June Program Chair - Jim Shanley
- Jun 7 – "How the Irish Saved Civilization" – Dr. Dermot Quinn is professor of history at Seton Hall University. He has a degree from Trinity College Dublin and a PhD from the University of Oxford. He will talk about Irish monks in Europe in the Middle Ages and how they kept Christianity alive when it was on the verge of extinction. [video conference]
- Jun 14 – "A History of the Inventors of the Stanley Steam Cars" – Chatham residents Sarah Stanley and her husband Don Davidson are avid collectors of antique automobiles. Don has restored several cars, including an 1899 Locomobile Steam Carriage, which will be presented via video and it may even be brought to our meeting if we go live. Sarah will discuss the early history of Francis and Freelan Stanley (twins), her ancestors. She will discuss how the development of the Stanley Dry Plate funded the twins’ future. She will also discuss the Stanley connection to Chatham, New Jersey, which began in the 1860s. [video conference]
- Jun 21 – " Life in the Ukraine Shortly After the demise of the Soviet Union" – Albie Ashbrook who currently lives in Chatham and is the librarian at the Long Hill Township Library. From 1995 to 2000 she was contracted to USAID/State Department at the US Embassy in Kyiv. While stationed in Kyiv she traveled throughout the country working on agricultural privatization projects. After leaving Ukraine, she was stationed in Bucharest, Romania and Hong Kong. [video conference]
- Jun 28 – "Life as a US Navy Helicopter Pilot" – US Representative Mikie Sherrill is a graduate of the US Naval Academy. She spent 10 years on active duty during which time she obtained her master’s degree at the London School of Economics. After leaving the Navy, she earned a law degree from Georgetown University Law School. She worked as a US attorney. She was elected to Congress in 2016 and represents New Jersey’s 11th district. She is married with four children and lives in Montclair. [video conference]
May Program Chair – Art Williams
- May 3 - "Our Plans for the Future" – Lamont Repollet, president, Kean University, will speak of the past and the future of Kean University. Kean began in Newark in 1855 as the Newark Normal School to educate teachers, became New Jersey State Teachers College in 1937, and relocated in 1958 to Union Township, site of the Kean family's ancestral home at Liberty Hall. Kean is now the third largest institution of higher education in New Jersey and the only public college or university in the US with a foreign campus (in Wenzhou, China). [video]
- May 10 - "Our Health Care Mission" – Clelia Biamonti, president, Overlook Foundation, joined the Overlook Foundation as executive director in 2017 and has a PhD degree in biochemistry. She returns to Old Guard to give us an update on Overlook Hospital’s response to Covid, getting through it, and now moving on to pursue excellence as a full service, cutting-edge hospital in a small suburban town. [video to appear]
- May 17 – "The EV Revolution is Upon Us" – Shani Jarvis of AAA will present facts and ideas. Your next car may well be an electric vehicle (EV). Have you thought about which one appeals to you, or even the criteria for deciding? How would you charge it? What about batteries? How do you figure electricity costs? What about this strange disease called, “range anxiety,” the fear of your battery going dead in a strange neighborhood? (Strange because supposedly only people who don’t have EVs have this disease.) [video conference]
- May 24 - "Honeybees and Beekeeping" – Old Guard member Walt Meissner will tell us about this interesting subject—which we should all pay more attention to! Many people are allergic to bee stings. Bees pollinate our flowers, and more importantly, our plant-based food, without which those crops would be lost. Bees are endangered. Are we doing enough to protect them? [video conference]
- May 31 - "The End of An / Our Empire?" – Our speaker, financier Ray Dalio, has written about the rise and fall of empires. In the 17th century the Dutch were the dominant country in trade and military power, and the guilder the center of finance. Then Great Britain took its place, with the British pound the reserve currency. Now the US and the US dollar hold the honors. But can we keep them? Are we slipping off the throne? How soon could this happen? Are there telltale signs? And what do we do about it? [video conference]
April Program Chair -- Vic Rosenberg
- Apr. 5 - "Tanzania" – Kennedy Godfrey Gastorn, Tanzania’s ambassador to the United Nations, will speak to the Old Guard about the African nation of Tanzania, including its people, culture, and challenges, and his role as ambassador. [video to appear]
- Apr. 12 - "You Want to Build Your Own Airplane – You Must Be Crazy" – John Loofbourrow, private pilot, will narrate how he built a Taylor Coot Amphibian airplane from a set of plans over a three-year period, with assistance from George Saxton during most of the project. Slides will show the process of construction and the first flight. John is a retired investment banker who, at age 84, is still flying today. This is the second airplane he has constructed. [no video]
