MYCENTRALJERSEY.COM THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2015 $1.00

Treats worththe wagging

Central Jerseybakery/boutiquemakes healthyfood for dogs. 1B

Sayreville BOE president says ‘many crimes’ occurred in football locker room, 1C

After her daughter died, 89-year-old Lorraine Gal-braith of Oldwick was left alone.

Gradually, her life, and her connections to others,grew smaller. She put herself in a wheelchair and livedin social isolation and in poor health. Over the years, shesoldiered through Hurricane Sandy and numerousmedical issues, including a stroke, by herself.

She was “not very engaging,” said her legal guardianand caretaker, attorney Frank Whittlesey.

With no family to care for her as her health waned,Whittlesey searched for a way to get her “stimulated”and more involved in society, with everything from artsand crafts to musical activities.

Eventually, Right at Home Care, Galbraith’s care-givers, suggested horticultural therapy, which usesgardening and planting related activities to help betterthe lives of patients. Whittlesey contacted Laura De-Prado, president of Final Touch Landscaping and a reg-istered horticultural therapist with the American Hor-ticultural Therapy Association, to work with Galbraith.

For more than 1,600 hours and 300 sessions, Gal-

COURTESY OF LAURA DEPRADO

Lorraine Galbraith makes sun tea during a therapy session.

Oldwick resident is transformedthrough horticultural therapy experiences

GEORGE TATORIS EDITORIAL INTERN

COURTESY OF LAURA DEPRADO

Laura DePrado, right, works with Lorraine Galbraith during atherapy session.

PLANTINGSEEDS OF LIFE

See THERAPY, Page 9A

“Working with plants helps to create

a nonthreatening and low stress experience.”

JOEL FLAGLERPROFESSOR AT RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

CENTRAL JERSEY — A sudden microburst in west-ern Union County on Wednesday afternoon caused awave of flash flooding, stopped rush-hour traffic,flooded basements and damaged roadways.

Preliminary radar reports say that 4 or 5 inches ofrain fell in a relatively short time in a small area on theridges of the Watchung Mountains as the area sweat-ed under a hot and humid air mass.

Because of the recent hot and dry weather, the rain-fall ran quickly off the mountain.

Rush-hour traffic on Interstate 78 and Route 22came to a halt as concrete dividers acted as dams forthe rushing water.

Sections of westbound Route 22 in Scotch Plain

COURTESY OF AMANDA VARGAS

Flooding in Scotch Plains Wednesday evening.

Afternoondownpourcausesfloods MIKE DEAK @MIKEDEAKMYCJ

For photo gallery visit

MyCentralJersey.com

See FLOODS, Page 9A

Middlesex County may be one of the state’s mostdiverse counties — but not when it comes to the teach-ers in the classrooms.

While more than two-thirds of public school stu-dents in the county were minorities, the county’steachers remain overwhelmingly white, with minor-ity educators accounting for just 13 percent of faculty,a MyCentralJersey.com review of state data found.

The most yawning gaps were in school districtswith large Asian populations. Middlesex County hasone of the highest concentrations of Asian Indian resi-dents in the state.

North Brunswick, a district with one of the mostdiverse student bodies in the state — 21percent white,20 percent black, 30 percent Hispanic and 28 percentAsian — has a faculty that is 92 percent white.

Such disparities are true for the rest of the state.In Somerset County, the number of minority stu-

dents has grown to half, but minority teachers ac-count for less than 9 percent of the workforce.

Bound Brook’s school district is more than 70 per-cent Hispanic, but minority teachers account for just8 percent in the schools.

In Union County, 16 percent of Linden’s teacherswere minorities and 18.5 percent of Rahway’s were,

Little diversityamong localschools facultiesSERGIO BICHAO @SBICHAOKAREN YI @KAREN_YI

See DIVERSITY, Page 5A

BRIDGEWATER — On Saturday the community is in-vited to visit Big Dan’s “Pop-Up” Bike Shop, a success-ful business venture that just happens to be run byteenagers, under adult supervision.

For the program, youths collect bike donationsfrom the community, repair and refurbish the bikes,and make them available to the public for a donation.

From 11a.m. to 3 p.m., the shop will appear at MiddleEarth, a nonprofit that has served local youths formore than 40 years. Middle Earth is at 520 N. Bridge St.The shop will offer three services to the community:

» A repair table will be offered to the community.Trained youths will tune up or repair bikes to get themin full working order again for a small donation.

