HELP FUND TEF!  SHOP WHOLE FOODS 5% DAY ON JULY 17 TO  BENEFIT  MCFC!

Plan Ahead!  Shop Whole Foods Middletown Store any time of the day on Thursday, July 17 for a "5% Day" to benefit Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater (MCFC).  Five percent of the day's sales will be donated to MCFC.

The funds will be used to expand and enhance the outreach capabilities of MCFC's Traveling Environmental Festival.  Whole Foods is very excited as the 3 major elements of the program will be here from 3pm to 7pm at the store, namely:

• EnviroScape watershed model station
• Live plankton station with a projector and magnifying glasses
• The live local creature aquarium which includes horseshoe crab, blueclaw crabs, killifish, snails, jellyfish, and assorted live catch of the day.

This environmental education program--staffed by MCFC educators, HS students, and senior volunteers--uses a unique blend of music and hands-on learning to instill in elementary school children an understanding of and appreciation for the delicate interrelationship of humans and the environment.

Come get your hands wet and your mind thinking about how lucky we are to have clean, clear water and what we can do to keep it that way!

Whole Foods is located just north of the intersection of Chapel Hill Rd on Route 35, Middletown, NJ.

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Adam Hyler Sails Again

The Adam Hyler and its intrepid crew of Captains Tom, Shannon, Jim and Seaman Last Class Ed Dlugosz sailed in the high winds and rain threat to be the hit of the Red Bank's Centennial Parade of Antique Boats.  The event took place on the Navesink River starting at 1:30pm on Sunday, May 18th.  The high winds were translated by the experienced crew into a fun ride for almost two hours.

Earlier in the week, the Adam Hyler and Captain Tom Gibson hosted over 20 school children from Bayonne in the NJ/NY Baykeeper's Oyster seeding program on the shoals of the Navesink.  A picture of the Hyler, the kids and Tom was on the front page and website of the Two River Times.  http://www.tworivertimes.com/  Unfortunately TRT mislabelled the caption but the editor will print a correction next week.

For more information on the Hyler and the ESP, please click:  www.mcclearwater.org/esp.php

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Clearwater's ESP Sets Sail for Another Season

Clearwater's Environmental Sail Program (ESP) Sets Sail for Another Season.  Thanks to a dedicated and vigorous Boat Committee membership and occasional helping hands, the launching of the Adam Hyler will be the earliest in almost 20 years.  It's premier event will be Red Bank's Centennial Parade of Antique Boats sailing the Navesink River starting at 1:30pm on Sunday, May 18th.  One of the best parade viewpoints and the location of ESP's display and other concessions is Marine Park.  Please all come out for this fun event.

The Adam Hyler and its crew have an open invitation from the historic Tuckerton Seaport to sail and display our craft at their site.  The Hyler is a replica of the famous Tuckerton Garvey designed before and sailed since the Revolutionary War.  The Tuckerton Garvey was used for clamming, hunting, and was considered the seafaring "pickup truck" of its day.  The yawl-rigged 26' Adam Hyler is the largest Tuckerton Garvey extant.  Most were less than 20'.

The ESP again will participate in the NJ/NY Baykeeper's Oyster seeding program on the shoals of the Navesink starting in June and will again take part in Navesink Maritime Heritage Association's (NMHA) Annual Wooden Boat Festival and the River Rats program.  For more information, please click:  www.mcclearwater.org/esp.php

Finally, the Hyler will be again available for weekly sails at 6pm every Wednesday from the Oyster Point Hotel Marina.  All are welcome!

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Panelist at Film and Arts Festival

Friends,
Ed Dlugosz has been selected as a panelist for the Clearwater-produced film 'Til the River Runs Clear being shown at the 2nd Annual Ocean Film and Arts Festival* at Monmouth University in West Long Branch NJ.  Please make an effort to be there. 

This film was produced by HRSC, Inc. through grants as a marketing and historic look at the roots of our organization.  This film was first shown on PBS last year and again as a companion piece last month to Brown's "Pete Seeger:  The Power of Song".  For directions to Pollak Auditorium click Campus Map.

