All Are Welcome at Community Thanksgiving Celebration
By Kathryn Davis
For most Americans, Thanksgiving is a day shared with friends and family, gathering around the dining room table, and enjoying a traditional dinner and warm conversation. Unfortunately, there are those for whom the holiday is a day of loneliness and frustration. For some, high gas prices and travel costs make spending the day with loved ones impossible.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are over 13 million Americans who are widowed, and another 23 million who are divorced. Today, there are 37 million Americans over the age of 65. These statistics do not mean that a lonely holiday is inevitable. Caring individuals and groups all over the nation are holding community dinners. Locally, the Trinity United Methodist Church in Hackettstown is holding their third annual Thanksgiving dinner this year at the church in Starr Hall from noon until 2:30 p.m.
“We started this mission because we thought there was a need in the community and church for people to have a place to go on Thanksgiving so they are not alone,” explains Janice Paulussen, event coordinator. “This is a time of year to be with people and have great fellowship.”
“It really was a grass roots idea. It came from the Missions Ministry Team,” explains Rev. Dr. Frank Fowler, Senior Pastor at the church. “We do it because we want to share God’s love. We want to provide a place of community, which is at the heart of what our church does. It’s just a natural thing for us to open our doors to the community on Thanksgiving Day.”
The dinner is open to anyone in the community, free of charge. “It gives people the opportunity to have a delicious dinner and be around friendly people,” Paulussen notes.
The dinner provides more than just a good meal. “It’s not just for the economically struggling,” notes Dr. Fowler. “Some people just want to have their dinner in the community of the church for the day.” For those who don’t want to spend the holiday alone, he adds, “Need a family? Trinity’s offering one.”
As in past years, Linda Gonia, head chef at Centenary College and a parishioner at Trinity, will oversee food preparation. The dinner, which is held buffet-style, includes traditional foods such as turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and, of course, a variety of breads and pies.
Paulussen recalls the first year the dinner was held. One family that attended did not speak English. A high school volunteer who was serving that day sat down to speak with them, using the Spanish she’d learned in school. Paulussen also remembers the fellowship, and even one couple slow dancing. The second year she saw a better turnout, more volunteers, and more donations. This year, Paulussen is optimistic.
Feedback has always been “very positive,” explains Paulussen. “Everyone has said the food is really great, and the fellowship among the guests and volunteers is like a family dinner.”
Dr. Fowler recalls one particular incident. “I was at the dinner last year, just basically visiting with people. A couple of young men came in. They said their mother was dying and asked me to come to their home. There was a large family gathering for Thanksgiving dinner, and she had taken a turn for the worse that day. I went with them and found their mother was in bed in the last stages of cancer. I sat with her on the side of the bed. We spoke and we prayed. I stayed with her and prayed with the family. She passed on a few days later.”
A community event like this allows people inspiring ways to connect. Observes Dr. Fowler, “Because we opened our doors, it gave us an opportunity to offer God’s love in an unexpected way.
A tremendous amount of planning goes into an event like this. Paulussen works behind the scenes for weeks, soliciting donations, organizing, and recruiting volunteers. Food is purchased last to ensure freshness. Sometimes, however, things don’t work out as planned.
“Last year we had a donation of about ten turkeys from a local car dealership that really saved the day. We didn’t get enough donations, so we would have had to purchase them. God is always at work,” says Paulussen.
Although some guests like to take home leftovers, any additional leftover food will continue to be donated to Safe Harbor, a homeless shelter in Easton.
Because this event is ongoing right up until Thanksgiving Day, and because supplies that are not donated must be purchased at the last minute, monetary donations will still be accepted after the holiday.
Donations can be sent directly to: Trinity United Methodist Church-Thanksgiving, 213 Main Street, Hackettstown, NJ 07840. To learn more about the community dinner at Trinity Church, call (908) 852-3020 or visit www.catchthespirit.org.
Learn To Dance “Like A Star” At Arthur Murray Studios
By Cheryl Conway
Get ready to put on your dancing shoes and waltz on over to the grand re-opening of the new Arthur Murray Dance Studio of Roxbury.
The studio located at the Roxbury Mall for the past six years is moving to a larger facility at Route 10 East in Ledgewood. Franchise owner Danny Villavicencio of Landing says he plans to be in the new building by December 1 after he moves his dance floor and equipment.
“With the popularity of people dancing, we needed a bigger facility,” says Villavicencio. The new facility – located ? mile east of the old Ledgewood Circle right next to Java Joe Bagels ? is 5,700 square feet compared to the existing studio of 4,200 square feet at Sunset Strip.
