In one week's time, New Jersey will be privileged to enjoy one of horse racing's premier events, the Hambletonian. This horse race is one of trotting's Triple Crown, on a par with Thoroughbred Racing's Kentucky Derby.
You have that right. New Jersey is the host of "The Hambletonian"!!!
The Hambletonian is going to be run next Saturday, August 7, 2010. The gates at the Meadowlands open at 9:30am and the first race post time is at 11:35 am. If Governor Christie continues on his present course, harness racing in New Jersey is an endangered species so experience it while you can. This Hambletonian could be New Jersey's last.
The Meadowlands Race Track was designed for harness racing. I remember the first time they talked about bringing in flat racing and how they would have to change the track material and grade, etc. to accomodate Thoroughbreds. This is a wonderful venue with a home stretch that just seems to go on forever. It means that harness horses get a chance to have that heart-stopping duel in front of the whole grandstand and noone has a bad seat. I invite you to come out for what could be the final year for this milestone in New Jersey's history.
The three preliminary eliminations for the Hambletonian race have already been run and there is now a field of ten horses qualified to compete for harness racing's most prestigious crown. As I understand it, the top three finishers of each of the three heats qualifies, in addition to the one fourth place finisher who has the top lifetime earnings. That makes up the field of ten who finally race in the Hambletonian.
There are two reasons I am writing about this today. One is that I love horses and the threat of losing one of New Jersey's most vital and historic industries to some cockeyed economy move by our present governor just sends me up a wall. The other is that there is a wonderful feeling of connection to something in our traditions, threading through the fabric of our present, but atoms and molecules of what make us "Trenton now".
The history of the Hambletonian goes back to the very origins of the standardbred horse itself. In the 1724 the Goldolphin Arabian arrived in England, with his mute groom as the story goes, and crossed with the native English mares to produce the very beginnings of the Thoroughbred horse. In 1780 a 15.3 hands grey by the name of Messenger was foaled. His sire was Mambrino, great grandson of the Goldophin, and his dam was the "Turf Mare", also a great grandaughter of the Goldophin.
Fast forward to 1849 and the foaling of Hambletonian 10, by Abdallah out of the Charles Kent Mare. Abdallah was extensively inbred, or "line bred". His sire and dam both had Messenger as grandsire. The Kent mare was descended from Messinger, and her great grandsire and great grand dam were also by Messenger. With those concentrated Arab genes, the Hambletonian was destined to be a gorgeous horse, maybe not when he was foaled, but as he grew up...oh my.
Hambletonian 10 was foaled May 5, 1849, in New York State. The owner of his dam was Jonas Seeley, who bought the Charles Kent mare from his butcher. She was crippled, used only for breeding, so not much was expected of the cross to Abdallah since the stallion was reportedly both ugly and nasty. As expected, Hambletonian was rather nondescript as a youngster, but Seeley's hired hand, William Rysdyk, saw something special. He persisted until he finally convinced Seeley to sell him the dam and foal for $125.
As is still done today, young trotters start their careers in Goshen, New York. Hambletonian was shown, probably in hand, at the age of six months at the Orange County Fair in Goshen. He covered (bred) his first mares at the age of two, not always a good idea because the young studs don't always want to go back to real work after having a taste of the ladies, but he was only allowed four mares by his savvy owner.
By 1852, he was trained well enough to compete against another Abdallah son, Abdallah Chief, hitched to "skeleton wagons" at Long Island's Union Course. Hambletonian won but had to run against the clock in a second race and, at that time, the youngster clocked 2:55 1/2. After this huge success, Rysdyk placed the stallion at stud for fees that reached $500 at times. This was in the 1800's so that was a significant amount of income.
Hambletonian sired 1,331 foals during his career in the breeding shed, (and traveling). Rysdyk loved his stallion and made a small fortune from him before he passed on in 1870. Hambletonian outlived him, living to the age of ripe old horse age of 27, and died in 1876. Both were buried in Chester, New York and local folk placed a granite monument over the grave on Hambletonian Avenue as a tribute to their memory.
The present day Hambletonian was set up as the ultimate test of trotters. Although Standardbreds today race as either pacers or trotters, this event is open only to trotting horses and carries the name of it's most prominent sire in tribute.
According to the Harness Racing Hall of Fame, Hambletonian bloodlines have squeezed out most of the other contributors to the Standardbred breed. Messenger and the other early ancestors were registered as Thoroughbreds or cold blooded "grades". Standardbred, as a separate breed, evolved later, after requiring that all candidates for registration meet the "Standard" of trotting a mile in two minues thirty seconds. When a horse met the standard, it qualified to become a Standardbred.
Before the era of automobiles, owning a Morgan trotting horse was like having a roadster instead of a minivan. Morgan bloodlines competed with the Throughbred breeding and many races were set up between favorite horse celebrities. One was the famous Ethan Allan (Morgan) vs. Dexter (Messenger). Ethan Allan won the first and then it was Dexter's turn. That was the pattern of the future. Morgan prestige and influence was eclipsed by the taller Messenger trotters. Their longer strides and tremendous ability won races and they eventually took over the Standardbred breed bloodlines.
There is a Trenton connection to the Hambletonian traditions and I discovered it quite by accident. I enjoy stopping at the Kuser Park in Hamilton to eat my lunch, sitting under the shady trees and enjoying the view of the Kuser mansion and broad grounds. On one of these visits, I spotted an engraved granite oblisk surrounded by many carefully tended flowers. Getting closer with my reading glasses, I read that it was a memorial to Goldsmith Maid.
"Goldsmith Maid. The Queen of Trotters for Seven Years". The inscribing continues,
"Born Sussex County 1857, Died Here Sept 23, 1885. Best Record 2.14, Made at Boston 1874. Earned $364,200, the World's Record. Driven By Budd Doble, Owned By Henry N. Smith". I had to learn more about this because there is no evidence of a track or barns within the area of the granite slab.
A world famous trotter here in Trenton? Who knew.
After many hours of research and printing obscure newspaper articles from the New York Times, the Atlantic Reporter, and even the 1877 Cultivator and Country Gentleman, I have put together a dilly of a yarn about Goldsmith Maid. She deserves some time to herself so I will wrap this up now.
The Hambletonian race is being held next Saturday. For a glimpse into the past and a chance to help the equine industry in New Jersey, make a trip to the Meadowlands for this great event. It usually is not an expensive outing, not like Atlantic City, because there are no slot machines as yet. There are restaurants and other attractions for the holiday that make it worth the trip.
Let yourself back in time and imagine the country fair atmosphere, the stands full of straw hats and cotton gowns, the band music and smells of popcorn and horse sweat. The start of this race is different from flat racing. Thoroughbreds enter a gate and then leap out at a bell. Standardbreds start trotting as soon as they enter the track. There is the drama of the post parade, as the horses settle into their gaits, until they are all in a row...and then,
"They're off!"
The time it takes the field to make the circuit of the Meadowsland track is a lifetime. I have seen crashes, buggies so close that they tangle wheels and one comes off, horses running up on each other, dreadful races where the winner is the last one left trotting...and yet nothing compares to that streak of sheer speed drumming down the track, stands full of cheering patrons stomping so hard you think the grandstand will fall down. There is nothing like standing at the finish line as the horses and sulkies come thundering down, whips snapping and spit flying, to cross that invisible beam of light that records the winner.
Whew!
This is not a video game; this is the real thing.
Have a nice day.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Bear Steak Anyone?
The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife notes that the current bear census numbers almost 3,500 in 2010. Black bear have been spotted in all 21 counties in sufficient numbers to support a hunt. As a result, the Division of Fish and Wildlife are going to have a bear season this upcoming December. Pregant sows start denning in October or November so active animals in December will likely be boars.
New Jersey has the most people per square mile in the United States. The resulting demand for agriculture and building development took wildlife habitat and there was just not enough room for bear who can range as much as forty miles. Bear hunting was suspended in 1971, research commenced to bring back their numbers, and they became a protected species.