April 17, 2009, 7:00 p.m.
Pollak Theatre, Monmouth University
Film: 'Til the River Runs Clear (30 min.) Kunhardt Productions (2007)

Incorporating interviews with Pete Seeger and his family, environmental experts and live concert scenes featuring some of America's greatest musicians, this documentary shows how the Clearwater sloop has helped to bring about a remarkable grassroots transformation of the Hudson over the last four decades.  

The film will be followed by a Question & Answer session with Ed Dlugosz, Vice President, Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater and Board Member, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater Inc., and Katie Feeney, NJ Community Waterwatch, Monmouth University Campus Organizer

All Events are Free and Open to the Public.  For more information call 732-263-5662

* The 2nd Annual Ocean Film and Arts Festival and National Ocean Film Festival Alliance (NOFFA) are supported in part by a grant from the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. NOFFA partners include The Two River Film Festival, partnered with the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute; The Gray's Reef Ocean Film Festival and Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary; The Santa Barbara Ocean Film Festival, The Ocean Channel, Inc (TOC), and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary; and The Alaska Ocean Film Festival and Alaska Center for the Environment

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Clearwater Environmental Education on Display at Whole Foods

Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater is partnering with Whole Foods to demonstrate their popular TEF environmental education program at the Middletown Whole Foods Supermarket on Saturday, April 12 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Clearwater's Traveling Environmental Festival (TEF) is ready to bring your group an exciting, hands-on interdisciplinary educational program designed to demonstrate the interdependency of all plants and animals.

Our staff will guide students on a fascinating exploration of our environment, starting at the base of the food web with the plankton and culminating with humans.

Through hands-on interconnected stations--including plankton study, live exhibits aquarium, water chemistry, watershed model, creative dramatics, and music, the young mind will be brought to a deeper understanding of our need for clean, clear water.

The dependence of one species on another, the effect of human industry on our environment, and the role each of us plays in shaping the present and future through choices we make are the themes of our program.

TEF is MCFC's key educational tool for children of all ages.  While the TEF's target audience are grades 2 through 6, the MCFC educators—working with local curriculum advisors—have tailored the curriculum to accommodate older and younger audiences.  We have delighted over 10,500 students from dozens of schools throughtout the state.  We're looking to sign up additional school children to delight. 

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ATTENTION HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS!
33rd Annual MCF of Clearwater Festival
Environmental Art Poster Contest!
1st and 2nd Place Prizes!
$100 & $50 Savings Bonds!
See Contest Details

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Lake Takanassee Cleanup, March 1st

Friends of Clearwater,
Here's an opportunity to help another Friend of Clearwater, i.e., MU Community Water Watch.  We participated in their fall cleanup of Lake Matawan and they've helped us by volunteering for our TEF.  They've again offered to support TEF and Monmouth Regional HS's Cleanup of Eatontown's Husky Brook on May 1st.  Let's keep this spirit of collaboration alive by supporting the Lake Takanassee Cleanup this Saturday.  

For those of you living in Eatontown & Tinton Falls, Lake Takanassee is the last stretch of Whale Pond Brook that bubbles up first over the Hope Rd border between Tinton Falls and Eatontown, traverses eastward towards the sea as the border between Ocean Twsp & Eatontown, and makes its way finally thru WLB and the Monmouth U Campus before before becoming the Lake.

Who: Monmouth U's chapter of NJ Community Water Watch

What: Cleanup of Lake Takanassee--Removing cans, bottles, plastics, tires and more!

Where: Park in the St. Michael's Church lot on Lake St. and walk down to the lake!

When: Saturday, March 1st, 2008, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Why: Because Lake Takanassee is an important coastal lake impaired by overdevelopment and pollution and we need to protect it for our future generations! AND there will be free refreshments!

What to wear: Sunscreen, work or garden gloves (if you have them), hard-soled shoes and clothes you don't mind getting muddy because this event is RAIN OR SHINE!!!

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Only Remembered Tribute--Thank You

Helyn's mom, Theresa Flood, sends this note of thanks:

"I wish to thank all of Richie and Helyn's friends. There are so many. I'm sure she is smiling and sending her love.

As her mother, there are no words that can say how I feel. Thank you.

