windsor-Plainsboro has been helping feed families in need since 2017. This year, though, they’re doing something a little bit different. SHuP WW-P recently launched a fundraiser to collect donations for grocery store gift cards that will be distributed to food insecure families in November and December. The group hopes to raise $20,000 for 800 $25 cards. “We’ve had a lot of folks coming through who were not previously on free or reduced lunch, not on SNAP, now facing issues that they’ve never faced before,” said Melissa Hager, director of SHuP WW-P. “We regrouped and thought that we should have another fundraiser and do something for the end-of-theyear holidays. That’s how we’ve come to this stage for this fundraiser.” Prior to COVID, SHuP’s main fundraiser was its Friday food bags. The group collected donations for food insecure students in grades K to 6 throughout the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district. The bags, placed in stuSee HUNGER, Page 9
As we are all working from home together, this may be good COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG time to virtually plan out your upcoming kitchen or bath projects. You’d be surprised how much you can accomplish working remotely with one of our design professionals.
For the love of tech
Start with a Project “To Do” List
You’ve been watching the home improvement shows, looking at magazines and doing some research online. You may even have put together an inspiration file of all the things you would love to have in your new kitchen or bathroom.
South senior adapts computer science group to COVID era
Where do you go from here?
First, make a list of what to change in your kitchen or bath area. Following is a brief checklist of what to consider:By SaM SCIarrOTTa Are you...
After two years, Samvit Agarwal’s found a rhythm with his non-profit, CS • Working with a new or existing floor plan? Remastered. Everything was running • Adding new appliances, lighting, sinks and faucets? smoothly. He had around 250 volunteers teaching free com• Changing flooring and if so, will other areas change as well? Luke Pometti (front, third from left in the black mask) started the COVID Running Club as a way for puter science classes throughout area? New Jersey, as well as in him and his friends to stay in shape in absence ofnew fall sports West Windsor-Plainsboro • the Installing tile in inthe the backsplash or in school the bath district. Now, the club has 16 members and meets every Tuesday and Thursday for a two-mile run. Ohio and California, and soon to be in China and India. (Staff photo by Sam Sciarrotta.) • Taking out the tub or enlarging the shower area? When the coronavirus pandemic started to spread, Try to have some idea of cabinetry and countertop choices, he and his colleagues—vice presidents Akash Bobba and even though this is not something you need to finalize before Bharat Krishnan—reacted talking with a design professional. just as smoothly. He’d been running for a few The group generally ran some of his friends tried out Student starts years but really got into it last its computer science classes for the track team for the fi rst What Can Our Design Pros Do For You? running club to stay time just before coronavirus winter when he decided to try in public spaces like schools for spring track. and to andcomplete libraries. They started spread. done your out Oncetoyou’ve research, you areHe ready our all closed active “At first when I heard that his running partner, Maxxe at the same time mid-March, receiving your information, would head to the High whichone left ofCSour Remastered itbrief wouldquestionnaire. last two weeks Upon [in Rice, By SaM SCIarrOTTa School North you track every unable toideas operate for a while, March], becausedesigners that was will experienced contact to discuss your COVID-19 had Community the original message, I still other day for a three-mile run. like many other non-profits and wishes. a design concept is createdto forandyour spaceorganizations. He was really beginning community that theyNext, would have Middle School eighth grader thought But Agarwal sat down with Luke Pometti feeling claustro- track after that,” he said. “As miss it. and we’ll also give you an“Iestimate range of what your project like the feel of it,” Pom- his colleagues and, together, phobic. So he decided to get it kept going on and on, I lost etti said. “I have always lovedstarted they came up with an online hope of the outside and do what he did any may cost. We track look seaforward to helping you get on your son continuing. I was disap- going fast. It’s not as fun for tutoring model that uses video best: run. project. because I did well in myself when I’m running calls and screen sharing. The Pometti was excited to run pointed, cross country for CMS this tryouts. I had gotten a taste by myself, so that’s why I transition was difficult, Agaryear, until the fall sports sea- of the team, but not the whole reached out to Maxxe. I love wal said, but it ended up workrunning no matter what, but ing out in the group’s favor. son was cancelled in the West experience.” Visit us at cranburydesigncenter.com/VirtualDesign. “Our main struggle was As summer started to creep if I got my friends involved, Windsor-Plainsboro school district due to the pandemic. in, Pometti was feeling the I thought it would be better. organizing sessions and He had a similar experience itch to get outside after a few If I only trained on my own, pairing students up with in the spring, when he and months of lockdown. See RUN, Page 6 See AGARWAL, Page 7
Keeping pace with the pandemic
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Find your E Street Band SAM SCIARROTTA FROM THE EDITOR
but what I really cherished was the presence of the E Street Band. The documentary told the story of Letter to You, but it was also an ode to this unit that has been playing together for nearly half a century, dotted with breakups and deaths, lineup changes and reunions. The band has been through much as a group, and I’m sure some of those feelings—old and new, good and bad—bubble up to the surface from time to time. The documentary condensed all of them into about 90 minutes. I’m sure we all have our own version of the E Street Band—a group of people who make this iteration of our lives possible, for better, for worse or both. Friends, family, coworkers, classmates, teammates, maybe a combination of these. While it’s possible to function apart, life is just not the same without them. Find your E Street Band. Let them know what they mean to you. It’s probable that none of us will ever put it as eloquently as Bruce, but the sentiment still stands. It’s a cliche, but it’s true: it’s those closest to us who make us who we are. Make sure they know that.