I had mixed feelings about the announcement of this current hunting opportunity. At this point I do not know if a lottery for permits is involved, but there is a wisp of memory that supports hunting.
Years ago, I was visiting my girl friend who lived on a farm at the foot of one of the Kittatiny Mountains. We sat at the kitchen table playing with the farm dogs and enjoying the warmth from the wood stove. Her mom had a platter of steaks and slid them into the hot cast iron skillet. As they spit and sizzled she invited me to stay for lunch. The smell from the frying meat was too strong for beef. We had milked the goats and they seemed to be all accounted for...so what was in the pan?
It was bear.
Her brother and father went up the mountain looking for deer and happened on the bear and you ate game if you shot it.
Hunting was a privilege in those days and a sport in the tradition of our ancestors. My mom and dad even had matching shotguns with custom fitted stocks. New Jersey does not permit rifle hunting so they had invested in custom shotguns. Everyone in our family participated. To this day I can clean fish, skin and butcher anything for the pot, from squirrel to venison. Bear meat in the frying pan didn't seem unusual.
Flash forward to 2010. I was talking to my daughter just last week and she told me a story that I want to share with you.
Earlier this month, she was enjoying a day at the shore when her cell phone rang. Her next door neighbor was on the phone, so agitated that my daughter said she could hear her gasping for breath and her heart pounding right over the phone.
The neighbor was calling from my daughter's house to report a home invasion by a black bear sow and two cubs. From from her kitchen window's line of sight overlooking my daughter's house and driveway, she could everything the bear did to get into the house.
The sow and cubs were neighborhood visitors since March. At first they were neighborhood darlings, cute as the dickens. Everyone took pains not to feed birds, keep garbage in bearproof cans, not to leave food in cars, and keep pets inside. As the cubs grew, the mother bear taught them everything she knew...and that included the finer points of "Breaking and Entering". "B&E" is the common term that residents in the know use when reporting an incident to the DFW.
This time was heart-stopping.
The sow approached the garage and stopped at the screen window next to the first garage door. Like a careful handyman, she stood up on her hind legs, put a paw on each side of the window, and lifted the screen off. She pivoted and put it down meticulously. Then she went back to the window and climbed in.
As the bear's furry butt disappeared into my daughter's house, the neighbor rushed over to stop the ransacking. She entered through the upper level of the house and then ran down the steps to the ground floor garage area to confront the bear.
As she opened the inside door to the garage, she yelled and screeched at the top of her lungs. She could reach the automatic garage door opener without actually going into the garage, which gave her a degree of protection, and began beating her cane on anything and everything that would make noise.
I don't know if she actually hit the bear, but she reported later that there was a surreal aspect to the whole scenario. She looked out past Momma Bear at the cubs on the macadam driveway. The agitated cubs were going from one side of the driveway to the other, each one on a side, crossing and making diagonals with each other like they were in a maypole dance. In spite of years of observation, she could not recall seeing this behavior before.
The first phone call was to 911 to make the emergency bear report and then the call to my daughter, hitherto enjoying a day at the ocean. Eventually the Department of Fish and Wildlife would decide on a procedure to deal with the obviously too experienced bear.
My daughter tells me that this year alone, local townships recorded four bear hit by cars and several more that had to be trapped and relocated. This sow had been reported previously so the DFW set out to trap her. The foot-note here is that she was captured and probably was euthanized as a repeat offender. Those B & E abilities were evidence of practice and are not tolerated by authorities who try to maintain that fine balance between civilians and the bear population.
It is terrific that there is enough habitat reclaimed in New Jersey for the black bear to have made a comeback. This means that our state can be proud of efforts to reclaim a species and that contributes to the ecology and spirit of our state.
I have been looking through my grandmother's cookbooks and just want to caution anyone who bags a bear and would like to eat it. A bear killed in December is likely to have quite a bit of fat. Trim the meat of fat as soon as possible because bear fat turns rancid. This is something that marinating the meat will not cover. The gamey aspect is not a bad thing, and pot roast and braising will tenderize an animal that might have been angry when shot, but that bear fat is so famous that Indians used to use it for conditioning their skin. Present day tastes will most likely not appreciate that very characteristic rancid odiferous part of the meat. On the other hand, do not let that stop you from cooking and enjoying bear meat.
Here is a recipe for bear pot roast:
Cut the meat into manageable chunks. Toss in a plastic bag with enough flour to coat lightly. Brown in a Dutch oven in chicken fat, lard, or a good vegetable oil until seared on all sides. Take the meat out to a platter while you deglaze the pot with one cup beer or red wine, then replace the meat and add enough broth (vegetable, chicken or beef) to cover. Sprinkle with a packet of Lipton onion soup mix, a splash of ketchup, a bay leaf or two (this is because the bear grew up with mountain laurel, bay leaf is a laurel, plus I think it is compatible) some juniper berries if available, and black pepper. Simmer for a couple of hours and then add salt to taste. Add more ketchup and beer if you prefer at the end of cooking time. Top off with dumplings cooked in the stew for a real campfire meal. You can add vegetables like carrots, parsnips, potatoes to the pot but I prefer to cook the meat for a long time and they don't hold up.
A grown bear can reach over four hundred pounds. That is a lot of meat to waste. If you do not want to stuff your bear, think about giving the meat away. It is awesome to think of the culinary potential.
Bears rock.
New Jersey has the most people per square mile in the United States. The resulting demand for agriculture and building development took wildlife habitat and there was just not enough room for bear who can range as much as forty miles. Bear hunting was suspended in 1971, research commenced to bring back their numbers, and they became a protected species.
I had mixed feelings about the announcement of this current hunting opportunity. At this point I do not know if a lottery for permits is involved, but there is a wisp of memory that supports hunting.
Years ago, I was visiting my girl friend who lived on a farm at the foot of one of the Kittatiny Mountains. We sat at the kitchen table playing with the farm dogs and enjoying the warmth from the wood stove. Her mom had a platter of steaks and slid them into the hot cast iron skillet. As they spit and sizzled she invited me to stay for lunch. The smell from the frying meat was too strong for beef. We had milked the goats and they seemed to be all accounted for...so what was in the pan?
It was bear.
Her brother and father went up the mountain looking for deer and happened on the bear and you ate game if you shot it.
Hunting was a privilege in those days and a sport in the tradition of our ancestors. My mom and dad even had matching shotguns with custom fitted stocks. New Jersey does not permit rifle hunting so they had invested in custom shotguns. Everyone in our family participated. To this day I can clean fish, skin and butcher anything for the pot, from squirrel to venison. Bear meat in the frying pan didn't seem unusual.
Flash forward to 2010. I was talking to my daughter just last week and she told me a story that I want to share with you.
Earlier this month, she was enjoying a day at the shore when her cell phone rang. Her next door neighbor was on the phone, so agitated that my daughter said she could hear her gasping for breath and her heart pounding right over the phone.
The neighbor was calling from my daughter's house to report a home invasion by a black bear sow and two cubs. From from her kitchen window's line of sight overlooking my daughter's house and driveway, she could everything the bear did to get into the house.
The sow and cubs were neighborhood visitors since March. At first they were neighborhood darlings, cute as the dickens. Everyone took pains not to feed birds, keep garbage in bearproof cans, not to leave food in cars, and keep pets inside. As the cubs grew, the mother bear taught them everything she knew...and that included the finer points of "Breaking and Entering". "B&E" is the common term that residents in the know use when reporting an incident to the DFW.
This time was heart-stopping.
The sow approached the garage and stopped at the screen window next to the first garage door. Like a careful handyman, she stood up on her hind legs, put a paw on each side of the window, and lifted the screen off. She pivoted and put it down meticulously. Then she went back to the window and climbed in.
As the bear's furry butt disappeared into my daughter's house, the neighbor rushed over to stop the ransacking. She entered through the upper level of the house and then ran down the steps to the ground floor garage area to confront the bear.