Theresa Flood and Family

P.S.Thank Pete Seeger for us. His card made me feel very proud of Helyn.  Thank you Al-Vis and Denise and all the bands that played."
--------------------------------------
To make Theresa's thanks more pointed, Al Schnitzer has provided his own words of thanks:

"I want to take this opportunity to thank all of those who were involved with and attended the tribute to Helyn Chrobocinski that was held on January 6th at the Headliner. We raised a nice sum of cash for her family and I was proud to give all of Helyn's friends and fellow musicians the opportunity to say goodbye to her.

I would like to thank all of the performers, including David Meyers and the Blackberry Blues Band, Billy Hector, Spook Handy, Maryellen and Vinnie, Dan Einbender, Rick Nestler, Jan Christensen, Inrid Heldt, Steve Schraeger, Virago, Lee Hefter, Diane Doolittle, Lackawanna Rail, Big Nancy and Matt Witte; and John Cavallo, Pat Killeen and Joey Belia from my own band Chik-A-Boom.

I would like to thank all of the volunteers: Art San Fillipo for handling the $, Joellen Lundy for the 50-50, Chick and Anne Roemelle for manning the merchandise and auction areas, Tim Cusack, Mike Meade and Steve Dlugosz for helping with the stage and sound.

Special thanks goes out to Eileen Chapman for handling the publicity, and thanks to Rich Skelly, Pat McGraph, Ed Dlugosz, and Ben Forest for their speeches.

And a very special thanks to Chrissy Cusack for handling the food and coordinating with the Headliner for us. And thanks to all who contributed food.

Speaking of contributions, thanks to Mimi Cross for donating the CDs for us to sell, and to Andy Russo for the Springsteen montage. Thanks to the others  who donated merchandise: Eileen Chapman for the Monmouth U. tickets, Karen Mason for the gift bags of holistic goodies, Pat Killeen for the piano tuning gift certiificates and to my wife Denise for the Talking Heads certificate and gift bag."

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Combined BOD & Festival Meeting: 1/30/08    

Location:  Ed's House, 32 Campbell Drive, Eatontown.

BOD Meeting: 7:15pm  --MCFC Officers Election to be held.

Festival Meeting:  8:00pm 

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NOMINATE PETE SEEGER FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE!

DO IT FOR PEACE!--NOMINATE PETE SEEGER FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE!

Clearwater founder, Pete Seeger has been an ambassador for Peace and Social Justice over the course of his lifetime. As an artist and activist, his music and performance have worked to engage people in causes to end the Vietnam War, ban nuclear weapons, work for international solidarity and environmental responsibility.

Clearwater is joining the Committee to Nominate Pete Seeger for the Nobel Peace Prize to urge the American Friends Service Committee select Pete Seeger as their nominee for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.   We believe this nomination is important on merit of its  three basic premises: that Pete's lifelong integrity  provides a model for other people, that the unique  grassroots process promotes a democratic approach to the  nomination, and that cultural work and cultural workers  receive the respect they deserve in our society, that it is  not only a medium of entertainment but of education,  compassion and action.  

We need your help to:
1) Sign the online petition at: http://www.nobelprize4pete.org
On the Homepage, click on "Sign the Petition".  On the  petition page, click on "Sign this Petition" to open the  signature page.  There is a box at the bottom of the page  with jumbled letters that you must type in correctly.  If  it doesn't register, please try again.

    and/or

2) Email a letter of support directly to AFSC at:  peace@afsc.org or to Susan Jackson at:  SJackson@afsc.org
Please stress in your letter how, in your opinion, Pete  Seeger meets AFSC's own criteria for its Nobel Peace Prize candidate.

AFSC criteria for the Nobel Peace Prize are:
a. The candidate's commitment to nonviolent methods.
b. The quality of the candidate as a person of integrity and sustained contribution to peace.
c. The candidate's body of work on issues of peace, justice, human dignity, and environmental ecology.
d. The candidate's expression of a worldview and global impact overriding a parochial concern.

    or send mail to:

American Friends Service Committee
Nobel Peace Prize Nominating Committee
1501 Cherry St.
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Attn: Susan Goodman Jackson

The petition and/or letter must be received by AFSC by  February 1, 2008.  Please cc:  info@nobelprize4pete.org  
We very much appreciate your writing; if you need more  information, please contact Eleanor Walden at the Committee  to Nominate Pete Seeger for the Nobel Peace Prize at  510-848-6397 or  eleanor@nobelprize4pete.org

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Only Remembered: A celebration of the life of Helyn Chrobocinski

Helyn, a founding member of Monmouth County Friends Of Clearwater, devoted her life to working for this environment and to the musicians, artists and volunteers who support it.

