“I never had a pet before,” said Cyrus Chang, 7, wearing an ear-to-ear grin while watching his brand new pet. And what is Cyrus naming his new friend? “Shermy.”
Naturally. Because Shermy is a worm.
Shermy the wormy lives in a small plastic container that Cyrus is taking home filled with dirt and rotten tomatoes.
It’s the first lesson on the first day of the first-ever Secaucus Environmental Youth Camp, and Cyrus is one of 25 Secaucus youngsters ages 8 to 12 who just learned how to make a compost bin.
Kayla Reeves, 9, already has a compost bin at home in her garden, so the concept is familiar to her. She filled her new compost bin with dirt and a worm, then stuck a hibiscus flower through a hole in the top, making it a combination compost bin and flowerpot.
“It’s a compost pot,” she explained.
Amanda Nesheiwat, environmental coordinator for the Town of Secaucus, arranged and organized the camp, calling on vendors who participated in the annual Green Festival earlier this year.
“We want to teach them about local issues as well as global issues.” –Mayor Michael Gonnelli
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“They’re going to do a lot of hands-on stuff,” said Mayor Michael Gonnelli. “We’re trying to do something geared toward the environment. We want to teach them about local issues as well as global issues.”
The camp ran for four days: Monday to Thursday, Aug. 31 to Sept. 3. It was funded by a $4,000 grant from PSE&G. Sign-up was through the online portal for all the town’s camps, with the number of participants limited to 25 for this year’s trial run.
“It’s our first year so we wanted to take it easy,” said Nesheiwat. “Already we have a waiting list, so next year we’ll definitely open it up to the 40 kids that wanted to get in.”
Last burst of summer
The concept of the camp grew from a smaller idea of Gonnelli’s. “I wanted to walk the kids along the whole nature trail,” he said. In discussions with Nesheiwat the project grew, and she created the camp around it.
“The goal is to get them interested in learning about the environment, especially the environment they live in, in Secaucus,” said Nesheiwat. “And to maybe interest them in the environmental field, or in becoming more active in solving environmental issues. Just to be good stewards of the environment.”
“This is a weird summer,” said Gonnelli. “Typically kids go back to school around the beginning of September. We don’t go back till Sept. 9 so it’s like there’s an extra week of summer this year.”
That gave them a week after the regular summer camps ended to hold a beta version of the Environmental Youth Camp. And the reception was clearly positive.
The first morning began with a stretching exercise in the Meditation Garden, followed by a hike with Gonnelli along a trail to Mill Creek Point, where a large tent was erected for presentations.
Michael Bedrick is the founder and presenter – and just about everything else – at Let’s Bloom Together, a green-promoting business out of Morristown. A former employee at Pitney Bowes for 16 years, Bedrick packed in his corporate job eight years ago to follow his muse. “In short, I got sick of working for ‘The Man,’” he said before starting his presentation. “I make less, but I wake up every day ready to go to work. Big difference.”
“Today we’re going to talk a little bit about recycling and how we help further reduce the trash,” he continued. “People have to understand why we’re recycling, which is essentially we have a trash problem. So we go through all that with the children and then we eventually lead in to making compost bins.”
At which point he handed out the take-home compost containers. And free worms, including Shermy.
Asked if she was looking forward to the four-day camp, Melody Smentkowski, 9, was unabashedly enthusiastic. “Yes! Because we’re going to the pool today.”
Her friend Laila Lemise, 9, agreed, but for a different reason. “I’m excited,” she said. “I can’t wait for the boat ride.”
“We’re going on a boat?” said an overjoyed Melody. “I didn’t know that!”
While Melody clapped with glee, Laila admitted there was one more thing she was waiting for.
“I’m looking forward to lunch,” she said.
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.