Holiday 2021

INFORMING, SERVING AND CELEBRATING THE LAKE REGION
ake Hopatcong News
HOLIDAY 2021 VOL. 13 NO. 7
Girl
POWER
In Jefferson Township,
Scouting is Getting Results
AFTER LONG CAREER,
NATIVE SON RETIRES
THE FOUNTAIN
PROJECT
ON THE TRAIL
OF A NAME
FAMILY FEELING AT
HISTORIC CHURCH

Lake Hopatcong...
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4
From the Editor
Sometimes it takes the enthusiasm of youth to move things forward.
Such is the case with Mike Daigle’s story about the historic fountain at Hopatcong State
Park, which has been sitting dormant since the 1990s.
Once the centerpiece of the area’s premier swimming destination, the thought of restoring the
fountain back to its original use as a device to regulate the amount of water flowing out from Lake
Hopatcong into the Musconetcong River is a controversial topic. To be clear, keeping water in the
lake while ensuring that enough water flows into the river is and has always been a scientific and
political balancing act.
When it comes to bringing the fountain back to life, some want the status quo, following the
“leave well enough alone” mantra. Literally, if it’s broken, don’t fix it.
Others believe that restoration and renovation would be most beneficial to achieving what many
mere mortals have failed to do in the past—placate lake users and river enthusiasts equally.
The team put together for the project includes volunteers from the Lake Hopatcong Historical
Museum, field experts from the architectural firm of Connolly & Hickey and a small group of
engineering students from Stephens Institute of Technology, who have chosen the fountain
restoration as their senior project.
Hopatcong resident Justin McCarthy proposed the project to his classmates. (You might remember
Justin from a few years ago when he was featured on the cover of the magazine as the teenager who
not only donated a telescope to Hopatcong High School but built an observatory to house it.)
The students see this project not as controversial but more practical. The task at hand is to bring the
antiquated and dilapidated fountain into the 21st century, making sure each side of the dam—the
lake on one side and the river on the other—share equally in the benefits of the fountain’s function.
The ultimate goal is for the fountain to work digitally, with no need for human interaction.
In mid-October, the team gathered at the park for the first of many site visits. The day’s activities
were led by the students and their eagerness to move the project forward was evident. I thoroughly
enjoyed watching them work through tasks.
The cover story, written by Melissa Summers, features the Girl Scouts of Jefferson and how a
concerted effort by a handful of parental leaders is sustaining participation in the organization.
Their determination shows in the number of high school-age girls still participating in the program
and in the variety of projects these girls are undertaking as they work their way through the ranks.
Making a comeback in this issue is our series about local historical churches, which we put on
hold due to the pandemic. Writer Bonnie-Lynn Nadzeika and I spent a recent Sunday morning at
the Ledgewood Baptist Church, a building I’ve always admired from the outside. The inside is just
as impressive, and the members were warm and welcoming.
I hope you enjoy the variety of stories in this issue and that
you’ve liked the stories we published over the past eight months.
I know I’ve enjoyed bringing them to you and, as this is the final
print issue for 2021, I look forward to sharing more stories with
you in 2022.
And, don’t be shy. If you think you have a story idea, please
send me an email or give me a call.
To stay informed, please visit our website https://www.
lakehopatcongnews.com/, where you’ll find an extensive events
calendar and local updates on important issues.
Here’s to a healthy, happy holiday season. —Karen
ake Hopatcong News
Girl
INFORMING, SERVING AND CELEBRATING THE LAKE REGION
POWER
In Jefferson Township,
Scouting is getting results
AFTER LONG CAREER,
NATIVE SON RETIRES
THE FOUNTAIN
PROJECT
ON THE TRAIL
OF A NAME
FAMILY FEELING AT
HISTORIC CHURCH
HOLIDAY 2021 VOL. 13 NO. 7
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021
ON THE COVER
McKenna Vasquez from Girl Scout Troop
96591 in Jefferson helps paint benches at the
Art Bonito Amphitheater at Camp Jefferson.
-photo by Karen Fucito
KAREN FUCITO
Editor
editor@lakehopatcongnews.com
973-663-2800
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Michael Stephen Daigle
Jessica Kitchin Murphy
Bonnie-Lynn Nadzeika
Melissa Summers
Ellen Wilkowe
COLUMNISTS
Marty Kane
Barbara Simmons
Heather Shirley
EDITING AND LAYOUT
Maria DaSilva-Gordon
Randi Cirelli
ADVERTISING SALES
Lynn Keenan
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lakehopatcongnews.com 5

Roxbury Police Chief Retires After
Nearly Three Decades on the Force
When Roxbury Police Chief Marc Palanchi
removes his badge for the last time on
November 30, he will have spent nearly 10,000
days as a Roxbury Police Officer, and more than
2,000 of those days as chief of the force.
But to him it doesn’t feel as if very much time
has passed since his days as a new patrolman,
serving in the community where he grew up.
“I remember the start of my career like it was
yesterday,” he said. “I’m in my 28th year now, but
I can remember the day I got hired. It went very,
very quickly.”
Palanchi, 54, graduated from the police
academy in 1994, then beat more than 400
applicants for the single opening on the Roxbury
Police Department that year. In the decades since,
he moved up through the ranks and in different
bureaus, spending much of his time in the traffic
division. He was named Roxbury Police Chief in
2016.
“Work hard and you will be rewarded, that was
the mentality throughout,” Palanchi said. “Help
those who can’t help themselves. That’s how you
progress through the department: you follow the
rules and regulations, and you help people.”
Such help sometimes arrived in intense
moments. Palanchi recalls one incident in 1996,
when a call came in about a baby who had
stopped breathing, and he happened to be in
front of the house where it was happening. He
entered the home and initiated CPR on the baby
girl before four more officers arrived. The team
quickly transported her to the hospital, doing
CPR in the back of a police vehicle on the way.
She survived and went on to attend school with
Palanchi’s children, go to college and graduate
school for social work, and stay in touch with
6
Story by JESSICA KITCHIN MURPHY
Photos by KAREN FUCITO
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021
Marc Palanchi stands next to Susan Conover
at a recent Ever Young Seniors meeting.
Marc Palanchi hands out literature at a
recent Ever Young Seniors meeting.
Palanchi and his family through the years.
“When you have those moments, there’s not a
lot you can do that would trump that,” he said.
“You help people all the time, but where you are
able to actually be involved in saving somebody,
and they go on and live a life like this—she’s
going to do great things—something like that is
on a different level.”
Although it doesn’t come with the same burst
of intensity as that lifesaving call, Palanchi also
takes particular pride in his work with Roxbury’s
senior citizens. “The senior initiative that I
started, that has a similar meaning to me, just in
a different way,” he said.
Noticing many seniors were falling victim to
fraudulent schemes, Palanchi decided the police
needed to be proactive in protecting them. “The
only way we were going to stop this was by
warning people that these things are out there,” he
said. He attended senior group meetings, created
mailers and set up a hotline so seniors could call
and get direct access to his office without going
through an automated phone system. “It just
kind of blew up to the point where now, five
years later, they can get assistance for anything
they need. They know they have a place to go,
that they can get to me directly and can feel good
that there’s somebody looking out for them.”
Calls range from asking questions about (often
fraudulent) phone call requests to needing a
trusted contractor to requesting the batteries be
replaced in smoke detectors. “It’s been a really
good thing,” he said. “When I stand in front of
them, I tell them, ‘Your generation is why my
generation is here, we owe it to you to look out
for you, and hopefully the generation behind me
will look out for me.’”
“The way he protects us, he’s like a son to all of
us,” said Marilyn Serra of the Ever Young Seniors
Group, who helped organize a farewell party for
Palanchi. “It’s wonderful
what he does. He’s such a
good man, and we’re going
to miss him.”
Palanchi said growing up
and living in Roxbury has
bolstered his relationship
with township residents.
His wife, Kristin, works
in the school district. All
four of his kids, ranging in
age from 16 to 24, went to
or are attending Roxbury
public schools and played
or are playing sports in
town.
“It gives you credibility,” he said. “Growing up
here, I also know the history. Being able to say, ‘I
went to school with your son,’ it puts people at
ease when they’re having a medical issue and are
scared. It lets you connect.”
Roxbury Township Manager John Shepherd
agreed and said Roxbury is fortunate that
Palanchi and his successor, Detective Lt. Dean
Adone, are longtime community residents. “To
have a town resident as chief, it hits home a little
more for the people who live here,” Shepherd
said. “They look at the police like, ‘we’re all in
this together,’ and it provides a different level of
comfort to people.”
Shepherd said there are many reasons Palanchi
has had a successful tenure as chief. “Marc
certainly has the technical ability, knowing police
work,” Shepherd said. “But it’s more the intrinsic
values he brought. He’s a down-to-earth guy,
humble, very well respected by his employees.
He just brought those sensibilities, and a sense of
calmness, to the role.”
Palanchi returns the credit back to those he
worked with over the years: mentors such as
former chiefs Mark Noll and James Simonetti,
and dozens of others in the department and
outside agencies. “I was extremely fortunate to
have these mentors all around me, guys taking
me under their wing, giving me advice over the
years,” he said. “That makes your career so much
easier.”
He also praised the community as a whole and
the healthy relationship residents have built over
many years with the Roxbury Police Department.
Through challenges such as COVID-19 and
broader social unrest, he always felt supported by
residents, the town council and management.
“The township is a great place to work and
live,” he said. “For 25,000 people, it’s still a smalltown
feel. When people need things, the town
comes together. People here look out for each
other and take care of each other.”
Palanchi felt the role of police chief had a
limited lifespan and was counseled that he would
know when it was time to step down. That time
came in the year leading up to his retirement

announcement in August.
In September, Adone was named the incoming
chief, and Palanchi said he has “100 percent
confidence” in his successor. The two are currently
focused on making it a seamless transition.
For his part, Adone said he has learned a lot
from Palanchi. “I have big shoes to fill, literally
and figuratively,” he said. “One of the most
important things I have learned from the chief
is how essential community involvement is for
our officers. We are lucky to work in such a
supportive community, and the partnership we
have with the people we serve is special.”
Adone said he is honored to become police
chief in the town where he has lived for 33 years
and where he and his wife have raised their
sons. “I have deep roots in this town and in this
department and care a great deal about both. I
look forward to this exciting and challenging
opportunity to serve the community that I call
home.”
Palanchi will continue to call Roxbury home,
though he will officially be off the clock on
November 30. He doesn’t know exactly what
he plans to do next, though he says it will
probably be in the civilian world, rather than law
enforcement.
“I will absolutely miss the people the most,”
he said. “I’m forever indebted to Roxbury. It’s
been an unbelievable place to work. I’m just so
thankful.”
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lakehopatcongnews.com 9