Her passing has not only left a hole in our lives but has put her husband, RIchie, a sufferer of Huntington's Disease, in grave jeopardy for care.  Please honor Helyn's and Ritchie's lives by donating generously to their deductible fund to:  

Friends Of Helyn Chrobocinski, c/o Art San Filippo, 12 Leland Terrace, Tinton Falls, NJ 07724-2810

Hundreds of musical and other Friends will be gathering on Sunday, January 6, 2008 From 3 PM to closing for the Celebration at:  The Headliner Club, Route 35 at the Belmar Bridge, Neptune, New Jersey 732-775-6200.  Admission donation miniumum: $15.

Among the performers are:  Blackberry Blues Band, Billy Hector, Al-Vis & Friends, Hudson RIver Sloop Singers, Jan Christiansen, Dan Einbender, Chik-A-Boom, Ingrid Heldt, Lackawanna Rail, Rick Nestler, Spook Handy, Mel & Vinnie, and many more TBA.

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TEF SUCCESSES

MCFC volunteers have presented three successful Travelling Environmental Festival (TEF) events in late November 2007 and are scheduled for two more during December.  They also marked an important precedent by collaborating with high school and college students to present TEF.

Our full day, four session event at Woodmere Elementary School, Eatontown NJ on November 19, brought fun and environmental awareness to over 80 children and numerous teachers.  Veteran volunteer TEF Instructors were joined by Monmouth Regional HS students to present this TEF event.   We had four MRHS Environmental Club members and their Advisor join us.  They will again join us at the TEF to Eatontown's Meadowbrook Elementary School in the spring.  We will to work with them water testing and stream cleanups in the Eatontown-Tinton Falls area.

On November 20th we presented TEF to 60 students at the Maple Place Elementary School in Oceanport where we teamed with Monmouth University's Community Water Watch (MUCWW).  In the past, MCFC supported MUCWW's lake and stream cleanups.  
On November 26th MCFC presented three TEF sessions to 90 fourth graders Union Beach Memorial School.  At all three schools the principal is looking forward to having us back either next spring or next year.  Our December TEF venues will be Highlands and Atlantic Highlands elementary schools.

Student Ocean Advocates (SOA) are representatives of 8 high school environmental clubs who meet bi-monthly to discuss common issues and plan ways to advocate awareness.  One of the approaches they've expressed is a desire to educate younger students.  It is my hope that our renewed involvement in the COA-inspired SOA and the students desire to teach will yield additional student volunteers for TEF at their respective towns' elementary schools.

Despite the possibility of the student resources, we still need regular, additional MCFC volunteers to spearhead upcoming events.

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***New!  NEW VENUE***

We were able to secure the Eatontown Community Center at 72 [not 58 or 68]Broad 
Street for the whole of 2008.  All at no cost.  If you were at the December 
Volunteer Appreciation Dinner, you've seen the advantages of the size, full 
kitchen, ample tables, and the acousticically excellent (former Presbytarian 
Church) auditorium .   The dates and times in 2008 are:
Jan 6       2pm-4:30pm
Feb 3      2pm-4:30pm
Mar 2      2pm-4:30pm
Apr 6      2pm-4:30pm
May 4     4:30pm-6pm (alt Library at 2pm)
Jun 1      2pm-4:30pm
Jul 13     4:30pm-6pm (No alternative)
Aug 3     2pm-4:30pm
Sep 14   4:30pm-6pm (alt Picnic venue or Library at 2pm)
Oct 5      12noon-2:30pm (alt Library at 2pm)
Nov 2      12noon-2:30pm (alt Library at 2pm)
Dec 14   12noon-2:30pm (alt Library at 2pm)

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Only Remembered--Helyn's Memorial

Helyn's Memorial Service on evening of October 11 was a testament to the love and respect that the wide community felt for our late beloved member.  Many people, children of 8 to oldsters of indeterminate age came from near and far to share remembrances of this wonderful woman.  Photographs showed her outward beauty from when she was a young girl and which spanned the milestones of her life.  However, it was two songs sung by musician members of Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater that epitomized the feelings everyone had.  