Villavicencio says he hopes that the new building attracts more students since it will have better visibility located on the highway. The existing facility “it’s just hidden back there too much.”
The Arthur Murray Dance Studio of Roxbury is one of 50 studios in the tri-state area and one of five studios in Morris County. A couple hundred students - 70 percent are couples 32-70 years old - from Morris and Sussex counties are current members at the Roxbury studio. Other nearby locations include Kenvil, Chatham, Denville and Ridgewood. The franchise – Arthur Murray International - began in 1912 and has grown to about 300 studios worldwide.
Partner-dancing featuring ballroom, social and Latin dances such as the tango, waltz, cha-cha, swing, merengue, jitterbug and country-western are taught at Arthur Murray Dance Studio. There are currently seven full-time dance instructors but Villavicencio plans to hire four more to handle his growing enrollment.
A Latin-dance exercise program- Core Rhythms- is also offered at the studio Monday, Wednesday and Saturday mornings. The calorie-burning core flexion aerobic workout has proven to shed “an inch per week” in students’ waists, he says.
For the grand re-opening, new students can enjoy a free first-week trial to dance at Arthur Murray Dance Studio of Roxbury.
Other dance studios do not compare to Arthur Murray, says Villavicencio.
Arthur Murray Studios and its instructors “are the innovators and the most experienced,” he says. “It is the household name. Our teachers are certified and recertified” and they are passionate about dancing and teaching others, especially Villavicencio.
Born in Ecuador, South America, Villavicencio says “I’ve been dancing all my life. When you grow up in a Latin household and you’re the only son, your mother drags you out to the floor and has me dance with her. Ever since then, I’ve loved it.” When he was 15, he asked his mother to teach him, and ever since he has not stopped dancing.
Villavicencio, 42, grew up in Dover when his family immigrated to the U.S. when he was one-year old. He had left college in 1990 and his studies to be an engineer to follow his “real passion.”
While attending University of North Florida in Jacksonville, FL, Villavicencio got a job teaching dance at a nearby Arthur Murray Dance Studio in 1990.
“I took one step into that studio and I knew what I wanted to do,” he describes. Six months later, he danced in his first competition and continued to compete all over the world specializing in American-rhythm style.
“Now I pass all of my knowledge to people I teach,” he says. “I train people how to teach.”
Villavicencio opened his first Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Denville in 2000 which he no longer owns. He opened the Roxbury studio in 2004.
“You make a difference in people’s lives,” he says about his job. Sometimes when older couples join, they do not look “too happy,” he describes. “They seem like there’s a plateau in their relationship.” But by dancing together, “They seem to be rekindling something. We re-spark their relationship. They seem like they have a makeover. They start losing weight; they change their clothes, get haircuts, new hairdos. They feel better about themselves.”
In addition to running the Roxbury studio, Villavicencio hosts the World Salsa Championship – Caribbean Dancesport Classic. In his 11th year, this year’s competition was just held Nov. 4-8 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and attracted 5,000 entrees. Competitors were aged 5-90 from all over the world such as Russia, Japan, Israel, Australia and the U.S.
For more information about the Arthur Murray Dance Studio of Roxbury, call 973-252-9600 or visit www.learntodancenj.com.
Area Rotary Clubs Plan Food Drives to Benefit Neighbors in Need
HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. - What began as a simple food collection in the parking lot of The Warren Reporter 12 years ago has blossomed into a major food drive that this year has invited 53 Rotary Clubs throughout Northern New Jersey.
In Warren County, food drives will be held Saturday, November21 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of Panera Bread, Rt.57, Mansfield, sponsored by the Hackettstown Rotary Club. Another food drive will be held at Shop Rite of Greenwich, Rt.22, Lopatcong Twp., sponsored by the Phillipsburg Rotary Club.
The Washington Rotary Club will conduct a food drive Saturday, November14 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Shop Rite of Chester, Rt.206.
The idea is to involve Rotary Clubs in District 7470 in a cooperative venture that will directly benefit needy individuals and families in their own areas of service. Local supermarkets have been asked to participate by allowing club members to collect on site donations of frozen turkeys, canned and dry goods, and monetary contributions. Those monetary donations, according to Helene Meissner, Executive Director of the NORWESCAP Food Bank serving Sussex, Warren, and Hunterdon counties, can have an extraordinary impact on the success of these food drives.
“Our buying power through our connection to the Community Foodbank of New Jersey enables us to purchase approximately 14 pounds of food with each dollar we collect,” she explained. “The added poundage of food that is brought in through dollars collected not only helps us expand our food distribution, but also allows us to “fill in the gaps” by providing needed foods that may not have been collected otherwise.”