As she opened the inside door to the garage, she yelled and screeched at the top of her lungs. She could reach the automatic garage door opener without actually going into the garage, which gave her a degree of protection, and began beating her cane on anything and everything that would make noise.
I don't know if she actually hit the bear, but she reported later that there was a surreal aspect to the whole scenario. She looked out past Momma Bear at the cubs on the macadam driveway. The agitated cubs were going from one side of the driveway to the other, each one on a side, crossing and making diagonals with each other like they were in a maypole dance. In spite of years of observation, she could not recall seeing this behavior before.
The first phone call was to 911 to make the emergency bear report and then the call to my daughter, hitherto enjoying a day at the ocean. Eventually the Department of Fish and Wildlife would decide on a procedure to deal with the obviously too experienced bear.
My daughter tells me that this year alone, local townships recorded four bear hit by cars and several more that had to be trapped and relocated. This sow had been reported previously so the DFW set out to trap her. The foot-note here is that she was captured and probably was euthanized as a repeat offender. Those B & E abilities were evidence of practice and are not tolerated by authorities who try to maintain that fine balance between civilians and the bear population.
It is terrific that there is enough habitat reclaimed in New Jersey for the black bear to have made a comeback. This means that our state can be proud of efforts to reclaim a species and that contributes to the ecology and spirit of our state.
I have been looking through my grandmother's cookbooks and just want to caution anyone who bags a bear and would like to eat it. A bear killed in December is likely to have quite a bit of fat. Trim the meat of fat as soon as possible because bear fat turns rancid. This is something that marinating the meat will not cover. The gamey aspect is not a bad thing, and pot roast and braising will tenderize an animal that might have been angry when shot, but that bear fat is so famous that Indians used to use it for conditioning their skin. Present day tastes will most likely not appreciate that very characteristic rancid odiferous part of the meat. On the other hand, do not let that stop you from cooking and enjoying bear meat.
Here is a recipe for bear pot roast:
Cut the meat into manageable chunks. Toss in a plastic bag with enough flour to coat lightly. Brown in a Dutch oven in chicken fat, lard, or a good vegetable oil until seared on all sides. Take the meat out to a platter while you deglaze the pot with one cup beer or red wine, then replace the meat and add enough broth (vegetable, chicken or beef) to cover. Sprinkle with a packet of Lipton onion soup mix, a splash of ketchup, a bay leaf or two (this is because the bear grew up with mountain laurel, bay leaf is a laurel, plus I think it is compatible) some juniper berries if available, and black pepper. Simmer for a couple of hours and then add salt to taste. Add more ketchup and beer if you prefer at the end of cooking time. Top off with dumplings cooked in the stew for a real campfire meal. You can add vegetables like carrots, parsnips, potatoes to the pot but I prefer to cook the meat for a long time and they don't hold up.
A grown bear can reach over four hundred pounds. That is a lot of meat to waste. If you do not want to stuff your bear, think about giving the meat away. It is awesome to think of the culinary potential.
Bears rock.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Governor Christie: It's Peanut Butter and Jelly Thursday
Yep. My calendar reminded me to look in my pantry. Its about that time of the week again to enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, just to stretch the budget, you understand. I invite the Governor to join us because he insists every Jerseyite will share "the pain" as services are cut across the board.
Today the Governor tackles a pet project: getting a handle on the corrupt entities in Atlantic City's gambling venue. Somewhere along the line, the Mafia was mentioned.
Now the Mob in Philadelphia is something else. I remember when Joey Merlino was credited with buying his South Street neighborhood Thanksgiving turkeys. I don't think that anyone here gets Mob turkeys. Come to think of it, the Black Panther has sent food out on the street with the raised black fist on the side of the boxes. So how come we have the Mafia brought up now?
I think Mob talk is a red herring. Governor Christie is bent on cleaning up Atlantic City and he may have the tools to go after unlawful persons, but I personally think he is after the money.
According to the New Jersey Constitution, eight percent of the Atlantic City casino gross revenues, off the top, is dedicated to the use of the disabled, senior citizens, and funneled to nutrition and transportation programs. The monies were thought to be so vast that they were also supposed to to fund the Senior Gold and PAAD prescription drug programs. In today's financial reorganization climate, that seems to be up for grabs.
What would happen, for instance, if the Governor is unable to stabilize the Casino Revenue Fund adequately enough to fund senior programs? What would happen if he drops the Meadowlands sports arena and shuts down the race track and betting? He rashly proposes to let the struggling Xanadu project to continue and subsidize it because of some exotic premise that it will attract "high end" clients and party goers?
Cut me a break.
In this economy, we cannot afford $175 million in tax credits to a puffy bloated dead fish like Xanadu when the real minnows, senior citizens, need to be cared for. In the world of fishing, the small fry feed the larger fish. If the bait fish die off, the larger ones eat each other until the pond is bare.
In many societies in the world, the aged are revered and when they die, their bones are even worshiped. I don't think we have to go that far, but where is the respect? I am concerned on behalf of my fellow seniors that we are on the fringes of a world that considers our lifetimes and spirits expendable.
We must cherish and honor and support our senior citizens and disabled. It is the test of a society's strength how it cares for its weaker members. We should be ashamed of ourselves if we do not provide the shelter and caring environment to help retirees live out their declining years untroubled by desperate poverty.
We must not forget that policemen and garbage truck workers, architects and ticket takers, brick layers and dentists, apron clad housewives and former mayors are all going to be retirees someday. They may end up in public housing or may live with their children, but everyone will need prescription benefits and medical services that are backed up by public funds.
If we all eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on Thursdays, turning down take out or businessman's luncheons, think of the money we could save. Think of the money we could put to other uses.... even... adopting a senior.
So Governor Christie, if you must put an amendment in the NJ Constitution, how about Peanut Butter and Jelly Thursdays?
Have a nice day,
Seniors rock!
Today the Governor tackles a pet project: getting a handle on the corrupt entities in Atlantic City's gambling venue. Somewhere along the line, the Mafia was mentioned.
Now the Mob in Philadelphia is something else. I remember when Joey Merlino was credited with buying his South Street neighborhood Thanksgiving turkeys. I don't think that anyone here gets Mob turkeys. Come to think of it, the Black Panther has sent food out on the street with the raised black fist on the side of the boxes. So how come we have the Mafia brought up now?
I think Mob talk is a red herring. Governor Christie is bent on cleaning up Atlantic City and he may have the tools to go after unlawful persons, but I personally think he is after the money.
According to the New Jersey Constitution, eight percent of the Atlantic City casino gross revenues, off the top, is dedicated to the use of the disabled, senior citizens, and funneled to nutrition and transportation programs. The monies were thought to be so vast that they were also supposed to to fund the Senior Gold and PAAD prescription drug programs. In today's financial reorganization climate, that seems to be up for grabs.
What would happen, for instance, if the Governor is unable to stabilize the Casino Revenue Fund adequately enough to fund senior programs? What would happen if he drops the Meadowlands sports arena and shuts down the race track and betting? He rashly proposes to let the struggling Xanadu project to continue and subsidize it because of some exotic premise that it will attract "high end" clients and party goers?
Cut me a break.
In this economy, we cannot afford $175 million in tax credits to a puffy bloated dead fish like Xanadu when the real minnows, senior citizens, need to be cared for. In the world of fishing, the small fry feed the larger fish. If the bait fish die off, the larger ones eat each other until the pond is bare.
In many societies in the world, the aged are revered and when they die, their bones are even worshiped. I don't think we have to go that far, but where is the respect? I am concerned on behalf of my fellow seniors that we are on the fringes of a world that considers our lifetimes and spirits expendable.
We must cherish and honor and support our senior citizens and disabled. It is the test of a society's strength how it cares for its weaker members. We should be ashamed of ourselves if we do not provide the shelter and caring environment to help retirees live out their declining years untroubled by desperate poverty.
