By Marianne Ivers
CHATHAM — As the holiday season nears, Borough Mayor Nelson Vaughan has a wish for all residents: a healthy and fit New Year. As part of the State of New Jersey Mayors Wellness Campaign, in which Chatham participates, the borough will continue to facilitate healthy living choices for residents in the coming year.
Starting in January 2010, the local cable access channels 21 and 32 will air 20-30 minute health, nutrition and fitness programs presented by Chatham Borough residents and other health and fitness experts. Among the topics will be exercise and fitness in a variety of conditions, information on nutrition, and dealing with health risks such as the swine flu and cancer. The times these programs will air will be listed on the Chatham Borough website.
Also beginning Jan. 1, the Chatham Borough Mayors Wellness Advisory Board is sponsoring a Healthy Eating Contest among the restaurants of Chatham Borough. Nearly all borough restaurants are participating.
Each eatery will post a sign indicating its participation in the program. The contest will run through March 31, culminating with an award and recognition ceremony at the Chatham Borough Administration Building in April to recognize the winners and to thank all the restaurants for participating in the contest.
Patrons who wish to participate in the contest can visit the participating restaurants during the first three months of 2010 and vote for their favorite dishes by sending an email to mayor@chathamborough.org, or drop a paper ballot at the Chatham Borough Hall mailbox near the Police Entrance.
Each restaurant can submit an entry in one or all of three categories: Main Course, Appetizer, Dessert/Beverage. Each entry will be designated on the menu by a Mayor’s Contest Item sticker and ballots will be available at all restaurants.
The Advisory Board also is sponsoring a walking program that started in September 2009. This group walks twice a week during all seasons and leaves from the Chatham Middle School parking lot. During November – February, the group leaves at 4:30. From March – October, the walks are at 5:30. The free walks last from an hour to an-hour-and-a-half and can accommodate any level of walker. The goal of the program is to increase endurance and cardio vascular fitness.
The Advisory Board was established in January 2009 to support the mission of the statewide Mayors Wellness Campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to equip mayors and other key community leaders with the tools to develop and implement active-living initiatives in their communities. The goal is to improve citizen’s health and reduce the skyrocketing health care costs that come with the obesity problem in New Jersey.
The Chatham Borough Advisory Board has implemented several programs since April.
The first program was to join the Morris County Toxic Waistline Contest. The Toxic Waistline contest was run from March 1 through June 5 and the local winner was Stan Serbanica, Jr. who lost close to 40 pounds. The second was the Health and Fitness sessions at the Chatham Borough Farmer’s Market during the summer of 2009. Among the sessions were demonstrations by local fitness experts, health counselors and nutritionists, and other activities such as yoga, line dancing and hula hooping. This program ran in the morning each Saturday and will be a part of next year’s Farmer’s Market.
Vaughan, a member of the Advisory Board, is leading by example. Since January he has lost 20 lbs, he told the Independent Press.