As the chaos of election season raged on, I treated myself to an evening of Bruce Springsteen last month. You might be thinking to yourself, “Sam, isn’t every evening an evening of Bruce Springsteen for you?” The answer is a loud, raucous “Yes.” But that’s besides the point. Bruce (first-name basis) released his 20th studio album, Letter to You, at the end of October. A film documenting the album’s recording over five wintry days last year also came out that same week. One free trial of Apple TV later, I settled in after a particularly long day, snuggled up in my favorite corner of the couch and pressed play on the documentary. I watched it the night of the final presidential debate. I’d already submitted my ballot, so I decided to give myself a break from the constant barrage of political ads and bloviating speeches and instead put on something I’d been looking forward to for a month or so. I’ll spare the 3,000-word review and Contact SAM SCIARROTTA: ssciarrotta@ just say this: it was great. I always love communitynews.org, (609) 396-1511, ext. a peek into Bruce’s recording process, 121, facebook.com/samsciarrotta1
A Guide to Our Virtual Kitchen & Bath Design Process As we are all working from home together, this may be good time to virtually plan out your upcoming kitchen or bath projects. You’d be surprised how much you can accomplish working remotely with one of our design professionals. Start with a Project “To Do” List You’ve been watching the home improvement shows, looking at magazines and doing some research online. You may even have put together an inspiration file of all the things you would love to have in your new kitchen or bathroom. Where do you go from here? First, make a list of what to change in your kitchen or bath area. Following is a brief checklist of what to consider: Are you... • Working with a new or existing floor plan? • Adding new appliances, lighting, sinks and faucets?
we are a newsroom of your neighbors. The News is for local people, by local people. As such, our staff sets out to make our towns a closer place by giving readers a reliable source to turn to when they want to know what’s going on in their neighborhood. As part of the community, the West Windsor and Plainsboro News does more than just report the news—it connects businesses with their customers, organizations with their members and neighbors with one another. Community News Service 15 Princess Road, Suite K Lawrence, NJ 08648 Phone: (609) 396-1511
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• Changing flooring and if so, will other areas change as well? • Installing new tile in the backsplash or in the bath area? • Taking out the tub or enlarging the shower area? Try to have some idea of cabinetry and countertop choices, even though this is not something you need to finalize before talking with a design professional. What Can Our Design Pros Do For You? Once you’ve done your research, you are ready to complete our brief questionnaire. Upon receiving your information, one of our experienced designers will contact you to discuss your ideas and wishes. Next, a design concept is created for your space and we’ll also give you an estimate range of what your project may cost. We look forward to helping you get started on your project. Visit us at cranburydesigncenter.com/VirtualDesign.
(609) 448-5600 145 W. Ward Street, Hightstown www.cranburydesigncenter.com
November 2020 | The News3
Around town given me the chance to really develop and explore the characters and their relationships.” Book No. 1 in the series, Righteous The West Windsor-Plainsboro region has it’s first Scouts BSA girl Assassin, was named one of the Top unit (formerly know as Boy Scouts of 20 Mystery/Thrillers of 2019 by the America, chartered by Queenship of Kindle Book Review, and among the Top 30 in the genre by the Chanticleer Mary Church in Plainsboro. Book Review. Book No. Due to COVID-19, 2, Deadly Enterprise, Troop 300G has been made the Kindle Book meeting regularly over Review’s Top 20 of 2020. Zoom. The girls have The new book is set also been using the on board a cruise ship patrol system to take part sailing from New York in a small-group, socially to Bermuda. NYPD distant hike through the Homicide detective D&R Canal.They walked Mike Stoneman and his for five miles but took partner, Jason Dickson some breaks to look at need to get out of town nature or to just get a to avoid the New York drink of water. They also media after the embarlearned how to read a rassing incidents that map and compass. occurred at the end Since camping Chapman of Deadly Enterprise. together wasn’t an Mike’s love interest, option during COVID, they also took part in a virtual camp- medical examiner Michelle McNeill, ing trip. They did most of the things and Jason’s new girlfriend, Rachel they would do while in person—told Robinson, arrange for both couples to scary stories, some jokes, set up camp take a cruise to Bermuda. On the first night, they make friends with theatand slept outside for the night. Recent community service projects rical agent Max Bloom and his wife, include cleaning Town Center Ele- Shirley. The next night, Shirley falls to mentary School garden and painting her death from her stateroom balcony. Michelle thinks it was neither an accithe bridge at Queenship of Mary. dent nor a suicide. The head of secuLocal author’s next book rity for the ship is content to label it as anything other than a homicide. Now, out Nov. 22 the chase is on to confirm whether West Windsor author Kevin G. Shirley was murdered, and to find the Chapman will publish the next book killer before anyone else dies. Chapman’s books are available in in his crime fiction series. Lethal Voyage (A Mike Stoneman Thriller) will the Mercer County Library system, be published Nov. 22 and is available and sometimes in the local mini-library kiosks. Residents who are interested now for pre-order on Amazon. Chapman describes the series as “A in becoming early readers, book club ton of fun to write. It not only lets me organizers or anyone who wants a perindulge my imagination regarding the sonally autographed copy can contact murder mystery elements, but it has Chapman at kevingchapman.com. The
