It appears Gypsy Smokehouse is out of business. I am not surprised, but it is sad. Their Southern Pride smoker is for sale . . . Michelle Malkin advertises an open thread, yet registration to her site has been closed for years . . . Racial discrimination in pricing of Barbies or inventory control? . . . Excellent videos on how to break down a chuck roll . . . How did my watch become three days out of date? . . . Driving through Buena the other day I saw a few children playing on the front lawn of a house. Three of them were kicking a ball while a fourth was taking a leak by the tree . . . Gert has the pet frog in the classroom, yet I am the one who buys the crickets each week . . . There is something about March. The weather is breaking and two days until the clocks change. This is when I used to see lots of Grateful Dead shows . . . According to YouTube, because I watched JB’s Smoked Chicken and Ribs video, it has recommended I watch Tiger Woods’ presser. What is the connection? . . . RIP Merlin Olsen . . . I watched my first baseball game earlier this week. Bring on the regular season . . . hankering for paella . . . big day tomorrow and I am wondering how I am going to procure food, not only when, but what since it will be a meatless Friday . . . Facebook is where different groups of friends should never meet . . . Hey, any locals want to get together for a friendly BBQ cookoff sometime? It would be a fun excuse for a party . . .
Once spring 1993 arrived I was a full-time student again commuting from Cape May to Glassboro.
The very first thing I ever taught was my adult classmates how to make an origami butterfly. Each of us was assigned/selected a topic. I spent a week or two (whatever amount of time we were provided) practicing in a bar. Each night after work (I was waiting tables at the time) we would go out for cocktails. I’d take a stack and practice. I then began teaching my friends how to make these. I then created a board with each step and successfully taught my peers. Pretty cool.
Olivet School
I took classes through the summer. My first in-classroom experience was at the Olivet School in Pittsgrove. I was teamed with another graduate student, Mike from Atlantic City. We we assigned to a first grade class. I really enjoyed the experience.
I recall teaching the students the number nine. We used a balloon on a stick to model. I also recall making a bulletin board with a tree. I have little artistic talent, but I was Renoir compared to Mike. His tree was dreadful.
Wood School
After leaving Pittsgrove, Mike and I headed over to the Wood School in Millville.
Johnstone School
My student teaching experience was in a third grade class at the Johnstone School in Vineland.
That summer I completed my thesis The Effects of Multimedia On Student Writing. Interestingly, I entered Glassboro State College, but was graduated from Rowan University.
We toured the Party Store yesterday. There was a rack of T-shirts for toddlers. On it were shirts such as Got Candy? and I’d Rather Be Naked. Both are take-offs of familiar expressions. But there was also this shirt. I don’t get it. Joking with Gert on the way home, I asked if the sequel would be My Mom is a MILF.
I wonder who would purchase this. Gert jokes about someone who walks around in public with a shirt that says It Ain’t Gonna Lick Itself. Perhaps that lady woman would.
A few year’s ago I know I contemplated completing a polar bear plunge. It sounded interesting. I never entered one. This year when I heard the date for Millville’s Snowflake Swim I quickly entered it on the calendar, but I had no intention of bathing; I just thought it would be interesting to see.
And it was. Show up on time because things move quickly.
Fritz and I went down to Union Lake to take in the festivities. We had fun walking around in the snow for a few minutes. Then everyone assembled, darted into the water, and got out. Before we knew it, it was over.
Can’t blame anyone for the quickness of the event as it was cold out there and I was properly dressed. We found the thermal heating container (school bus) humorous. It appears all had a good time.
There is a lot of venom hurled at Paul Porreca in local newspapers and online fora. Porreca is prominent in the the watchdog group Millville First, which has challenged city government over a number of issues. Tax abatements are central to Millville First’s challenge.
There is a fundamental difference of opinion on the use tax abatements to lure businesses to town. Porreca has questioned the city hard to a point that Millville has changed some of its policies regarding abatements.
Porreca is at most City Commission meetings. He speaks about issues. He has served as MC to a number of candidates fora that helped inform the public.
Even so, Porreca is excoriated.
The Motorsports Park of New Jersey (NJMP) is being sued by a group of homeowners who are bothered by the noise that the track produces. Meanwhile, the track is trying to alter its city-approved plans to build an ATV track. The ATV track is a contentious issue. With the lawsuit looming, moving the ATV track closer to residents than it was planned for as well as forestalling a $1 million payment to Millville for land that the track was going to be paid for, has gotten a lot of folks up in arms.
Today, Porreca wrote a letter that presents a sound proposal that satisfies most parties in the ATV track issue:
The Solution: The city sells to the state the few acres required for an ATV course. The motorsports park, if truly interested in giving the ATVers a place to ride, agrees to release a part of its 200-acre option for the land where it intended to build an ATV course. It will only require a small portion of the 200 acres under option to the motorsports park and will not detract from its long-term plans.
Of course, NJMP loses on this deal. It gives up land it has futures on, and it makes no money from the business. But everyone else, and that’s the taxpayers, the nearby homeowners, and the public, wins with this deal.
Millville gets a business that will generate folks coming to town to spend money. The track is built on the original track of land, which is further away than the current track, which should not affect those who are already bothered by track noise. New Jersey finds a suitable place for an ATV track, which it has been seeking. And ATV riders will gain a legal place to ride.
Mr. Porreca deserves kudos for his proposal. Thank you.
We found the thermal heating container (school bus) humorous. It appears all had a good time.
