Coming Soon: Miss G's

One day this week I went down to the Subway store in the Victor building to get some lunch (good sandwich, okay chips, great cookie) and noticed a few things:

The New England Soup Company is closed. Sorry to see it go.

An Italian restaurant will be opening. The area is under construction now.

Miss G's Convenience Store should be opening soon. It looked like the shelves were being stocked. From the outside looking in there seemed to be a lot of floor space and I look forward to
stopping in a soon as they open.

Merchantville Native to Take Lead Role in Iraq

From the Courier Post on January 6th ("S.J. Native Gets Role in Bush's Iraq Strategy," by Carol Comegno) :

Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, who was raised in Camden and Merchantville, has been chosen to oversee U.S. forces in Iraq.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates recommended Friday that President Bush nominate Fallon as new chief of the U.S. Central Command overseeing the Middle East, calling him "one of the best strategic thinkers in uniform today." The command is based in Tampa.

Stem Cell Research Center Coming to Camden

There was a lot to celebrate on New Year's Eve in Camden. According to an article in the Inquirer, "Camden looks forward to new stem cell center," by Troy Graham (12/31/06), the city will see a new research center, built near the Cooper Hospital. It could take 3 years to plan and build, and eventually house 100 researchers, complete with its own business incubator to develop potential commercial applications. More good news for the city!

A Camden Christmas Carol

The classic tale by Charles Dickens is set in Camden for "A Camden Christmas Carol," playing at the Gordon Theater on the Rutgers Camden campus, on Dec. 16th, 17th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. The production is being supported by the Knight Foundation. For more information see www.seethreeonline.com. Tickets are $12.00

Missing Monday: Jose Samuel Ordonez

Participating regional bloggers set aside the first Monday of the month as a day to post about a local missing persons case.

JOSE SAMUEL ORDONEZ
Case Type: Endangered Runaway
DOB: Mar 15, 1988
Sex: Male
Missing Date: Feb 19, 2006
Race: White/Hisp
Age Now: 18 Height: 5'9" (175 cm)
Missing City: HAMILTON Weight: 190 lbs (86 kg)
Missing State : NJ
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Circumstances: Jose was last seen on February 19, 2006. He may still be in the local area.

Riverwalking Notes

I haven't been down by the river in a few months and was surprised at all the new things I saw today. The river itself was up and choppy. It was breezy but amazingly warm. The city is putting up new signs for Wiggins Park. They look nice. The work on Johnson Park is coming along and behind it the Cooper Grant Commons has started construction. At the Victor work is progressing on Miss G's grocery and convenience store. The area looked alive and vibrant. I can't wait until spring when the stores will be open and people will be out and about.

Harry Potter Camp in Philadephia This Summer

Families often struggle over what to do with kids during the summer when school is out. If you happen to have some free time in July and a health bank account, look into Enlightening 2007, a family camp based on the Harry Potter books. It is sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education and Bonding Over Books. Looks pricey but fun.

Haddonfield Symphony Finds A New Home

The Haddonfield Symphony has a new home -- The Rutgers Camden Center for the Arts.

As stated in the Inquirer ("Symphony finds home in Camden: Though it is named for Haddonfield, the nomadic ensemble is settling in on the Rutgers campus," by David Patrick Stearns, 11/02/06):

News of forthcoming Shostakovich symphony performances is not what you expect to see on the time-and-date monitors at PATCO's High-Speed Line stations. But there it is, the Haddonfield Symphony's next concert in its first season at Camden's Gordon Theater, where Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 is being readied for an 8 p.m. performance Saturday.

In previous years the symphony had performed in a variety of venues but did not have a home of its own.

The Courier Post has more information on the symphony ("Haddonfield Symphony gets by with a little help from its friends," by Frank Halperin, 11/04):

While many arts patrons may be familiar with the orchestra, they may not realize how much preparation each concert requires -- work that is often being done by volunteers.

Approximately 40 volunteers help the symphony's five administrative staffers organize mailings, conduct fundraisers and usher patrons to their seats during performances at Rutgers-Camden's Walter K. Gordon Theater -- the symphony's primary venue.

The symphony, one of the region's cultural gems, has been in existence since 1952.

Happy Feet Tickets!!

Camden's Adventure Aquarium is giving away tickets to see the new movie "Happy Feet." Friday is the last day to toss your hat in the ring to win. See details here.

Missing Monday

The Missing Monday project calls for area bloggers to post about a local missing person on the first Monday of the month.

PEDRO MALDONADO
DOB: May 21, 1989
Missing: Sep 14, 2006
Height/Weight: 5'11" / 180 lbs
Eyes/Hair: Brown/Black
Race: White/Hisp Male
Missing From:
CAMDEN
Pedro was last seen on September 14, 2006. He may still be in the local area. Pedro has a scar above his right eye. More information here.