We must not forget that policemen and garbage truck workers, architects and ticket takers, brick layers and dentists, apron clad housewives and former mayors are all going to be retirees someday. They may end up in public housing or may live with their children, but everyone will need prescription benefits and medical services that are backed up by public funds.
If we all eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on Thursdays, turning down take out or businessman's luncheons, think of the money we could save. Think of the money we could put to other uses.... even... adopting a senior.
So Governor Christie, if you must put an amendment in the NJ Constitution, how about Peanut Butter and Jelly Thursdays?
Have a nice day,
Seniors rock!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Mayor Mack vs. Diversity: Round Two
You know those awkward moments when you stand in front of someone and can't think of anything to say? A good icebreaker is talking about the weather. After looking over our city's current events today, here goes.
It was a beastly hot day today. Tomorrow is supposed to be humid and more like a sauna. Don't worry, just hold on to your fans, because Friday and Saturday are definitely going to be in real or near hundreds.
Whew!
Hot enough to melt asphalt and I haven't scraped last week's goo off the soles of my sneakers. I stepped in the stuff and did not realize it until I tried to put on the brakes and my foot stuck on the accelerator!
That was interesting.
Well. Living through the heat wave is almost as challenging as living through this city's problems. Money is at the top of the list. Mayor Mack is intent on putting as many minority contractors and vendors in city supply situations as possible.
In theory this would keep more taxpayer money in the city.
In practice, the businessmen and purveyors who would bid these contracts, which seem to go to interests out of the city, either do not follow up with paperwork or may not qualify for the bidding process in the first place.
There are a slew of regulations for any business who would like to be considered for city contracts. From my experience, they could involve providing work experience and references, ability to get a bond, and proof of financial viability, and so forth.
The most obvious part of the process is the bid itself. In spite of efforts to submit the lowest estimate, if the bidding process gives the bidder different options to get the job done, the job may eventually go to the "best qualified". That may not be the lowest cost in some instances.
This process is tough and it is hard to be successful and not discouraged. For a businessman who has come up from hard-scrabble and is now large enough to seek out city contracts, there may not be office resources to manage the process. The sorry result is that the contracts are "let" to interests who may be from out of county or even out of state but more familiar with the bidding process.
It seems once a contractor successfully finishes a contract, and he has made connections it is easier to get "at will" jobs. These are opportunities too small for advertising and may be billed out by the hour.
I once challenged laundry contracts of the Mercer Geriatric Center with the Freeholders who owned it. I was prevented from getting knowlege of the business entities involved for the years that I was investigating. I was told that local contractors "did not qualify" or were "in litigation" so they had to use entities many counties away in spite of the obvious local contractors. I could stand on my head but I did not get specifics. Come on folks. That might mean that you did not pay your bill and were just looking for a way to get out of the terms of the contract.
In the case of the City of Trenton, one of Mayor Mack's campaign platform planks was a commitment to local businesses to get the city contracts. If Trenton depended on that plank, if Trenton were the Ark, it would be sinking. Mayor Mack is finding out that our businesses may not be financially viable, sophisticated in the bidding process, or are the result of hard working folks who cannot handle the elaborate paperwork required.
That sorry possibility brings up the deficiency of our school system, Mayor Mack's second plank. We must restructure our schools. The partnership with the State in these matters must be gracefully negotiated or we will end up with both Charter Schools and the Public School System continuing to fail our citizens. If education were available to adults as well as underperforming students, perhaps these painful real life short comings could be overcome.
Diversity in our society is more than race. If you built a stone wall with smooth pebbles, it would not be as sturdy as one fitted with rocks chipped so each stone took advantage of the corners and knobs of its neighbors. It takes both men and women, from youth to the aged, many races and religions, gays and straights, to produce a really strong involved city. We can learn from each other. The most important thing is that we will stand tall and strong if we stand together.
This is not a "family" thing, this is a "city" thing.
It was a beastly hot day today. Tomorrow is supposed to be humid and more like a sauna. Don't worry, just hold on to your fans, because Friday and Saturday are definitely going to be in real or near hundreds.
Whew!
Hot enough to melt asphalt and I haven't scraped last week's goo off the soles of my sneakers. I stepped in the stuff and did not realize it until I tried to put on the brakes and my foot stuck on the accelerator!
That was interesting.
Well. Living through the heat wave is almost as challenging as living through this city's problems. Money is at the top of the list. Mayor Mack is intent on putting as many minority contractors and vendors in city supply situations as possible.
In theory this would keep more taxpayer money in the city.
In practice, the businessmen and purveyors who would bid these contracts, which seem to go to interests out of the city, either do not follow up with paperwork or may not qualify for the bidding process in the first place.
There are a slew of regulations for any business who would like to be considered for city contracts. From my experience, they could involve providing work experience and references, ability to get a bond, and proof of financial viability, and so forth.
The most obvious part of the process is the bid itself. In spite of efforts to submit the lowest estimate, if the bidding process gives the bidder different options to get the job done, the job may eventually go to the "best qualified". That may not be the lowest cost in some instances.
This process is tough and it is hard to be successful and not discouraged. For a businessman who has come up from hard-scrabble and is now large enough to seek out city contracts, there may not be office resources to manage the process. The sorry result is that the contracts are "let" to interests who may be from out of county or even out of state but more familiar with the bidding process.
It seems once a contractor successfully finishes a contract, and he has made connections it is easier to get "at will" jobs. These are opportunities too small for advertising and may be billed out by the hour.
I once challenged laundry contracts of the Mercer Geriatric Center with the Freeholders who owned it. I was prevented from getting knowlege of the business entities involved for the years that I was investigating. I was told that local contractors "did not qualify" or were "in litigation" so they had to use entities many counties away in spite of the obvious local contractors. I could stand on my head but I did not get specifics. Come on folks. That might mean that you did not pay your bill and were just looking for a way to get out of the terms of the contract.
In the case of the City of Trenton, one of Mayor Mack's campaign platform planks was a commitment to local businesses to get the city contracts. If Trenton depended on that plank, if Trenton were the Ark, it would be sinking. Mayor Mack is finding out that our businesses may not be financially viable, sophisticated in the bidding process, or are the result of hard working folks who cannot handle the elaborate paperwork required.
That sorry possibility brings up the deficiency of our school system, Mayor Mack's second plank. We must restructure our schools. The partnership with the State in these matters must be gracefully negotiated or we will end up with both Charter Schools and the Public School System continuing to fail our citizens. If education were available to adults as well as underperforming students, perhaps these painful real life short comings could be overcome.
Diversity in our society is more than race. If you built a stone wall with smooth pebbles, it would not be as sturdy as one fitted with rocks chipped so each stone took advantage of the corners and knobs of its neighbors. It takes both men and women, from youth to the aged, many races and religions, gays and straights, to produce a really strong involved city. We can learn from each other. The most important thing is that we will stand tall and strong if we stand together.
This is not a "family" thing, this is a "city" thing.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Just Having Another Heat Wave
Can you believe the forecast for this next week? Holy Smoke!
It gets so you find it hard to differentiate between the nineties and hundreds, between an orange alert and the big red one.
Once the temperature goes over the high eighties, the only way to tell if you are in a heat wave is when you can't catch your breath. A red alert means that ozone levels are high enough to recommend staying indoors. Asthma or COPD make things worse so this is good advice for everyone.
There is a primal instinct to seek water as temperatures rise. Life originated in the seas and today most of your body is water. If you are a senior, accustomed to sips of tea rather than chugging slurpies, it may be hard to tell if you are stressing from the hot weather.
Critical amounts of water can be lost by perspiration. This can be life threatening if not replenished on a timely basis. There is a saying that once you are thirsty, it is already too late to drink. Of course that seems a little simplistic. I personally feel that was created by a marketing rep for a bottled water company, but there is a valid idea here. Keep up your fluid intake and drink plenty of liquids.
Water can keep us cool in other ways. If you do not have air conditioning in your home, water filled lasagna pans place in front of your electric fans can make dog days more bearable. As the fans evaporate the water, the process can cool the air temperature as much as ten degrees. This is most effective on days with low humidity, but even on high humidity days it can work.
