PATCO History

PATCO is celebrating it's 40th anniversary this year. There is a slide show on www.ridepatco.org if you would like to see how some of the stations and railways looked in earlier years. On the same website you can register to win ten free trips on PATCO. No word on whether or not there will be cake.

Pinelands Birding and Wildlife Trails

In the Delaware Valley, we are lucky to be located close to the unique Pine Barrens of South Jersey. A place where one can find birds, reptiles and plants that do not exist anywhere else in the state and in very few places in the country lies just a short drive from the area. If you have already explored some of these places, or are even just interested in taking part in the creation of mapping and sharing information about these places, then keep Tuesday, March 3rd free.

The New Jersey Birding and Wildlife Trails (sponsored by NJ Audubon Society) program has extensive information on wildlife trails throughout the state and now they are working on the Pinelands Region...and they want your input.

Please join the Clementon Environmental Comission for an informative and entertaining presentation on the Pinelands Region. Representatives are asking people from the county to share their wisdom of the best places to view wildlife.

The meeting is Tuesday, March 3rd, 7:30 pm at the Clementon Community Center, 195 Gibbsboro Rd, Clementon NJ 08021

Gas Leak Near Patco Station

PATCO is/was running shuttle buses between Broadway and Ferry Ave. because of a gas leak (you don't want a spark anywhere near one of those). Hopefully all will be well soon, if it isn't already.

Day Notes

It was a little warmer today, which may have accounted for the longer than usual line at Jordan's hot dog cart around 11:30.

Rowan Univ. Expanding Its Camden Presence

According to a new article on Philly.com (the Inquirer's website), Rowan University plans to expand it's campus in Camden. The university wants to triple the size of its enrollment in Camden and increase classroom space:

The college wants to purchase the First Camden National Bank & Trust building, at Cooper Street and Broadway, catty-corner to its current building — which it co-owns with Camden County College.

For more details see "Rowan U to expand in Camden," by Susan Snyder

WCCR Rutgers Radio

Who knew? Rutgers Camden has a radio station, WCCR. No further information available but you can follow them on twitter

www.twitter.com/WCCRcamden

Other RU-C twitter addresses, although not actively tweeting at the moment:

www.twitter.com/rutgerscamden
www.twitter.com/RCCA (Rutgers Camden Arts)
http://twitter.com/CamdenIDT

Other Camden twitters:

http://twitter.com/hopeworkscamden

Victor Building Business Updates

A few updates on the businesses at or coming soon to the Victor Building.

The Susquehanna Bank branch is open.

Rita's Water Ice will open this summer in a spot next to the Victor Pub.

The Market Street Pizzeria was doing good business at the lunch hour.

Miss G's is expanding their offerings. In the next few days they will open a deli counter with Boar's Head meats and Del Buono's Italian Bakery breads. Soup, salad, and wraps will follow. They will also be offering breakfast wraps and breakfast sandwiches. There will be some space set aside for seating also. The store is open from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Riverwalking Notes

It was such a beautiful day today that I went out for a walk. Seems a lot of other people had the same idea. The Cooper Grant Commons townhouses look really nice, with appropriate but varied colors of paint on the trim. The metal fence around the statuary in front of the Walt Whitman Center is amazing, with carved alligators, herons and other water birds on it. Along the river I saw three joggers and one walker. Back at the campus, a class was meeting on the grass by a tree in front of the library and in the green space between the library and the admissions building a group of students were playing a game of scrimmage. A nice breath of spring before another snow.

Women's History Month

Here is a list of events scheduled for Women's History Month (March) on the Rutgers Camden campus; the public is welcome to attend:

Tuesday, March 3 at 12:20 pm in Armitage Faculty Lounge, Dr. Antoinette Pole, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and Law, Montclair State University: "Women: Blogging the Political"

Thursday, March 5 at 1:30 pm in FA110 -- Dr. Jennifer Fisher, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, Temple University: "How Much Is Enough? Portion Size and Satiation in Young Children"

Tuesday, March 10 at 4:30 pm in Penn 401 -- Dr. Lorrin Reed Thomas, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Rutgers: "What Happened to History in the Seventies? Beyond 'The Personal is Political'"

Monday, March 23 at 12:10 pm in Armitage Faculty Lounge, Dr. Margaret Marsh, Interim Chancellor and Professor II, Department of History, Rutgers: "The 'Mothers' of the Pill: Margaret Sanger, Katharine McCormick, and Oral Contraception"

Thursday, March 26 at 12:20 pm in Armitage Faculty Lounge, Dr. Martin Rosenberg, Professor, Department of Fine Arts, Rutgers: "A Complex Weave: Women and Identity in Contemporary Art"

Noon Concerts

The schedule for this year's noon concerts, sponsored by the Rutgers Camden School of Fine Arts Music Program has been released:

Feb 11 - 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | Mallery Room
Milo Morris, Bass-Baritone, will perform Spirituals in celebration of Black History Month, with Mathew Wright (CCAS ’07), piano accompanist

Feb 18 - 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | Mallery Room
2 clarinet & bassoon
Yao Guang Zhai, clarinet
William Amsel, clarinet
William Short, bassoon
Mostly Mozart: Divertimenti

Feb 25 - 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | Mallery Room
Heidi Jacob, cello – performing works with Haverford College students Simon Linn-Gerstein, cello, and Michal Schmidt, piano, cello

Mar 25 – 12:00 pm – 1:00 | Mallery Room
Youngjoo An, soprano - Heroines of Puccini and Mozart Operas

Apr 8 - 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | Mallery Room
Charlie Abramovic, piano

Apr 22 - 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | Mallery Room
Asst. Professor of Electroacoustic Composition Mark Zaki

Apr 29 - 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | Mallery Room
Distinguished Professor Julianne Baird – Madrigal Ensemble

All concerts are held in the Mallery Room (unless otherwise indicated), which is located on the second floor of the Fine Arts Building. Admission is free. The concerts are under the direction of Prof. Emeritus W. Davis Jerome.

The public is welcome to attend.

PATCO Food Drive

Feb. 9-13 marks PATCO's 18th annual Valentine Food Drive.

On those days bring any non-perishable food item (no glass bottles or soda cans please) to any of PATCO's nine New Jersey stations. Look for large red barrels inside the fare gates. The food will reach those in need through the Food Bank of South Jersey, a United Way agency.

Among the most needed items:

canned meats, beans, fruits, and vegetables
peanut butter
100% fruit and vegetable juices
dried fruit
soups / stews
sauces
condiments
evaporated and powdered milk
non-refrigerable puddings and custards
plastic containers of infant formula
rice and pasta
breakfast cereals
muffin and bread mixes

If you live or work near a station, maybe you would offer to be a point person in your office or neighborhood to collect items from those who don't take the train?

Camden Student Activism, 1960-1985

The Paul Robeson Library is hosting an exhibit in the library lobby on Rutgers Camden Student Activism, 1960-1985. Those who were in Camden during those years may want to take a stroll down memory lane. Those who were not might want to come just to look at the fringe vests and bell bottoms in the pictures.