ECBF would like to thank our Sponsors listed below for their generous donations. We are grateful to them and those who
attended this year’s 6th annual Motorcycle Rally in support of The Eric Conrad Blohm Foundation. We could not have
accomplished our goals without the assistance, involvement and enthusiasm of our committed supporters. We were able
to exceed last year’s donations which will greatly benefit children with childhood illnesses. We would like to give a special
thanks to Garden State Harley Davidson and their great team for hosting our event and providing incredible support,
food, drinks and music for the sixth year in a row. In addition, we would like to thank all the law enforcement personnel
that provided the escorting to make the ride safe and enjoyable. We look forward to seeing everyone at our 7th annual
Motorcycle Rally next September. We wish everyone a happy and safe Holiday Season.
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11/4/21 12:57 PM

Students Take
the Lead on
Fountain Project
Pat O’Brien, Leslie Brunell, Isaac
Gemal and Laura Franek gather
around Justin McCarthy, center, as
he explains the day’s work projects.
The TV reality shows make it look so easy.
A host stands before a rock face deformed
by cuts and scratches and declares with certainty
that what they are looking at is proof that pre-
Colombian Vikings left their mark. As the show
cuts to a commercial, the host says, “Next week,
Martians,” or something like that.
In truth, finding the reality of history takes four
college kids from Stevens Institute of Technology
in Hoboken, their engineering instructor, a
retired civil engineer, an engineer and his troutfishing
wetsuit, volunteers with a GoPro camera
mounted on a remote-controlled model Sherman
tank, a couple of laptops, a few poles and some
duct tape.
The subject of all this investigation is the
historic fountain at Hopatcong State Park.
An assessment of the 96-year-old structure
is underway and will provide pre-restoration
construction documents for the fountain. The
planning involves exterior restoration, repair
of the plumbing system, and addressing the
hydrology and filtration of water from Lake
Hopatcong to the fountain.
For Justin McCarthy of Hopatcong, a senior at
Stevens, the project is personal.
“I used to work at the park and saw how dirty
and broken the fountain was,” he said in October
as he took part in the project. “It’s a part of the
history here. I’ve seen the old photographs of
families enjoying the fountain. It was built along
Lakeside Boulevard so the public could enjoy it.”
The goal is to get the fountain repaired and
operational by June 2025, the 100th anniversary
of its first watery eruption, said Jeff Derosier, an
engineering consultant supervising the project
for Connolly & Hickey Historical Architects of
Cranford.
The work is being funded by a $36,800 grant
from the Morris County Historic Preservation
Trust Fund.
The current study will determine the scope
and cost estimates of the needed repairs to the
fountain to make it operational and to generate
construction documents, said Margaret Hickey, a
principal at Connolly & Hickey.
(Connolly & Hickey, which completed the
award-winning restoration of the Lake Hopatcong
Train Station in Landing (now headquarters of
the Lake Hopatcong Foundation), is also working
with the Morris County Park Commission on
12
Story by MICHAEL DAIGLE
Photos by KAREN FUCITO
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021
the planned restoration of the pavilion at Lee’s
County Park Marina in Mount Arlington. The
firm is also developing a master plan for the
Shippenport Morris Canal Plane No. 1, part of
a proposed Shippenport Greenway in Roxbury.)
The current phase of the repair effort will
study the fountain’s concrete exterior basin, the
underground tunnel that carries water from Lake
Hopatcong to the fountain, the plumbing system
and fountainhead, and the gates that control the
water flow and filter water from the lake.
The Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum
kicked off this project in 2014 with a $45,381
grant from Morris County to assess the fountain’s
functionality. A survey of the property, including
a history of the fountain, was produced.
The fountain was planned in 1922 when the
state of New Jersey took control of the defunct
Morris Canal, which ran both east and west from
Lake Hopatcong. With the canal shut down, the
locks and gates were dismantled, and a new dam
was built. The fountain became operational in
1925.
Marty Kane, president of the historical
museum, in writing the fountain’s history, said it
was not erected just for aesthetics, but to solve a
long-standing lake issue: the management of the
lake’s depth.
Lake area residents can most likely cite chapter
and verse of this issue. Keep the lake deep for boat
operators. Lower it in winter to protect lakeside
facilities like docks and wharves. Lower it to help
flush weeds and nutrients out of the lake. Slow
down the flow in dry weather. Maintain high flow
rates to protect the trout in the Musconetcong
River and to make sure the sewer plant downriver
has enough water.
The topic has been studied, debated, studied
again, taken to court and finally wrapped into
a larger program to address the water use needs
of the entire Musconetcong River Watershed, of
which Lake Hopatcong—created by damming
and flooding two ponds known as Great Pond
and Little Pond—is the headwaters.
The fountain shortly after construction
was completed in 1925.
Photo courtesy of the Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum
In 1922, when the canal was dismantled, the
combatants were the wealthy lake residents,
lakeside hotel owners and downstream mill
operators.
The battle was a crystallization of the changes
taking place around the lake.
Once a center for mining and shipping, in the
1920s the lake was turning into a resort area with
hotels and fancy cottages built by wealthy out-oftowners.
Railroads brought tourists.
Meanwhile, downstream in towns like
Stanhope, mills relied on the waterpower from
the Musconetcong.
Today, the brick mill buildings still line the
river and have been put to other uses, but the
hotels are gone.
The watershed now is a residential and
recreational center.
Kane recorded that in 1922, it was agreed that
the lake’s water level would be controlled in part
with the fountain to avoid the sometimes deep
and apparently erratic drawdowns to serve the
canal that, at times, left the lake 20 inches below
high water in the middle of summer.
The fountain was designed by Cornelius C.
Vermeule, the engineer charged with dismantling
the Morris Canal. He called for a 24-inch pipe
from the lake and a 40-foot basin to contain the
fountain. Estimating a drawdown of 6 inches, the
system was designed to control the depth of the
lake at the new Landing dam and to generate a
12-foot spray from the fountain, Kane wrote.
Today, it is all gummed up.
Determining how gummed up was the goal of
the work on October 19, when McCarthy and
fellow Stevens seniors Audrey Fanning, Isaac
Gemal and Serafin Fernandez and their instructor
Leslie Brunell set to work.
For the Stevens seniors, the project is the end
of a four-year study required to complete their
degrees in civil engineering.
Derosier, the consulting engineer, also studied

under Brunell.
Providing some clue to the conditions
they might find was a 2019 video
created by volunteers Philip DiStefano
of Hopatcong and Keith Hnojowy of
Iselin. Robert Rung, a retired engineer
volunteering on the restoration project,
and McCarthy led the exploration.
Using a modified remote-controlled
model Sherman tank with a camera, the
team was able to venture 64 feet inside
the water tunnel to a point near the
“elbow.”
DiStefano’s voiceover said they were
not about to try to traverse the elbow.
The elbow, said Rung, is one of the sharp
underground turns the tunnel takes from the
entry at the dam to the fountain. At least one of
the turns is 90 degrees, he said.
The tunnel was built in the path of the former
canal, and it was possible the soil was too soft, or
they maneuvered around canal structures as they
built the fountain, Rung said.
The 2019 video showed the tunnel to be dirty
and encrusted. There is a flat channel at the
bottom to direct water flow. DiStefano pointed
out the metal rings that connected the concrete
tunnel sections.
The video also discovered an automobile tire
jammed in the tunnel, which showed McCarthy
using a winch to remove it.
One goal on October 19 was to determine the
condition of the filter gates adjacent to the dam,
located below the gatehouse.
The students hauled out sections of flexible pole
and attached the GoPro. The angle was wrong.
McCarthy decided more duct tape was needed,
but even that was unable to generate the correct
angle, standing as they were outside the fence
next to the lake.
Eventually, they moved through the gatehouse
on the other side of the fence and onto a platform,
looking directly over the lake.
Turned out the problem was a not a lack of
duct tape, but the angle needed to see inside the
tunnel past the gate.
In 2019, Justin McCarthy helped clear
debris from the pipe under the fountain.
Derosier provided the
solution and retrieved
his trout-fishing gear,
essentially a personal
flotation device with
boots, swim fins and
rubber leggings.
He slipped carefully
along the wall toward
the gate. Under his feet On August 2, the fountain
in the murky water, he was turned on at full force.
said, were structures of
the canal locks that were
not removed when the canal was dismantled.
He took the pole with the camera and jabbed
it toward the gate.
Between him and the dark mysterious water
of the tunnel was an encrusted crisscross of the
metal gate, the strands thick with decay.
“It’s just metal and water,” Derosier said of the
cause for the decay.
A replay of the video revealed decades and
decades of life underwater.
Inside the gatehouse, the group clustered
around Fanning’s laptop as they shared the space
with boxes of toilet paper used in the park’s
facilities, swim area buoys and three time-worn
steel pillars with wheels or levers, connected to
chains. That is the mechanism used to open and
close the gate valves of the dam to regulate water
flow from the lake. When the flow to the lake
Leslie Brunell, Audrey Fanning
and Robert Rung watch a live
exploratory video.
Jeff Derosier maneuvers a pole with a
GoPro through a metal grate.
must be altered, a worker must perform the task
by hand.
Fanning said one planned improvement would
be the installation of an electronic monitoring
and control system so the valves could be
operated remotely.
To complete their senior project, the group has
plans to return to the park a handful more times
to perform specific tasks before the end of the
school year, said Brunell.
For the crew investigating the dam, the tunnel
and the fountain, the day proved successful as the
first piece of the puzzle was put into place in the
effort to restore the historic structure back to its
old glory.
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lakehopatcongnews.com 13

Lakefront Resident
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LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021
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105 Mt Arlington Blvd, Roxbury
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106 Kingsland Rd, Roxbury
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504 Lakeside Ave, Hopatcong
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$895,500
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LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021

