Projects
Raritan River Week
Raritan River Week is an annual event sponsored and created by Summit SMT. The goal of the program is to focus the public’s attention on organizations and events that are working to restore and preserve the Raritan River. Viewers of the website www.raritanriverweek.com are able to donate to organizations, get information on events from the calendar, link directly to organizations for more information, have access to a variety of resources (articles, maps, books, etc. ) and share photographs in four categories for all to see: nature, wildlife, recreation, and pollution.
In 2015 Raritan River Week, and Summit SMT were the winners of the Sustainable Raritan River Award for Public Education.
In addition to the website, Summit SMT and all partners engage in an active social media campaign to cross promote the events, activities and resources via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
This year Raritan River Week featured the following partners: the Raritan Headwaters Association; Central Jersey Stream Team, Clean Ocean Action, the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed; Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership; Raritan Valley Community College; Somerset County Parks Commission; Somerset County Library System; Hundertone County Div. of Parks; NY/NJ Baykeeper; Sustainable Raritan River Collaborative; Clean Water Action; Duke Farms; Bayshore Regional Watershed Council; Sustainable Jersey; ANJEC; City of Perth Amboy; and City of Somerville.
Many thanks to Jim Rokosny for creating and marketing Raritan River Week – Jim is a wonderful champion of the Raritan!
– Heather Fenyk, Ph.D., AICP, President, Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership
EcoBlast Fair Bridgewater, NJ
The EcoBlast Fair, now in its 6 th year, was created by Jim Rokosny as Chairman of the Bridgewater Environmental Commission. In addition to the members of the commission and the Mayor’s Liaison to the commission, Chris Poulsen, the event now attracts over 500 residents annually. The Fair is a variety of events, exhibitors, and activities presented by, and for, all segments of the community…from pre-school, to high school, to civic groups, to senior citizens, to organizations, to corporations…It has music, giveaways (water bottles, canvas bags) food ( 7-9 local restaurants and grocery stores provide the food for free!; over 35 exhibitors ( parks commission, local businesses, watershed associations, farms and more); electric cars, rain barrel workshops, compost exhibits, and more. The children are invited to paint and take home birdhouses made by the Bridgewater High School woodshop class, made with scrap wood donated by Home Depot. They also are taught how to plant trees, and are given one to plant at home. All in all, a truly sustainable community event. The event won an Honorable Mention Environmental Acheivment Award from ANJEC (Assoc. of NJ Environmental Commissions) in 2014.
View a video of the event created by Summit SMT Video Services:
I have been on the Bridgewater Environmental Commission for 30 years and have worked with an array of chairpersons. Jim Rokosny has proven to be the most hardworking,inventive and creative motivator of his fellow commissioners that I have ever experienced. His positive enthusiasm is infectious and most important, he gets positive results.
Respectfully, Dr. Sidney Horowitz
Sustainable Bridgewater Birdhouse Project
This project was created to involve several segments of the community in a project to decrease the scrap wood disposed of by Home Depot, and provide birdhouses free of charge to children at the EcoBlast Fair. Home Depot found they were throwing away scraps of plywood. So, Jim Rokosny made arrangements to collect the wood, and give it to the BRHS Wood Shop teacher Mark Dubyna, who had his class learn how to make an assembly line production of birdhouses. The houses were then given to the Bridgewater Environmental Commission, and given to younger children to paint and take home at the EcoBlast Fair. In one simple project…waste was reduced, high school students learned a new skill, the EC worked with a corporate neighbor, a school, and its youngest citizens, who learned to appreciate nature.
The project won an Environmental Achievement Award from ANJEC in 2015.
Over the past 4+ years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jim Rokosny. Jim’s keen managerial skills are well-suited to his task as Chairperson, as he seamlessly keeps the meetings interesting and focused on the Committee’s goals. He is very easy to work with, respects the opinions of others, and is not afraid to “get down in the trenches” to facilitate a project. Jim’s results-oriented approach makes him a valuable member of any team he is a part of whether it be in the civic or corporate milieus.