CU Reporter November/December 2001

Annual Meeting Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Wheaton Village Crafts Building, Millville 7:30 p.m.

Guest Speaker
Dr. Robert Zampella
Land Use, Water Quality, and Aquatic Communities
the Mullica River Basin Case Study

You won’t want to miss Dr. Robert Zampella’s presentation. Bob is Chief Scientist at the Pinelands Commission in New Lisbon, NJ. He has published widely in a variety of professional journals; his current research at the Commission focuses on the effects of land use on surface waters and associated aquatic and wetland communities of the New Jersey Pinelands. He is involved in several long-term studies dealing with anuran and fish assemblages, stream vegetation, coastal plain ponds, land-use and water-quality relationships, remote sensing and landscape changes, wetland hydroperiods, and wetland succession.

Bob will be presenting a slideshow and overview of “Land Use, Water Quality, and Aquatic Communities: the Mullica River Basin Case Study.” Pinelands Commission scientists recently completed a report describing the status of selected aquatic and wetland resources in the Mullica River Basin. His presentation will deal with the changing landscape of the Mullica River Basin, characterizing water quality in relation to land-use patterns, and describing the composition of cedar swamps, stream vegetation, and fish and frog assemblages in relation to site-specific and regional-drainage basin characteristics. Many of his findings can be applied to the Maurice River, and should be fascinating. Please mark your calendars!

Bayshore ArtistsThe Premiere of Bayshore Artists: Celebrating Our Sense of Place and Connie Jost 1951-1998 was a smashing success! The documentaries played to a full house at Cumberland County College, our gracious host for the event. As usual the College’s theater staff was exemplary. The evening began with a social that included performances by the Snake Brothers quartet, who also recorded the musical score for the Bayshore Artist documentary. They ended their first set by playing an adaptation of the South Jersey Waltz made especially for the NJN/CU movie. The officers and trustees did a wonderful job of bringing out the welcome wagon. Oh yes, and did we mention that we might need to send Gladis McGraw to a secluded villa to recuperate from registering hundreds of phoned-in reservations. When you see her, be sure to say “thank you.”

Congressman Frank LoBiondo was our excellent master of ceremonies and NJN’s staff provided terrific support to the event. NJN Public Broadcasting Executive Director Elizabeth Christopherson, in complimenting the NJN and Citizens United partnership, acknowledged her team’s ability to capture the essence of our Bayshore Region through the camera lenses and artists’ words and works. Larry Merighi and Joan Killpack set up a wonderful exhibit of the featured artists’ creations. The ARTS of Down Jersey Art gallery of Salem treated us to dessert and a display of art in the theater lobby. All in all the attendees, our members, guests, the artists, the speakers and our reception team agreed that it was a fabulous evening.

Charles Barscz, of the National Park Service’s Wild and Scenic Rivers Program, really summed up the documentary’s provocative message when he noted that he hoped it would not become a portrayal of our Bayshore Region as it “used to be.”

Marketing Teachers’ Curriculum
Now that the dust has settled from the premiere and celebration of the documentaries it is time to get back to the task of marketing the Down Jersey Celebrating Our Sense of Place Teachers’ Curriculum. The National Park Service’s Wild and Scenic Rivers Program has selected us to receive a grant to accomplish that task. We shall seek some professional advice as to how best to involve teachers in “their web site.”

Rutger’s Field Ecology Class
Once again Dr. Roger Locandro plans to bring a field ecology class on their annual trek to the shores of the Maurice River for a little river advocacy lesson. Each year this visit gives students an opportunity to see how to apply their knowledge to the stewardship of resources.

CU on the River!