ANNE SEIBERT-PRAVS
Being appointed to the Lake Hopatcong Commission in 2011 was not the first time Anne Seibert-Pravs, who is in
her early 80s, committed to a cause. “Volunteerism has always been a most meaningful and rewarding part of my
life,” said the Mount Arlington resident who, as an eighth-grader, tutored other students. In high school, she worked
for the Community Chest of New York and the National Coalition of Christians and Jews, which was an early step in the civil rights
movement. At Hofstra University, she received the Bovenon Award for charitable work. As a young mother in Mount Arlington, she
worked on the recreation commission, serving as chairwoman for several years, and helped build the soccer field at Mount Arlington
Public School and Fireman’s Field Park. Currently, she also volunteers with the Lake Hopatcong Foundation’s education committee.
creative funny strong
I AM I AM I AM
LOCAL
VOICES
WHERE ARE YOU ORIGINALLY FROM?
I was born in Astoria, Queens, and grew up in Jackson Heights.
WHERE DO YOU LIVE AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU LIVED THERE?
I have lived on Kadel Drive since 1963, after choosing a building lot sketched on a map of a wooded area
between Howard Boulevard and Windemere Avenue.
WHAT MAKES IT SPECIAL?
Trees! Having grown up in Queens, I thought all trees were 6 inches in diameter, 9 feet tall
and grew out of concrete circles on the sidewalk. I had such respect for the developer, Henry
Kadel, who planned his subdivision around the trees instead of clearing them away. Fifty years
later, I now understand how his saving the trees prevented pollution from new construction
from entering Lake Hopatcong.
WHAT IS YOUR BEST MEMORY ABOUT LIVING IN THIS AREA?
So many memories, but standing out, simply put, my “lake family.”
WHO MAKES UP YOUR FAMILY?
My husband is deceased. I have two sons, Carl and Kris Seibert, and my stepdaughter,
Monika Pravs. I have three grandchildren: Ashlyn, Allie and Jack.
WHO HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCE IN LIFE AND WHY?
My birth family: Mom, Dad, two sisters and one brother.
HOW DID YOU EARN A LIVING?
I retired from secondary education after teaching English literature for 38
years. The first six years I taught at Morris Hills High School. I was home for
10 years after the birth of my sons. When I returned to teaching, I taught at
Roxbury’s Eisenhower Middle School for 32 years and retired in 2007.
WHAT’S THE CRAZIEST/MOST UNUSUAL JOB YOU’VE EVER HAD?
I have to say parenting (LOL), but a close second was when I taught
preschool for three years. Each day was an unexpected adventure.
It was like taking 20 2- and 3-year-old kids to Disney World and
Dr. Seuss is your only assistant.
ANY HOBBIES?
I love cars! I have owned
Corvettes for over 50
years and raced my
Vette in the ‘80s
and ‘90s (autocross)
and trophied in my
class many times. I
love bow hunting and
field archery and have
won many field archery
tournaments. I also love
iceboating and sailing. I love dogs
and currently have two, Winston
and Cooper, who I walk daily on
the trails at the State Park.
IS THERE ANYTHING MOST
PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED
TO LEARN ABOUT YOU?
I had my best score in a field
archery tournament the day before
my first son was born. I was in early
labor for the last target.
lakehopatcongnews.com 17

Marina Slated for Modernization
While Preserving History
18
Story by MICHAEL DAIGLE
Photo by KAREN FUCITO
The challenge facing the Morris County
Park Commission is how to maintain the
historical nature of Lee’s County Park Marina
while modernizing the site to accommodate
increased traffic, larger boats and wedding
parties and address severe stormwater issues.
The marina on Howard Boulevard has been a
popular recreation site since 1919 when opened
by brothers Clarence J. Lee and Edwin Lee.
it named Lee’s Pavilion as one of the 10 most Hopatcong State Park fountain and a master
The marina, with its docks, boat slips Summer and endangered is here. historic sites in the state. Summer is plan here. for the Shippenport Morris Canal Plane 1
iconic pavilion, was donated Protect your to the home park against The historic pests and preservation Protect rodents. organization your home noted: against East, pests an element and rodents. in the Morris Canal National
commission in 1994.
“The Lee Brothers Park Pavilion, located on and New Jersey Historic Register District.
Are spiders defacing your house,
Are spiders defacing your house,
Today, the 12.8-acre site incorporates the
boat or boathouse?
boat or boathouse?
marina, the pavilion and the operations of the
Row New Jersey rowing club.
Redevelopment has been slow due to the
remaining trailers on-site of what was once 20
trailers, said David Helmer, park commission
executive director.
The Lee family rented the trailers, and the
park commission agreed at the time of donation
to allow the families to stay until they chose to
leave. Two families remain.
Helmer said the site was subdivided into
a commercial section with the trailers and a
“park” section containing the marina at the
time the Lee family donated the property. The
county pays annual property taxes of $21,000
on the commercial portion, he said.
In October 2020, Helmer outlined for the
Lake Hopatcong Commission a three-phase
redevelopment plan: the development of the
pavilion into a rental facility, a parking and
circulation plan, and a stormwater management
plan.
The county has set aside $1.9 million for
the pavilion project and received a $495,000
stormwater management grant from the state
Department of Environmental Protection,
Helmer said in October 2021.
The DEP grant will be augmented by county
funds and in-kind donations to bring the value
of the funding to $667,000 and will focus on
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021
mitigating non-point source pollution entering
the lake, essentially runoff from impervious
surfaces. The commission has three years to use
the state grant, he said.
The plan for the pavilion calls for removing
the modern structural additions that detract
from the historic nature of the building.
Helmer said the pavilion is an important
structure because it captures the spirit of the
lake community that existed a century ago.
The special heritage was noted last year by
the nonprofit Preservation New Jersey when
The pavilion at Lee’s County Park Marina.
Lake Hopatcong, is a unique surviving example
of lake-style recreational architecture in New
Jersey. Similar pavilions, popular prior to World
War II, have almost entirely disappeared in the
ensuing years. It retains much of its character
and is significant as an early twentieth century
lake recreation kiosk.”
The park commission awarded the contract to
rebuild the pavilion in June 2019 to Connolly
& Hickey Historical Architects of Cranford,
said Helmer. Construction is expected to begin
in 2022.
Connolly & Hickey oversaw the renovation
of the Lake Hopatcong Train Station, home to
the Lake Hopatcong Foundation. The firm is
also preparing construction documents for the
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The pavilion will be remodeled into a publicuse
facility for weddings, public meetings and
similar events, Helmer said.
“The plan is to create a flexible space,” he said.
That is a service model the park commission
offers at several other facilities, such as
Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morris Township,
Helmer said.
The pavilion will have a service kitchen and
space for 137 guests using tables and chairs and
294 people using only chairs, he said.
The building will be made compliant with
the American Disabilities Act.
During Helmer’s presentation to the lake
commission, commissioner Fred Steinbaum
asked whether the existing basement space
could be modified for storage use.
Helmer said the basement, which faces the
lake, is in the flood plain and that creates a
potential water issue. More important, he said,
adapting that space to more regular human uses
would require the installation of a costly fire
suppression system.
The parking and circulation plan and the
stormwater mitigation plans go hand in hand,
Helmer said.
The stormwater plan will regrade the sloping
parking lot to direct runoff into five bioretention
basins and upgrade eight storm basins to reduce
pollutants entering the lake.
The plan will also address a storm pipe that
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
runs from a point near the Mount Arlington
Municipal Building, south and uphill from the
marina to a point beneath the pavilion, Helmer
said.
“The parking and circulation plan will be
designed to accommodate both the marina
traffic and parking needs of the pavilion on a
busy Saturday in July,” Helmer said.
Marina parking needs are spaces for daily
users, who put their boats in the lake and park
their vehicles on-site, and for those who store
boats on-site, he said.
The hillside that once held boat trailers will
be regraded to control water flow and designed
with natural grassy areas between lines of
parking spaces.
Helmer said since part of the hillside is now
used for parking and boat storage all season,
which runs into mid-October, there is never
a good time to reseed the grass. A redesigned
parking area with natural buffers would address
a portion of the runoff issue and improve the
appearance of the site, he said.
Since the goal of the overall site plan is to
reduce impervious surfaces, the parking area
will not be paved, he said.
Robert Tessier, another lake commissioner,
asked if the park commission planned to add
rain gardens or grassy swales lakeside to the site.
Helmer said the concerns with such features
is the size of the site relative to its activities and
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the cost of maintenance.
One feature that was favored by the Lake
Hopatcong Foundation and several lake
commissioners was a boat-washing station to
reduce the chance that invasive species enter
the lake.
Helmer said that service will not be added
to the marina, even though it is an important
method of controlling unwanted species. First,
the site is too congested to accommodate the
traffic, and second, he does not want to create
a situation where a long line of vehicles hauling
boat trailers snakes out onto busy Howard
Boulevard.
Several lake commissioners raised a concern
about potential changes to the marina that
might increase the number of boats on the
crowded lake.
Lee’s Marina has 100 slips and three boat
launches. Helmer said the county added
floating docks not to increase the number of
boat slips, but to safely accommodate larger
modern boats.
In 2020, the marina averaged 60 boat
launches a day, he said.
Helmer said the project will move forward
in pieces because there are three separate parts:
stormwater management, parking, and the
pavilion. Work on one part will overlap on
the others, he said, ensuring the park stays
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lakehopatcongnews.com 19

Jefferson Girl Scouts Embrace Traditions, Cre
Story by MELISSA SUMMERS
Photos by KAREN FUCITO
At a time when some youth organizations
are facing reduced membership and
vying for the attention of those who seem more
apt to stare at a phone or computer screen than
get out and make a difference in the world,
the Girl Scouts continue to attract the highest
caliber of young women. And in Jefferson
Township, the Scouts are taking full advantage
of all they have to offer.
Girl Scouts of Jefferson Township Service
Unit 139 is home to approximately 190 girls
ranging from kindergarteners through 12th
graders. This includes five Ambassador-level
troops with 23 Scouts in grades 11 and 12
and four Senior-level troops with 20 Scouts in
grades nine and 10.
Linda Scholte, 51, of Jefferson Township,
is a co-leader of two troops and serves as the
communications manager for Service Unit
139. She is proud of the historical success of
the program, which prior to the COVID-19
pandemic had as many as 40 troops, 70 leaders,
250 adult volunteers and 300 girls enrolled.
“We have some of the most amazing and
dedicated volunteers in this town,” she said.
“So many of them have multiple children and
lead more than one troop. They are incredible,
and they have inspired me.
“The kind of girls that are attracted to Girl
Scouts and staying in Girl Scouts are high
achievers. They are also in band, or doing the
play or excelling in sports,” Scholte said. “These
girls are unstoppable.”
Not every town has had as much success,
and Scholte said she’s lucky to have the backing
of a great local council. “Jefferson is a very
traditional and strong service unit that has been
successful at keeping girls of all levels engaged
in Girl Scouts,” said Jessica Hoffman, COO of
Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey.
Jefferson Township’s landscape is particularly
conducive to Scouting. Christy Didyk, 47, of
Oak Ridge is a co-leader with Scholte for Troop
96410 and a service unit manager. “We have
a lot of interest in Girl Scouts, maybe because
we live in the country and there isn’t so much
hustle and bustle around,” she said. “Or because
people here live in nature and like to camp, and
they love the area and there are a lot of things
we can do.”
But what are they doing right in Jefferson
Township that can serve as a model to higherlevel
troops in other areas? According to
Scholte, it’s about letting the girls call the shots
and getting the most of their experience by
incorporating it into their existing interests and
passions. “Girls can earn badges doing all the
things that are other parts of their lives,” she
said.
“If I have a girl that’s into sports and I
look over those badge requirements with her,
she’ll realize she already does all these things,”
said Scholte. “You’re a good sport, you’re
encouraging of your teammates, you can earn
a badge by doing your sport.” They often steer
the girls toward badges for their other interests
like cooking, history and STEM.
“The Girl Scouts of the USA spent a lot of
time and effort trying to make sure that the
program stays relevant for girls now,” Scholte
adds. “They are constantly surveying girls and
Alexa Schaffer and DeeAnne Baker
at the October campfire.
improving the program.”
Devan McCarthy, 18, a senior at Jefferson
High School, joined Girl Scouts as a Daisy in
kindergarten and is now part of Ambassador Troop
94398. “It’s important to have a great troop to
surround yourself with,” she said. “We all became
sisters from a very young age. A lot of troops kind
of fade out, everyone grows out of it, it isn’t cool
anymore, but we always looped each other back
in.”
“It’s definitely the people. If it wasn’t for my
troop leaders and the people in my troop, I
wouldn’t have stayed,” added Briana Dumeng, 15,
who is part of Senior Troop 96410. “They make it
feel like home.”
“We became the best of friends, all from different
corners of the social hierarchy,” McCarthy added.
“Girl Scouts was a time to share stories with one
another, to connect and I think the bond that we
developed was very special to us.”
It’s that special bond that McCarthy said leads
to so many other things. “Girl Scouts is a fantastic
vehicle for us to reach out to the community, help
out others and learn values that you aren’t taught
in school.”
McCarthy and her troop kept that spirit alive
during the pandemic with food drives and other
community-oriented projects.
Both Scholte and Didyk said that keeping the
girls engaged does evolve into more of a challenge
Anastasia Nakev at a
recent troop meeting.
Maddie and Eileen Richards
paint benches.
20
Cliodhna Smith and Bryanna Peterson learn
knife safety from volunteer Sharon Thomas.
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021
Volunteers, including troop leader Linda
Scholte, right, paint benches at the Art
Bonito Amphitheater at Camp Jefferson.