- Apr. 19 - "Photo Potpourri (with Commentary)" – Vic Rosenberg, Summit Old Guard member, will present a Photo Potpourri of random images (with commentary) taken over fifty years. Vic has shown his work at juried shows, and his Martha’s Vineyard exhibit earned him a First Prize Blue Ribbon at the Colorscape Art Festival in Norwich, New York several years ago. There will be travel pictures from Africa, the Galapagos Islands, and other venues. Vic is a generalist in terms of his subjects, which include people, places, and things. He is a semi-retired business consultant and has been a photo hobbyist since he purchased his first 35mm camera in Japan in 1975. [video]
- Apr. 26 - "Heart Attacks – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow" – Dr. Robert Slama, cardiologist at Summit Health since 1980, will discuss dramatic improvements in treating and preventing heart attacks over the past 40 years. He is on the cardiology staff at Morristown Medical Center and Overlook Medical Center, where he is also a member of the Bio-Ethics Committee. He has been a member of the City of Summit Board of Health for the past nine years. [video]
March Program Chair -- Steve Heft
- Mar 1 - "How a New Jersey Mom Turned a Common Children's Car Seat Problem into a Thriving Business" Lauren Siclare, an entrepreneur who has been featured in stories on PIX11 news, Good Morning America, and in the Star Ledger, will describe how she left her corporate job at Google to pioneer a first-to-market mobile service (BuckleBath), which has since expanded to franchises. [no video]
- Mar 8 - "The Mouse That Roared III" Bob Martin, retired CTO of Bell Labs, returns to the Old Guard for a third presentation to share a timely update on COVID-19, including recent developments involving Omicron, . [video]
- Mar 15 - "Murder in the ICU" Steve Marcus, forensic toxicologist and founding director of the New Jersey Poison Center, discusses how an unusual cluster of overdoses reported at one New Jersey hospital led to an investigation revealing the responsibility of a nurse for a number of deaths over a 15-year period in multiple hospitals. [video]
- Mar 22 - "Yankee Batboy: The Luckiest Kid in New York" John Siclare, a retired businessman who has turned to writing, is the co-author of the recent book by this title. He will tell how he came to know the teen from Little Italy who became a Yankee batboy in the early 1960s, and will share insights into the process of writing, editing, and publishing the book. [video]
- Mar 29 - "Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale" Jeffrey Smith, artistic director of the renowned Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale, will be sharing information on the group’s history, annual concert tours, local performances, and general operations, including recruitment of new singers. Clips from past performances will be included. [video]
February Program Chair -- Roger Burns
- Feb 1 - "Autism from a Mom's Perspective" Cindy Gelormini of New Providence will discuss how her life revolved around the care of a special needs child. She has actively advocated for help for autism families with a series of podcasts, a YouTube channel, and children's books designed to help young families understand autism. [video]
- Feb 8 - "Advances and Missteps in the Use of Forensic Evidence in the Criminal Justice System" Virginia Long, retired NJ Supreme Court justice, will tell us about her decade in that capacity. She participated in landmark opinions, including imposition of the death penalty, age discrimination, workers compensation, and long tail environmental exposure cases. [no video]
- Feb 15 - "Preserving and Protecting Barnegat Bay" Graceanne Taylor, marine scientist and education and outreach coordinator of the nonprofit organization Save Barnegat Bay, will discuss initiatives and public programs to protect and preserve Barnegat Bay and its watershed. [video]
- Feb 22 - "A Tour of the County Prosecutor's Office" William A. Daniel, the Union County prosecutor, will describe the functions of over 250 assistant prosecutors, investigators, forensic scientists, and other team members, in carrying out the mission of the office. [no video]
January Program Chair – Arch Knisely
- Jan 4 - "Calling a Crisis Line for Emotional Support" – Mary Claire Givelber, executive director of Caring Contact, will discuss the increased need for crisis support. Caring Contact has been the primary responder to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for residents of Essex, Middlesex, Morris, Somerset, and Union counties since 2005. [video]
- Jan 11 - "Street Photography -- Unfiltered" – New York based street photographer Phil Penman has documented the rapid flux of New York City's streets for over 25 years. His photos have appeared in Vanity Fair and GQ and have been lauded in the Wall Street Journal. He will tell us about capturing spontaneous moments that become iconic and about the unexpected rewards from his photos, illustrated with many of his moving photos. [no video]
- Jan 18 - "Harnessing Innovation for the Discovery of New Therapeutics in Pharma and Biotech" – Nancy Thornberry and Ann Weber, are former research executives at Merck and currently founding CEO and SVP, Preclinical Development, respectively, at Kallyope, a New York-based biotechnology startup. They will discuss progress and challenges in the pharma/biotech industry and how technology is enabling the discovery and development of a new generation of medicines. [no video]
- Jan 25 - "Hawks Versus Doves: US Macroeconomic Perspectives for 2022" – Roberto Chang, Distinguished Professor of Economics at Rutgers University, will discuss the macroeconomic outlook for the next year, including inflation, the fiscal situation, employment, and incomes, and will explore implications for monetary and fiscal policies. [video]
