Wheeling and walking

Braving the elements at Miles for Matheny 2012.

The late Lu Huggins was concerned that Matheny students and patients “had no idea what life was like in the real world. And no one in the community ever saw them.” So in 1998, she helped create the first Miles for Matheny, which included a wheelchair walk and one cycling ride.

On Sunday, April 21, the 16th annual Miles for Matheny will be held at Liberty Park in downtown Peapack, NJ, and the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk will, of course, be the centerpiece. Friends and family members will be able to enjoy walking alongside more than 100 Matheny children and adults, who “wheel” through the streets of downtown Peapack to the cheers of community members and other supporters.

All funds raised at Miles for Matheny will benefit the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, which provides medical, dental and therapy care to Matheny inpatients and to people with disabilities in the community. Other activities, in addition to the Wheelchair Walk, are a USAF-sanctioned 5K Race, five different Cycling routes and a Kids Fun Run.

To find out how you can be part of this fun and uplifting event, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260.

Darlene Tammara uses picture symbols to make a story more understandable to student Deborah Eike. At left is occupational therapist Debbie Goodheart.

Darlene Tammara, a teacher at the Matheny School, has been selected as one of the “Teachers Who Rock” by Greater Media radio stations WDHA 105.5FM and WMTR 1250AM. The stations annually recognize 24 outstanding teachers in New Jersey for their important contribution to society. Each Friday, two winners are announced, and their stories are read on both stations’ morning shows. Tammara’s name was announced on Friday, January 25. She and the other 23 honorees will be feted at a dinner on April 23 at Ravello Elegant Weddings & Banquets in East Hanover, NJ.

Tammara teaches a transition class at Matheny, meaning she instructs older students in life skills that will help them after they graduate. Four years ago, she started the Tea Time Café, a snack bar managed by Matheny students for Matheny employees. Her students count money from Tea Time sales, enter the results on a special math worksheet and make bank deposits.  The students also work on clerical jobs for Matheny and fill packages for Operation Shoebox, an organization that sends care packages to U.S. troops deployed overseas.

A resident of Bridgewater, NJ, Tammara appreciates Matheny’s trans-disciplinary approach, “where therapists work in the classroom with teachers. We all work together. I feel very strongly about that – it’s such a collaborative effort.” Her colleagues apparently feel the same way about Tammara as they nominated her Matheny’s educator of the year for the 2012-2013 school year.

Verve owner Rick St. Pierre toasts with one of his customers, Eric Patton of Somerville.

The walls of the Verve Bistro Bar & Lounge in Somerville, NJ, were filled with hanging masks made by facilitators in Matheny’s Arts Access Program, students in Matheny’s Adult Services Program and members of the Junior Friends of Matheny. The occasion was opening night, Thursday, February 7, of Verve’s Mardi Gras-Carnivale celebration featuring, in the words of owner Rick St. Pierre, “food and libations of Venice, Brazil and New Orleans, baubles, beads, gaudy decorations and cheap plastic trinkets.”

The celebration was held over the weekend of February 8-9 and will culminate on Fat Tuesday, February 12, with a silent auction for the masks. A portion of the proceeds from the Carnivale will go to Matheny for the second consecutive year. There is still time to join the celebration tonight, by making a reservation. Just call (908) 707-8655; Verve is located at 18 East Main St.

One of two masks created by Arts Access facilitator Joe Matousek that will have an opening bid of $100 at the silent auction.

From left, MBS students Blake Kernen of Short Hills, NJ; William Segal, Millington, NJ; Kendall Cairoli, Tewksbury, NJ; Lamson; and Jenna Dertouzas, Oakland, NJ.

During the 11 years that he taught science at Morristown-Beard School in Morristown, NJ, Bill Lamson spent every Monday afternoon bringing a group of seven students to Matheny to help out with recreation therapy activities and to interact socially with Matheny patients and students. The Mo-Beard volunteers rotated from a group of approximately 75 students.

In addition to this regular routine, Lamson also galvanized his students to volunteer and raise money to support Miles for Matheny, the annual fundraiser and community event held every April. Last year, despite the rain and wind, more than 20 Mo-Beard students served as walking partners in the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk.