The first song was one that Helyn personally loved and sung—"The Rose"—opened the service.  It was sung at the Memorial beautifully by Spring and accompanied by Al Schnitzer.

Some say love, it is a river
that drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
that leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger,
an endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower,
and you its only seed.

It's the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance.
It's the dream afraid of waking
that never takes the chance.
It's the one who won't be taken,
who cannot seem to give,
and the soul afraid of dyin'
that never learns to live.

When the night has been too lonely
and the road has been to long,
and you think that love is only
for the lucky and the strong,
just remember in the winter
far beneath the bitter snows
lies the seed that with the sun's love
in the spring becomes the rose.

The Memorial's closing song—"Only Remembered"—was led by the members of the Hudson River Sloop Singers Jan Christiansen, Maryellen Healy, Vinnie Cerniglia, and Rick Nestler and was picked up on the chorus by the audience.

"Only Remembered"

Up and away like the dew of the morning,
soaring from Earth to its home in the Sun,
Thus shall I cease from the Earth and it's toiling,
only remembered for what I have done
 
Chorus:    
Only remembered, only remembered,
only remembered for what I have done,
Only remembered, only remembered,
only remembered for what I have done
 
Shall we be missed while others succeed us,
reap in the fields we in springtime have sown?
Nay, for the sower shall pass from her labor,
only remembered for what she has done
 
Chorus
 
Only the truth that in life we have spoken,
only the seeds that on Earth we have sown,
These shall pass onward while we are forgotten,
only remembered for what we have done
 
Chorus.

This was a fitting sentiment to end the evening for Helyn will be only remembered for the things she has done to make the world a better place and the things that she inspired other to do.

The tune is sung to a traditional Appalachian hymn:

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Beloved longtime Clearwater Member and Inspiration Helyn Chrobocinski Passes

Beloved longtime Clearwater member and inspiration Helyn Chrobocinski died this morning, October 7th, after a long series of illnesses.  Helyn was not only an ardent environmentalist but a world class vocal talent who's sung with many major performers including Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, and more.

The following tribute is from Jan Christiansen, a great friend of Helyn's and MCFC's. He's a wonderful spirit himself and down here every year at thefestival, often as a member of the Sloop Club Singers.

"Thank you... for the sad news of Helyn's passing. There are so many fond memories of so many times and places over so many years. That warm, wonderful, loving heart of hers opened to all of us in ways beyond counting. It's hard, very hard, to think of her as still with us, but now only in the spirit she generously shared always. Words don't come easily.
 
Today was The New York Packet's first monthly Sunday concert of the season at South Street Seaport. I dropped a song I was going to lead and instead told folks about the person Helyn was and what she meant to us. Then I sang "The River's Tale." My friend Bob Conroy did a fine backup on guitar and the rest of the crew, and the audience, joined in on the chorus with feeling. Chuck Winans' words had a special meaning this afternoon:
 
"She's a wonder, she's a beauty,
When I ask her, she'll reply,
She's an old friend, she's a stranger,
And I'll love her till I die"
 
Rest gently, Helyn -- we'll carry it on as you would have wanted us to.
In Sadness, and in Hope,
Jan"
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Al Schnitzer, member of MCFC and singing partner of Helyn shares his thoughts on Helyn:

…I will be attending a memorial service for my good friend and singing partner Helyn Chrobocinski.  Helyn and I ran the music at the Clearwater Festival for many years (along with some other great people) and we quickly grew to become close friends.  We would sing every year at the festival and at parties and benefits. She was a very close confident of mine and an important mentor.

In fact she was such a huge influence on me that a while back when she was in a nursing home I put up a page dedicated to her, with pix of her and many others I was involved with at the festival:
http://home.comcast.net/~alvis1515/PixCW.htm

Please check my site for more pix of her and the festival as they come in. I have a special message for Helyn if anyone wants to see it, on my home page.