» Refurbished bikes will be available for a dona-tion. The public can also look through a full catalog ofthe shop’s inventory or purchase bike lights and mis-

Youth-driven bike shop ‘pops up’ WENDY REED MIDDLE EARTH

COURTESY OF MIDDLE EARTH

Middle Earth staff and youths assist customers at a “Pop-Up”Bike Shop.See SHOP, Page 9A

ADVICE ...................................... 5BCLASSIFIED ............................... 5CCOMICS ..................................... 4BOBITUARIES ............................. 8A

MYCENTRALJERSEY.COM COURIER NEWS THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2015 9A

Joseph Francis Yatczyn,Jr. passed into eternal lifeon Tuesday, August 18, 2015at Care One at Hanover,Whippany, after a short ill-ness. He was born in NewBrunswick, the only childof Joseph F. Yatczyn, Sr. andMary Pohira Yatczyn, bothdeparted. He was raised inOak Tree, Edison and SouthPlainfield, NJ graduatingfrom Edison High School.He was a proud recipient ofa Bachelor of Science de-gree in Chemical Engineer-ing from his beloved almamater, Villanova University,Villanova, PA. He went onto earn his MBA from SetonHall University, South Or-ange, NJ. While Joe startedhis career as a chemical en-gineer with Diamond Alkali,he soon discovered his apti-tude for sales and continuedin that field for 47 years intheir Nopco Chemical Divi-sion, which was spun off toOccidental Petroleum, Hen-kel, Cognis and ultimately,BASF. Joe’s winning per-sonality, attention to detail,expert knowledge and cus-tomer care enabled him tobe named Salesman of theYear multiple times. Joe andhis wife Pat lived in India-napolis, IN; Lake Hiawathaand Rockaway Township, NJ

before settling in Succasun-na 38 years ago to raise theirfamily. He was a memberof St. Therese R.C. Churchand of the SACCI Chemi-cal Organization. He was anenthusiastic world travelerand also an avid golfer andchess player. Since child-hood he was a loyal fan ofthe Yankees as well as theGiants. For all who knewhim, he was “the nicest guy”with a ready smile and help-ing hand.

Besides his wife, PatriciaC. Yatczyn, of 46 years, Joeis survived by their two chil-dren: son Jeffrey Yatczynof Wayne, PA and daughterLeslie Orzack and her hus-band Robert of Succasunna,and two grandchildren:Liam and Reese Orzack; un-cles John Pohira of WinterPark, FL; Charles Yatczyn ofOrlando, FL; aunts Marga-ret Lewkow of Littleton CO;Helen Stoll of Teaneck, NJand multiple cousins.

Family and friends mayvisit at the Davis & Hepple-white Funeral Home, 96Main Street, Succasunna973-584-7264 (davishepplewhitefh.com) on Friday,August 21st from 2-4pm &7-9pm. The Funeral Liturgywill be held on Saturday,August 22nd at 11:00am atSt. Therese R C Church, 151Main Street, Succasunna,NJ. In lieu of flowers, dona-tions may be made payableto “Villanova University.”Please include on the memoline that the donation isfor the “Robert E. WhiteEndowed Scholarship inmemory of Joseph Yatczyn’67.” Address: Villanova Uni-versity, Office of UniversityAdvancement, ATTN: JanetDuffy, 800 Lancaster Ave-nue, Villanova, PA 19085.

JOSEPH FRANCIS YATCZYN, JR.

obituaries

Alcoeur Gardens Daily Lunch & TourDuring Month of AUGUST. Enjoy a Complimentary Lunchand Tour our Matawan Community. We Specialize inAlzheimers & Dementia Care. Call for Reservations:732-290-2273

Sunday Funday- Sunday, Aug. 23, 1pmTravelers Fellowship Community Church, 33 Poplar Rd,Piscataway NJ. Food, Game Truck, Pony Rides, FacePainting, 200 book bags to be handed out & much more.All FREE! For more info call 732-253-7195

Allaire Village presents “The Coast Liners”performing those golden oldies, acapella, in the AllaireChapel on 8/29 @ 7:30PM. Tickets $15 Advance PurchaseRecommended www.allairevillage.org 4263 (GPS 4265)Atlantic Ave, Farmingdale, NJ 07727 732-919-3500

Annual Flea Market - Vendors WantedSponsored by St. Anthony of Padua Holy Name Society atthe church parish hall & parking lot. 436 Port Reading Ave,Port Reading. 8am-2pm, Saturday 9/12. Vendors wanted.$10 for outdoor parking space or $15 indoor 8" table.Call church office, 732-634-1403.

