Marching band competition season comes to a close

Christine and Andy spent Halloween with their marching band friends, as the Scotch Plains-Fanwood marching band took part in the USSBA Northern States competition in Allentown, Pa.

The band put on a fine performance and took the awards for best music and color guard, while placing third overall in its category.

Christine is concluding her four years in the SPFHS marching band, which won the state championship in her freshman and senior years. Andy's looking forward to three more years of playing and competing.

Pat's saves are key to Fordham Prep's league title

NY Post photo

Patrick made two great saves as Fordham Prep won the N.Y. Archdiocese soccer championship in a dramatic penalty kick shoot-out at Rose Hill on Wednesday.

As the New York Post reported, Patrick "had never been in a penalty kick shootout in high school" but he "came up huge."

“It was great, it felt awesome,” Patrick told the Post. “I was so excited. It was good we got the championship back to Fordham. We made a mission at the beginning of the year to get it and so far, so good.”

“It was fantastic,” said Rams coach Pete McNamara. “I was very impressed with how he saved those two.”

The post-season continues Sunday when Fordham Prep takes on Xavier in the Class A intersectional quarterfinals.

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SPFHS Marching Band wins state championship in its category (UPDATED 10/29 with more video)

At the US Scholastic Band Association New Jersey state finals on Sunday, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Marching Band took first place in its category, edging out three other bands from around the state. SPFHS also took the awards for best music and best percussion in the "Group VI-A" competition.

Christine, in her fourth year as a member of the band, is captain of the flute section. Freshman Andy plays drums and percussion in "the pit," which also includes marimbas, xylophones, vibraphones, bells, an electric piano and a guitar.

Click the image below to see a short video clip of two portions of the show. The first features percussion - including the marching drum line and the pit. That's followed by the finale, with the camera following Christine's fancy footwork.



UPDATE: Here's a longer video showing most of the program, which features music from the Disney Epcot fireworks show.

Memory Walk 2010: Our team wins again!

For the third consecutive year, Shanna organized a fund-raising and walking team to participate in the annual Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk in Manhattan's Riverside Park.

Shanna and her parents, Kevin and Kathy, were joined by Kevin's brother Dan for this year's stroll, representing other family members who contributed to the team's donation to the fight against Alzheimer's.

Again this year, the weather was mild and thousands of walkers strolled the tree-lined path along the Hudson River.

Kevin has jokingly proclaimed that our team slogan is "We walk to win!" Of course it's not a race, but we can be proud of the outcome: $860 raised by the start of the walk. Each year Shanna has set a higher team goal and each year we've exceeded it.

UPDATE 10/25: Shanna reports the team's donation has reached $875, for a three-year total of $1,865.  Thanks to every member of our extended family who contributed to this success.

It's not too late to add to the total by donating through Shanna's team page before Nov. 30.

Gerrit and Angela are engaged!

Tish and Owen could not be happier to share the news of Gerrit and Angela's engagement!

"The pumpkin photo spells out Gerrit's unique proposal," Tish writes, and the photo above "was taken during our celebration dinner with them."

Congratulations Gerrit and Angela!

We hope to get more details soon.

Fordham Prep is division champion

Patrick and his Rams soccer team had already clinched the Archdiocesan Varsity A Division championship when they played their last game of the regular season Tuesday at Rose Hill. Fordham Prep defeated Xavier 4-1 to finish the season with a record of 11 wins, 1 loss and 3 ties.

Patrick, the starting goalkeeper, and the FP defense allowed a mere 5 goals against them over the 15-game season. They held their opponents scoreless in 10 games and never gave up more than 1 goal in a game.

The Rams' single loss was Sept. 29 against St. Francis Prep, which went on to take the Brooklyn-Queens Varsity A title. They may well meet again for the intersectional championship next month. First come the Archdiocesan playoffs.

Chuck throws a birthday party for Xander

Xander celebrated his 4th birthday earlier this month with a party at Chuck E Cheese, thanks to his brave parents.

"Xander had a really great time," Marie said. "He did a lot of dancing! They had a big birthday sing-along that he was particularly fond of."

Here Xander, wearing an inflatable birthday crown, poses with the owner of the dining establishment.

Chris gets a taste of marching band madness

Cathy writes:
The high school Chris will be attending next year invited the 8th grade band members to play with them during a recent football game. Here's a photo of Chris amongst the band.

Chris is 3rd sax from the front in the middle row, in a blue sweatshirt.

They played 3 songs together at half time: "Land of 1000 Dances," "Apache" and "Hang on Sloopy." (The last one is mandatory if you live in Ohio since it's the official state rock song. Go figure!)

Click here to watch Cathy's videos

Chris said it was AWESOME and he can't wait to be in marching band next year. Thus, this was undoubtedly the first of MANY football games (and competitions) I'll be attending over the next 5-7 years, since Stephanie will surely follow suit.