ate Memories in Successful Teen-Led Troops
as they get older. “It should become less leader-led
and more girl-led—what they want to learn, what
they want to do,” Didyk said. “You have to listen
to them. If somebody is still a Girl Scout into high
school, she really wants to be a Girl Scout. It really
should be up to them where they want to go. If the
girl has a goal in mind, the leaders and the parents
should be there to support them.”
About a year ago, Briana’s troop worked on
the Night Owl badge, which required not only
making food, camping out and observing the
stars, but also visiting people who worked at
night. They spent time with the night crew at a
local Wendy’s. In ninth grade she earned her Silver
Award through a blanket drive for the Jefferson
Township Municipal Pound, following it up
during the pandemic by collecting food and cat
toys for another shelter. Since 2016, there have
been 40 Gold and Silver Awards completed among
Jefferson troop members.
Most important, she said, are the life and social
skills that will follow her into college and beyond.
“I’ve learned how to speak publicly and how to
communicate with businesses and other places a
lot better than I would have without Scouting,”
Briana added. “Over the years I’ve learned how to
collaborate with other people, too.”
And Didyk said that’s where the leaders’ guidance
is vital. “In the world of Instagram and Snapchat
and text messages, nobody ever talks to each other,
they don’t make eye contact,” she said. “They need
to have those skills even if you think you don’t.
When you go on a job interview, you’re not
texting your future boss across the desk.”
She’s also a big proponent of life skill badges
like Car Maintenance and Finance and making
them an interactive part of their meetings. “We
try and make it seem like they are not actually
‘working.’ Sometimes we cover almost all of a
badge’s requirements without ever telling them
what we’re doing.”
For the past year, Service Unit 139 has been
instrumental in leading the charge to help
spruce up Camp Jefferson.
Working with the township’s Boy Scout
troops, Service Unit 139 has helped clean up
the Camp Jefferson Orange trail and re-cut the
camp’s portion of the Highlands Trail. Recently,
a call was put out to all the girls’ troops to help
paint the benches and fences at the Art Bonito
Amphitheater. Three days’ worth of work and a
dozen or so gallons of paint later and the project
is almost complete. According to Scholte,
about 50 girls and boys have participated in the
ongoing service project at Camp Jefferson.
Scholte’s multi-level troop— 98153/97437—
is open to girls from kindergarten to 12th
grade. It’s designed to foster the “girl-led”
model even more intensely because it provides
opportunities for the older girls to learn
leadership skills even sooner. “As early as third
or fourth grade, we expect them to be role
models for younger girls and help us
plan meetings,” Scholte explained. “The
younger girls benefit because, instead of
being in another place where an adult is
telling them what to do, it’s other girls.”
Evelyn Baker, DeeAnne Baker, Sarah Franke and Keira
Franke at a recent meeting of Troop 97973.
Scholte is also proud of the support Service
Unit 139 provides to its leaders and the resulting
continuity. “We have finally encouraged them
to reach out to each other,” she said. “We lean
on each other, we work with each other, we help
each other, and we have spread that message.
If someone is having a problem, we approach
them and ask what we can do to make it work.”
Service Unit 139 remained active throughout
the pandemic, according to Hoffman. “Adult
volunteers were creative and found ways to
continue to keep the girls connected either
via Zoom or through outdoor meetings and,
together as a service unit, supported each other
and pulled through to keep girls as active as
allowed, providing the social connection that
they needed.”
“One of the reasons our girls have stayed was
that we kept it going,” Didyk said. “Even if the
meetings were mostly virtual mental health
checks.”
The adult volunteers recognize that perhaps
the biggest obstacle to girls continuing in the
program is one of the best reasons to stay the
course. The program works for a girl who is
involved in many things by providing goals
and enhancing their experiences beyond high
school.
“I hope that they make lifelong friends doing
it, and after they graduate they can become
lifelong members,” Didyk said. “They can
come back and mentor a troop or come to
service unit functions.”
Upcoming events include fall campfires,
holiday caroling and the Girl Power Derby
this February. To contact the Girl Scouts of
Jefferson Township, email
gsofjt139@gmail.com.
Scouts of all ages roast marshmallows during
a recent campfire meeting at Camp Jefferson.
Girls from the multi-level troop
participate in a craft activity.
Keira Franke
and Jaida
Brovich roll
paint on
benches.
lakehopatcongnews.com 21

It’s All in
the Name
Story by ELLEN WILKOWE
Photos by KAREN FUCITO
When the Roxbury Mall was being built,
township resident and historian Margaret
Cushing was taken aback after learning the name of
its cross street: Sunset Strip. “I said, why name office
buildings with doctors after a fancy set of boutiques
in Hollywood?” she said.
A township resident for 52 years and a member of
the Roxbury Historical Society, Cushing is chockfull
of firsthand knowledge when it comes to the
stories behind the more unusual street names. To
Cushing, Sunset Strip and its residential counterpart
Sunrise Lane—home to one of the township’s first
post-World War II subdivisions—hardly qualify as
unique.
Unneberg Avenue, Cushing’s own street, tells a
more international kind of story, one that is tied to
her childhood home in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“Unneberg is a city in Norway,” she said. A group
of people of Norwegian ancestry who settled in
Brooklyn purchased acreage along what was called
the Road to Chester in the late 1920s, she said.
“In the 1700s, Roxbury included Chester
Borough, Chester Township, Mount Arlington,
Mount Olive and Flanders. It was a huge piece of
land.” In relocating to Roxbury, the Norwegians
built small summer cottages that they later enlarged
into year-round homes. “They renamed the Road
to Chester to Unneberg in honor of the town in
Norway,” Cushing said.
In continuing to make their mark in Roxbury, the
Norwegians built two Lutheran Churches, one on
the corner of Unneberg and Eyland Avenues and
one on Hillside Avenue and Tonneson Drive.
While Unneberg earned its name by way of
international settlers, Meeker Street and Alward
and Salmon Lanes reflect three prominent township
families who played essential roles in local businesses
circa the 1800s.
“The Meekers relocated to Roxbury from Newark
in the 1800s and took over an existing property and
opened a grocery store, as well,” Cushing said.
The Meekers were highlighted on the historical
society’s walking tour last December, which
celebrated the township’s 280th anniversary.
According to the historical society website,
Denman Meeker and his two brothers settled in
the township in 1813, with Denman taking the
helm of an existing property. Denman’s son, Josiah,
would later take over the property. Harriet Meeker,
Denman’s sister, also made a name for herself.
“Harriet Meeker, born in 1894, earned an MS
at Columbia University, taught history at Fort
Lee High School and, after retiring, returned to
her family home in Succasunna,” Cushing said.
Meeker and Annie Hosking, another retired teacher,
founded and incorporated the Roxbury Township
Historical Society in 1961.
The Alward family planted equally strong roots
in the township. Their family home at 66 Hillside
Ave. was built in 1842 on property purchased
from a man named Hart who bought it from the
Lenni-Lenape. “With the advent of railroading in
the township, the apples and peaches grown on the
orchards they established on their extensive property
were shipped to neighboring states,” said Cushing.
“The Alward Dairy farmland became what is known
today as Alward Lane.”
The Alwards were to farming what the Salmons
were to quarrying.
The Salmon name, as well as their descendants,
live on as evidenced by Salmon Lane. The family was
involved in stone quarrying in the Landing section
of Roxbury Township, Cushing said. “Quarrying
was one of the major industries in the township in
the 1800s, but their presence in the township goes
back to the 1700s, when they built a house that still
stands on Salmon Lane off Route 46 West,” she said.
Street names in Jefferson also pay tribute to
families.
Just ask Richard Willis, who lives in the house his
grandfather, William Willis, built around the turn of
the century and who happens
to have written several
historical books, including
“Jefferson Township on
Lake Hopatcong,” part of
the Images of America: New
Jersey series.
Willis’ address is Nolan’s
Point Road,
but just behind
his house is
Willis Street,
named for his
grandfather.
Nolan, as in
Nolan’s Point Road and Nolan’s Point Park Road, is
another section of Jefferson named for an influential
family, said Willis. The Nolans acquired the area as a
land grant from royalty in England, he said.
“The Nolans are one of the first settlers here,”
added Lake Hopatcong resident Judy Seney, who
has a historical photo of Jane Nolan, who took over
the family farm after her parents passed away. “Their
original house still stands on Willow Drive,” Seney
said.
Nolan’s Point also earned bragging rights as
home to the lake’s first passenger train, circa 1882.
Nolan’s Point Road and Nolan’s Point Park Road
give additional shout-outs to the Nolan’s Point
Amusement Park, which ran from 1928 until
1933. The property was taken over by Frank Crater,
who formerly owned what is now The Windlass
Restaurant, said Willis.
Families aside, roads in the Lake Hopatcong
section of Jefferson also boast nautical themes such
as Spinnaker Way and Harbor Drive.
Then there’s Three Rivers Drive, a street that fails
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LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021