Franklin Day Festival - VENDORS WANTED2nd Annual Franklin Day Festival is expecting attendance ofover 5,000 people. We are seeking both food & non-foodvendors, entertainers & sponsors. The event will be held inColonial Park, Somerset, NJ. Rain Date is September 26th.Contact franklindayfestival@gmail.com if interested.

Sleep-ConventionEARLY BIRD PRICING! VENDOR OPPORTUNITIESAVAILABLE! Half price! Only $250 for a table. The AsburyPark Press and P.C. Richard present “Sleep-Con” atMonmouth University, a day of entertainment & education!Giveaways, contests, games, field experts, local personali-ties, interactive displays and much more. Be a part of ourcelebration of sleep and healthy living from 10 am to 3 pm.For more info and vendor registration call 732-643-3703.Space is limited. Call today. Tickets are FREE to Asbury ParkPress Subscribers through our Insider program. To learnmore go to app.com/Insider.

Allentown, NJ Fall Festival - Hand Made Crafters WantedSponsored by the Allentown Business Community Assoc.Sat & Sun Oct 10th & 11th 10am-5pm. $100 for both days.Located on Main & Church Sts. For application call Heather609-208-0544 or email allentownfallfest@gmail.com

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were buckled by the sud-den onslaught of flood wa-ters.

At about 6:30 p.m.Wednesday, the state De-partment of Transporta-tion was reporting trafficdelayed on Route 22 for 50to 55 minutes, while traf-fic on Route 78 was de-layed for 90 minutes.

Vehicles stalled out inthe floodwaters on bothhighways.

The runoff from themountain gushed acrossthe highway and floodedneighborhoods on theScotch Plains and Plain-field border. Residents re-ported basements wereflooded.

Particularly hard hitwas Park Avenue in

Scotch Plains, PineviewTerrace, Emerson Ave-nue and East Front Streetin Plainfield, and TerrillRoad between the twotowns.

Heavy flooding wasalso reported on GlensideAvenue in BerkeleyHeights. North Plainfieldresidents posted on Face-book that though theyonly measured a quarterinch of rain, the GreenBrook was near to over-flowing.

Wednesday’s micro-burst was eerily reminis-cent of a cloudburst onAug. 3, 1973, when six peo-ple lost their lives in aflash flood when a severethunderstorm stalledover the mountain andtransformed the GreenBrook and Stony Brookinto raging torrents.

Mike Deak: 908-243-6607;mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

FloodsContinued from Page 1A

JENNIFER GATTULLO

Flooding outside the Scotch Plains municipal buildingWednesday evening.

AMANDA VARGAS

Flooding in Scotch Plains Wednesday evening.

cellaneous bicycle parts.» The shop will also be

accepting donations ofused bicycles and bicycleparts. The donations canbe in any condition and ofany size or style.

Middle Earth startedBig Dan’s Bike Shop in2012 to teach local youths

the basics of bicycle me-chanics, employmentreadiness skills, and howto successfully run asmall business. The shopwas an instant successand became a more struc-tured program in 2014, in-corporating a STEM (Sci-ence, Technology, Engi-neering, and Mathemat-ics) component,internship opportunity,and job placement.

Teaming with collegestudents from Enactus at

Raritan Valley Communi-ty College, the teenagerslearn business principles(such as marketing, fi-nance, sales and customerservice) and leadershipand communicationskills. The shop experi-ence prepares youths forthe working world, givesthem a positive outlet inwhich they can grow andprosper, allows them todevelop valuable skillsand work experience, andfosters creativity and

teamwork.Middle Earth is a non-

profit that has servedyouth in Somerset Countyfor more than 40 years.Middle Earth’s programsoffer local children a safeenvironment where theycan use their free timeconstructively, engagewith caring adults who lis-ten, obtain help withhomework, prepare forcollege and/or future em-ployment, participate infun group activities, and

volunteer for communityservice opportunities.Their programs offermentoring and teach posi-tive decision makingskills, acceptance of con-sequences for their ac-tions, and leadershipskills, as well as basic lifeskills such as budgeting,cooking and obtaining adriver’s license. All oftheir programs guideyouths in learning respectfor themselves and othersand choosing positive al-

ternatives to gangs, drugsand crime.

Follow Big Dan’s BikeShop on Twitter @Big-DansBikeShop or Face-book at www.face-book.com/bigdansbikesh-op. For additional infor-mation about MiddleEarth or Big Dan’s BikeShop, contact MiddleEarth at 908-725-7223 orvisit MiddleEarthNJ.org.

ShopContinued from Page 1A

her on her engaging newlife. During a small eventhosted down the streetfrom her home at Melick’sTown Farm, Lance giftedher with an American flagand told her that an Amer-ican flag will be flownover the capital in herhonor later this year. (TheMelicks are neighbors toGalbraith and have one oftheir orchards in herbackyard.)