Lamson, a resident of West Caldwell, NJ, is now retired, but he visited Matheny one last time in  January with some of his students, to enjoy a thank you party organized by coordinator of volunteer activities Gail Cunningham and volunteer assistant David Curcio. They presented him with several mementoes of his time at Matheny including photos, press clips and one more Miles for Matheny t-shirt to add to his collection.

Visiting with Matheny adult patient Rasheedah Mahali, clockwise from lower left, are: Jocelyne Munoz (glasses) and Michelle Pelaez, Bound Brook, NJ; Dayanna Mendoza, North Plainfield, NJ; Nancy Giamo, Bridgewater, NJ; Ina Geathers, Somerville, NJ; Daniela Lopez, Raritan, NJ; Sabrinna Miranda and Zoe Ledesman, North Plainfield; and Bethany Schultz, Hillsborough, NJ.

Health occupation students from the Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School in Bridgewater, NJ, regularly rotate through Matheny to observe treatment sessions in occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, music therapy, recreation therapy, dietary services and pharmacy services. During the most recent visit this month, the students, according to their instructor Kim Vasaturo, “were genuinely amazed at all the adaptive equipment and truly astonished at how, despite their disabilities, these young people (Matheny patients) are just like them.”

Among the activities the students experienced were driving motorized wheelchairs, riding on adaptive bicycles and getting raised into a wheelchair by Matheny’s overhead lift system. The SCVTS students are encouraged to connect conventional classroom instruction with work-linked experiences.

Paul West playing the kithara.

Matheny School teaching assistant Paul West could soon have something none of his colleagues have—a Grammy award.

Here’s how it happened. While studying for his undergraduate degree in music theory/composition at Montclair State University, West became familiar with a man named Harry Partch, a classical music composer who invented unusual instruments to be used in the performance of his compositions. The Cali School of Music at MSU is the home of the Harry Partch Institute, which has the largest collection of Partch instruments in the world.

Then, while studying for a Master of Fine Arts degree at the California Institute of Arts in Los Angeles, West joined a quartet that recorded Harry Partch: Bitter Music (Bridge Records), the first-ever complete recording of Partch’s rambling diary with music. On the recording, West plays the kithara, a 72-string harp based on the ancient Greek lyre. The album has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the ‘Best Classical Compendium’ category.

The Grammys will be presented on February 10 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, but, whether or not Bitter Music wins, West is happy that Partch will have received some recognition. “It’s nice to see some kind of awareness for a great American figure who nobody knows about,” he says. He and his wife, Matheny music therapist Alissa West, will be attending the awards ceremony.

On December 19, the 26 new mentors received certificates recognizing their completion of training.

Matheny has introduced a revived, comprehensive training program for new personal care assistants (PCAs) within the nursing department. PCAs play a unique role in providing for the most basic care of Matheny’s patients and students. So, consistency in staffing is critical in order to promote early detection of changes in patients’ and students’ physical or emotional condition. PCAs and residents develop a strong bond of trust and companionship.

Twenty-six mentors who are currently PCAs have completed an updated training program, administered by Bonnie Rodgers, director of staff development. Continued training will take place annually for new mentors. PCAs are vital members of the interdisciplinary team at Matheny, and their input and observations are essential for effective care planning.

Arts Access drama facilitator Burt Brooks puts a new spin on comedy/tragedy.

The facilitators in Matheny’s Arts Access Program have immersed themselves in the Mardi Gras spirit, creating more than two dozen masks to be part of the silent auction on Fat Tuesday, Feb. 12, at Verve, a French restaurant in Somerville, NJ. For the second straight year, Verve has selected Matheny to be the beneficiary of its Mardi Gras-Carnivale celebration, which, according to owner Rick St. Pierre, will feature “food and libations of Venice, Brazil and New Orleans, baubles, beads, gaudy decorations and cheap plastic trinkets.”

On Feb. 7-10 and Feb. 12, a portion of the proceeds at Verve will go to Matheny. Last year’s Mardi Gras celebration raised $1,900.

Since opening in the late 1990s, St. Pierre has consistently given back to the community. He was named Somerville’s Citizen of the Year in 2011, and he is chairman of the Downtown Somerville Alliance events committee. In 2008, he was given the Somerset County Business Partnership’s Economic Vitality Award.