Make sure that you open windows on the upper floors of your house to vent the build up of hot air. Heat rises and the top floors will be unbearable if the heat cannot escape. When you vent your house this way it also helps circulate air. Opening some windows on the low levels at night will let in cooler air and help this effect.
If you are concerned about safety, consult with your local police department on advice on keeping out predators. You do not want to compromise your security of course, but keep in mind that merely running a fan in a closed up house is like sitting in a convection oven.
Watermelon really hits the spot when it is so oppressively hot. The stores have melons on sale for as little as $4.99 each. A whole melon seems like an awful lot to carve up so I cut it in two inch chunks and freeze it in gallon plastic bags. Every two hours I take the bag out and whack it on the counter to keep pieces more or less separated. When the contents are completely frozen it will keep for months. There is nothing as tasty as these watermelon ice cubes in iced tea or a mixed drink. After they thaw, you have a nutritious portion of fruit in your glass.
Some other tips to deal with this weather are:
Keep your refrigerator full and try to stay out of it as much as possible. LOL. What I mean, of course, is open the door as seldom as you can. This saves energy.
Keep the curtains or blinds on the sunny side of your house or apartment closed. Open them late in the day or early in the morning when the sun is not shining in. As the sun moves around, shut them for the hottest part of the day. The shade makes it easier for your air conditioner to handle its territory.
Wear light colors and loose fitting clothing and learn the symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. At the first sign of discomfort or confusion seek help.
The combination of medication and effects of age make it difficult to deal with the heat so we have to be more careful. Use common sense. Buddy up with a neighbor and check up on each other. We're all in this together.
Have a nice day.
It gets so you find it hard to differentiate between the nineties and hundreds, between an orange alert and the big red one.
Once the temperature goes over the high eighties, the only way to tell if you are in a heat wave is when you can't catch your breath. A red alert means that ozone levels are high enough to recommend staying indoors. Asthma or COPD make things worse so this is good advice for everyone.
There is a primal instinct to seek water as temperatures rise. Life originated in the seas and today most of your body is water. If you are a senior, accustomed to sips of tea rather than chugging slurpies, it may be hard to tell if you are stressing from the hot weather.
Critical amounts of water can be lost by perspiration. This can be life threatening if not replenished on a timely basis. There is a saying that once you are thirsty, it is already too late to drink. Of course that seems a little simplistic. I personally feel that was created by a marketing rep for a bottled water company, but there is a valid idea here. Keep up your fluid intake and drink plenty of liquids.
Water can keep us cool in other ways. If you do not have air conditioning in your home, water filled lasagna pans place in front of your electric fans can make dog days more bearable. As the fans evaporate the water, the process can cool the air temperature as much as ten degrees. This is most effective on days with low humidity, but even on high humidity days it can work.
Make sure that you open windows on the upper floors of your house to vent the build up of hot air. Heat rises and the top floors will be unbearable if the heat cannot escape. When you vent your house this way it also helps circulate air. Opening some windows on the low levels at night will let in cooler air and help this effect.
If you are concerned about safety, consult with your local police department on advice on keeping out predators. You do not want to compromise your security of course, but keep in mind that merely running a fan in a closed up house is like sitting in a convection oven.
Watermelon really hits the spot when it is so oppressively hot. The stores have melons on sale for as little as $4.99 each. A whole melon seems like an awful lot to carve up so I cut it in two inch chunks and freeze it in gallon plastic bags. Every two hours I take the bag out and whack it on the counter to keep pieces more or less separated. When the contents are completely frozen it will keep for months. There is nothing as tasty as these watermelon ice cubes in iced tea or a mixed drink. After they thaw, you have a nutritious portion of fruit in your glass.
Some other tips to deal with this weather are:
Keep your refrigerator full and try to stay out of it as much as possible. LOL. What I mean, of course, is open the door as seldom as you can. This saves energy.
Keep the curtains or blinds on the sunny side of your house or apartment closed. Open them late in the day or early in the morning when the sun is not shining in. As the sun moves around, shut them for the hottest part of the day. The shade makes it easier for your air conditioner to handle its territory.
Wear light colors and loose fitting clothing and learn the symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. At the first sign of discomfort or confusion seek help.
The combination of medication and effects of age make it difficult to deal with the heat so we have to be more careful. Use common sense. Buddy up with a neighbor and check up on each other. We're all in this together.
Have a nice day.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Did You Snope Today?
It is a gorgeous July day, partly sunny, partly stormy, with enough heat to make for a sauna-like forecast and lots of cold showers. I never expected that one of these cold showers would be in an email.
I clicked on the email from one of our local activists. He is a dynamo and someone I thought I had really connected with on many levels. He seemed to be going in a very positive direction channeling concerned citizens into constructive community projects from cleanup to attending council meetings. Imagine my surprise to open and find that I was being implored to "send to 20 or more" of my friends because this was so important. What the heck? I felt a chill...
I started reading and then got as steamed up as the July afternoon.
Connecting with friends and businesses is taken for granted if you have a computer. Writing notes are now emails and shopping is no longer physical because you can shop on line. We seem to deal in fast results, instant contact, instant information, sometimes passing on items without a second thought because something makes us mad, inspires us, or is just so funny that you have to share with your bsf.
Today you can look anything up. Writers don't need to keep index card notes. Cooks don't need to keep huge recipe files. Students can find courses and even class notes on line.
Remembering lots of detail doesn't seem to be such a problem now, even if you are a senior and worrying about forgetfullness. (I forgot my keys...so do I have Alzheimers? My doctor tells me that if I forget the keys, not to worry, but if I forget what they are supposed to do....that means a problem.)
We have become demanding and casual in this instant world. Along the way we may have lost the sense of responsibility that goes with decent human interaction. When an email comes in that seems to be just right, relevant to a current social issue or event, something that you really connect with, have to share....please reconsider.
Please check it out.
We are heading into the lazy dog days of summer that will shortly morph into the election-driven days of autumn. The September and October days will be energized by electioneering controversy and for sure there are going to be emails.
When someone you know sends you a post, you open it because you recognize the address. When a group emails you representing a political interest, they will likely be spamm. It seems to me that we have to be vigilant and start now to sort out the crap from the shavings.
When you get an email from someone you know and you think they have more brains than to send you political drivel but something nags at you, it is easy enough to check the questionable information out by going to SNOPES.
www.snopes.com/urban legends.
www.snopes.com has cataloged rumors and urban fables for years. They can show you instantly if your topic is true or false. Accuracy and truth are tools for every really informed voter, probably more important this year than ever before.
One of the current rumors going around now is a request for a 28th amendment to the Constitution with the intent to overturn the present medical bills passed by Congress. It mentions that our elected officials have elected themselves exemptions from law and not beholding to the new plan provisions or even to various laws of sexual harassment, etc. Snopes shoots that down in a hurry and even gives the background that led to the current rumor going around the internet.
Most rumors do die down after a while. Then, thanks to the internet, someone will find one, send it to a friend who considers the source(the first friend) and then sends it on. Like laundering money, it gets harder and harder to detect the start of the story. That is where Snopes comes in. Snopes has the original version, plus updates, so Snopes can tell you what is true and what is false.
Remember the story about praying for the demise of Governor Christie? That joke made the rounds when President Obama was running and the Republicans had used it to pray for "favorite President Obama". Back in those days it seems that Republicans did not object to the joke at Democrat expense, but when a Republican is the butt? There was a call for firing the teacher who started the NJ version. Oh, if they had only "Snoped". Snopes had the joke online for almost forever.
So to all my friends, (especially those of the conservative bent who seem to pass on so much of this stinky stuff) I suggest that you either delete me from this baloney, or look it up first and tell the folks who sent it to you that they are mistaken.
Snopes rocks!