She also received aState and General Assem-bly citation for her “dedi-cation, determination,commitment, success andsupport for horticulturaltherapy,” as well as aproclamation from theHunterdon County Boardof Chosen Freeholders,represented at the eventby Freeholder DirectorJohn King.

“Today gave me a rarebut lasting impression ofhuman spirit and compas-sion. Lorraine thrives be-cause of horticulturaltherapy with Laura,” Kingsaid.

State Sen. Michael Do-herty and AssemblymenJohn DiMaio and Erik Pe-terson, Republicans rep-resenting the 23rd Dis-trict, also were there topresent the citation.

Many of the legislatorsin attendance have beenraising awareness for hor-ticultural therapy.

braith worked with De-Prado, each session with adifferent set of goals andactivities for Galbraith todo.

Those goals are tai-lored to the specific needsof the patient. For Gal-braith those includedfinding stimulation, tap-ping creative expression,being more engaging,finding new ways to inter-act and socialize, findingways to feel empoweredand allowing her to wilful-

ly participate in the activ-ities.

Activities includeddrying flowers and re-sponding to blooms, col-ors and fragrances, in ad-dition to caring for theplants.

Over the past two-and-a-half years, Galbraith’slife has blossomed. Shecultivated a little indoorgarden that became hometo a palette of differentplants such as floweringand non-flowering house-plants, herbs, vegetablesand annuals.

On Aug. 12, Repre-sentative Leonard Lance(R-District 7) met withGalbraith to congratulate

DiMaio and Petersonsponsored a bipartisanbill coined by SenatorsChristopher Bateman (R-Dist. 16) and Joseph Vitale(D-District 19) that calledfor the celebration of a“Horticultural TherapyWeek” on the third weekof each March startingnext year. The bill wassigned into law this May.

DePrado, who orga-nized last Wednesday’sevent, called it “a celebra-tion of [Lorraine’s] will tolive.”

“It couldn’t be more ap-propriate and beautiful tohold this event,” addedDePrado, who studiedhorticultural therapy atthe Rutgers School of En-

vironmental and Biologi-cal Sciences.

Why it works

According to ProfessorJoel Flagler, who teacheshorticultural studies atRutgers University, thetherapy works becauseeveryone can relate toplants in one way or an-other — we eat them,build with them and wearthem on a daily basis.

The plants don’t dis-criminate, according toFlagler, so patients canbuild their sense of self-worth without fear of be-ing judged for their dis-abilities.

Plants are also inher-

ently calming and peace-ful to patients, who canfind a “special place”away from the stress ofthe human world whentending to them.

“Working with plantshelps to create a non-threatening and lowstress experience,” Fla-gler said.

Flagler added that “it’sa very good time for horti-cultural therapy” in theGarden State. The pro-gram began at Rutgers in1996, and is classes, oncesparsely populated by stu-dents, are now constantlyfull. The amount of grantsthe program receives hasalso increased.

“It’s grown in popular-ity because it seems toresonate with the under-graduate population whoare very interested in us-ing nature as part of thehealing process,” he said.

Rutgers is just one ofseveral schools offering adegree program in horti-cultural therapy. Othersinclude Kansas State Uni-versity, Temple Univer-sity and Colorado StateUniversity.

Legislators are alsotaking a keen interest, duein part to a push from De-Prado, who invited thelegislators to meet Gal-braith, and was one of theguiding forces behind thesuccessful push for the bi-partisan “HorticulturalTherapy Week” bill.

There are currently 25registered horticulturaltherapists in New Jerseythat develop vocational,social and therapeuticprograms for people liv-ing with a broad range ofproblems.

Those problems in-clude substance abuse is-sues, psychiatric chal-lenges, physical injury ordevelopmental or psychi-atric disability. There arealso programs for incar-cerated individuals, peo-ple with socioeconomicdifficulties, the elderlyand the general communi-ty.

Galbraith is a testa-ment to what those pro-grams can accomplish,and plans to continue towork with DePrado indef-initely.

The Monday before theevent, the two made a suntea of chocolate mintsprigs, which they gave tothe legislators who cameto honor Galbraith.

Whittlesey is very hap-py with Lorraine’s “re-markable transforma-tion”

The plants have “givenher a new purpose in life,”he said.

TherapyContinued from Page 1A

COURTESY OF JENNY DEPRADO

Hunterdon County freeholder John King accepts sun tea recipefrom Lorraine Galbraith.

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