to live up to its name, sort of. While the road is
not at the confluence of three rivers, it does cross
over three sections of the canals that feed into Lake
Hopatcong near Espanong Road.
Near Longwood Lake, off Berkshire Valley Road,
the roads are named as simply as a kindergarten
lesson: Red, Yellow and Blue.
In the Oak Ridge section of the township,
the Eastern European influence abounds with
Russia Road, Pulaski Drive and Paderewski Road.
According to Christine Williams, president of the
Jefferson Township Historical Society, Ignacy Jan
Paderewski, famed pianist and one-time prime
minister of Poland, is said to have visited the area
when the Polish National Alliance of Garfield owned
property along Dover-Milton Road.
Just a few miles away is Hardbargain Road, located
near the Rockaway River off Cozy Lake Road. A flat,
straight road ending in a cul-de-sac, the origin of the
name is a mystery, said Williams.
Then there’s Makepeace Drive, a horseshoe-like
road off Milton Road that Frank Makepeace, a onetime
township inspector, owned.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Hopatcong, Mayor
Michael Francis sums up the borough’s street names
as literal signs of the times. “Every community goes
through these cycles, and there’s a good reason for it
at the time,” he said. “And, we have always been a
community that acknowledges things.”
That includes an emphasis on indigenous heritage
as exemplified in road names such as: Nariticong
and Musconetcong Avenues, Pahaquarry and
Papakating Roads, and Hopatchung Road and
Keewadin Avenue. “This goes back to the Lenni-
Lenape Indians,” said Francis.
The Hills section of the borough acknowledges
some of the country’s best colleges, like Harvard,
Skidmore and Fordham. It also pays tribute
to America’s past, in presidential form. Think:
Washington, Adams, Coolidge, Madison and
Jefferson, almost all trails instead of streets. “My
guess is that the governing body at the time wanted
to recognize our great presidents,” Francis said.
Jan Williams, a historian at the Morris County
Office of Planning and Preservation, has initiated
the Morris County “Street Histories Project,” and is
asking anyone to share what they might know about
how a street got its name.
“The roads in Morris County have been traveled
by thousands of people and each with a history.
Sometimes, the street name reflects history that is
tragic, joyful or delightfully silly. Roads are something
we all share, and this common denominator is
perfect to start a historic conversation,” she wrote
in an email.
“The street names are part of our culture and
history that shows the examples of our predecessors’
lives,” said Francis.
To participate in the county’s history project, visit
https://www.morriscountynj.gov/Morris-County-
News/On-The-Street-Where-You-Live-There-May-
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lakehopatcongnews.com 23

Everyone is like Family at Historic
Ledgewood Baptist Church
Story by BONNIE-LYNN NADZEIKA
Photos by KAREN FUCITO
Pastor Brock Sund, a Mississippi native,
crossed the border into New Jersey at 1 a.m.
on January 1, 2020. The newest pastor for the
Ledgewood Baptist Church, he knew he would
need to adapt to the cultural differences that still
linger between North and South, but he never
imagined he would be heading into the storm of
COVID-19.
Just over two months later and a week before
the lockdown, on advice from Sund’s brother, a
physician, the church closed its doors. Thanks
to COVID-19, even worshiping God became
complicated.
A blow to many church communities, the
switch to online services, meetings and Bible
studies was difficult. There was a brief return
to in-person services at the Ledgewood church
beginning on Father’s Day 2021, but due to
the rise in COVID-19 cases, the church closed
its doors once again. Finally, in September, the
church returned to in-person services.
Sund, 41, is quick to point out that things have
a long way to go before they return to normal.
Prior to the pandemic, the church held two
services on Sunday, a contemporary worship and
a traditional worship.
A major difference in these two services is
music—the contemporary service features a
two-person musical praise team that leads the
congregation in singing Bible passages. The
traditional service features the church choir
singing hymns. Now both types of musical
worship have been combined into a single service.
Whatever their musical worship preference, the
common thread among the 111 members is that
it is a “family” church.
Mike Conroy, 71, a 21-year-member who serves
on the Missions Committee, said he and his wife
joined in 1999 and stayed “for the people.”
His words are echoed by Carol Noyes, 70, the
church clerk. When she and her husband moved
to the area in 1972, these former members of the
Livingston Baptist Church agreed they would
try out a variety of churches before deciding on
a new spiritual home. They attended a service
in Ledgewood and never visited any other area
churches. Noyes said they felt at home due to its
“family atmosphere.”
Asked what he values most about the church
he now leads, Sund said: “If you’re here, you are
family.”
As service opens on a chilly October morning,
adults and children are encouraged to share
their spiritual concerns and feelings about God.
Among the adult voices, a girl’s voice “thanks
God for this beautiful day.”
There is a special children’s portion of the
service, led by Pam Freund, 73. With children
sitting comfortably at the altar, Freund pulls from
a paper bag a variety of items, from a hammer to
a pair of scissors. Discussion ensues as to whether
each item is good, bad or both. The children
decide many of the items are both, especially
as “you can hurt yourself” with them but need
them to complete certain tasks. It is an animated
discussion with the children eager to take part.
The church dates back to 1874, when a
group of local families living in the Drakesville
(now Ledgewood) area asked to break away
from the Mt. Olive church and form their own
congregation. Familiar names like Baker, Larison
One of the large stained glass windows
in the sanctuary.
and Salmon were among the earliest members.
The group constructed a wooden church
complete with elaborate gingerbread accents on
Main Street, and the first services took place in
1875. That building still stands and now houses
private offices.
By the early 20th century, the need for more
room was evident and church leadership looked
into putting an addition on the existing building.
This idea was discarded as too costly and a new
parcel of land just down the street was donated to
the congregation by Theodore King and his wife.
Some sources also credit his brother, William
King.
Theodore King and his wife had an elaborate
Victorian home farther up Main Street, next to
their general store. Both buildings are now part
of Drakesville Historic Park and are operated
by the Roxbury Historic Trust and the Roxbury
Historical Society, respectively.
With the land acquired, members looked for
an architect who could build their new spiritual
home. Local Dover architect Jacob J. Vreeland
was chosen, and construction took place between
1916 and 1917. The building combined the
new building technique of poured concrete with
neomedieval architecture that was considered the
most appropriate style for a church at that time.
Retired Pastor David Holwick, 66, recalled the
stories of many older parishioners during his 30-
year tenure who remembered having a hand in
the building of the church as small children.
The late Goldie Weller, who died at 102, told
Holwick that she and other children gathered
stones in local fields for the decorative façade.
Others told Holwick about getting on the trolley
that ran through Ledgewood, between Newark
and Bertrand Island, and selling peanuts to the
passengers to raise funds for the construction.
Pastor Brock Sund
Ledgewood Baptist Church
Pam Freund, left, leads a lesson for the
children attending an October service.
24
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021

The stone structure is impressive, with its
bell tower centered between two halves of the
building. The layout is known as the auditorium
plan.
Upon entering the front of the church under
the bell tower, visitors may turn to the right or
left. The right contains the main sanctuary space,
which faces diagonally to a pulpit and the choir
area. The left is a large open space used for a variety
of purposes but originally meant for Sunday
school. The original wooden room dividers still
peak out from the ceiling. Many churches found
the plan to be inconvenient, making Ledgewood’s
retention of the layout unusual.
Curved pews create a diagonal space facing
the pulpit and choir. Intact woodwork and
elaborately capped columns make the picturesque
church popular for weddings.
The original stained-glass windows can be
found in both the sanctuary space and adjoining
room. The windows are rich in detail from
renderings of Christ to trees. Created by the
nationally renowned Payne Studios of Paterson,
the windows are reminiscent of the stained glass
of the Tiffany & Co.
Many of the windows retain the original brass
plaques honoring those who paid for them.
Repeatedly the name Salmon appears. The
Salmon family is still deeply involved in the
church.
Jason and Zillah Salmon currently serve as
Sussex County Fairgrounds,
Augusta, NJ
December 3, 4, 5 2021
church custodians. A highlight for children in the
congregation is the annual hayride. Sponsored
by the Salmon family, hayrides followed by hot
dogs and beverages take place on Salmon family
property on Salmon Lane.
The church has numerous missions that impact
both local people and those farther afield. The
congregation supports Roxbury Social Services by
purchasing food and food store gift cards for local
families. Winter coats are collected for the Market
Street Mission in Morristown. The facilities are
shared with a Spanish-speaking congregation,
Mision Latina.
Member Darryl Blewett, 53, has been attending
since 1999. An example of the multi-generational
church family, she holds her infant granddaughter
during services while sitting next to her daughter.
Blewett currently serves as the Northwest
New Jersey area coordinator for Operation
Christmas Child. Through this program, church
members collect small items—from toy cars to
toothbrushes—that can be packed into shoeboxsize
boxes. These boxes are collected and packed
into larger containers and shipped around the
world.
Blewett has followed these small packages to
their final destinations. In 2019, she traveled
to Tanzania and helped with the distribution
to children—an experience she describes as
“surreal.” This year, the church will serve as one
of the regional packing stations, with other area
The original Ledgewood Baptist Church,
circa early 1900.
Photo courtesy of Ledgewood Baptist Church
churches bringing their boxes for packaging.
The church also supports a missionary family in
Papua New Guinea. This is a favorite mission of
Sund, who originally saw himself as a missionary.
Sund has brought something brand new to this
historic church. For him, it is his first time filling
the position of a full-time pastor, and he feels it is
important to help younger members of the clergy
gain the experience needed for the position.
In June 2021, Jesse Roman, 29, a Blairstown
native, joined as associate pastor. He leads the
worship every five or six weeks and works with
the Sunday school. He is the first associate pastor
in the church’s 147-year history.
At the end of Sunday services, both men join
the congregation each week for coffee, snacks and
intentional fellowship in the space adjacent to
the sanctuary. It is a weekly tradition that allows
members to chat and catch up on each other’s
lives. This long-standing tradition has been made
“more beautiful” post COVID said Sund. It is
a welcome return to tradition for this church
family.
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The new sign revealed at Rich Zoschak Park.
Roxbury Dedicates Park, New Playground
in Honor of Former Councilman
Story and photos by MELISSA SUMMERS
The children of Landing now have an updated place to play thanks to the installment of
a new playground dedicated to long-time resident and Roxbury Township Councilman
Richard Zoschak.
Zoschak, who passed away in March of this year at the age of 75, served on the council for 17
years. He lived in Landing with his wife, Diana, for over 38 years.
A new sign was unveiled at the park during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 23. Previously
known as the Shore Hills Park, the playground was renovated as part of Roxbury Township’s 2021
capital improvement budget, according to Ward 1 Councilman Shawn Potillo, who was appointed
Aria McCabe and Skylar Figueiredo
to Zoschak’s seat. The property was leveled and the old, damaged play equipment was replaced.
“He insisted it be put in this year’s budget,” Potillo said. “He passed away before he could see it
come to fruition, but he would have been ecstatic. He loved to see the community come together,
and he would have been so happy to see all the people that were here.”
Those who knew Zoschak said he was a consistent advocate for the lakeside neighborhood.
Diana Zoschak, 71, said she misses her husband every day. “I’m sad that he’s not here with me, but I know
he’s looking down with a big smile on his face. He did love this community.”
Boy Scout Troop 188 began the brief ceremony with a flag ceremony and ribbon cutting, and everyone was
treated to ice cream donated by the Rotary Club.
Diana Healy, 10, of Landing comes to the play area frequently with her brother and cousins. “There’s a lot
of new things that the other park didn’t have,” she said. “I like the views. I can look up and see all the trees.
It’s more fun than playing inside.”
Another visitor, Nathan Gedicke, 9, of Sparta said he’s looking forward to spending time at the playground
when he visits nearby relatives and kept his praise simple. “I like the park—especially the spinny thing and
the climbing thing.”
According to his wife, Zoschak’s favorite part of service was helping
people and getting the answers they needed. “He wanted the children to
Diana Zoschak
have some place good to go to, and I think they appreciate it,” she said.
Matt and Teddy Yar
Diana and
Kaylee Healy
Diana Zoschak and Shawn Potillo cut the ribbon.
Jason Turner and Quincy Adams
26
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021