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Silver Award project by hosting virtual STEM and First Lego League Junior lessons for young girls during the pandemic. The program lasted 20 days, 10 days per session. During these sessions, the girls taught 10 young girls how to engineer, design, and program. They worked on a FLL project called Weichert office “Boomtown Build.” The girls also built their own recognized city with a motorized LEGO crane that could Jim Madl, regional function similar to a real vice president of crane. Weichert Realtors, has After completing all announced that sales their tasks they showassociate Joseph Baycased their final project lis and his team with by presenting their city the Princeton Junction and their poster. At the office were recognized end of the program, the for their achievements in girls received medals September. and their very own cerAmong teams, Baylis tificate of completion. shared top honors for Baylis “Our goal for these leading the Weichert girls was to make them sales region in listings for the month. The region is com- feel comfortable going into STEM as prised of locations throughout Som- a female which is a field dominated by erset, Hunterdon, Mercer and War- males,” the said. Meanwhile, Anuhya Achanta and ren counties in New Jersey, and the Carly Tomfohrde also earned the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania. Baylis and his team can be reached Girl Scout Silver Award for their work at Weichert’s Princeton Junction in leading the “Think Like an Engioffice located at 53 Princeton-Hight- neer” journey for young Daisy Girl stown Rd. Call (609) 799-3500 for Scout troops. Both girls live in West Windsor. more information. Their goal was to introduce STEM Since 1969, Weichert, Realtors has grown from a single office into one to young girls in a fun and appealof the nation’s leading providers of ing way to encourage young girls to homeownership services by putting explore STEM in the future. Women its customers first. A family of 18 full- are underrepresented in the STEM service real estate-related companies, field. 93 out of 100 jobs related to Weichert provides an integrated real STEM fields are payed above the estate, mortgage, insurance and title national average. Only 6.7% of women graduate college with a STEM degree, settlement solution. and 72% of people that are working in Resident joins law firm STEM jobs are male. “We want to break gender stereoVaughan Baio and Partners recently welcomed four new partners to the types and teach them these things at firm, including Peter P. Perla, Jr. their young age,” Achanta said. The girls worked with five troops of West Windsor. The attorneys are members of the firm’s Labor, Employ- and 60 girls on a basic engineering ment and Liability and Workers’ journey. They conducted three handsCompensation Practice Groups and on building activities with kindergarwill operate from its New Brunswick ten and first-grade Girl Scouts, which office. The group joins from Jasinski, challenged the girls to explore and try P.C. Also joining are Joseph P. Horan, out ways to complete a basic engineering task. II, Susie B. Burns and Cindy Ringel “Being exposed to STEM at an early Perla has extensive experience counseling, litigating and defending corpo- age is key to females because it needs rations, municipalities, public entities to be an obvious option as a career and officials in matters involving state in the future. The skills these girls and federal employment laws, labor and learned will stay with them forever independent contractor issues as well when a difficult task is presented to as allegations of misclassification, and them,” Tomfohrde said. For more information, or to join Girl commercial disputes. Perla also is frequently called upon to draft and review Scouts in West Windsor, Plainsboro or contracts and policies, conduct training, Cranbury, send an email to girlscoutnegotiations and workplace investiga- swwp@verizon.net. tions, as well as prepare pre-suit investiScout earns Gold Award gations for insurance carriers. Parthavi Nerurkar, a junior at Silver Award projects High School South, recently completed her certification in Computer Aided focus on STEM Design. She channeled that into her Girl Scout Cadettes Saanvi Kumar Girl Scout Gold Award project, through and Sophia Secora completed their which she taught girls about CAD conbooks are available in Kindle edition and paperback on Amazon. The books are also available as audiobooks, narrated by the author, via Audible and at all retailers that sell audiobooks. Readers can get a free preview of Lethal Voyage (both text and audiobook files) on Chapman’s website.
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Parthavi Nerurkar channeled her passion for CAD into her Girl Scout Gold Award project. cepts and give them a glimpse into the field of Computer Aided Design. “There is a lack of girls participating in STEM Careers worldwide,” Nerurkar said. “A statistic from wes.org states that a ‘11% of the engineering workforce is female.’ The apparent gender gap in STEM fields inspired me when I was coming up with this project. I think by teaching a group of girls CAD, I will contribute in a small way to more girls being involved in STEM careers in the future.” Nerurkar conducted introduction to CAD workshops as well as a 12-series in depth course all throughout August. She taught girls the basics on how to use Onshape, a CAD software and educated them about CAD in the real world. Students used their skills to create their own designs, which Nerukar 3-D printed and mailed to them. She also ran a more advanced course for girls who were further interested in gaining more skills in CAD and 3D printing. This course covered geometric concepts, design principles, creative thinking and applications of CAD in addition to learning about the software. The girls used Onshape to create custom models. Over the course of the project, Nerurkar educated over 80 girls in 11 states. She trained a member of the GLSTEM group to conduct further training sessions and also provided a lesson plan, a 3-D printer, and additional supplies to the WW-P Girl Scout Service Unit and the Mercer County 4H Club to help sustain her training initiative.
Home COVID tests for county residents
Mercer County residents 14 years or older, and anyone employed as a first responder or health care worker in the county, now can sign up to receive a free COVID-19 saliva test to be administered at home through a partnership between the County and Vault Health Services of New Jersey. In addition, the county soon will begin offering COVID-19 testing at
pop-up mobile sites that visit different municipalities, also in partnership with Vault Health Services. The saliva collection test for COVID19 has the same effectiveness as the nasal swab test. It is not an antibody test, but rather is designed to determine if an individual is currently infected with COVID-19 and has the potential to infect others. This test is performed under the supervision of a Vault healthcare provider through a video telehealth visit, eliminating the risk of person-to-person exposure to the virus. Individuals seeking a test should visit mercercares.org to register. You will be required to provide proof of residency or employment. After your eligibility is verified, you will receive a digital link to Vault’s webpage to request a county-funded test kit. The kit will be shipped overnight with instructions on how to schedule a Zoom telehealth meeting with a certified healthcare worker who will virtually instruct you about how to properly collect a saliva sample for shipment to the Rutgers Clinical Genomics Laboratory for testing. Test results are expected to be returned within 72 hours. If your test is positive, or if you have symptoms, call your health care professional. Any questions can be directed to hometesting@mercercounty.org. When registering, individuals should have their health insurance card handy, but a lack of insurance will not prevent someone from using at-home COVID-19 testing. Federal rules require the collection of insurance information to support the testing program. Under federal law, all forms of public and private insurance must cover FDA-approved COVID19 tests with no out-of-pocket costs to insured persons.