In 2008, food drives conducted by the Rotary Clubs of Hackettstown and Washington resulted in the collection of 151 frozen turkeys, 6,260 pounds of food, and $9,055 in cash donations.
The Hackettstown Rotary Club will be aided by a “live” remote conducted by WRNJ Radio 1510/AM, which will be hosted by recently retired morning man Russ Long. Mr. Long, who has moved to Maine but maintains close ties to the area he worked in and loved for more than 20 years, will interview donors and Rotary members as he makes his appeal for donations. In years past, WRNJ’s listeners have responded with carloads of frozen turkeys, paper goods, and canned fruits and vegetables – just for the chance to meet him and say hello.
“A struggling economy makes our efforts to collect as much food as we can even more important this year,” said Maria DiGiovanni, chairperson of the Hackettstown Rotary Club food drive. “The NORWESCAP Food Bank reaches into every community in northern New Jersey, and we want people to know their donations will stay right here in Warren County to help their neighbors in need.
“That alone can help make our own Thanksgiving celebrations more meaningful.”
Items most needed for each of the food drives include frozen turkeys, canned fruits and vegetables, pasta and sauces, tuna, peanut butter, mashed potato flakes, bagged stuffing, and boxed cereals and juices. All donations are welcome.
For more information about the Rotary food drives, please contact Maria DiGiovanni at 908-850-9010 or Kevin Guyette at 908-689-7525 (Hackettstown); Bob Pesaniello at 908-213-6858 (Washington); and Jerry Pandolfi at 908-213-0604 (Phillipsburg).
Rotary is an international organization that promotes the advancement of understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service. For membership information, please contact Norman Worth of the Hackettstown Club at 908-850-1000.
Adopt a Head Start Family
for the Holidays
Each year, generous Morris County corporate groups, churches and individuals celebrate the holidays in a very special way. They adopt one or several low-income Head Start families. Filled with the holiday spirit, they purchase gifts for the family from lists supplied by Head Start. Items on the list may include a child’s winter jacket, a doll, or household items such as towels or bedding.
A Head Start family of four has an income of $22,050 or less. Affording life in Morris County on such an income is extremely difficult. In most instances, rent and food eat up almost all of the family’s income. Holidays are not joyous occasions when you can’t afford to buy your children the things they need, let alone those they want.
Head Start is urgently seeking groups and individuals who will make our families’ holidays brighter by purchasing holiday gifts for them. To adopt a family, please contact Adela Hernandez, Family & Community Partnerships Manager, at (973) 989-9052.
The Head Start Community Program of Morris County, Inc. Head Start is a nonprofit organization that provides a free, comprehensive program for low-income Morris County preschoolers and their families. The program teaches the skills that lead
2-adopt a head start family for the holidays to successful school experiences for children and offers support services that lead to self-sufficiency for families. Head Start serves children and families who live anywhere in Morris County through sites in Dover and Morristown.
The nonprofit agency is funded by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, United Way of Morris County, the State of NJ, foundation grants, local community organizations and individual donations.
26th Annual Historic House Tour
The 26th annual Historic House Tour in Long Valley will be held on Saturday, December 12th, from 11am to 4pm. The tour, sponsored by the Washington Township Historical Society, is self guided; a program book with a map, photographs, and history of each house is provided.
This year’s tour spans the Naughright, Flocktown, and Drakestown areas of Washington Township. Seven houses will be shown and they can be visited in any sequence. Several guides, some in costume, will be stationed in the houses explaining the history.
The Garden Club of Long Valley provides lovely holiday arrangements in each home. As is the tradition, complimentary refreshments will be served in the Historical Society's Museum on the day of the tour and beautiful crafts made by the Society's Crafts Group will be available for sale.
House Tour Tickets are $20 each with proceeds benefiting the Historical
Society and Museum. Tickets can be purchased in advance by mail. Please make checks payable and mail to the Washington Township Historical Society, P.O. Box 189, Long Valley, NJ 07853.
Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Washington Township Historical Society Museum located at 6 Fairview Avenue in the center of Long Valley on the following days: Dec. 6 from 10am to 5:30pm; Dec. 11 from 10am to 6pm; and Dec. 12, the day of the tour, beginning at 10am. In addition the 2010 historic railroad calendar, special framed historic photographs, books, maps, and note cards will be available for purchase in the Museum on those days.
An optional luncheon will be held at the Drakestown United Methodist Church from 11am and 2pm. Proceeds from the luncheon benefit the church.
For more information please email info@wthsnj.org, visit our web site at www.wthsnj.org or telephone (908) 876-9696.