Boy Scout Andy receives more merit badges

At a Court of Awards ceremony Oct. 4, Andy received the Camping and Swimming merit badges he earned over the summer at Sabattis Adventure Camp in the Adirondacks. He also received a certificate for completing the COPE (Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience) program.

As described on the camp's web site, "C.O.P.E. consists of group initiative games, a low course (12 feet and under), and high activities (up to 40 feet high). Some of the activities involve a group challenge while others test individual skills and agility. Participants climb, jump, balance, swing, and find many solutions to a variety of activities."

Memory Walk just days away

The Memory Walk fundraiser for the Alzheimer's Association is coming up soon, on Sunday Oct. 24. Our family team, led by Shanna, is participating for the third year in a row.

Join our team!

Shanna reports: "We have raised $315 so far this year for the Alzheimer's Association. Thanks for all the support and keep it coming. Can't wait for the walk!"

Our team goal is $750. For information on participating and donating, check out the family's team page. You can also learn more on Shanna's team blog.

Fordham Prep still riding high; another shutout for Pat and the Rams

After one loss, the Rams returned to their winning ways in CHSAA soccer, and now hold a 7-1-1 record.

Their latest victory was a 2-0 shutout of Archbishop Molloy on Oct. 5, in very muddy conditions. As the New York Post reported, the Rams scored in the first half, and then in the second half, Pat "made a stunning save, diving to his left to grab (a) point-blank shot." At another point, on a "dangerous volley" by Molloy, Pat "did well to parry it over the crossbar for a corner kick."

“I thought Doug, Nihad (the starting forwards) and Pat had their best games of the season,” Fordham Prep coach Pete McNamara said.

The previous week, Fordham Prep suffered its first loss of the season, 1-0 to St. Francis Prep. During that game, shots by the Rams hit the crossbar and the post but just wouldn't go in net. But days later they defeated Holy Cross 6-0.

Christine and Andy in band show at new Meadowlands Stadium

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School marching band took part in the USSBA Yamaha Cup program Saturday (Oct. 2) at the new Meadowlands Stadium, one of the highlights of the band competition season.


Their show, "Generation Millenium," placed second among three bands in their category. The band and color guard were at the top of their game, playing on the Giants' and Jets' football field before a big crowd of parents and supporters.

Click below to see many more photos of the show.

Book review: Fun with numbers

Hugh wrote this book review for the monthly newspaper of the Oak Crest community in Maryland:

If math was a favorite subject in school, you will love "Here’s Looking at Euclid" by Alex Bellos. Even if you remember your school math as a reincarnation of some medieval torture, there are still things in it you will like.

From Simon & Schuster

Bellos is a British journalist with a math degree from Oxford, so he knows his subject and writes about it in an easy-to-read style. The book is a history of mathematics, and the author has traveled extensively to research contributions to the subject by historical figures as well as to interview contemporary experts.

The chapters are roughly in chronological order, starting with the original number concepts of the human race. We learn about a tribe in the Amazon whose number perception consists of one, two, three, four-ish, and many; and a professor at Cornell who had trouble visualizing a hyperbolic plane, so she created one by crocheting it!

As the author says in the preface, you do not have to read all of the chapters, because each stands on its own. Even if you do not care about hyperbolic planes, or that pi had been carried out to 2.7 trillion decimal places by 2009, you might want to check out chapter six, “Playtime,” where you can learn about math puzzles, magic tricks, and games including Sudoku and Rubik’s Cube. If you are an artist, try chapter eight, “Gold Finger” to learn about the golden mean and the Fibonacci sequence and how they relate to the things you paint. If you ever play the slot machines, you should read chapter nine, “Chance is a fine Thing.” It probably won’t help you to win, but it will help you to understand the odds.

Even if you think math is boring, try "Here’s Looking at Euclid." It might change your mind.

Dolores judges prestigious needlework show

Now it can be told.

Hugh writes:
Dolores has just returned from Akron, Ohio, having completed a prestigious needlework judging assignment at Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens.

Stan Hywet was the country estate of F A. Seiberling, the founder of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, built by Seibeling and his wife between 1912 and 1915. Today, Stan Hywet is an active museum and National Historical Landmark.

One of the premier events at Stan Hywet is the annual Ohio Mart, and an important activity of this event is the Stitchery Showcase sponsored by the Stan Hywet Needlework Guild. In the stitchery world, the Showcase is one of three or four top needlework exhibits, and it draws the best work from all over the United States. Even though Dolores is certified by as a Master Judge by the National Academy of Needle Arts, she was honored to be asked to judge this important show. She and two other judges looked at and decided on awards for more than 300 pieces of stitchery.

The reason that this can be told only now that the judging has been completed is that Stan Hywet is careful that none of the exhibitors know who the judges will be. Dolores’s contract specifies that she could not reveal her role until the show opened Sept. 30.