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RUN continued from Page 1 it’s hard to stay motivated. When you work with others, it keeps us all accountable.” Once the idea for the COVID Running Club came to him, he asked Rice to join and then slowly started reaching out to more friends. The list grew from there—now, 16 kids meet outside of Pometti’s house twice a week for a run. The club gets together ever y Tuesday and Thursday at 3:30 p.m. They start stretching around 3:35 before heading out on a 2.25-mile run. Pometti said he tries to keep the route the same ever y week, and that has worked—now, ever ybody knows the path and how to adapt
it to their needs. There are ways to make the run back shorter or longer, he said, depending on how adventurous ever yone is feeling that day. Water is waiting when they get back, and then ever ybody heads home. Some kids ride their bikes, and others get dropped off and picked up. A few of the group’s members, including Pometti, also play tennis ever y Monday, Wednesday and Friday after school, hence the Tuesday-Thursday running schedule. If that sounds like a busy week, it is—and that’s exactly what Pometti craves. “If I don’t have stuff to do, it’s
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harder for me to think of things to do,” he said. “On the weekends, if I don’t have plans, I just find myself sitting on the couch and watching TV, so I like to keep myself as busy as possible.” And he was definitely feeling that indecision setting in at the start of the pandemic. Now, though, the daily fresh air has helped a lot. Spending time with his friends is an added bonus. “It feels ver y good because at least in the beginning of spring, I was not allowed to see my friends,” he said. “Now, at least I can see them. We just have to stay distant and tr y to keep our space.” Pometti said he plans to put the club on hold once the weather starts to get cold and then pick it back up in the spring. “I figured we would stop it around Thanksgiving, if the weather holds, and possibly resume it,” he said. “I was actually hoping the club could do some virtual races together and some live races in the spring, if they come back.” That’s kind of what Pometti is hoping the rest of the school year
looks like, too. Last spring, he was elected class president, and he was looking for ward to starting off the 2020-21 school year with events like the Halloween dance and winter pep rally. Those won’t happen the way he envisioned them, but he’s excited that student council will still continue, just in a different format. “It’s very different, but I’m happy, because I feel like everyone is making the most of what they have, and now, at least, the hybrid schedule feels more like school,” he said. “I’m sad this year had to start off like it did.” It led to the COVID Running Club, though, and Pometti is grateful for that. “It’s very satisfying for girls and guys being social and healthy,” he said. “It’s really stuck with everybody, and everyone’s been so helpful with it. If they were any less helpful, it would’ve been much harder to schedule and get everyone to cooperate.”
‘I’m happy because I feel like everyone is making the most of what they have.’ –COVID Running Club founder Luke Pometti
Contact SAM SCIARROTTA: ssciarrotta@ communitynews.org, (609) 396-1511, ext. 121, facebook.com/samsciarrotta1
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AGARWAL continued from Page 1 tutors effectively,” he said. “We addressed this by having dedicated moderators who organize and manage sessions. They also help solve any technical issues people face. Although the switch from in-person to virtual was rocky at first, the use of an online medium for teaching opens up a whole new set of possibilities. Location is no longer an issue which means we are able to scale our organization further and work on new initiatives with much more ease.” That means establishing partnerships with other organizations, like HomeFront and Girls Who Code, something Agarwal hopes to expand on in the coming years. At HomeFront, Agarwal works with students on activities like Scratch, a simple coding language that allows users to drag and drop blocks of code to create games. “They seem to love it so far,” he said. Agarwal, a senior at High School South, started CS Remastered in 2018. He’s always been enthusiastic about tech, he said, and he knew that he wanted to use his skills to give back to the community. He started out by helping out neighborhood kids with projects and answering their tech questions, and then he channeled that energy into CS Remastered. “After working with some of these kids, I realized that while they all
Samvit Agarwal (above, in a photo from last year) started his nonprofit, CS Remastered, two years ago, but the group has adapted its operations for the COVID era. shared a genuine passion for learning computer science, many didn’t know where to start or simply lacked the resources necessar y,” Agar wal said. “I am fortunate to have been exposed to programming at a pretty young age, but many of these students lacked such a background.” After digging a little deeper, Agarwal learned that many existing computer science programs and
would allow them to learn at their own pace and in their own style,” Agar wal said. The group’s primary offering is one-on-one computer science mentoring. They hold one-hour sessions twice a week, pairing students with volunteers according to the programming language they want to learn— Python and Java, for now, though Agarwal said he plans to add more in the future. Ultimately, though, Agarwal wants to redefine the way computer science is taught. As instruction becomes more flexible, he hopes that more kids will want to get involved. “We feel like the way computer science is currently taught in classrooms or other programs is a bit too inflexible and rigid,” he said. “Understanding a subject as complex as computer science is no easy task, and by focusing on languagespecific syntax or rote memorization, students are bound to run into obstacles sooner or later. Our ultimate vision is to inspire a group of students that will lead future change through technology, and we want to start them off on the right path to achieving that.” For more information, to become a volunteer or to sign up for classes, visit csremastered.org or send an email to team@csremastered.org.