I clicked on the email from one of our local activists. He is a dynamo and someone I thought I had really connected with on many levels. He seemed to be going in a very positive direction channeling concerned citizens into constructive community projects from cleanup to attending council meetings. Imagine my surprise to open and find that I was being implored to "send to 20 or more" of my friends because this was so important. What the heck? I felt a chill...
I started reading and then got as steamed up as the July afternoon.
Connecting with friends and businesses is taken for granted if you have a computer. Writing notes are now emails and shopping is no longer physical because you can shop on line. We seem to deal in fast results, instant contact, instant information, sometimes passing on items without a second thought because something makes us mad, inspires us, or is just so funny that you have to share with your bsf.
Today you can look anything up. Writers don't need to keep index card notes. Cooks don't need to keep huge recipe files. Students can find courses and even class notes on line.
Remembering lots of detail doesn't seem to be such a problem now, even if you are a senior and worrying about forgetfullness. (I forgot my keys...so do I have Alzheimers? My doctor tells me that if I forget the keys, not to worry, but if I forget what they are supposed to do....that means a problem.)
We have become demanding and casual in this instant world. Along the way we may have lost the sense of responsibility that goes with decent human interaction. When an email comes in that seems to be just right, relevant to a current social issue or event, something that you really connect with, have to share....please reconsider.
Please check it out.
We are heading into the lazy dog days of summer that will shortly morph into the election-driven days of autumn. The September and October days will be energized by electioneering controversy and for sure there are going to be emails.
When someone you know sends you a post, you open it because you recognize the address. When a group emails you representing a political interest, they will likely be spamm. It seems to me that we have to be vigilant and start now to sort out the crap from the shavings.
When you get an email from someone you know and you think they have more brains than to send you political drivel but something nags at you, it is easy enough to check the questionable information out by going to SNOPES.
www.snopes.com/urban legends.
www.snopes.com has cataloged rumors and urban fables for years. They can show you instantly if your topic is true or false. Accuracy and truth are tools for every really informed voter, probably more important this year than ever before.
One of the current rumors going around now is a request for a 28th amendment to the Constitution with the intent to overturn the present medical bills passed by Congress. It mentions that our elected officials have elected themselves exemptions from law and not beholding to the new plan provisions or even to various laws of sexual harassment, etc. Snopes shoots that down in a hurry and even gives the background that led to the current rumor going around the internet.
Most rumors do die down after a while. Then, thanks to the internet, someone will find one, send it to a friend who considers the source(the first friend) and then sends it on. Like laundering money, it gets harder and harder to detect the start of the story. That is where Snopes comes in. Snopes has the original version, plus updates, so Snopes can tell you what is true and what is false.
Remember the story about praying for the demise of Governor Christie? That joke made the rounds when President Obama was running and the Republicans had used it to pray for "favorite President Obama". Back in those days it seems that Republicans did not object to the joke at Democrat expense, but when a Republican is the butt? There was a call for firing the teacher who started the NJ version. Oh, if they had only "Snoped". Snopes had the joke online for almost forever.
So to all my friends, (especially those of the conservative bent who seem to pass on so much of this stinky stuff) I suggest that you either delete me from this baloney, or look it up first and tell the folks who sent it to you that they are mistaken.
Snopes rocks!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Update for Senior Art Show
Hey everyone! Senior Art and Craftsmen news!
The brochures are out from the Heritage and Cultural Commission and they look great. If you have not received yours by the end of this week, contact the Office on Aging at 609-989-6661. They will get one off to you because the registration form must be received by their office by July 22.
Important dates are:
July 22, registration forms completed and in MC Office on Aging for processing.
July 29, delivery of your entry to Meadow Lakes from 9:00am to 12:00pm.
August 2 to August 13, duration of show. Hours for visiting 10am to 4 pm. at Meadow Lakes, 300 Meadow Lakes, East Windsor.
August 13, Awards reception 1:30pm to 3:30pm.
August 13, Pick up entries after show reception is over. No earlier than 3:30pm. Winning entries are to be left in the custody of Mercer County Office of Aging and will be transported to the State Senior Art Show by Committee members.
Entry specifications are:
Must be original creation of the artist. No glicee or reproductions of other original art work or artists, no kits, no copies.
Dimensions of paintings and 2 dimensional work may not exceed the maximum 36 inches in any direction INCLUDING FRAME. Work must fit into a 36 " template. Any hanging over....sorry, not accepted.
Also there is a minimum for you miniature lovers...may not be smaller than 11 inches. If it does not measure up, it does not show.
Sculpture and 3 dimensional crafts may not exceed 18 inches in any direction including the base. This is to permit as many entrants as possible in our limited show area.
Please have your artwork ready for hanging. We are not framers and would not be permitted to do anything even if we could, so have your fishing wire all hooked up, or whatever you prefer. Artwork must be matted, mounted, framed with screw eyes and properly labeled on the back side. No saw tooth hangers. They just do not hold and we are not able to hang them in our gallery system.
If your water color or mixed media requires glass and is over 24 inches, plexiglass is suggested to protect it.
If you have a piece valued over $400, you must have private insurance.
If you are in the wrong category, the committee will move it to the correct grouping.
Categories this year are:
Acrylic
Craft. No kits or molds may be used.
Computer-generated Imagery. No digitally altered photos and images made with a scanner but there is a new grouping called "Computer-generated Imagery. You may use a pixel based painting or graphics program such as Photoshop, Illustrator or Corel Painter.
Drawing--pencil, pen, ink, graphite, markers
Mixed Media. A combination of two or more media, includes collage and assemblage, and no one of which predominates.
Oil.
Pastel, chalk, charcoal, oil pastel.
Photography created using a film-based digital or pinhole camera, scanner, including color, black and white or tinted or digitally manipulated photos, photogram.
Print. Etching, engraving, lithograph, woodcut, monoprint, monotype, silkscreen.
Watercolor, gouache.
There must be three entries or more in a category to be judged and qualify to go on to the State Show.
I think I mentioned previously that you can't show a work that was entered in a previous year, and works must be young. Artists have to be over 60 years of age, but sorry seniors, works must be less than three years old. One entry per artist...but look at all the categories. It is hard to pick out your favorite but only one per person, please.
This is the second year that Mercer has been able to offer first place awards to both professional artists and the hobby artist. That means two in each medium get to represent Mercer County in the State competition. And we have Meadow Lakes to thank for that because they have made sufficient gallery display area available that we can really present our Mercer County artists.
Don't forget, call Office on Aging for more info and brochures. 609-989-6661.
Seniors Rock!
The brochures are out from the Heritage and Cultural Commission and they look great. If you have not received yours by the end of this week, contact the Office on Aging at 609-989-6661. They will get one off to you because the registration form must be received by their office by July 22.
Important dates are:
July 22, registration forms completed and in MC Office on Aging for processing.
July 29, delivery of your entry to Meadow Lakes from 9:00am to 12:00pm.
August 2 to August 13, duration of show. Hours for visiting 10am to 4 pm. at Meadow Lakes, 300 Meadow Lakes, East Windsor.
August 13, Awards reception 1:30pm to 3:30pm.
August 13, Pick up entries after show reception is over. No earlier than 3:30pm. Winning entries are to be left in the custody of Mercer County Office of Aging and will be transported to the State Senior Art Show by Committee members.
Entry specifications are:
Must be original creation of the artist. No glicee or reproductions of other original art work or artists, no kits, no copies.
Dimensions of paintings and 2 dimensional work may not exceed the maximum 36 inches in any direction INCLUDING FRAME. Work must fit into a 36 " template. Any hanging over....sorry, not accepted.
Also there is a minimum for you miniature lovers...may not be smaller than 11 inches. If it does not measure up, it does not show.
Sculpture and 3 dimensional crafts may not exceed 18 inches in any direction including the base. This is to permit as many entrants as possible in our limited show area.
Please have your artwork ready for hanging. We are not framers and would not be permitted to do anything even if we could, so have your fishing wire all hooked up, or whatever you prefer. Artwork must be matted, mounted, framed with screw eyes and properly labeled on the back side. No saw tooth hangers. They just do not hold and we are not able to hang them in our gallery system.