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lakehopatcongnews.com 27

Beloved German Christmas
Market Makes Move to
Story by MELISSA SUMMERS
Fairgrounds
popular Christmas tradition that outgrew
A itself in Lake Mohawk will be held this
year in a new location at the Sussex County
Fairgrounds.
What began in 2001 with about a few dozen
vendors and a couple thousand attendees has
grown to include almost 100 artisans and small
businesses and as many as 30,000 attendees over
a three-day weekend, said Sabine Watson, 57,
president of the German Christmas Market.
“After 9/11, a group of women from the region
wanted an event that would uplift the spirits and
bring them together,” said Watson. “They thought
the Lake Market boardwalk in Lake Mohawk was
an ideal location for a Christmas market.”
Watson’s mother, Karin Meyer, was one of those
women. Meyer, now 78, along with Gudrun Rank
and Edda Kramm, wanted to bring a part of their
native Germany to a community still reeling from
that September day.
“The country was upset and very sad, and we
wanted to introduce them to something happy,”
she recalled. “In Germany, they have the markets
in the town squares. People bring their arts and
crafts, specially made wooden items and stollen
bread. It’s a celebration.”
Meyer said the Lake Mohawk landscape was a
perfect fit. “The terrain of the hills, the character of
the houses, a European flair similar to Bavaria and
Switzerland. It just called for it.”
The group imports authentic German goods
for a shop run by organizers that features treats
like chocolates, candies and cookies, as well as
wooden products associated with Christmas such
as smokers, nutcrackers and Advent calendars.
“A lot of people come for those things,” Meyer
said.
The organization originally fell under a subcommittee
of the Lake Mohawk Country Club.
In 2017, it formalized into a nonprofit, with
proceeds going to local charities and educational
institutions, according to Watson.
Over the years the event outgrew its boardwalk
home, and remote parking, shuttle buses and traffic
control added to the cost, reducing what could be
passed on to the charities. “It was a challenge to
accommodate the crowds,” Watson said.
When they were unable to hold the event
during the pandemic, organizers continued plans
to relocate the market to the Sussex County
Fairgrounds. “It’s the same market, just in a
different location with some added flair,” said
Watson,
The move gives the market room to grow,
including what Watson anticipates will be an
28
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021
Photos by KAREN FUCITO
even more spectacular Winter Wonderland and
light show. “We bring in lighting and décor from
various markets in Europe and put our own twist
on them here,” she said.
Vendors pay a fee, housing their wares in a
variety of indoor and outdoor spaces, including the
market’s signature wooden huts, donated this year
by Amish Mike in Mount Olive.
About 70 percent of those vendors are returning
to the market from previous years, according to
Watson. Many will travel from out of state, but
some local shops are welcoming the new space and
getting in on the fun, too.
Sparta residents Emma Matsinger and Courtney
Kardos have attended the German Christmas
Market for the past five years as a joint venture
they call Thread and Butter. Matsinger creates her
Whipped Smart Body Butter in her kitchen, an
idea that started as gifts for her graphic arts clients.
Kardos founded Piper Riley Headbands, an idea
that also sprang from a gift to friends.
Matsinger always wanted to participate in the
market and partnering with Kardos just made
sense. “We found our businesses complement each
other,” she said. “We have a lot of people in the last
few years that have bought over and over again a
jar of body butter and a headband, so it has been
working really well.”
The market has a distinct atmosphere, but had
just outgrown its space, according to Matsinger.
“I’m excited about the move because we’ll have
room to spread out, and hopefully get more
visibility. And I’ll get to talk to the customers,
which I love to do—so I’m excited about that, too.”
First-time vendor Ashley Greene, 35, owner of
East Coast Alchemy, is a native of Lake Hopatcong.
She uses a process called copper electroforming to
craft unique rings, earrings and necklaces.
“The technique uses electricity to form the
copper and set stones, so it gives it a raw organic
look,” she said. “I’m also able to encapsulate
organic materials in the metal like shells, leaves and
coffee beans so I can preserve objects that would
normally deteriorate over time in nature.”
Greene, whose work has been featured at the
Philadelphia Museum of Art’s gift shop, seen on
television and used in photo shoots, has never
been part of the German Christmas Market. “I had
always heard stories about how magical it was,”
she said. “I applied a bunch of times for a spot at
the market, but they were always full with jewelry
vendors.”
With the move to the fairgrounds and more
booths available, she was able to secure a spot.
The market also opens booth space to nonprofits
at a reduced rate. The Sussex County Marine Corp
League, a group of veteran Marines and Fleet
Marine Force Corpsmen, will be selling clothing
and other merchandise, as well as accepting
donations.
“Our basic mission is to assist veterans in
whatever they need,” said Adjutant Vincent Togno,
83, of Mount Arlington. They offer scholarships,
collect for Toys for Tots, provide a color guard
at wakes and funerals and answer the call for
assistance on a case-by-case basis.
Although it’s only their second year with the
German Christmas Market, Togno said his veterans
are already at home at the fairgrounds. “We have
spent time at the Sussex County Fair with a stand
do the same sort of thing,” he said. “But this has a
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whole different atmosphere around the Christmas
season. It’s a beautifully run event.”
“We didn’t want to change the formula, because
we’ve had lots of success,” Watson said. “It’s just
a matter of augmenting it to fit nicely within our
new home.” She’s looking forward to the first-ever
kickoff and tree lighting ceremony on the first
evening, December 3, at 6 p.m.
Families will enjoy the traditional petting zoo,
pony rides and horse-drawn wagon rides through
the fairgrounds, and more. “The event has
always had German-centric and holiday-themed
entertainment packed into the three days,” Watson
said.
And with all that activity and shopping comes
the need to recharge. German favorites like
bratwurst, potato pancakes and Wiener schnitzel,
plus additional choices from six local food trucks,
mean there’s something to please everybody’s
palette, according to Watson.
Attendees can also warm up with a traditional
German mulled wine called Glühwein and other
beverages at the Biergarten.
To date, the market has raised approximately
$375,000 since 2001, with a goal of reaching
$450,000 following this year’s event. Funds
this year will be donated to more than 20 local
charities, including United Way of Sussex, Girls on
the Run, the Samaritan Inn and Ginnie’s House.
The 2021 German Christmas Market will be held
December 3-5 at the Sussex County Fairgrounds.
Admission and parking are free.
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lakehopatcongnews.com 29

Justamere Lodge, 1930s.
HISTORY
Happy guests at Angler’s Retreat, circa 1905.
Boulevard House on Howard Boulevard,
circa 1900. Today it’s a martial arts studio,
In Search of Lake Hopatcong’s Lost Hotels
From the 1880s
to the 1930s,
Lake Hopatcong was
a major northeast resort with hotels of all sizes
operating on its shores. During the 1925 season
alone, there were some 36 locales, ranging in size
from 10 to 250 rooms.
One question commonly asked at the Lake
Hopatcong Historical Museum is, “Do any of the
hotel buildings still stand?”
While the large hotels are all long gone—many
having been destroyed by fire—a small number of
former hotel buildings survive that bear witness to
the era when Lake Hopatcong competed with the
likes of Asbury Park and Atlantic City. All of them
found alternate uses after the hotel era passed, and
several were small enough to transition to private
homes.
The largest of the surviving hotel buildings is
the Jefferson House. The original building that
occupied the site was known as Lee’s Pavilion.
Built in 1899 to serve visitors arriving at Nolan’s
Point via the Central Railroad of New Jersey,
the pavilion was greatly enlarged and expanded
over the next two decades. It featured numerous
30
by MARTY KANE
Photos courtesy of the
LAKE HOPATCONG
HISTORICAL MUSEUM
ARCHIVES
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021
Henderson’s Sister Islands Hotel, circa 1915.
stores and services, a dance hall and some 20 hotel
rooms.
Tragedy struck on the night of October 27,
1924, when the entire structure was destroyed in a
fire that wiped out 13 buildings on Nolan’s Point.
A new Lee’s Pavilion arose from the ashes, opening
in 1927 with 42 hotel rooms and featuring a large
dance pavilion.
In 1929, Lee’s Pavilion was sold and renamed
Kay’s Hotel. It featured a restaurant with dancing
and entertainment every night. Operating through
the Depression, Kay’s used the slogan “Where
Good Fellows Get Together” and promised “never
a dull moment.”
In 1938, Kay’s became the Colony Club, a
short-lived, restricted Christian establishment
with a membership plan. In 1941, the Jefferson
House premiered, billed as one of the lake’s finest
dining and dance spots.
The Jefferson House had several owners,
including Joseph Langley, who operated the
hotel for some 10 years before selling to Herb
Spencer in 1962. Spencer renamed the business
the Jefferson House Boatel and ran it as both a
hotel and marina. For the 1964 season, Spencer
introduced Broadway musicals featuring such hits
as “Anything Goes” and “No, No, Nanette.”
Spencer sold in September 1967 to Herman
Orth, who owned and operated a garage as well
as the sightseeing boats from Bertrand Island and
Hopatcong State Park. Orth intended to use the
Jefferson House as a marina, but he passed away
just nine months later. His sons Billy and Allan
took the Jefferson House in a new direction.
Together with their mother, Ida, the Orth
brothers would transform the Jefferson House in
the years that followed, greatly modernizing the
facility. After trying out a few different names
and themes along the way (such as the Club New
Orleans and the Pirate’s Den) the Orths eventually
settled back on the Jefferson House. The business
became a Lake Hopatcong institution owned and
operated by the Orth brothers. Billy passed away
in November 2020.
While the Orths made many changes and
renovations to the Jefferson House over the
years, some of the original hotel rooms survive in
the back of the building and have been used as
apartments for decades.
Justamere Lodge operated as a hotel on Lake
Hopatcong for some 50 years, run by the Huber
family for much of the time. It was built on Point
Pleasant facing towards the State Park in 1910 at
a cost of $25,000.
A small hotel with 21 rooms, in the 1940s it
advertised rates of $30 per week, which included
home-cooked meals. The hotel operated into
the 1960s and was then converted into a private
residence, which it remains today.
In recent years, there has been significant
renovation work on the building and grounds.
A shuffleboard court from the hotel days is still

