Rose Garden Earns International Award

At a ceremony on Friday, October 7, 2016 at the Rudolf van der Goot Rose Garden at Colonial Park in Somerset, New Jersey, Somerset County Park Commissioners and staff formally accepted the 2015 World Federation of Rose Societies' (WFRS) Garden of Excellence Award. 

The nomination was submitted by Dr. Suni Bolar, Vice President of the Jersey Shore Rose Society and a national level rose exhibitor and rose hybridizer. 

Beginning in 1995, the WFRS organization recognized the best of the outstanding rose gardens throughout the world with its Garden of Excellence Award. The highly competitive and prestigious award has been earned by internationally renowned gardens including La Roseraie de Bagatelle in France, the Garden of Roses in England, and Washington Park in Portland, Oregon along with gardens in Argentina, China, Italy, Pakistan, South Africa, and other countries throughout the world. 

The Rudolf W. van der Goot Rose Garden is one-acre in size and contains more than 3,000 roses of 325 varieties. The garden was named in honor of Rudolf W. van der Goot, the first horticulturist with the Somerset County Park Commission, as a tribute to his efforts in designing and developing the garden. The Rose Garden is located on Mettlers Road (Parking Lot A) in the East Millstone section of Franklin Township’s Colonial Park. 

From late spring through fall, the roses present a kaleidoscope of color, form, and fragrance. Visitors can view popular modern hybrids, species, and various classes of Old Garden Roses. All roses are clearly labeled for easy identification and only roses that thrive in central NJ are kept in the rose collections.

Legendary Golf Club Designer Visits NVGC

The Somerset County Park Commission and Callaway Golf welcomed legendary golf club designer and short-game expert Roger Cleveland at Neshanic Valley Golf Course, 2301 South Branch Road in Neshanic Station, New Jersey on Sunday, October 9, 2016.

Mr. Cleveland hosted a “Short-game Techniques Clinic,” explaining and demonstrating wedge play.

Mr. Cleveland now serves on a Callaway Golf team of design experts following his founding of the Cleveland Golf Company in 1979. He joined Callaway in 1996 as chief club designer and under his direction launched the Callaway Golf Forged Wedges constructed from carbon steel and featuring a face with modified U grooves.

Neshanic Valley Golf Course provides an all-inclusive golfing experience with a 27-hole Championship Course, a 9-hole Academy Course, the Learning Center, and the Callaway Golf Performance Center.

The state-of-the-art Learning Center includes a double-ended driving range with grass and mat hitting areas, a 12,000 square foot putting green, a practice facility including bunkers and three chipping greens, and two practice holes.

The Callaway Golf Performance Center at Neshanic Valley, the only facility of its kind on the east coast, offers a state-of-the-art computerized golf club fitting and swing analysis system, operated by Callaway-trained professionals.

For information call 908-369-8200. Information on Somerset County Park Commission activities and programs may be found at www.somersetcountyparks.org.

TR Manager Earns Statewide Recognition

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On Wednesday, September 28, 2016, Dina Trunzo, CTRS, Therapeutic Recreation Manager for the Somerset County Park Commission, received the Evelyn N. Aronow Award from the New Jersey Commission on Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities.

The award is bestowed upon an outstanding individual who through legislation, education, public relations, and technical support, has promoted growth and development and made a lasting contribution to community recreation services for individuals with disabilities in New Jersey.

The award was presented at the Commission’s Annual Conference by an Aronow family member representing the Aronow Family Foundation who stated that Evelyn would be proud to see a professional such as Dina receive this award in her memory.

The Park Commission Therapeutic Recreation Department uses recreation to help people with disabilities to develop and experience leisure in ways that support health, functional abilities, educational needs, independence and quality of life. Through the use of a variety of social, cultural, artistic, and culinary programs, as well as sports, fitness, community outings, horticulture, and special events, participants can improve social skills, enhance self-esteem, improve overall health and well-being and physical ability, enhance communication skills, constructively use leisure time, eliminate boredom, reduction of stress and anxiety, and enhance skill development.

For information on Therapeutic Recreation and other Somerset County Park Commission programs and activities may be found at 908-722-1200 or www.somersetcountyparks.org.

Please Don't Feed the Geese

Among the many advantages to living in Somerset County is a remarkable combination of urban and suburban environments. Somerset County residents enjoy virtually immediate access to major commercial and cultural centers while living in a “green” county with open space purchases by the Board of Chosen Freeholders serving to ensure more than 14,500 acres of green space preserved in perpetuity.

These extensive active and passive recreation areas have created a unique interaction among humans and waterfowl, one that should remain at arm’s length because feeding may be harmful or fatal to wild birds.

Waterfowl have patterns by which they seek out and feed on nutritious marsh and grassbud plants. In our region, extreme cold and snow severely reduces the quality and quantity of important foods. Most waterfowl migrate south in search of a habitat that will support them before returning in the spring to their breeding grounds where they are a familiar part of the Somerset County landscape.

Many of these migratory birds are sidetracked when they stop to feed or rest in the lakes and marsh areas found in Somerset County. These new homes become even more appealing when they are fed by well-meaning individuals, delaying their migration and enticing them to become permanent residents.