If your water color or mixed media requires glass and is over 24 inches, plexiglass is suggested to protect it.
If you have a piece valued over $400, you must have private insurance.
If you are in the wrong category, the committee will move it to the correct grouping.
Categories this year are:
Acrylic
Craft. No kits or molds may be used.
Computer-generated Imagery. No digitally altered photos and images made with a scanner but there is a new grouping called "Computer-generated Imagery. You may use a pixel based painting or graphics program such as Photoshop, Illustrator or Corel Painter.
Drawing--pencil, pen, ink, graphite, markers
Mixed Media. A combination of two or more media, includes collage and assemblage, and no one of which predominates.
Oil.
Pastel, chalk, charcoal, oil pastel.
Photography created using a film-based digital or pinhole camera, scanner, including color, black and white or tinted or digitally manipulated photos, photogram.
Print. Etching, engraving, lithograph, woodcut, monoprint, monotype, silkscreen.
Watercolor, gouache.
There must be three entries or more in a category to be judged and qualify to go on to the State Show.
I think I mentioned previously that you can't show a work that was entered in a previous year, and works must be young. Artists have to be over 60 years of age, but sorry seniors, works must be less than three years old. One entry per artist...but look at all the categories. It is hard to pick out your favorite but only one per person, please.
This is the second year that Mercer has been able to offer first place awards to both professional artists and the hobby artist. That means two in each medium get to represent Mercer County in the State competition. And we have Meadow Lakes to thank for that because they have made sufficient gallery display area available that we can really present our Mercer County artists.
Don't forget, call Office on Aging for more info and brochures. 609-989-6661.
Seniors Rock!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Mercer County Senior Art Show
Attention artists! There is one good thing about being over sixty years old...you qualify for the Senior Art Show.
It's about that time again. I understand that the flyers with application forms are in the mail. If you have not participated in past years, don't let that stop you now. They have room for lots of entries and are split into amateur and professional categories. I hear that they might be able to handle crafts and stained glass entries this year.
The Mercer County Senior Art Show is a joint effort of the Office on Aging and the Mercer County Culture and Heritage Commission. Entries cover a range of mediums from water color to acrylic, photography and sculpture. The winners of each category represent Mercer County and go on to the State Finals.
This is really a big deal. The State show exhibits upwards of 300 pieces by winners of each County's competitions. I've won locally a couple of years and it feels great to go on to represent Mercer County.
Keep in mind there is a limit on the size of each painting or sculpture because of the obvious logistical headaches displaying so many works. Your entry form will list the permitted dimensions so you can frame accordingly. You are permitted one work. Also the work must be totally original(not workshop or class work), and created within the past three years.
Please, if you have exhibited a work in a previous year, do not present it again. This year's entries must be fresh stuff, if you know what I mean. One year a water colorist sneaked in an old work and his wife spent the whole reception telling on him. Ahhh. Too much excitement.
The Mercer County Show is going to be held in August but the drop off may be the end of July. I will post as soon as the dates are firmed up. I believe that the County show is going to be at Meadow Lakes, the site of the 2009 NJ State Juried Show. It would be great to exhibit in the same venue as the 2010 final competition in October, so stay tuned.
Art rocks.
Seniors rock.
It's about that time again. I understand that the flyers with application forms are in the mail. If you have not participated in past years, don't let that stop you now. They have room for lots of entries and are split into amateur and professional categories. I hear that they might be able to handle crafts and stained glass entries this year.
The Mercer County Senior Art Show is a joint effort of the Office on Aging and the Mercer County Culture and Heritage Commission. Entries cover a range of mediums from water color to acrylic, photography and sculpture. The winners of each category represent Mercer County and go on to the State Finals.
This is really a big deal. The State show exhibits upwards of 300 pieces by winners of each County's competitions. I've won locally a couple of years and it feels great to go on to represent Mercer County.
Keep in mind there is a limit on the size of each painting or sculpture because of the obvious logistical headaches displaying so many works. Your entry form will list the permitted dimensions so you can frame accordingly. You are permitted one work. Also the work must be totally original(not workshop or class work), and created within the past three years.
Please, if you have exhibited a work in a previous year, do not present it again. This year's entries must be fresh stuff, if you know what I mean. One year a water colorist sneaked in an old work and his wife spent the whole reception telling on him. Ahhh. Too much excitement.
The Mercer County Show is going to be held in August but the drop off may be the end of July. I will post as soon as the dates are firmed up. I believe that the County show is going to be at Meadow Lakes, the site of the 2009 NJ State Juried Show. It would be great to exhibit in the same venue as the 2010 final competition in October, so stay tuned.
Art rocks.
Seniors rock.
Friday, July 9, 2010
ARTWORKS TONIGHT: Mercer Reception Celebrates 40 Yrs.
Recognizing that local history, diverse culture and treasured traditions of varied elements in the community should be documented for posterity, the County Executive and Board of Chosen Freeholders created the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission.
Their mission was to encourage County artists to focus on their unique Mercer identity. Since that St. Patrick's Day inception in 1970, as an advisory board to the Division of Culture and Heritage, they have provided welcome support to the art segment of the community that all too often cannot sustain itself.
The Annual Mercer County Artists Show and the biennial Mercer County Photography Exhibition are two venues for artists. Each year, some of the works on exhibition are chosen for purchase. Subsequently, they become part of the Mercer County permanent art collection. These purchase awards are coveted as much for the prestige as for the support they give to the artists.
Selected works from the Mercer County collection are on display at ARTWORKS from July 9 through July 31. This is a wonderful opportunity to see these works, some of which can only be otherwise viewed by visiting Mercer County offices during business hours.
There is a reception tonight from 6 to 9pm. There is going to be live music by the David Adolph Quartet and food catering by Revere's.
In this time of suspended and cut back funding, please come out and show our policy makers that the arts are alive and well in Trenton.
Make sure you sign the guestbook!
Trenton Rocks!
Their mission was to encourage County artists to focus on their unique Mercer identity. Since that St. Patrick's Day inception in 1970, as an advisory board to the Division of Culture and Heritage, they have provided welcome support to the art segment of the community that all too often cannot sustain itself.
The Annual Mercer County Artists Show and the biennial Mercer County Photography Exhibition are two venues for artists. Each year, some of the works on exhibition are chosen for purchase. Subsequently, they become part of the Mercer County permanent art collection. These purchase awards are coveted as much for the prestige as for the support they give to the artists.
Selected works from the Mercer County collection are on display at ARTWORKS from July 9 through July 31. This is a wonderful opportunity to see these works, some of which can only be otherwise viewed by visiting Mercer County offices during business hours.
There is a reception tonight from 6 to 9pm. There is going to be live music by the David Adolph Quartet and food catering by Revere's.
In this time of suspended and cut back funding, please come out and show our policy makers that the arts are alive and well in Trenton.
Make sure you sign the guestbook!
Trenton Rocks!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Mack vs. Diversity, Round One
The new Mayor of Trenton is digging in. His first appointments have been pulled out of the old Mayor's basket. He just pulled those old boys out, dusted them off, and propped them up on his shelf and... after they stopped wobbling, turned back for another look.
Maybe that is too simplistic. When Eric Jackson was salvaged, privately I cheeered!
This is a very bright and enthusiastic young man. I was once involved with excavating contracting and can relate to the challenges that the Roads Department faces and appreciate productive solutions. Listening to the one man pothole truck solution, with permanent results as opposed to three man temp patches...why I was just blown away. I am so glad that Tony Mack has him on board.
Now the Police Director business is another story. Irv Bradley was truly a find. He came into the Police Department helping to set up the new computer technology and became a very talented and savvy community minded interface between the Mayor and Police Department. I heard one comment that officers were so happy not to be looking over their shoulders or needing to "pay for promotions". Personally, our seniors loved him.