She joins a growing but stellar list of people I have been honored to have been associated with, as they all have gone to their final rest: John Parkhill, Big Danny, Bam Bam Bigelow, David Shearn, etc etc etc.  And we will all have that rest someday, but until then we have each other while we are here.
Al-Vis
www.Al-VisMusic.Com
---------------------

Maryellen Healy's Memories:

We had sad news today.  Helyn Chrobocinski passed this morning.  Sunday October 7th.  Heart attack.  We all knew this was coming, so did she.  She just turned 64.  Helyn was a HR Sloop Clearwater board member, a sloop club enthusiast and the one who "wrote the book" for hospitality for earlier Monmouth festivals.  She also made it happen.  She was the entertainment chair for their festivals for many many years and remained active to the end.  Her dot picture was on the cover of Revival Program book this year.

Helyn was an artist, a singer, an organizer.  She is survived by her husband Ritchie [who has a degenerative condition], mother Theresa Flood and a younger sister.   I remember her leading two songs powerfully: "Just a Little Rain" by Malvina Reynolds and  "Carry it On" by Gil Turner.

Mel and Vinnie will miss her, others too I bet.

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Beloved MCFC Member John Dabrowski Passes

JOHN E. DABROWSKI, 66, of COLTS NECK, passed away peacefully from this life Friday, Oct. 5, at home, surrounded by loved ones. He was born Aug 25, 1941 in Elizabeth, and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School. He received a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Notre Dame University in 1963 and received a Master's and Ph.D. from Yale University in 1969. He began his career at G.E. Plastics in Selkirk, N.Y., where he had several patents. He worked 22 years for FMC Corp., Princeton, designing chemical plants at many sites throughout the U.S., and also in Europe and China. He "retired" at age 55 to pursue hobbies and devote himself to his many volunteer activities. He served on the Board of Directors of Freehold Area Habitat for Humanity and the Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater. He was an active member of the Colts Neck Lions Club and for many years was the chairman of St. Mary's Environmental Committee. One of his favorite volunteer activities was working at The Barn for the Poorest of the Poor. He also was the co-facilitator of the Freehold Prostate Cancer Support Group. He will always be remembered as a kind, loving and gentle person with deep compassion for others.

He was predeceased by his parents, Stella and Sigmund Dombrowski. He is survived by his devoted wife, "Dean"; two daughters, Debbie Bagchi and her husband Anindo of Ocean Township, and Melissa of Red Bank: two grandsons, Nikhil Bagchi, age 6 and Anjan Bagchi, age 2. He also has two brothers, Frank of Brick, and Ray of San Antonio, Texas.

Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Holmdel Funeral Home, 26 S. Holmdel Road, Holmdel and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at St. Mary's Church, Route 34 and Phalanx Road, Colts Neck. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9 a.m. Monday at the church. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Barn for the Poorest of the Poor, c/o Gerry Duffy, 39 Bayberry Lane, Middletown, NJ 07748, or St. Mary's Social Concerns Fund, c/o St. Mary's Church, 1 Phalanx Road, Colts Neck, NJ 07722.

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Save Sandy Hook to Appeal Decision to 3rd Circuit Court  of Appeals & Other Breaking Ne

Judge Cooper has handed down a decision to dismiss SSH lawsuit to overturn the Fort Hancock lease and identify other actions to stop commercialization of our gem at the north end of the Jersey Shore.  SSH thinks that the Judge's decision and rationale is extremely flawed.  SSH has entered an appeal to the Federal 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.  SSH and MCFC expect a mid-2008 hearing on the appeal.

Rather than fill this page with details, please click on the Save Sandy Hook website newspage to see what our SSH Trustees Ben Forest, George Moffatt, and Ed Dlugosz have said and done on this important issue:
http://www.savesandyhook.com/news.php

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MCFC Global Warming Initiatives

This spring MCFC participated in the planning and execution of a series of six High School Environmental Days that highlighted Global Warming.  These Environmental Days were the result of the collaboration of MCFC and COA in a program entitled Student Ocean Advocates (SOA).  The SOA, which was comprised of 25 high school students representing their Environmental Clubs, met twice monthly at the Eatontown Community Center to plan ways to motivate other students environmentally at their schools.  