resources focused on brute memorization and specific syntax—while these skills are important, they ignore the “true essence” or computer science, he said. “After speaking to a few of my friends who had similar experiences, we decided to start a program we hoped would alleviate these issues by teaching students the core fun- Contact SAM SCIARROTTA: ssciarrotta@ damentals of computer science in communitynews.org, (609) 396-1511, ext. an adaptive one-on-one setting that 121, facebook.com/samsciarrotta1
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HUNGER continued from Page 1 dents’ backpacks, supplement what they receive Monday through Friday through the National School Lunch Program. Hundreds of WW-P students met the income eligibility requirements set by the NSLP prior to the school lunch program; that number has increased significantly since the start of the pandemic, Hager said. They started to adapt almost immediately. “It was clear that we were going to have to shift our fundraising, not just for the Send Hunger Packing program, but to help everyone in the community that was in need,” Hager said. “We didn’t know what that was going to look like.” There was some confusion at first. “We emailed the mayor and the Department of Health and asked what the town was going to be doing when there was going to be a need for food and people were going to be in quarantine,” Hager said. “I was kind of met with, ‘What?’” Hager said. “I was kind of met with, ‘What?’” She checked backed in and eventually realized that SHuP’s efforts were going to shift slightly from the backpack program into other areas. They started with a five-day food collection at Saint David the King in mid-March. The collection was limited to a small area of the church, but they had to stop in the middle of the third day due to state safety
Send Hunger Packing West Windsor-Plainsboro hopes to raise $20,000 for 800 grocery store gift cards, to be distributed to families in need during the holiday season this year. mandates. “We pivoted again,” Hager said. “We were still delivering food through the Department of Health ver y cautiously—curbside dropoff to people who were quarantined. The next best thing was to have money donated. That’s when it really changed.” As food insecurity grew, Hager came up with the idea of collecting and purchasing grocer y store gift
with a level of need that is rapidly changing. “This spring really showed that we could collect enough funds to distribute grocery cards,” Hager said. “We realized that a government stimulus was not going to be given to families in time for the holidays. Even if a stimulus package is passed, it will take a while to be distributed. We have to do what we can now. “In the past, students were in school and receiving their free or reduced lunch. Now, they might not be getting those meals. It’s a very different thing.” SHuP has currently raised just over $2,000, about 10 percent of their goal for the grocer y store gift cards. The project deadline is Nov. 16. “We realized this isn’t going away,” Hager said. “It surprised me because I thought the state and fed government would have stepped up and done something in a positive way. The number of people who are in need just grew so much.” West Windsor and Plainsboro, though, have stepped up, she said. “People are supportive,” Hager said. “So that part of it is really nice. We have a really nice community.” To donate, visit shupwwp.org or ioby. org/project/pandemic-hunger-reliefwest-windsor-plainsboro.
cards. They started with a small distribution list but kept raising money. “In the summer, we had a twoweek distruction of cards,” she said. “We were able to have funds for families who were coming through for bi-weekly food distribution at High School North.” Though this is all new territor y Contact SAM SCIARROTTA: ssciarrotta@ for SHuP, the group has been work- communitynews.org, (609) 396-1511, ext. ing to meet demand and keep up 121, facebook.com/samsciarrotta1
November 2020 | The News9
The dinosaur find that ‘changed the world’ American paleontology has deep roots in New Jersey By Dan Aubrey
The little girl down my block was clear when I walked by. She loved dinosaurs and had the dino-shirt, dino-model in hand, and the smiling eyes and mouth to prove it. A quick chat with the girl’s mother confirmed the obvious. “She’s crazy about them,” mom said. She then added that they were looking for ways to encourage her interest during the pandemic. As a dinosaur-enthusiast from way back, I had an idea of what was running through the girl’s mind. That’s because these bigger-than-life once-real creatures are an enchanting potion of science, imagination, and mystery. They’re also cool. And as a former New Jersey State Museum administrator whose job involved dealing with paleontologists, I also had some real deal information about New Jersey’s major role in dinohistory, how women were involved, and places to go to connect with the big brutes. So if you’re looking to bone up on
dinosaurs in New Jersey, let’s go. “The birthplace of American paleontology was in New Jersey,” writes William Gallagher in his important Rutgers University-published book “When Dinosaurs Roamed New Jersey.” A former assistant natural history curator at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton, author of numerous studies, and current assistant professor at Rider University, Gallagher connects that statement to the discovery of the world’s first substantial dinosaur skeleton in 1858 in Haddonfield, New Jersey. That’s a small town 13 miles outside Philadelphia (45 miles from Princeton). At the time scientists on both sides Paleontologist Barbara Grandstaff of the Atlantic Ocean had already discovered the first mammal’s tooth from amassed a number of large reptile the cretaceous period in New Jersey. bones that clued them in that giant lizards had once romanced the world. And while the term dinosaur—ter- break outside the big city. Since the New Jersey State Museum rible lizard—had been coined to classify them, in order to group them, no had yet to be founded, Foulke conskeleton existed to figure out what tacted noted paleontologist Joseph Leidy at Philadelphia’s Academy of they actually looked like. To fill the gap scientists used their Natural Science. Leidy knew what it was, and he and imaginations and understanding of Foulke soon presented the first dinoanatomy. That was until Philadelphia-based saur skeleton finding report ever to lawyer and geologist William Parker the academy later that year. Leidy also christened the critter Foulke pieced together the strange bones found by farmers and reported with the name Hadrosaurus foulkii, to Foulke while he was on a summer Latin for Foulke’s bulky lizard.
