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)
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.”
Art Without Borders is a group of dedicated Montclair High students who believe that it is very important for children to grow up with the influence of art in their lives. The group will be holding its first annual art show and sale on Saturday, May 19 at Gallery U in Montclair.
The show features an eclectic combination of works created by Montclair High School students and local professional artists. Aiming to spread art directly with art, all exhibited pieces will be for sale, with 100% of the funds going towards purchasing art supplies for the children of Simon Bolivar school.
At the exhibit, enjoy a performance by Montclair High School’s a cappella group, The Passing Notes.
If you have any art supplies that are not being used, please donate them at the show. You will be providing the artistic foundation for so many students.
The group says, “Montclair is such a warm town filled with artistic vibrance. Help us share our compassion and talent with another country. Art can do so much good in the world, join us in harnessing its power!”
Find out more about Art Without Borders in the video below:
Georgette’s going to love this Flavor Excursion since we’re heading to the North Bergen area (Hudson County), where she went to high school. And since my mom grew up there, it’s special for me. This now Spanish speaking pocket of New Jersey, with its majestic views of New York City and one of the last exits before you head into the Lincoln tunnel, is a vibrant community exploding with flavor. From Argentinian, to Cuban, Colombian and Mexican, it’s a culinary delight to explore.
I used to love visiting my grandparents on 79th Street, a few blocks off Bergenline Avenue, where my grandfather used to have his dental office. So when my friend Jackie told me about the sophisticated Argentine café her mother was raving about, we called our friend Debbie to put a date on the calendar.
And what an amazing outing we had! I was spoiled for this trip since Jackie took the reins and meticulously planned the trip. Bergenline Avenue is a one way street heading south, so we traveled North on Kennedy Blvd and then turned East on 66th Street to our first stop, Dulce de Leche a remarkable Argentine bakery in West New York with a tantalizing display of sweet and savory treats. They have flaky croissants, plain or stuffed with crème caramel and chocolate, crusty loaves of freshly baked bread, golden empanadas stuffed with cheese, spinach or meat and traditional Argentine tea sandwiches so fluffy your teeth sink into each bite like a head into a down pillow.
The Parent du Jour project is telling the stories of today’s families—one day, and one parent at a time—and you are invited to participate. Each day they feature a different parent telling, in their own words, how they combine work, family, and life. Dads are featured in our “A Dad a Day” series, moms in “Once Upon a Mom”.
I had the pleasure of being featured as a “Parent du Jour“, as did some of our other writers: Brian Glaser, Stacey Gill, Lisa Davies. And many other moms and dads, both local and international, are featured.
Founded by Lisa Duggan, a South Orange mother, editor, writer and the founder and publisher of The MotherHood Magazine and TheMotherhoodBlog, The Parent du Jour also employs a team of professional individuals, one of them being our own Kristin Wald. Now the team needs your help.
This fall, The Parent du Jour will launch a new education program for parents and begin building out our community-based website(s). Chase & LivingSocial is offering a grant of $250,000 to four small business owners and they want to be one of those four. They need 250 VOTES to be considered. You can vote
Go online here, search for The Parent du Jour in South Orange, NJ and vote. I did.
The latest in touching and inspiring videos. This was uploaded last week by a family who writes:
“Our eight-year-old blind-autistic son Jacob enjoying some fine acoustic guitar by a musician in downtown Lawrence, Kansas on May 13, 2012. Tyler … Thank you so much for letting Jacob feel the music”
