When I was a young lad, say around eight or nine years of age, I participated in the Rock Ridge Lake (in Denville) swim team. At the onset of summer, all the swimmers were advised to swim twenty-five laps a day in the laned areas between two rafts. As such, every day (weather permitting) I swam my laps. I noticed many other members of the team did not...but my job was to swim my own laps. I did.
Near the end of summer there was a gala event held at the clubhouse. My mother even attended! Each swim club member was called to the front of the room and given a team jacket. It was a wonderful green, zippered jacket with the Rock Ridge logo emblazened on it. There were jackets for the Senior swimmers, the Junior swimmers and also the Junior-Juniors (one of which I was at the time).
Ah...the glory of it all!
My name was not called. I was so disappointed...and probably cried at not receiving a jacket. My mother enquired as to my omission and was told the jackets were only given to members of the club who swam their laps. "I did!" I wailed. "I swam every day and some of those kids really didn't!"
So...it seems I was supposed to tell the lifeguard or coach every day when I completed my laps. I was never told to tell anyone anything! I just swam my laps but there was no record of my efforts.
Such was the disappointment of today's solar eclipse. I had made a viewing box and was ready for the darkness. The internet said there would a 92% coverage of the sun...Mars and many stars would be visible in the daytime! How exciting! The darkening crept in to the extent that it felt like evening. I was certain that night was coming in the morning! Then, I received a phone call from my son. "That's it!" he said. And...that WAS it. No stars. No Mars. No blackness of night. Gradually, the day brightened and all was normal again.
I threw the eclipse-viewing box in the trash and stood...dumbfounded and disappointed. Just like when I didn't receive my Junnior-Junior club jacket.
No eclipse (just a phony excuse for one)...and no jacket.
Showing posts with label Rock Ridge Lake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rock Ridge Lake. Show all posts
Monday, August 21, 2017
Friday, December 6, 2013
Morris Hills, Mr.l Scafati
I do hope I'll be excused for many inaccuracies...
At Morris Hills, there was a Mr. Scafati who taught History or Government...or some such thing. This was around 1962, 1963 (or 64) I suppose. At the time, Mr Scafati lived on West Glen Road at Rock Ridge Lake.
Anyway, in some of our classes, he spoke with great emotion of Apartheid in South Africa and often mentioned Nelson Mandela. I had no prior idea what this was all about but I listened intently. I also had no idea there were such inequalities in the world! Our own Civil Rights efforts were still in their iinfancy, yet Mr. Scafati was extremely influential and convincing as he spoke from his heart of the horrible, unfair treatment of minorities (the blacks weren't even IN the minority in South Africa. They were simply treated as...inferior...and separate!).
I have always, fondly remembered Mr. Scafati for opening my eyes just a bit.
It seems he was more than just a teacher. I believe he had been a part of the US Olympic team as a fencer at some point in time. (As such, he was probably the fencing coach at Morris Hills, now that I think about it.) It seems that fencing is not an easy sport by any means and one would have to be in prime physical condition to excel...among so many other things, I didn't know that at the time.
So many years have passed but I always remember the real-life lessons I learned from Mr. Scafati. I hope he's still alive and well even though he would not remember me from Atom.
Does anyone remember this wonderful man? I don't know if he had a family there at Rock Ridge Lake. I know so little. I do know that Mr. Scafati was a wonderful teacher and I'm pleased to have known him.
At Morris Hills, there was a Mr. Scafati who taught History or Government...or some such thing. This was around 1962, 1963 (or 64) I suppose. At the time, Mr Scafati lived on West Glen Road at Rock Ridge Lake.
Anyway, in some of our classes, he spoke with great emotion of Apartheid in South Africa and often mentioned Nelson Mandela. I had no prior idea what this was all about but I listened intently. I also had no idea there were such inequalities in the world! Our own Civil Rights efforts were still in their iinfancy, yet Mr. Scafati was extremely influential and convincing as he spoke from his heart of the horrible, unfair treatment of minorities (the blacks weren't even IN the minority in South Africa. They were simply treated as...inferior...and separate!).
I have always, fondly remembered Mr. Scafati for opening my eyes just a bit.
It seems he was more than just a teacher. I believe he had been a part of the US Olympic team as a fencer at some point in time. (As such, he was probably the fencing coach at Morris Hills, now that I think about it.) It seems that fencing is not an easy sport by any means and one would have to be in prime physical condition to excel...among so many other things, I didn't know that at the time.
So many years have passed but I always remember the real-life lessons I learned from Mr. Scafati. I hope he's still alive and well even though he would not remember me from Atom.
Does anyone remember this wonderful man? I don't know if he had a family there at Rock Ridge Lake. I know so little. I do know that Mr. Scafati was a wonderful teacher and I'm pleased to have known him.
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