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As Gallagher notes, with “the most complete dinosaur skeleton known at this time from anywhere in the world,” scientists then were able to see for the first time what a dinosaur looked like. The effort was aided by British artist Waterhouse Hawkins, who had helped a prominent British paleontologist create paintings and sculptures of what he thought dinosaurs looked like. Hawkins happened to be in Philadelphia in 1858 and convinced Leidy and the academy to study the Hadrosaurus. After making castings and creating missing pieces, including the skull, Hawkins turned the New Jersey find into the world’s first mounted dinosaur skeleton. No wonder the Academy of Natural Sciences has called the New Jersey find “The dinosaur that changed the world.” A few years later, in 1866, another significant New Jersey dinosaur discovery occurred. Its finder was another important 19th century paleontologist and Leidy protégé, Edward Drinker Cope. After moving from his hometown of Philadelphia to Haddonfield in order to take advantage of bones being found by regional farmers and clay diggers, Cope hit pay dirt in nearby Gloucester County when he put together the major skeletal portions of
America’s first carnivorous dinosaur. The creature is the Dryptosaurus aquilunguis, a fierce cousin of the monstrous Tyrannosaurus Rex. Dinosaur bones, prehistoric marine fossils, mastodons and mammoths, and dinosaur foot tracks in stone continued to be found and eventually directed to the New Jersey State Museum, founded in 1985, making it the center for New Jersey dinosaur fossils and research. That includes an important late-20th century State Museum-led field study at the Ellisdale site on the boundary of Burlington and Monmouth counties. Currently the focus of a major study involving the NJSM and the Smithsonian Institute’s United States National Museum of Natural History, Ellisdale, now part of the Monmouth County Parks System, is a story with two beginnings. The first starts 75 million years ago and involves dinosaurs during the cretaceous period—the final portion of “the age of the dinosaurs.” The other start involves the humans finding dinosaurs remains in the 1980s and the woman who would eventually oversee the excavation. Robert Denton and Robert O’Neill are the two who unearthed the discovery in a seemingly routine spot. “When I worked at Johnson & Johnson, I was living in Allentown,” says Denton during a telephone interview. “I thought there were fossils sites in New Jersey and started going around.” A geologist, Denton is also an avocational paleontologist who learned
the trade through Harvard Universityled excavations and other hands-on research. When he noticed a type of terrain by a wooded stream bed off Province Line Road near the former Princeton nursery, he got intrigued and began considering other such sites that yielded a mixture of prehistoric sea and land animal fossil specimens. He says he also recalled the following advice from a mentor: “If you look for fossils at places where people had found some, you’ll find the same. But if you find a place that no one had gone and found something, it will make you famous.” After a few visits and finding only the remains of prehistoric fish, Denton says he says he began to have “an intuitive feeling” that piqued his curiosity. Soon he and O’Neill began exploring the grounds but “didn’t find any fossils, at first. But it looked different than any other places.” That was, in part, because the prehistoric wood at the site had not been transformed into coal like at other fossil locations. While initial visits yielded little, Denton says he couldn’t get the ravine out of his mind and says it “was yelling at me” to revisit. “We went back in the August of 1980 and started walking up the ravine by a stream,” he says. “And right there was a fossil turtle shell. I walked a few more feet, and we found a neck vertebra of a Hadrosaurus. Then there was another.” The two took the specimens to the New Jersey State Museum’s chief
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curator of natural science, David Parris, who immediately grasped the significance of the site and told Denton “to keep your eye on the spot.” Denton says “soon after every major rain storm we’d find another bone. Then there was the great event that happened in March, 1984. We had a classic New Jersey Mid-Atlantic Nor’easter and 11 inches of rain. The storm had cut into what we found was the fossil-bearing unit, and there were pebbles and bones everywhere. They just kept washing out. In a few weeks the collection went from several hundred to several thousand (specimens). And we realized that we needed to investigate the site.” The museum then submitted and won a grant from the National Geographical Society in 1986 to conduct a study of the Ellisdale site (Full disclosure, I helped with the grant). The following was history. “I was the main person who was paid—an excavator supported by the NGS grant. I was in charge of digging in fossils. (Others) were digging but as volunteers,” says Barbara Grandstaff, a paleontologist and now the head of the gross anatomy course at the University Of Pennsylvania School of Veterinarian Medicine. She describes her duties as follows: “I identified and sorted through (specimens) and cataloged them. I was involved with curating the fossils when we brought them back to the museum. “Digging up the fossils is the fun part. You get to get be outdoors and digging in the creek, which is exciting. But then
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you have to catalog the records and document them to make sure they’re available to the world in the future.” She says the site provide a unique glimpse of the world during New Jersey’s Cretaceous era. “The site is incredibly interesting. Not only do we have dinosaurs, we also have marine fauna (animal life occurring during a particular era).” With little fanfare, Grandstaff says, “And we have the first mammals (found) in the Eastern United States. We have a lot of the little things that lived with the dinosaur. And we can put an ecosystem together.” She says several factors make the site unlike others. “There are layers of mud and sand. Even though it’s 75 million years old it hasn’t been compressed in rocks. That is unusual. And to find an estuary is incredible and isn’t common.” Additionally, she says, the site “is a different environment than we see west of the Mississippi (where a good deal of dinosaur collecting continues). There was a sea way that separated the two land masses. The animals we’re seeing here are different than others west of the sea way. We’re seeing things that are more like Europe.” She says that she did a lot of discovering in the lab when she went through soil and looked at objects through a microscope. While there were a lot of fish bones, she says that while “sorting through the dirt to find what goodies were in there” she “found a lot of the little lizard jaws and salamander bones. I also See DINOS, Page 12
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DINOS continued from Page 11 found baby dinosaur teeth. That’s pretty cool, baby Hadrosaurus.” She says the salt marsh estuary “was productive enough to be a nursery ground for Hadrosaurus babies and also for sharks.” But for Grandstaff, the most exciting thing was finding the remains of a mammal. “I didn’t find it in the field but in the lab. I cried ‘hurray’ because I found a mammal’s tooth. It was the first time anyone found a mammal’s tooth from the cretaceous period. It was the tooth of a tiny animal that was related to possums.” Grandstaff’s big news about a tiny discovery is part of southern New Jersey’s important role in dinosaur history—especially the discovery that put dinosaurs in museums and connected New Jersey with paleontology history. Like the small girl at the start of the story, Grandstaff says her love of dinosaurs and fossils goes back to her childhood. “When I was six my mom and dad gave me ‘The Golden Book of Dinosaurs’ for my birthday. They said it was because I liked fossils, and I didn’t realize it.” An Ithaca, New York, native, Grandstaff and her family moved to Holland, Pennsylvania, when her Atlantic Richfield employee father was transferred to the Philadelphia region. She says her early collections were made when her family traveled to upstate New York to visit her Methodist minister grandfather whose parsonage was on grounds with fossils.