Verve recently received a 3½ star review in The Star-Ledger. The restaurant is located at 18 East Main Street. To make reservations, call (908) 707-8655 and be sure to mention Matheny.

Some of the many masks produced by the creative crew at Arts Access.

Chris Saglimbene behind his San Francisco 49ers mask.

Adult Services students at Matheny have gone all out to support the upcoming Mardi Gras-Carnivale celebration at the Verve restaurant in Somerville, NJ. Verve has once again selected Matheny as the beneficiary of its five-day celebration, and part of the proceeds come from a silent auction of masks, to be held on Fat Tuesday, Feb. 12.

The Adult Services students, working with their instructors, created more than a dozen masks from combinations of cardboard, construction paper, magazines, glitter, paint, ribbon and found objects. To learn more about the celebration, they also watched videos about the history of Mardi Gras and listened to jazz.

The Verve Mardi Gras Carnivale celebration will be held on Feb. 7-10, in addition to Fat Tuesday. According to owner Rick St. Pierre, it will feature “food and libations of Venice, Brazil and New Orleans, baubles, beads, gaudy decorations and cheap plastic trinkets.” To make a reservation, call (908) 707-8655 and be sure to mention Matheny.

Dion Alston working on his mask.

State Sen. Christopher Bateman at last year’s Mardi Gras celebration.

Verve, a French restaurant in Somerville, NJ, has once again selected Matheny as the beneficiary of its Mardi Gras-Carnivale celebration, to be held Feb. 7-10 and 12. The celebration, according to owner Rick St. Pierre, will feature Venice, Brazil and New Orleans-inspired food and libations, baubles, beads, gaudy decorations and cheap plastic trinkets. Partial proceeds from those nights will be donated to Matheny.

A special feature of the Fat Tuesday celebration, on Feb. 12, is the annual Mardi Gras silent mask auction, and a portion of the auction proceeds will also benefit Matheny. Want to donate a mask? Drop it off at Verve, 18 East Main St., by January 28.

Since opening Verve in the late 1990s, St. Pierre has consistently given back to the community. He was named Somerville’s Citizen of the Year in 2011, and he is chairman of the Downtown Somerville Alliance events committee. In 2008, he was given the Somerset County Business Partnership’s Economic Vitality Award.

In 2012, the Mardi Gras celebration raised $1,900 for Matheny. For reservations, call (908) 707-8655 and be sure to mention Matheny.

One of last year’s Mardi Gras masks.

Somerset County Vo-Tech basketball player Devon Gardner and Matheny student Yasin Reddick.

Ahmed Mackey, coach of the Somerset Vo-Tech Jaguars, told the Courier News he wanted his players to see that life is about more than just basketball. So he had his team organize a toy drive and delivered toys to Matheny on Christmas Day.

The team arrived Christmas morning, bringing several hefty bags of toys and games. According to Janice Kriegman, Matheny development officer, who was at Matheny that day, “the boys seemed to instinctively know how to interact with each resident. I was touched by how natural and caring they were. They had just the right touch.”

There are plans for some Matheny students and patients to attend a future Jaguars game. In the meantime, they won’t soon forget the special visit on Christmas Day. And some of the players hinted that they might be back on Valentine’s Day.

Matheny student Richard Kozlik with assistant coaches Mike Remeta, center, and Erik Bowers.

Braving the elements at Miles 2012.

The 16th annual Miles for Matheny will be held Sunday, April 21, 2013, at Liberty Park in downtown Peapack, NJ. The fundraiser and community event returned to downtown Peapack this past April after a two-year hiatus in Natirar Park, and the homecoming was triumphant.

Despite rainy weather, our students, patients and their families joined with friends from the community for a wonderful day that included the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk, five cycling rides, a 5K run and a kids fun run.

As usual, all funds raised in 2013 will help support the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, which provides medical, dental and therapy care to people with disabilities in the community.

Online registration begins today! Log onto www.milesformatheny.org. If you have any questions, need information or would like to become a sponsor, call Patricia Cats at (908) 234-0011, ext. 260, or email her at pcats@matheny.org.