arely visible and the owners still have doors with
room numbers stored away.
The Boulevard House, also known as the Hotel
Boulevard, was located on Howard Boulevard in
Mount Arlington and had about 12 rooms. The
property is located next to the firehouse. The hotel
operated from the 1890s until the 1940s and for a
time was run by the Chaplin family. Conveniently
located on the main street in Mount Arlington,
the structure was converted to commercial use
after World War II. During the 1990s, it operated
successfully as the Arlington Restaurant and for
the past two decades has served as a martial arts
studio.
Angler’s Retreat was a small hotel or rooming
house that was opened on Cow Tongue Point by
Thomas Henderson in 1894. It catered mainly to
fishermen and operated for 20 years.
In 1914, the building underwent extensive
renovations and became the new home of the
Maxim Park Yacht Club, whose first officers
included inventor, scientist, author and explosives
expert Hudson Maxim and Rex Beach, one of
America’s most successful authors of the time.
The club opened on August 14, 1915, with a
parade of 75 boats. The Maxim Park Yacht Club
closed in the 1920s and the former hotel was
converted into a private home. It has been in the
same family ever since and remains one of the
lake’s most picturesque residences.
Sister Islands was the name given to three small
islands along the western shore of Byram Cove. In
1905, a cottage, boathouse and icehouse were built
across two of the islands. In 1912, the summer
cottage was sold to Thomas Henderson, owner
of Angler’s Retreat, who converted the property
into the Sister Islands Hotel. It operated through
the 1910s, after which it was converted back to a
private residence.
Carl Sherman, a former attorney general of the
state of New York, bought Sister Islands in the
1940s and converted the icehouse into a second
home. Both houses remain on Sister Islands today.
They had fallen into disrepair in recent years; it
is great to see renovations to the buildings began
this fall.
Playhouse Park, located in Great Cove, was
billed as “The Bungalow Retreat” when built in
1919 by Fred H. Buck. It was located on the hill
behind where Katz’s Marina at the Cove is now
located. Consisting of separate cottages, each with
three to five rooms, Playhouse Park included a
restaurant for its guests.
By 1924, Playhouse Park had grown to 25
cottages. A 1925 brochure explained that “the
concept for Playhouse Park is to eliminate as
much housework as possible, but to preserve the
freedom of home life impossible at a hotel. Each
bungalow contains a large living room, kitchen
and one to three bedrooms. The furniture is plain
but sufficient. Each has a delightful living porch
with extensive lake views framed by old oak trees.
Artesian well water piped to each, electric lights,
garage, dock with private beach. May be rented by
week, month or season.” Playhouse Park continued
to operate through the 1950s and many of the
original buildings survive today as private homes.
The Old Orchard Inn was built in Woodport
in 1910. Bradley J. Bloodgood had worked for
many years in the hotel business before coming to
Lake Hopatcong, where he bought over 25 acres of
property. He constructed a very rustic hotel built
of logs, which he expanded a few times. Located
just off Route 181, the Old Orchard Inn building
survives today as part of Willow Lake Day Camp,
which has occupied the site since 1961.
Parts of other hotels also survive: the Bon Air
Lodge in River Styx (where the Arrowcrest is now
located) and the Hopatcong House (where the
Liquor Factory in Hopatcong is now located) both
had substantial garage buildings.
These garages did not burn down as did the
hotels that built them. Over the years they
have both been converted into small apartment
buildings.
In addition, a few individual cottages,
boathouses and other small structures survive
that were formerly part of hotel properties. They
were either large enough to convert into private
homes or have been left as auxiliary structures on
residential properties that replaced the hotels.
In addition, staircases, beaches and foundations
from past Lake Hopatcong hotels remain in
numerous locations.
Look closely, and you can still find links to a
very colorful part of Lake Hopatcong’s past!
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lakehopatcongnews.com 31

COOKING
WITH SCRATCH ©
Christmas
Traditions
by BARBARA SIMMONS
Photo by KAREN FUCITO
Were
your
Christmas
traditions carved in
stone or did they
vary from year to
year?
I loved that our Christmases were always the
same when I grew up.
My family’s German Christmas tradition
was on Christmas Eve. My mother, Gertrude
Kertscher, prepared a beautiful dinner
featuring a roast duck or goose with all the
trimmings: chestnut-prune stuffing, mashed
potatoes, homemade red cabbage and dessert,
followed by opening our presents under the
32
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021
tree. Suited up in our best clothes, my brother
and I could barely sit still at the table waiting
to be excused.
When my kids were little, we would still
go to my parents’ home on Lake Hopatcong
on Christmas Eve dressed in our holiday
finest. My husband, Aaron and I, would try
to keep our squirming kids at the table until
the dinner dishes were cleared. There were
always several escape attempts under the table
as my daughter, Erika, and son, Francis, would
make a break for the Christmas tree, which we
would try to thwart among excited squeals and
laughter. The grandparents always plotted with
the kids, though!
Aaron and I added decorating our own
Christmas tree to our family tradition after we
got home from the lake on Christmas Eve.
But, at our house there was always the threat
of not having a tree to decorate.
Aaron, who loves a bargain, would hold
out until the last possible moment before
Christmas to buy a tree. The selection was not
always the greatest the closer we got to the
holiday, and there were definitely some “Charlie
Brown” specials among the trees he ended up
bringing home. Aaron would trim them up
and drill holes in the bare spots, filling them
with the pruned
The author skiing in
branches, making Lech, Austria in 1980.
them somewhat
presentable and
acceptable.
One year,
however, he waited
too long to get a
tree on sale. It was
December 23 and
there were no trees
to be had. Or,
perhaps, no trees to
be had under $50.
I was distraught. I
had never celebrated Christmas without a tree
before and here we were at the zero hour—
until I heard the buzz of a chainsaw outside.
Aaron had often threatened that, if all else
failed, he would cut down one of the evergreen
trees in our yard. I never believed him. But
now, there he was, chainsaw in hand, shouting
to me over the din of the running saw: “Which
one do you want, honey?”
In tears, I pointed to the blue spruce growing
next to our toolshed and within minutes it was
felled, trimmed and brought into the house.
It was probably the best-looking Christmas
KAISERSCHMARRN - CHRISTMAS MORNING BREAKFAST
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
⅓ cup raisins
2 tablespoons water (The traditional recipe calls for the raisins to be soaked in rum,
but my kids never liked that boozy flavor.)
2 tablespoons butter
6 eggs, separated
⅓ cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup milk or half-and-half
2 tablespoons sugar
some confectioners’ sugar
Plum compote:
Two 15-ounce cans of plums (not prunes) drained, pitted and chopped. (Amazon sells canned “Oregon purple plums” online.)
If I manage to find fresh “pflaumen” (Italian prune plums) in the fall, I will pit and cook a couple of pounds down with sugar (2 pounds of
plums with ⅔ cup sugar, cooked until soft) and have them “in the vault” (freezer) for when I need them in winter. Supermarket black plums
can be used for the compote, or, when all else fails, you can serve kaiserschmarrn with applesauce.
Procedure
1 Preheat the oven to 350°.
2 Put the raisins and the water into a small bowl. Cover with a plate and microwave for 45 seconds to “reconstitute” the raisins. Set aside.
3 In a 10-inch cast iron pan or an 8 x 8-inch cake pan, melt the butter, set aside.
4 Whip egg whites until stiff but not dry, set aside.
5 In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks, flour, salt, baking powder, milk, the melted butter from the pan (leaving some in the pan to grease it),
raisins and sugar, until creamy and well blended.
6 Fold in the whipped egg whites (don’t overmix this batter – you want it to be a little “rough”), then pour the batter into the baking pan.
7 Bake approximately 20 minutes until the top is brown. Scramble with a fork just before serving. If it is still moist, return to oven for 5
more minutes, until set.
8 While the kaiserschmarrn is baking, drain the canned plums, reserving the syrup. Remove the pits and chop coarsely. Put the chopped plums
into a bowl and add a bit of the reserved syrup to loosen them up.
9 Dust the kaiserschmarrn with confectioners’ sugar and serve with the plum compote or applesauce.

tree we ever had.
So, my kids grew up having two Christmases
with trees and presents—one at the lake and
one at our home.
After the mêlée of opening the presents at our
house, I always made our traditional Christmas
breakfast: kaiserschmarrn with pflaumenpüree.
Kaiserschmarrn is a fluffy Austrian shredded
pancake cooked in butter, sprinkled with
confectioners’ sugar and served with a purée of
Italian prune plums.
We first tried kaiserschmarrn during a ski
trip in Lech, Austria. The restaurant was a
ski-in, ski-out mountain hut we stopped in at
lunchtime. One of the guides Aaron had skied
with insisted we all try the kaiserschmarrn.
It really hit the spot. Sweet, tart and hearty
enough to keep us going for the rest of the
day, it was the perfect food after a morning of
skiing in the beautiful Arlberg Alps.
When we returned from our Austrian ski trip,
my mother found a recipe for kaiserschmarrn
in my grandmother’s old German cookbook
(Das Hauswesen, ©1873). She had to read
it to me as it was printed in old German—
“Fraktur” font—which takes me forever to
read. I couldn’t wait to try the recipe, though.
After a few tweaks, I came up with this
version here.
Maybe you won’t want to wait until
Christmas.
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lakehopatcongnews.com 33