“I fell in love with them,” she says. “From then on, from age six to 12, I collected fossils, horn corals, much older than dinosaurs, 300 million years old. Solitary corals that look like ice cream cones. They’re really neat to find. My parents never minded carrying the corals and rocks I was collecting.” After studying earth science in high school, she went to Millersville State College, where she majored in earth science and geology with a minor in biology. “I had already decided that I wanted to be a paleologist. When I applied to grad school I was looking for one where I could study paleontology and went to Princeton (University).” Grandstaff was a one of the first group of females to attend the university and was able to take advantage of its paleontology program and collection that existed until the 1980s. She earned a master’s degree in geological and geophysical sciences in 1973. Questioned about challenges she faced while studying a field dominated by men, Grandstaff says that one professor, Glenn Jepsen was “a bit of a misogynist.” On the other hand, she says most others were supportive. “They liked to have someone excited by paleontology. That’s what matters most. Jepsen was unusual. (His attitude) is far from the truth from most paleontologists. They’re really good people.” “I never expected to be part of history,” she says. “I’ve been very lucky at being at the right place at the right time.” For area residents who want to help
their dino-crazed children dig into their interest or just want to go dinohunting themselves during the pandemic, here are some tips—both outside and in. First, why not go to where it all began? Head to Haddonfield, New Jersey, and check out the life-sized memorial to the town’s most famous resident, who also happens to be New Jersey’s official state dinosaur, the Hadrosaurus—aka Haddy. Created by sculptor and former Rutgers University Fine Arts Department chair John Giannotti, the giant figure is situated in the heart of town and close to the exact place where the actual dinosaur was found. Combine with the trip with a downtown snack near the statue or have a picnic at the site. This is a low-key and low-cost adventure to where it all started that puts the Garden State’s dinosaur history in context. Second, make a visit to the Academy of Natural Science in Philadelphia where the Hadrosaurus has been greeting visitors—including a younger version of me—for more than 150 years. The museum and its impressive Dinosaur Hall are currently on open on a pandemic-limited schedule, Fridays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets range from $16 to $22. ansp.org. Third, wait for the reopening of the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton and make a visit to its natural history hall. There kids and adults can immerse themselves in New Jersey’s dinosaur history through footprints
and mounted cast skeletons, including “Haddy” as well as a stirring homage to New Jersey’s own Dryptosaurus. But make that a double. Inspired by famed American artist Charles R. Knight’s popular painting of two fighting dinos, the NJSM’s display features a pair of hungry skeletons in a perpetual battle that stirs the imagination. Additionally, look for the hands-on Innovation Lab, which lets visitors get a feel for fossil hunting and watch museum volunteers and staff sort and catalog materials that make their way from Ellisdale or Southern New Jersey. And finally, why not start exploring the world right under your feet? As curator Parris said in a note, “While Benjamin Franklin and other Philadelphians were founding American sciences (including paleontology), the people of southern New Jersey were suppliers of vast numbers of actual specimens. In a very real sense, the farmers and miners of southern New Jersey provided much of the support that launched American science.” And with a new crop of New Jersey girls and boys interested in dinosaurs, new discoveries and revelations may just be waiting. Take Grandstaff’s advice, “Science is always built on the people that came before you and continues with those who come after. It grows. We’re handing it off to young folks.” In other words, it’s time to get real crazy for dinosaurs.