The centerpiece of the Environmental Days' evenings at Rumson-Fair Haven, Long Branch, MAST, Henry Hudson Regional, Academy of Allied Health & Science, and Wall High Schools was the showing of MCFC's donated "An Inconvenient Truth" (AIT) and the post-film discussions led by Ed Dlugosz.  Many students were seeing AIT for the first time and all were engrossed so unlike many documentaries shown to students.  The post-film discussion leveraged the film's quirky credit roll that identified ways for people to fight GW.  Using the MCFC Alternative Energy posters as a backdrop, we discussed ways that the students themselves could help.  It looks like we'll be invited back and over ten Students volunteered to work the Festival. 

In related news, the following is the latest news from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Climate Panel Sees Need for New Steps on Emissions
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: April 27, 2007

Substantial new efforts will be needed worldwide to stem accelerating growth in greenhouse-gas emissions linked to rising global temperatures, according to a summary of a report being prepared by hundreds of climate scientists and economists working under the auspices of the United Nations.

The summary, which is subject to revision, said that efforts to rein in the billions of tons of annual releases of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases would have to begin soon to limit risks of large changes in the climate and their impact on humans and nature.  "Mitigation efforts over the next two to three decades will determine to a large extent the long-term global mean temperature increase and the corresponding climate change impacts that can be avoided," the draft said.
The document will undergo substantial revisions during a weeklong meeting starting Monday in Bangkok, said scientists involved in reviewing and writing it, and authors of the report declined to discuss it.  Copies of the report's 24-page summary for policy makers have been filtering to environmental groups, one of which provided a copy to The New York Times.

Developing countries, where an unparalleled burst of industrialization and construction is under way, offer some of the biggest opportunities for avoiding climate-warming emissions, the draft said, particularly in choices of power plants and building designs.  It said that changes in design standards and materials chosen for construction could trim about 30 percent of projected emissions of heat-trapping gases from buildings by 2020, with more than half of the cuts coming in developing countries. The improvements in buildings could come with a net savings to the economy from lower energy costs, it said.

The report is part of the fourth assessment since 1990 of global warming by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, created nearly 20 years ago to assess evidence that human activities were affecting climate and to review policy options.  In its latest climate review, released in February, the panel concluded with near certainty that smokestack and tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases were the dominant cause of recent warming. A second report, released this month, said that ecosystems and climate patterns were already shifting as a result of the warming trend and that substantial risks to people, wildlife and coasts lay ahead.

The new report will probably be contentious when it is reviewed in Bangkok by officials from more than 100 countries. Governments have the right to seek some changes.   Clashes are likely, in part because this report touches most deeply both on domestic debates over climate, like the tussle in the United States over the need for a bill restricting gas emissions, and the fate of international climate agreements, particularly the Kyoto Protocol.
--------------------------------------
Note:  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been established by WMO and UNEP to assess scientific, technical and socio- economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. It is currently finalizing its Fourth Assessment Report "Climate Change 2007", also referred to as AR4. The reports by the three Working Groups provide a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the current state of knowledge on climate change. The Synthesis Report integrates the information around six topic areas.

Key links to the IPCC reports can be found at:
AR1 www.ipcc.ch/WG1_SPM_17Apr07.pdf
AR2  www.ipcc.ch/SPM13apr07.pdf
AR3 Outline  www.ipcc.ch/activity/wg3outlines.pdf
Home page:   www.ipcc.ch/

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Eatontown resident lives by conservation credo

Eatontown resident lives by conservation credo
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/7/07
STAFF WRITER

Edward Dlugosz learned the conservation ethic as a Boy Scout.

The Scout creed is conservation — "leave it better than we found it," said Dlugosz, president of the Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater, an environmental group.  And that's "always been a motto" he follows, said Dlugosz, 59, an Eatontown resident who also chairs the borough's Environmental Commission.

Dlugosz became involved in the Clearwater group in the late 1980s and has served on the environmental commission for about seven years, the last four as chairman, among affiliations with other organizations, he said.  The grass-roots, all-volunteer, nonprofit Clearwater group formed in 1974. It seeks to control pollution, educate children and adults, and stop sprawl in the estuaries of Raritan Bay, the New Jersey coastline, inland waterways and Monmouth County, according to its Web site.  Each year, the group puts on the popular Clearwater Festival.

