New leaders want to spawn more effective programs
By: Mae Rhine
The new co-chairs of the South Hunterdon Municipal Alliance this week said they hope to "rekindle the groundswell of community support" the drug and alcohol abuse prevention program once enjoyed.
Nora Marley and Joseph Nardini, both of Lambertville, said they want to get some of the original members back and attract new ones. That’s just one part of what Mr. Nardini called their "ambitious" plans for the group.
The alliance offers a "broad range" of programs for preschoolers through senior citizens, Mr. Nardini said.
The new leaders hope the programs the alliance offers can be more effective in deterring young people from using drugs and alcohol.
However, "You can’t force anything down anyone’s throat," Ms. Marley conceded. "You can’t force parents to bring their children up a certain way."
Many parents themselves are "in denial" that their children are involved in using drugs and alcohol, she said.
Mr. Nardini agreed the group needs to "raise the awareness level of drug use and school violence and how it impacts locally."
He said the alliance needs "to do a better job informing" residents of the problem, and then "do a much better job of making alliance-sponsored programs visible and successful."
He said, "We need a way of demonstrating effective outcomes" from the programs the alliance offers.
Among the programs the alliance sponsors are:
?The DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program in which officials, usually local policemen, come into classrooms and talk to youngsters about drug and alcohol abuse.
?The National Red Ribbon campaign in which programs are sponsored in the community as well as in schools during a week in October to raise awareness about substance abuse prevention.
?Forest Friends for K-2 and Babes for K-4, two programs using puppets to teach positive living skills and information about substance abuse, including cigarettes.
?Parent Education for Adults and Children of Hunterdon (PEACH), education for parents.
?Senior Peer Leaders at South Hunterdon, in which 10th- and 11th-graders counsel seventh- and eighth-graders to help them cope with peer pressure for destructive behavior.
?CHAMPS at Stockton School, which helps K-6 students accept and not be afraid of those with AIDS.
?McGruff for K-1, a seven-week course with police officers.
The alliance receives about $14,000 a year in state aid and raises other money with plant and flower sales and other benefits.
Ms. Marley became involved with the alliance through some peer pressure exerted on her by the first chairman of the alliance and former State Police detective James Conover. She said she has been involved since "Jimmy called for help" about six years ago.
Ms. Marley is a former art teacher at South Hunterdon who now is a freelance artist and mother of three, ages 11, 9 and 7. Her husband, Daniel, is a state trooper.
Mr. Nardini got involved after many years as a baseball umpire. He said he was "always looking for ways to get involved in the community" and from knowing people through baseball, heard about the alliance and started going to meetings.
When Ed Stoloski resigned as the top administrator at the Lambertville elementary school and as chairman of the alliance at the same time, Mr. Nardini was tapped for the job.
He agreed to do it only if he had a co-chair and specifically asked for Ms. Marley, citing her many contacts in the community.
"The people Jimmy (Conover) doesn’t know, Nora does," said Mr. Nardini, whose wife, Donna, is a manager at Greene and Greene Gallery in the city. He is an education manager for the northern region of the state Juvenile Justice Commission.
Meantime, pressure also was being brought to bear on Ms. Marley to take the job.
"I was guilted into it," Ms. Marley explained, saying alliance members said the group would "lose all its funding" if she didn’t take on the job of chairperson.
Both said they hope their combined efforts will bring in more volunteers. There are about 80 members now, with only about half of those actively involved.
They have been calling members, asking them their "status" with the group. Anyone interested in joining may call Ms. Marley at 397-0150 or Mr. Nardini at 397-9418. The alliance meets the third Monday of each month at sites to be announced.
Mr. Nardini wants to see a "continuum" of services; that is, "where one ends, another one picks up" at all grade levels, allowing students to "continually receive positive messages."
He agreed some programs are not effective by themselves.
"We need that continuum," he said.