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Travel Talk with Caryn and Aron
PRINCETON
Hola Mexico
I have been missing travel. Since midMarch I have stayed local with my furthest trip being a 24-hour journey to bring my son to college. So, when the opportunity came to go on a familiarization trip to Cancun for a few days and check out the protocols enforced in Mexico and various resorts in the AMResorts collection I grabbed it. The first set of procedures I had to follow were those of the airport and airlines. As we have all read, masks are required in both, and should be worn at all times, unless eating or drinking. Upon boarding my United flight, I was given a sanitizing wipe to use on my hands and I also used on the seat back, buckle and tray. During the flight, the attendants handed us a bag with a water bottle and snacks. Overall feeling was one of comfort and all went smoothly. There were no lines for entering Mexico and I had completed and printed out the necessary forms before arriving. There were hand sanitizers available, and spots to stand to keep your distance from fellow travelers. For those familiar with the Cancun airport, we did not have to press the red/green button for the randomized luggage check. After running the usual gamut of timeshare salespeople, we walked outside and met up with our transfer. Our luggage was sprayed down before being placed in the trunk of the van, and our group boarded with each of us having our own seat. Once we arrived at the resort, our luggage was disinfected again and we had to wipe our feet on disinfecting mats, use antibacterial hand gel, and get our temperature taken. This was the procedure for each time we came back to the resort and at each resort we visited. This protocol was also in place at the entrance to all restaurants and indoor spots. Our hotel room was certified that it was hygienically sanitized and all items in the room that one would normally handle were sealed in plastic, such as the TV remote, mugs, toiletries, and the minifridge had a seal on it. You had the choice whether to have your room serviced during the day and night. Restaurant buffets were open, but everything was already packaged in single-serve containers and were served by staff. Fortunately, most dining takes place outside, but if one chose to eat inside, tables were well spaced apart. Masks are recommended inside, but not required. For the pool and beach areas, most guests did not wear masks,
but the staff wore them at all times. While it seemed that most of the lounge chairs were occupied, there were less chairs than normal, and they were grouped in twos with each grouping separated by at least six feet. Mexico has its own safety measures in place that all resorts must follow – no more than 60% capacity currently and no alcohol served after 11pm. Behind the scenes, the resorts test everyone every day and their temperature is taken 3x per day. Overall, the safety protocols in place were even more stringent than in the US. The only issue was they were not consistently enforced, and guests did not follow all of them. I would be happy to discuss this further with anyone who is interested. To view pictures and information on the resorts I toured and inspected, visit my business Facebook page. The resorts were all part of the AMResorts family in Mexico, and included Secrets, Dreams and Breathless properties. And when you are ready to book your next Mexican resort getaway, give me a call and Mexico will welcome you home. To get a copy of our digital semi-annual Travel Planner magazine so you can begin thinking about your next memory making vacation, visit our website at www. makingvacationmemories.com and click on Travel Brochures at the bottom of the page. Or send me an email and I can send you the direct link. At Cruise Planners we specialize in all types of travel (not just cruises). We do not charge any additional fees for our vacation planning, and whether you are looking for a Cruise, an All-Inclusive Resort Vacation, or a European Land Tour, we will provide you with the exceptional service you should expect from a travel agent. Follow us at www.facebook.com/familycruising. Unlike big online travel sites, Cruise Planners with Caryn and Aron, delivers the personal touch.
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community forum Das: changing social media The first social media was invented in 1997 starting with a site called Six Degrees, allowing people to make friends and chat with each other. However, since 1997, much has changed in the social media game, as we now have Facebook and Instagram, where almost all millennials and Gen Z are active Instagram users. Instagram was originally used to share photos of highlights in your life with friends. However, since the quarantine started, I have noticed a hasty change in the use of social media. During the time of COVID-19, there have been many pressing issues going on the world ranging from Black Lives Matters, Abortion Rights, ICE, Antisemitism, to LGBTQ+. What has become more prevalent on Instagram, instead of photos of our friends, has been repositioning of facts about these movements and posts about taboo issues. Almost every story on Instagram during these times has been about one of these ongoing issues. Some people may say that our generation is now becoming aware of the conflicts going on in the United States and in other countries. However, what I would like to bring to everyone’s attention, is that we have been focusing on talking the talk, instead of walking the walk. Human rights issues have turned into trends, where people post these disturbing videos and facts to gain popularity or seem as if they are knowledgeable about the issues. There was an article in The Economist which talks about how BLM is receiving the most attention it has received since it was started. I agree that attention to these issues is important, but I would say that actually attending protests and raising money for the families that have been impacted through the flaws in our society has a much larger paramount importance rather, than us sharing facts about sad stories and doing nothing. What we need to do in addition to just talking about these issues is actually making change. Some may say that it is impossible to go out and make real
change in the world during this time of COVID-19. However, we should not be ignorant of the facts that are staring at us, which are that most of us have technology at home and it is very feasible to raise money for a good cause from the comfort of your own home. There is no easy solution to what social media and our generation have done to ourselves, making human rights issues trends, and pretending that we are fighting an issue when we subconsciously know we are just being bystanders. However, after reading this article and understanding that sharing information is not enough, I would urge you to take action about something you truly care about. I urge you to take a stand for whatever you believe in, whether it is BLM or climate change. I wish that our generation would not follow under this new wave of following trending issues, and instead fight for what we truly believe in. We have our whole lives in front of us, and it would be hypocritical of us to criticize the past generations for not fixing these issues when we are clearly doing the same. Our generation needs to be the generation that actually causes change and it is indeed pragmatic since we have so much time on our hands. Our generation is curious, smart, diverse, and understanding, but we need to actually help each other and do something to make a difference. We can not allow our generation to be yet another bystander of this ongoing catastrophe, and we will not allow our generation to be a continuation of the very thing we despise. I will end this letter with a quote from Dr. Denis Waitley: “There are two choices in life: To accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” Do not allow our generation to become yet another generation that does not fight back for what is truly wrong. We must walk forward together. Nikhil Das West Windsor Das is a sophomore at High School South.
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DO YOU WANT THESE RESULTS? I Have Achieved an AVERAGE of 106.7% LIST PRICE to SALE PRICE RATIO 2020 thus far. Here are some of my LISTINGS SOLD 2020. LIST PRICE 710K SOLD 725K 10 Columbia WW
LIST PRICE 669K SOLD 680K 3 Orly WW
LIST PRICE 709K SOLD 715K
11 Springwood DR
LIST PRICE 569K SOLD 569K 25 Hawthorne WW
LIST PRICE 810K SOLD 795K 556 Village WW
LIST PRICE 687K SOLD 685K
757 Village RD
LIST PRICE 595K SOLD 590K 6 Blackhawk WW
LIST PRICE 725K SOLD 730K 29 Highmont WW
LIST PRICE 675K SOLD 675K
79 Danville WW
LIST PRICE 920K SOLD 905K 86 Saratoga WW
LIST PRICE 710K SOLD 700K 42 Orleans WW
LIST PRICE 592K SOLD 592K
Statistics taken from Bright MLS 1/1/2020-9/25/2020
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