WORDS OF
A FEATHER
Thanking
Life
Column and photo by
HEATHER SHIRLEY
Have you ever
saved the life of
a dangerous creature?
I spent the other
morning trying to
do so. Walking the
beach near my home in south Florida, I spotted a
Portuguese man o’ war that had washed ashore. A
man o’ war is like a jellyfish, and, although its sting
is rarely deadly, it causes painful welts.
Some of the man o’ war’s tentacles were still
moving, and it was trying to right itself, lifting its
sail to catch the wind. It was clearly still alive but
stranded.
As I watched it, I remembered something
the Dalai Lama once said. (Mind you, I am
paraphrasing. I’m sure his words were much more
eloquent than mine!) Before every meal, even if
all he is eating is a bowl of rice, the Dalai Lama
gives thanks for the life he is about to consume. He
recognizes and appreciates that a stalk of rice was
once alive and was sacrificed to sustain him. Life
is miraculous and precious and sustaining to our
bodies and our planet.
So why not, I figured as I stood on the beach, try
to save the life of this man o’ war?
Portuguese man o’ wars are siphonophores and
their biology is pretty incredible. Although it looks
like one animal, each man o’ war is actually a colony
of genetically identical individuals called polyps or
zooids. These are clones that each have a function
and work together. (Despite my highbrow reference
to the Dalai Lama, I am now so very tempted to
include a much more philistine reference to that
famous clone collective, the Borg, and I find that,
indeed, resistance is futile…)
Man o’ wars are named for their gas-filled
bladder, called a pneumatophore, that floats above
the ocean’s surface. Looking like the sail of an 18th
century Portuguese warship, this polyp catches the
wind and moves the man o’ war around.
The other most noticeable zooid of the creature
are its tentacles. These are suspended from the
bladder and trail below the water’s surface. They
can be anywhere from 30 to 165 feet long. Each
tentacle is covered with nematocysts, which deliver
venom that paralyzes and kills crustaceans and
small fish.
Muscles in the tentacles convey prey up to the
third clone in the colony, the gastrozooid, which
34
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021
is the digestive organ. The fourth zooid is the
reproductive system, generally not visible.
Found in tropical and subtropical oceans, man o’
wars can form flotillas of thousands. If they get too
close to shore, the waves deposit them on beaches.
Since their only method of locomotion is their sail,
they frequently get stranded. Beachcombers beware,
for the tentacles can still deliver a wallop of a sting
even months after a man o’ war washes ashore.
So, there I stood on a glorious sunny morning.
Could I continue past this fascinating colony of
creatures, thus dooming it to die? I found that I
could not.
Then how the heck did I get the thing into
the water while ensuring none of those wriggling
tentacles zapped me? I seized a plastic fork that
littered the beach, and I also gathered a scallop shell
(these shells easily span 5 inches). I wriggled the
shell under the gas bladder, balanced the fork on
top of it in a gentle sandwich and carefully stepped
towards the waterline, pulling along the tentacles.
I waded into the water carefully, keeping an
eye on the mayhem of those tentacles floating in
the water behind me. A wave rolled in, lifting the
man o’ war, pulling it out to sea. The next wave, of
course, returned it to the beach.
I tried again. And again. I spent about an hour
with my man o’ war friend.
Eventually, I abandoned the shell-fork sandwich
method and instead balanced the bladder in the
shell and used the fork to corral some tentacles away
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from me so I could get into deeper water and release
it. Once behind where the waves were breaking,
I let the shell drop to the ocean floor, quickly
extricated the fork to take with me and dispose of
properly and ran/swam/sploshed around like the
dickens to get back to shore without encountering
any nematocyst-covered tentacles. Then I walked
on down the beach and didn’t turn around to see if
my final rescue attempt was successful.
The next day, I didn’t see any man o’ war onshore
as I walked the beach. I hope that man o’ war lived
to eat some fish, produce more man o’wars and
get consumed by one of its natural predators—the
whole circle of life thing.
I like thinking I played a part in making that
possible. Isn’t that a grand notion? That each of us
has the potential to positively impact a life! Seems
like a good thing to keep in mind this holiday
season, and throughout the coming new year.
Peace, everyone, and happy holidays.
Call Jim to buy or list today!
House Values
Man o’ war found by the
author on a beach in Florida.

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lakehopatcongnews.com 35

directory
CONSTRUCTION/
EXCAVATION
Al Hutchins Excavating
973-663-2142
973-713-8020
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151 Sparta-Stanhope Rd.
Hopatcong
973-398-4517
Northwest Explosives
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973-398-6900
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ENTERTAINMENT/
RECREATION
Hopatcong Marketplace
47 Hopatchung Rd.
Lake Hopatcong Cruises
Miss Lotta (Dinner Boat)
37 Nolan’s Pt. Park Rd., LH
973-663-5000
lhcruises.com
Roxbury Arts Alliance
72 Eyland Ave., Succasunna
973-945-0284
roxburyartsalliance.org
HOME SERVICES
Accurate Pest Control
Landing
973-398-8798
accuratepestmanagement.com
Central Comfort
100 Nolan’s Point Rd., LH
973-361-2146
Falcon Services
Lake Hopatcong
973-938-4600
falcon1000.com
Homestead Lawn Sprinkler
5580 Berkshire Valley Rd.,
Oak Ridge
973-208-0967
Jefferson Recycling
710 Route 15 N Jefferson
973-361-1589
www.jefferson-recycling.com
Lakeside Cleaning Service
Succasunna
862-777-2480
The Polite Plumber
973-398-0875
thepoliteplumber.com
Wilson Services
973-383-2112
WilsonServices.com
LAKE SERVICES
AAA Dock & Marine
27 Prospect Point Rd., LH
973-663-4998
docksmarina@hotmail.com
Batten The Hatches
70 Rt. 181, LH
973-663-1910
facebook.com/bthboatcovers
MARINAS, BOAT
SALES & RENTALS
Beebe Marina
123 Brady Rd., LH
973-663-1192
Flash Watersports & Marina
155 Rt. 181 LH
973-663-7990
flashmarina.com
Katz’s Marina
22 Stonehenge Rd., LH
973-663-0224
katzmarinaatthecove.com
342 Lakeside Ave., Hopatcong
973-663-3214
antiqueboatsales.com
Lake’s End Marina
91 Mt. Arlington Blvd., Landing
973-398-5707
lakesendmarina.net
Lake Hopatcong Boat Rentals
862-254-2514
@lakehopatcongboatrentals
South Shore Marine
862-254-2514
southshoremarine180@gmail.com
NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATIONS
Lake Hopatcong Commission
260 Lakeside Blvd.,Landing
973-601-7801
commissioner@
lakehopatcongcommission.org
Lake Hopatcong Foundation
125 Landing Rd., Landing
973-663-2500
lakehopatcongfoundation.org
Lake Hopatcong Historical
Museum at Hopatcong SP
260 Lakeside Blvd., Landing
973-398-2616
lakehopatconghistory.com
PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES
Barbara Anne Dillon,,O.D.,P.A.
180 Howard Blvd., Ste. 18 MA
973-770-1380
Gates Architectural Design
973-398-4860
gatesarchdesign.com
Edward Jones
Jean-Paul Tancona
180 Howard Blvd., Ste. 18 MA
973-398-0028
Morris County Dental Assoc.
15 Commerce Blvd., Ste. 201
Succasunna
973-328-1225
MorrisCountyDentist.com
REAL ESTATE
Kathleen Courter
RE/MAX
101 Landing Rd., Roxbury
973-420-0022 Direct
KathySellsNJHomes.com
Robin Dora
Sotheby’s
670 Main St., Towaco
973-570-6633
njlakefront@gmail.com
Christopher J. Edwards
RE/MAX
211 Rt. 10E, Succasunna
973-598-1008
MrLakeHopatcong.com
Karen Foley
Sotheby’s
670 Main St., Towaco
973-906-5021
prominentproperties.com
Jim Leffler
RE/MAX
101 Landing Rd., Roxbury
201-919-5414
jimleff.rmx@gmail.com
RESTAURANTS & BARS
Alice’s Restaurant
24 Nolan’s Pt. Park Rd, LH
973-663-9600
alicesrestaurantnj.com
Andre’s Lakeside Dining
112 Tomahawk Tr., Sparta
973-726-6000
andreslakeside.com
Bagels On The Hill
175 Lakeside Blvd., Landing
973-770-4800
bagelsonthehill.com
Lola’s Waterfront Tex-Mex
300 Lakeside Ave., Hopatcong
973-264-4231
eatlolasnow.com
The Windlass Restaurant
45 Nolan’s Point Park Rd., LH
973-663-3190
thewindlass.com
SENIOR CARE
Preferred Care at Home
George & Jill Malanga/Owners
973-512-5131
PreferHome.com/nwjersey
SPECIALTY STORES
AlphaZelle
Toxin-free products
973-288-1971
alphazelle.com
At The Lake Jewelry
atthelakejewelry.com
Best Cellars Wine & Spirits
1001 Rt. 46, Ledgewood
973-252-0559
bestcellars.com
Hearth & Home
1215 Rt. 46, Ledgewood
973-252-0190
hearthandhome.net
Helrick’s Custom Framing
158 W Clinton St., Dover
973-361-1559
helricks.com
Nature’s Golden Miracle
CBD Products
973-288-1971
NGM-oil.com
Orange Carpet & Wood Gallery
470 Rt. 10W, Ledgewood
973-584-5300
orange-carpet.com
STORAGE
U-Stor-It/Woodport Storage
20 Tierney Rd./17 Rt. 181
Lake Hopatcong
973-663-4000
FOR A COMPLETE CALENDAR OF EVENTS AND FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT
WWW.LAKEHOPATCONGNEWS.COM
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
•LUNCH•
•DINNER•
•DELIVERY•
•TAKE OUT•
36
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2021

Lake Front Homes by Christopher J. Edwards
RE/MAX First Choice Realtors II
Chris has been boating
on Lake Hopatcong
since 1957, and has
sold more than 250
lake front homes!
Chris in 1958 Chris in 1961 Chris in 2016
Christopher J. Edwards
www.MrLakeHopatcong.com
chrisedwards@chrisedwardsrealtor.com
211 Route 10 East
Succasunna, NJ 07876
Cell: Home: 973-400-9540 973-398-0964
Office: 973-598-1008
SOLD
SOLD
$495,000 $1,475,000 | Jefferson | Hopatcong Twp Boro$350,000 | Hopatcong $1,300,000 Boro| Hopatcong $595,000 Boro | Jefferson Twp
2 Bedrooms, 3 Bedrooms 2.0 Bathrooms 3.5 Bathrooms 3 Bedrooms, 1.0 Bathrooms 4 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 3 Bedrooms, 3.0 Bathrooms
$1,175,000
$495,000
| Jefferson
| Jefferson
Twp.
Twp
4 Bedrooms
2 Bedrooms,
3 Bathrooms
2.0 Bathrooms
UNDER
CONTRACT
UNDER
CONTRACT
UNDER
CONTRACT
$895,000 $850,000 | Hopatcong | Hopatcong Boro Boro $945,000 | Hopatcong $600,000 Boro| Hopatcong $750,000 Boro | Jefferson Twp $600,000 $895,000 | Hopatcong | Hopatcong Boro Boro
3 Bedrooms, 4 Bedrooms 3.0 Bathrooms 3.1 Bathrooms 4 Bedrooms, 4.0 Bathrooms 3 Bedrooms 1.1 Bathrooms 3 Bedrooms, 2.1 Bathrooms 4 Bedrooms 3 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms 3.0 Bathrooms
UNDER
CONTRACT
UNDER
CONTRACT
$550,000 | Hopatcong Boro
$525,000 | Jefferson Twp.
$500,000 | Hopatcong Boro
$1,300,000
3 Bedrooms
| Hopatcong
1.2 Bathrooms
Boro $1,795,000 | Hopatcong Boro $1,849,000 | Mt. Arlington $1,300,000 | Hopatcong Boro
1.36 acre lake front lot
3 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms
3 Bedrooms, 4.0 Bathrooms 5 Bedrooms, 4.0 Bathrooms 5 Bedrooms, 4.0 Bathrooms 3 Bedrooms, 4.0 Bathrooms
Chris sold all of these homes featured in this
Chris has been boating on Lake Hopatcong NEW YORK for TIMES nearly article, 60 one years! of them twice!
Take advantage of Chris Edwards’ specialized lake front experience: www.MrLakeHopatcong.com
Hopatcong, N.J.: ‘We Call It Lake Life’
lakehopatcongnews.com 37

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P.O. Box 806
Hopatcong, New Jersey 07843
973-398-6900
Fax 973-398-5623
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