The 10th annual Tour de Montclair took place today and we couldn’t have wished for a more beautiful day. Brookdale Park was packed with families of all ages. And there was something for everyone: a 4 mile walk , trike-a-thon, 1 mile loop, 8 mile ride and the Big Kahuna— a 12 mile scenic route through town.
My 8 year old rode the 1 mile loop in her first Tour de Montclair today and was beaming with pride. Thanks to our good friend Ciru who let her tag along with her and her son. My 4 year old proudly rode her 2-wheeler with training wheels and my husband and I chased after her.
When Circle Line said that its Kids Cruise Kick-Off would be a huge party, they weren’t kidding. All around Pier 83 were entertainers, like a really cool uni-cycle, juggler guy who spoke like a pirate, Broadway and Off-Broadway Shows, such as Freckleface Strawberry, Rock of Ages, and Spiderman and Justin Timberlake!—made of wax from Madame Tussaud’s Museum.
But the real party was on the boat. Dan Zanes and Elizabeth Mitchell and her family band, You Are My Flower, performed the entire cruise. They sang lots of fan favorites, like John Kanakanaka, but the highlight of the concert was when we were right in front of the Statue of Liberty. They started singing an impromptu This Land Is Your Land and everyone joined in. It was a special moment.
After touring the Hudson, and learning fun facts from the guide on the boat, we docked back at Pier 83 and each child was given a Circle Line goodie bag filled with special treats, but the best of all was the disposable camera. My girls went crazy with the “old-fashioned” camera and ended up taking all the photos within 20 minutes. I had to explain to them why they couldn’t see the photos immediately, since they had no idea that all cameras were not digital.
The chances are if you have school-age children, you’ve already done more than your fair share of bake sales.
Me? I love a good bake sale and after several tours of duty, now consider myself a veteran.
I’ve learned through experience that the golden oldies are the true crowd pleasers: usually anything with chocolate, brownies or chocolate covered pretzel sticks, all go down a storm. While I personally love an organic sea-salt and lavender cookie, I appreciate that they’re not guaranteed to make the top 10 list.
Anywho, here’s a great recipe that may not be the healthiest, but is still a good way to use up leftover Halloween candy you might have.
If you don’t have Snickers, then Twix or Almond Joy are good alternatives.
Watchung Co-op Preschool Director Christi Porter-Johnson shows one of the baby chicks to excited student (and son) Samuel Johnson.
The Watchung Cooperative Preschool welcomed 7 new baby chicks yesterday. The fertilized chicken eggs came from Goffle Road Farm in Wycoff. Students had been taking care of the eggs for the last 21 weeks keeping them warm in an incubator and making a chart to observe their progress. The children were overjoyed to see the chicks peck through their shells on Tuesday and enter the world.
“We all were so excited to watch the process. The chicks are so cute that the kids and adults can’t stop watching them”, said teacher Pat Martin. School Director Christi Porter-Johnson said, “This is an important lesson for children to learn about nature, and we’re really happy to provide them with this experience.” The chicks will be returned to the farm on Thursday, May 24th for egg laying purposes. If anyone is interested in taking a chick home, please contact Christi Porter-Johnson at 973-783-4535 before next Thursday.
The annual May Day celebration on May 1 in Watchung Plaza was cancelled due to rain, so Edgemont School set up a maypole on the front lawn of the school and enjoyed a May celebration last Friday.
The 3rd grade Edgemont Recorder Ensemble played a lively Rondo. The Maypole Dancers danced round the maypole while singing Sumer Is Icumen In and Hippy Chippy Charlie, accompanied by the Orff Ensemble. The Green Team presented prizes to students who participated in Waste-Free Lunch for five Fridays, and then the entire school joined together to sing All Things Bright and Beautiful as a continued celebration of Earth Day. It was lovely to see so many families join the celebration.
The Montclair Academy of Dance and Laboratory of Music (MADLOM) will hold an Anansi the Spider Peace Quilt Workshop for all ages. it will be a fun afternoon of an afternoon of art and literature, with live drum accompaniment. (Saturday, May 19)
The annual Family Garden Party at Presby Iris Gardens is on Saturday. It’s the perfect time because it’s peak season and the gardens will be filled with beautiful irises. The garden will also be filled with entertainment, refreshments, activities and art from talented school students.
Take the family—this is one of those must-do events:
Who says just because you’re a “kindie” rocker that you aren’t a rock n’ rolling, hotel crashing, wild and crazy musician? This video of 17 kindie musicians who performed at KindieFest 2012 proves that you can be both:
At Kindiefest 2012, 17 Kindie Artists converged in a hotel room for a historic song recording. This is it. Featuring: Ralph Covert of Ralph’s World, Mr. Steve of Steve Songs, Mindy Thomas of Sirus XM Radio, Lee Overtree of Story Pirates, Big Bang Boom, Bari Koral, Zak Morgan, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, Miss Amy and Alex Otey, The Not Its, Aaron Nigel Smith and Alisha Gaddis. And they all have a name…
Forget about March Madness, see the robotic hoopsters from the Montclair Bulldogs and the Clifton Mechanical Mustangs demonstrate their on court skills at the annual High School Robotics Extravaganza. The robots will compete in shooting baskets and cooperate in balancing on a bridge.
The two teams, both sponsored by the Montclair Society of Engineers, designed and built their basketball playing robots to compete against other high schools in the FRC FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition tournaments this spring. After demonstrating the machines, members of each team will explain how they came up with their different approaches to solving the same problems.
Back in April, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, together with Teen Ink, a national magazine written by teens and for teens, asked for essays about “bullying, being bullied, witnessing bullying or ideas about how to address this issue.” His goal, in addition to awareness, was to allow the experts – teenagers – to explain the problem of bullying to adults through their own experiences. He received over 1,200 essays, which were then narrowed down to 59 finalists. Yesterday, Mr. Kristof announced the winning essays, and out of the four winners, Montclair High School junior, Lena Rawley came away with the grand prize-winning essay: Teenage Girls; the Cruel Super Humans from Outer Space.
In her essay, Lena admits to having been a “teenage mean girl” and bystander to bullying herself. And, as those who watched Heathers in a previous generation will recognize, she was later targeted by the same girls as the “weakest link” or “the wounded gazelle.”