"It's a terrific organization," said Andrew J. Willner, executive director of the NY/NJ Baykeeper program in Keyport.

Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater is "a remarkable organization that has an outstanding legacy of successes and . . . environmental awareness and, in particular, efforts to improve the quality of life in and around Monmouth County," said Cynthia A. Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, Sandy Hook.  Dlugosz is "dedicated and passionate" — "an environmentalist . . . all around," she said.

In the 1980s, the Clearwater group provided evidence of pollution that helped lead to a then-state record fine of $1.25 million against International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. in Union Beach, according to Dlugosz and Press archives.

The group also helped stop a proposed county garbage incinerator in Tinton Falls, among other achievements, said Dlugosz, a computer scientist at Fort Monmouth.  Monmouth County voters rejected the proposed trash-to-energy burner in a 1991 referendum, and county freeholders subsequently abandoned the plan.

These days, the 200-member Clearwater group helps monitor the Navesink River and other area waterways and conducts shoreline cleanups, among other activities, Dlugosz said.  "We're interested in alternative energy as . . . a major issue," and global warming is this year's theme for the group and its festival, he said. 

The group supports the idea of putting wind turbines off the coast, he said.  "We feel the cost-benefit . . . is far more beneficial than detrimental," Dlugosz said.  "They're not an eyesore," nor are they a problem for navigation, he said. "We feel that we do need to reduce the fossil-fuel usage."

Overdevelopment is another major concern, and the group supports "eliminating . . . eminent domain abuse," he said.

The group opposes the proposed privatization and commercialization of the Fort Hancock area of Sandy Hook and is participating in a lawsuit on that issue, according to Dlugosz.  Legal bills have exceeded $200,000 so far, he said.

He thinks the group's greatest achievement is the education of children, he said.  The group has reached more than 6,000 children in schools using its portable eco-classroom, called the Traveling Environmental Festival, according to Dlugosz.  The program includes a model of a watershed, a fish tank, microscopes featuring slides of plankton and live samples, and a water-testing station, he said.

His biggest disappointment is "the continued development in places we felt shouldn't have been developed, and that's (the) epidemic currently," he said.

Born in Newark, Dlugosz has lived in Monmouth County for 50 years. He and his wife, Linda, have two grown children, David and Lisa.

In Eatontown, the environmental commission examines all development and redevelopment plans for environmental issues, and he stresses the need for open space, Dlugosz said.  "We've got to keep some space open," he said.

The commission reviews issues concerning waste management, air and water quality and light pollution, and also provides educational information, according to the borough's Web site.  The panel also tests the waters in town, Dlugosz said.

Wampum Lake, for example, has the remnants of mercury pollution and other heavy metals, but dredging has gotten rid of most of the contamination, he said.  "We're going to be doing some more testing and ensure that the upstream contributions (of pollution) are benign at this point," Dlugosz said.  "We're looking at all our streams," he added.

Todd B. Bates: (732) 643-4237 or tbates@app.com

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Clean Energy Animation from New Member

In April, I received an email from a young lady, Christine Odegaard, from Middletown, NJ who was looking to join Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater (MCFC) but felt that she couldn't until her finances were better.  She also wanted to know, "Do you know if there are any limitations for putting up personal wind turbines? My friends and I are thinking about starting a new trend! :)"  Additionally, she offered me a glimpse of the project she had created.  She has created a wonderful short, 30 second animation that I think you will all enjoy by clicking:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV8yzBLiYoY

She added, "I tried to think of clean alternative renewable resources that are available and in use today (wind/solar/hydro).  The problem is that people don't realize how available they are—and that they not only will they see immediate impact on there wallet and bills—but more importantly, they will be creating a solution to our global warming/pollution problem.  I tried to make it as streamlined as possible.  I figured visually appealing will catch attention and get people to visit www.smartpower.org for more info.  I wanted it to look like a child could have made it—and I used a child's voice—because I feel it's important to work now to save the earth before it is too far gone.  It just amazes me how much damage we have done in 100 years—and that my grandchildren (if I ever have any) may never know the earth as we know it now."

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