Run the Bridge!

On Sunday, Nov. 5th the Ben Franklin Bridge will be closed to vehicles. Instead people from all over the country will be participating in the 2006 AmeriHealth Ben Franklin Bridge Challenge, a 10K run and 2 mile bridge walk. According to the Run the Bridge website:

The 10K course (USATF Certified) begins at the base of the Ben Franklin Bridge on the New Jersey side, crosses the bridge, doubles back and continues along the scenic Camden Water Front passing such attractions as Campbell’s Field, the Adventure Aquarium, the Battleship New Jersey and the Tweeter Center finishing next to the Rutgers Camden Campus.

The event benefits the Larc School.

Robinson Crusoe, the First Survivor...

The Paul Robeson Library of Rutgers Camden has a lobby exhibit of the illustrations of Robinson Crusoe. Stop in and take a look.

New Website for South Camden Theatre Company

Our friends at the South Camden Theatre Company has set up their own website: www.southcamdentheatre.org that provides information on their new production, "Indoor Picnic."

The Love Life of Leeches

Dan Shain, associate professor of zoology and biology at Rutgers Camden, specializes in the study of segmented worms, including leeches. One of his more unusual projects was finding a mate for what may be a new species of leech found in New Jersey.

He was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to study leech cocoons, which have withstand extremes of heat and pressure. Coccon fibers might lead to breakthroughs in biomedical and other technical research.

Read more about Shain and his leeches in the latest issue of Rutgers Magazine. See the full-text of "Dr. Worm" by John T. Ward here.

October Missing Monday

SABRINA TAMBA is a 15 year old African American endangered runaway. Born on Sept. 5, 1991, she was last seen on July 12, 2006 in Carteret, NJ. She is 5 feet tall and weighs 95 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Circumstances: Sabrina was last seen on July 12, 2006. She may be in the company of a juvenile female. They may still be in the local area.

Banned Books Week

Sept. 23-30 is Banned Books week. In 1982 the American Library Association began designating this week to honor our ability to read freely. ALA has compiled a list of the most challenged titles over various time periods. Topping the list since 2000 is the Harry Potter series. John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is also on the list.

Riverwalking Notes

Yesterday the water was choppy. The weather was great and there was a wonderful view of the Philly skyline, if you stopped on a bench for a moment to look. Today the river was calmer, just small, steady waves. A duck was diving for something (a fish?) but it kept getting away. A few overcast clouds added atmosphere.

Colonial Brewfest!

Calling all brewmeisters!!! Here is your chance to see how great great grandpappy come up with his homebrew:

Raise your glass in celebration of colonial brewing and 18th-century tavern life at the Camden County Historical Society on Saturday, September 23, from 12 noon to 4 p.m. The afternoon-long event provides a working look at the mechanics of brewing and open-hearth cooking as practiced in Camden County's pre-industrial past.

Cherry Hill's Flying Fish Brewing Co. will be providing the ingredients and brewery historian Rich Wagner will demonstrate the brewing process. Tickets are $20 for Camden County Historical Society members, $25.00 for non-members. For more info see the CCHS website

An Update on the Rutgers Camden Technology Campus

There is more good news for the Rutgers Camden Technology Campus!

The New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zone Administration has awarded a $325,000 grant to the Rutgers Camden Technology Campus, Inc., to support the growth of new businesses in the Rutgers-Camden Business Incubator.

The grant will be used to construct high-quality incubator office space for new businesses in the Rutgers-Camden Business Incubator, with an emphasis on maintaining confidentiality for clients as they develop their products and services. The business space will be housed within the Waterfront Technology Center at Camden, a state-of-the-art facility where the Rutgers incubator will become the primary tenant later this year. (more info)

Jersey Beetles Conquer Loosestrife

One of the state's lesser known entities, the Phillip Alampi Beneficial Insect Rearing Laboratory, a division of the state's department of agriculture, is taking the battle between invasive plants and natural vegetation seriously. Purple Loosestrife has one known predator, the Galerucella beetle, and the lab is sending out as many of them as it can.

The New Jersey Dept. of Agriculture's official note on the project states:

Purple Loosestrife is an exotic and invasive noxious weed that is threatening New Jersey's wetlands. It damages the state’s wetlands by displacing native plants essential to wildlife for food and cover. The Department is rearing and releasing two species of leaf eating beetles, Galerucella spp., that feed on purple loosestrife to control this weed pest in wetland areas. Since 1997, more than 1,500,000 Galerucella spp. beetles have been released at 100 sites, in 16 of the 21 counties throughout NJ.

Numerous sites are continuing to show high levels of beetle activity and feeding damage; the loosestrife population is being reduced and native wetland plants are beginning to populate these previously infested sites. The Galerucella spp. beetles have been recovered up to twelve miles from a release site.