The new appointment to Police Director is a fellow brought out of retirement to help Mayor Mack. I am sure that he is a fine fellow but I can't help wonder if this temporary position may be to enhance pension benefits. Can someone update me on this possibility? I think the Police Director should be chosen on a basis other than living in the city of Trenton. Dipping down into his history, it seems to me to be a colossal step backward into the "old boy system".
L.A.Parker writes today that Mayor Mack is "under pressure to put as many of City Hall's best jobs into the hands of African-Americans families". L.A. is a stout defender of black interests and I was flabbergasted that he dared to say this. Since he has brought up the subject, and having hosted all those Meet and Greets for Mayoral and Council candidates, I can attest to the concern that black candidates and businessmen felt about losing some of their political clout with the change of administration.
For a while, Tony Mack even invited Frank Weeden to his transition team. You never hear about that. The sea of black faces at the inaugauration of Mayor Mack is reassuring to the black interests in town but it really does not indicate a progressive direction for this city.
I suspect that the latest census is going to show that the demographics for Trenton are over fifty percent Hispanic and Hispanic mixed, about twenty percent black, and about twenty percent white. That is not enough to support the white supremacy argument for Divine Allah, that is not enough blacks to support Mayor Mack's administration, that is a sign instead of a segment of the city that is not being represented.
Instead of worrying about paying off political debts, I implore Mayor Mack to look ahead and plan for the future. We must get a handle on the way this city feels about itself. We cannot afford to keep the same policies and procedures in place that so bogged down the Palmer Administration.
If we are going to present a desirable and marketable image to the rest of the world, we have to be inviting and safe for tourists. It seems obvious that the rest of the world thinks of Trenton as a sea of gangs and black faces.
There. I said it.
Diversity. Mayor Mack, what are you going to do about it?
Have a nice day.
Maybe that is too simplistic. When Eric Jackson was salvaged, privately I cheeered!
This is a very bright and enthusiastic young man. I was once involved with excavating contracting and can relate to the challenges that the Roads Department faces and appreciate productive solutions. Listening to the one man pothole truck solution, with permanent results as opposed to three man temp patches...why I was just blown away. I am so glad that Tony Mack has him on board.
Now the Police Director business is another story. Irv Bradley was truly a find. He came into the Police Department helping to set up the new computer technology and became a very talented and savvy community minded interface between the Mayor and Police Department. I heard one comment that officers were so happy not to be looking over their shoulders or needing to "pay for promotions". Personally, our seniors loved him.
The new appointment to Police Director is a fellow brought out of retirement to help Mayor Mack. I am sure that he is a fine fellow but I can't help wonder if this temporary position may be to enhance pension benefits. Can someone update me on this possibility? I think the Police Director should be chosen on a basis other than living in the city of Trenton. Dipping down into his history, it seems to me to be a colossal step backward into the "old boy system".
L.A.Parker writes today that Mayor Mack is "under pressure to put as many of City Hall's best jobs into the hands of African-Americans families". L.A. is a stout defender of black interests and I was flabbergasted that he dared to say this. Since he has brought up the subject, and having hosted all those Meet and Greets for Mayoral and Council candidates, I can attest to the concern that black candidates and businessmen felt about losing some of their political clout with the change of administration.
For a while, Tony Mack even invited Frank Weeden to his transition team. You never hear about that. The sea of black faces at the inaugauration of Mayor Mack is reassuring to the black interests in town but it really does not indicate a progressive direction for this city.
I suspect that the latest census is going to show that the demographics for Trenton are over fifty percent Hispanic and Hispanic mixed, about twenty percent black, and about twenty percent white. That is not enough to support the white supremacy argument for Divine Allah, that is not enough blacks to support Mayor Mack's administration, that is a sign instead of a segment of the city that is not being represented.
Instead of worrying about paying off political debts, I implore Mayor Mack to look ahead and plan for the future. We must get a handle on the way this city feels about itself. We cannot afford to keep the same policies and procedures in place that so bogged down the Palmer Administration.
If we are going to present a desirable and marketable image to the rest of the world, we have to be inviting and safe for tourists. It seems obvious that the rest of the world thinks of Trenton as a sea of gangs and black faces.
There. I said it.
Diversity. Mayor Mack, what are you going to do about it?
Have a nice day.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
How to Beat the Heat
Summer is here. After more than ten feet of snow this past winter, Jack Frost has turned his weather record over to Mother Nature. Not to be outdone, she has treated us to heat wave after heat wave and today sent temperatures soaring to 101 degrees.
Yipes!
The city pavement is so hot you can fry an egg. Really.
We watch from our windows to see if there are any problems in the mall parking lot because the homeless do not like to go to shelters. We have a tiny park not far from our building and there is a fountain and some shade trees. Folks are very respectful and there are a lot of mothers with their children. It is, nontheless, possibly a lifesaver for someone in this oppressive heat.
We think word is out about our "Senior Citizen Police Academy" training and Police connections because we have noted better quality of life in this area. Incidents are almost nonexistent. We credit the outgoing Trenton Police Director Irving Bradley for including the community in Police efforts. The "professionals" seem to have gone to greener pastures.
I think enviously of my girl friend on a cruise in the Caribbean...I think of my friends under a tree or on a boat in the Atlantic Highlands...but then I look over at my window seat filled with ferns and flowers. The air conditioner is cranking out steadily and I can reach for my ice cubes. Not too bad. Not too bad at all.
I remember days ago sitting on the shady porch of my old farmhouse, rocking in my father-in-law's grapevine bentwood rocker. I remember the sound of cicadas and the dripping glass of lemonade. The city streets and parking lots are a lot harder to cool off and the smell of asphalt and diesel is not as nice as lilac and peonies, but coping with what life puts in your path is essential to achieving a degree of contentment.
AARP mentioned a while back that the senior population is generally more contented and happy. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has lived through many a rough patch. Lo and behold, it's amazing that you have survived. Being thankful is a fulltime job.
I guess it might be more glamorous to have glossy green palms waving over my dewy brow, but heck, I am just fine with the scents of basil and sage and the purple geranium peeking from behind my peace lily. I just had a note from a friend who recently reconnected with me, I have a tall frosty glass of ice water at my elbow, and I think in general, life is good.
People rock!
Yipes!
The city pavement is so hot you can fry an egg. Really.
We watch from our windows to see if there are any problems in the mall parking lot because the homeless do not like to go to shelters. We have a tiny park not far from our building and there is a fountain and some shade trees. Folks are very respectful and there are a lot of mothers with their children. It is, nontheless, possibly a lifesaver for someone in this oppressive heat.
We think word is out about our "Senior Citizen Police Academy" training and Police connections because we have noted better quality of life in this area. Incidents are almost nonexistent. We credit the outgoing Trenton Police Director Irving Bradley for including the community in Police efforts. The "professionals" seem to have gone to greener pastures.
I think enviously of my girl friend on a cruise in the Caribbean...I think of my friends under a tree or on a boat in the Atlantic Highlands...but then I look over at my window seat filled with ferns and flowers. The air conditioner is cranking out steadily and I can reach for my ice cubes. Not too bad. Not too bad at all.
I remember days ago sitting on the shady porch of my old farmhouse, rocking in my father-in-law's grapevine bentwood rocker. I remember the sound of cicadas and the dripping glass of lemonade. The city streets and parking lots are a lot harder to cool off and the smell of asphalt and diesel is not as nice as lilac and peonies, but coping with what life puts in your path is essential to achieving a degree of contentment.
AARP mentioned a while back that the senior population is generally more contented and happy. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has lived through many a rough patch. Lo and behold, it's amazing that you have survived. Being thankful is a fulltime job.
I guess it might be more glamorous to have glossy green palms waving over my dewy brow, but heck, I am just fine with the scents of basil and sage and the purple geranium peeking from behind my peace lily. I just had a note from a friend who recently reconnected with me, I have a tall frosty glass of ice water at my elbow, and I think in general, life is good.
People rock!
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