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Community Corner

About Town: LCJSMS Hoops for Heart Raises $3,245

Summit Summies latest meet info, Jeff Kaufman of PwC hosts Suburban Chamber of Commerce "First Friday" Meeting, and don't miss the last chance to register for spring baseball and softball without a late fee.

MIDDLE SCHOOLERS RAISE FUNDS IN MEMORY OF MICHAEL RYDER

The Hoops for Heart event, held at the school during physical educaton classes January 20, raised $3,245 for the American Heart Association. The event was coordinated by physical education teachers Anthony Ferrate and Lorie Zuchowski. The funds were donated in memory of the late Michael Ryder, who had been the industrial arts teacher at the school. Students reached out to friends and family for donations to sponsor their Hoops for Heart activities. "Both Mr. Ferrante and I would like to thank all the participants for their hard work," Zuchowski said. "We are very proud and thankful for everyone's effort."

Summit Summies Win Several Divisions at the Igloo Invitational

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The Summit Summies Gymnastics Team sent 20 gymnasts to compete in their first meet of the season (for the Gold, Silver, Bronze, Copper and Divisions) at the Igloo Invitational in Flanders on Sunday, January 30. The Summies came away with two team titles, four individual champions and many individual event winners.

In the Gold division, Alison Horne was the 15-18 year old all-around champion with a 31.4, and she also won floor exercise with an 8.6. Teammate Callie DePhillips had her best event on floor with a third place finish with an 8.0. Alysia Lopez had a great first meet at the Gold division, winnings second place on both beam (8.6) and all-around (32.25) in the 11-14 year old age group. The Gold Team finished in first place. 

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In the Silver division, the 10-11 year old age group had a great day with Abby Claus winning the bars with an 8.7 and finishing second in both floor (9.45) and all-around (35.25). Teammate Kiera Little finished seventh in the all-around with a 33.9, and had a third place vault (8.8) and 5th place beam (8.6). Finally in the 10-11 year old age group, Ginny Collins won fifth place on both bars (8.1) and floor with a personal best score of 9.3. In the 12-13 year old age group, the Summies' Noa Efron won the beam with a 9.2 and finished second in the all around (34.25). Teammate Kaitlin Stewart had a personal best of a 9.35 on floor, finishing second, and won fifth place all-around with a 33.25. Injured Summie, Emily Donohue, competed only on the bars, and earned a 7.4. The Silver Team finished in second place. 

In the Bronze division, 10 year old Margaret Robb dominated the age group winning all but one event, including the all-around with a 35.6. Her first-place floor score of a 9.6 was the team's highest score of the day. Naomi Schachter finished in the 13 year old age group in fourth place with a 32.1 all-around. She also had a second place finish on floor exercise with a lifetime high score of 9.0. Teammate Sarah Illis won fourth place on bars with a 7.7, and had a great floor routine with an 8.7. The Bronze Team finished in fifth place overall.

In the Copper Division, all the Summies were competing in their first meet as competitive gymnasts, and they showed how incredibly well-prepared they were by winning their Team Championship in decisive style. In some events, they swept all the podium positions! Grace Bauman was the 10-11 year old champion with a 33.7 all around. She also won the floor (9.3) and bars (8.6). Teammate Julia Ippolito finished fourth with a 33.8 all around. She came in second on beam with an 8.5 and third on floor with an 8.9. In the 8-9 year old division, Mareikae DeLanversin had an incredible first meet, winning the all-around with a 34.75, the vault (9.2) and the floor (9.2). Teammate Essie Pasternik ended up second in the all-around with a 34.15 and also won the beam with an 8.8. Rasika Dronamraju finished third in the all-around with a 34.1 and came in second on floor with a 9.0. Jade Weir won the bars with an 8.4 and finished strong with a 33.5 all-around. Alison Lee's best events were vault (8.5) and floor (8.5). Jane Wagner had a lovely beam routine (8.2) and a strong floor exercise (8.7).

All four Summies Teams are looking ahead to several more invitational meets during the spring as they prepare for the State and Regional Championships to be held in May in Wildwood.

The Summit Summies is a USA Gymnastics Junior Olympic Team that practices at The Connection for Women & Families at 79 Maple Street, Summit. The team consists of girls, ages 7 through 16 years who practice 3 to 5 days a week in the Connection's state-of-the-art facility. Anyone interested in instructional, competitive gymnastics or summer gymnastics camp should call 908-273-4242 and ask for Tracy Burkholder, Director of Gymnastics.

Suburban Chamber of Commerce "First Friday" Meeting This Month

The Suburban Chamber of Commerce has been working hard and "thinking out of the box" to try to revamp our downtown and increase business. They advocate for the small business owner and their clients, addressing issues on both sides and work with the public and city government to determine how to serve both sides better. They ask, "How can we, together, make the Chamber an even more valuable resource to our members and our communities?  Join us on February 4 for this month's First Friday meeting, when we will hold a facilitated session to begin the process to jointly co-develop how we can make the Chamber better. Jeff Kaufman, who shared with us his approaches to co-develop solutions with our clients to increase sales at a recent First Friday, will facilitate our session." 

Come be a part of the process to make the Chamber even more valuable to your personal development and to driving your business growth. While the process will directly help the Chamber, you can use the process in your business–a win-win for all of us! 

Jeff Kaufman is the New York Metro Regional Business Development Partner. For the past 10 years he worked with teams to align their strengths with the client's needs to win work. In addition to supporting hundreds of teams, Jeff has played a number of key roles in the PricewaterhouseCooper's business development programs.

Additionally, at the February 4 meeting of the Chamber, the nominating committee will present the nominees for directors and officers for 2011. 

First Friday will be held at the Grand Summit Hotel on Friday, February 4, from 8:00a.m. to 9:30a.m. Use this link to register, https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=cjr9kybab&oeidk=a07e3bfouhl2e7ee09b&oseq=a0212ygi0mq6b1 or send an email to info@suburbanchambers.org or call us at 908-522-1700. 

Cost is $20 for members, $40 for "soon to be" members and guests.

SUMMIT JUNIOR BASEBALL HAS EXTENDED REGISTRATION TO Feb. 5

If your child would like to play baseball this spring and you want to avoid a $50 late fee, you have two more days to register.  Click here for a direct link: http://www.leagueathletics.com/Registration/?n=14574&org=summitnjsports.com

Make-Up Spring Baseball Evaluations Grades 3-6 on February 5

A Mandatory make-up session will be held on Saturday, February 5, from 4:30 -7:00 p.m. Grades 3-4 will begin at 4:30 p.m. Grades 5-6 will begin at 5:30 p.m.. All Evaluations will be held at Summit High School in the Main Gym
. All players in grades 3-6 who did not attend evaluations last weekend must attend.  

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