Very often, the food provided is “junk food,” including popcorn, potato chips and bread. Unfortunately, though willingly accepted by the wildfowl, these foods lack important nutritional value. The result is that the birds become dependent upon handouts and stop seeking the natural, more nutritious foods that they require. In addition, these birds often congregate in small areas, competing for the new food source, resulting in overcrowding, competition, and a new susceptibility to life threatening diseases.

In the end, the seemingly kind and generous act of feeding waterfowl can foster a continuing cycle of spreading disease and creating a nuisance by damaging park land, golf courses, residential lawns, and creating water quality problems caused by droppings in ponds.

Please remember that these marvelous creatures are wild animals that should be enjoyed through observation and photography, not through feeding.

Current information on all Somerset County Park Commission activities may be found at www.somersetcountyparks.org or by calling the Park Commission at 908-722-1200 or NJ Relay at 711 for individuals with a hearing or speech impairment.

Park Foundation Provides New Therapeutic Recreation Van

The Somerset County Park Commission has taken delivery of specially outfitted van for use by the Therapeutic Recreation (TR) Department.

The $56,000 Ford Transit 350 van was purchased for the TR Department by the Somerset County Park Foundation, utilizing funds raised from the annual Pro-Celebrity Golf Outing, various other fund raising events, and contributions.

The van, adapted with a lift and wheelchair securement system, is used to transport people with disabilities living in participating Somerset County communities and registered for TR services. TR programs and activities are designed to promote an active leisure lifestyle that improves social, physical, cognitive and emotional functioning and health while enhancing abilities.

“Available transportation is too frequently the reason why individuals don’t and can’t participate in our programs,” stated Dina Trunzo, Manager of Therapeutic Recreation. “The new van will allow more individuals with mobility impairments to utilize our services.”

“The ability to provide a necessary resource for the Therapeutic Recreation Department is a tribute to the hundreds of individuals and companies that support the Park Foundation,” stated Foundation Chair John Kitchen.

Tribute Benches & Trees Available in Somerset County Parks

The Somerset County Park Foundation is providing an opportunity to pay tribute to family and close friends through a donation of a tree or park bench at a location within the Somerset County Park system.

A tax-deductible donation of $2,000.00 will earn the placement of a bench or tree with a plaque memorializing the contribution. The Park Foundation will maintain a listing of all plantings and benches with information including the donor and the person being honored or memorialized.

Tribute Benches are available in three styles conforming to the type of park in which the bench is to be placed. The criteria for the site list per park is based on the needs in each park and a determination of the maximum number of benches appropriate. Maintenance of the bench will be the responsibility of the park staff.

The plaques on benches located in the gardens are 2” x 4” anodized aluminum plates, black with silver letters. The plaques on benches located in the parks and at the Environmental Education Center are 8” x 5” cast bronze plate with dark oxide stain background finish and with bronze letters. 

Living Legacy Trees provide individuals and organizations with the opportunity to honor people and commemorate special events by planting trees in Somerset County parks. Living Legacy Tree requests will be accepted year-round and planted in the spring or fall to give the trees the best chance to survive. Through communication between Park Commission Horticulture staff and the contributor, an approved species will be chosen based on the desired planting site.

A donor may also choose an already established tree, to be designated as a Tribute Tree.  A commemorative plaque engraved according to the donor’s specifications will be placed at the base of the tree.

For more information on the Tribute Bench or Living Legacy Tree program go to www.somersetcountyparks.org or call 908-722-1200, ext. 228.

The Somerset County Park Foundation is a 501(c)(3) created to preserve, support, and promote Somerset County Park Commission programs, facilities, and open space through advocacy and fundraising.

Mandela Washington Fellow Visits EEC

In mid-July, staff at the Somerset County Park Commission Environmental Education Center were honored to entertain a visit from Mamoudou Berete (Kunta), a traveling professional from Guinea in West Central Africa. He is one of approximately 1,000 Mandela Washington Fellowship participants across the country. The visit was arranged in partnership with United Way and Rutgers University.

Kunta is the president of Committed Young People for Sustainable Development and volunteers at the public school as an English teacher. Upon completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, he plans to continue his work in civic education and environmental protection, while encouraging people in his community to educate children and promote equal justice for everyone.

In discussing the comparative environments of West Central Africa and the eastern United States, he explained that diamond and gold mining are prevalent in the region where he lives.  He explained that he has experienced first hand the hazards of mining through the loss of his brother in a mining accident and witnessing the destruction of the environment all around him with people leveling trees and digging mines in the middle of roads and towns.

His belief is that by educating Guinea’s youth they will choose a better life style than working in the mines and focus more on helping preserve natural resources. To that end he has created a volunteer organization to educate the local children and teens in methods of preserving their environment.

Visiting the EEC, he learned about the children and adult program offerings, research projects, and the trail system, enjoying a tour of the classrooms and observing Coyote Kids and Eco Explorers summer programs. Details are in the process of being prepared to conduct a live Naturalist program utilizing an online video chat between Guinea and Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

Information on Somerset County Park Commission programs and activities may be found at www.somersetcountyparks.org or by calling 908-722-1200.