newarking

The Greater Newark Network is holding a forum open to the public on Thursday night, October 25, 2007. The focus of the forum is on ways that the local area can become more attractive to new and growing businesses.

The group is a partnership between the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce and local business and government leaders, and was founded earlier this year.

Part of its mission was to identify and plan for problems, such as the closing of the local Chrysler plant in 2009 and the Avon distribution center. Another part was to plan for opportunities, such as the addition of many new high-tech jobs arriving at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, about 25 miles away, because of the federal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) plan.

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There’s a lot of hope accompanying an ad running in today’s News Journal that new University of Delaware president Patrick Harker (fresh from being a Dean of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania), can bring some vitality to Delaware’s business community by “Creating Knowledge Based Partnerships” with businesses.

I’m encouraged by this announcement. Some of that hope that I mention above is mine, but I think that there’s a chance for the University to be the center point of some innovation in business and technological development for the State.

The focus of the advertisment is a day long conference featuring:

• Chad Holliday of DuPont
• Abbey Joseph Cohen of Goldman Sachs & Co.
• Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner, and
• UD President Patrick Harker

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Newark is developing a reputation for working well with mid sized event organizers.  The City and University are attracting more events every year.  The Bob Carpenter Center and the Clayton Hall Conference Center are abuzz this year.

While Newark lacks a large central convention center it makes up for it by providing coordinating services between the hotels and attractions in the area.  This is a new service and it involves a dozen hotels in Newark.  Between them they can accommodate almost any size gathering.  They can also help groups arrange transportation and even get coupons and discounts to lure attendees to Main Street Restaurants and clubs.  If groups want to make excursions to nearby attractions this group can help with that too.

The Downtown Newark Partnership Hotel Partners encourages planners to contact Polly Weir at 302-831-3714 or by email at pweir@udel.edu.

Bill Sullivan, manager at Courtyard by Marriott UD said the partnership is an attempt to …

share the load and respond as a community of hotels.  We can mobilize the resources of the Downtown Newark Partnership, the State Convention Bureau and other resources.  We have 126 rooms and if we fill up with an event, all the hotels in the area benefit from the unrelated bookings that would have been at our hotel.  So it is a win-win for the hotels in the partnership.

The Courtyard by Marriott UD is a teaching hotel, similar in concept to a teaching hospital, which is 100% owned by the University of Delaware.

One group that is taking advantage of all that Newark has to offer is the American Water Resource Association Mid-Atlantic Conference that is coming to Clayton Hall in September.  They will be using the conference and hotel facilities as well as hosting outings to Brandywine Creek State Park, Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge and other area attractions.

The University of Delaware campus will be the new site for the MS Walk this year.  On May 20th, walkers will begin at the Perkins Student Center and follow a three mile paved walkway.  This site replaces the natural contours of Lums Pond State Park.  The new site offers improved accesability for parking as well.

Courtesy of University of Delaware, Office of Public Relations, photo by Kevin Quinlan

Day of the event registration begins at 8:00 AM but pre-registration is available through the Multiple Sclerosis Society, at (302) 655-5610 or by going online at http://www.msdelaware.org/.   Walkers who raise more than $100 are eligible for prizes and incentives.

The largest fund raising team in the Newark MS Walk is the J&M Jaguars who raised over $13,000 .  The team leader is Dinamarie Borcky who individually raised over $6,000.  In the six years Ms. Borcky has been doing this she and her team have raised almost $40,000!  Ms. Borcky lives off of Paper Mill Road just outside of Newark and works at the Bank of America. 

 “I am excited for this year because Bank of America has a donation match program.  Anyone who donates from Bank of America can have the bank match their donation” 

In fact, there are three walk teams that are headed by Bank of America employees. The new location will help her raise even more money for this good cause. 

“A lot of people who have small kids wanted to come out and bring the kids, but they could not at Lums Pond because of the rough terrain.  At the UD Campus we will have paved paths.” 

The J&M Jaguars get their name from Ms. Borcky’s Mother and Cousin who both have MS and from her Mom’s favorite car.  They will be holding a pre-walk fundraiser event this year at the Red Robin Restaurant in Christiana Town Center on Wednesday, May 16^th between 5 – 8 p.m.  If you bring a copy of the event flyer and present it to the waiter or waitress that night, Red Robin will donate 20% of your bill to the MS Society in the name of the team.  Red Robin has some huge hamburgers so bring your appetite and eat well knowing that 20% goes to help fight MS.

 Free comic book day was a great success at Captain Blue Hen on Main Street. 

I took my three year old Spider Man fan with me and he just loved getting to meet Spidey, Batman and Batwoman.  There was one fella there that scared him a bit though…

Thanks for the heads up to Eric at Evolvor Media.

Kevin Sun will host the Newark celebration of International Tai Chi Day this year.  He and other tai chi practitioners and teachers will hold demonstrations and lessons starting at 2:00 PM at the Old College lawn.  There will also be a lion dance demonstration. 

Newark is a special place for moving and still meditation.  There are some remarkable tai chi, kung fu and karate teachers in the area.  You may run into them while just walking down Main Street.  I know I have. 

We have  at least one 25 year tai chi master in town as well as accomplished Gung Fu, Chi Gung and meditation masters.  These people do not like to make their accomplishments public, but they can be found.  You may find them in any of Newarks’ wonderful parks early in the morning.  Or you may find them down by White Clay Creek.  Moving quetly through the still air.  An easier and more fruitful way to meet some of them would be to come out to National Tai Chi Day!

Here is a partial listing of the martial arts schools in the area.  This is not a list of attendees at National Tai Chi Day.

American Karate Studios
16 Polly Drummond Center, Newark, Delaware 19711

China Wind, LLC
Traditional 5 Animal Hung Gar Kung Fu
280 E. Main Street, Suite 113, Newark, DE 19711

Karate Kids
Astro Shopping Center, Newark, Delaware 19711

Ming Tao T’ai Chi Ch’uan Studio, Inc.
Traditional Yang Family T’ai Chi School, Hsing-Yi, Pa-Kua, LiuHoPaFa
P.O. Box 432, Newark, Delaware 19711

Sachetti’s Martial Arts
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Pekiti-Tirsia, MMA, Kids & Adults
Four Seasons Plaza, Rt. 896, Newark DE 19702

Shaolin Martial Monk School
Traditonal Shaolin Kungfu,Tai Chi,XIng YI, Bagua
168 Elkton Rd, Newark, Delaware 19711

The Shaolin Wushu Kung-fu Institute
14 Peddler’s Row, Newark, DE 19713

Shao Lin Tiger & Crane Kung Fu Academy 
Traditional Hung Gar Gung Fu, Tai Chi Chuan
Market East Plaza, 280 E. Main St, Suite 116, Newark, DE 19711

Tai-Kai Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts training center
691 College Square, Newark, Delaware 19711

Top Notch Karate
2632 Kirkwood Hwy, Newark, Delaware 19711

Zentokukai of Delaware
Okinawa Shorinji-Ryu Toude Karate-Do
120 Salem Church Rd, Newark, Delaware

The Downtown Newark Partnership (DNP) and the Alpha Xi Delta (AZD) sorority are hosting a 5k Run/Walk this Saturday, April 21

You can pre-register at the Downtown Parking Office, on the second floor of the Galleria, 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday-Friday, or at the Trabant University Center kiosks on April 19 and 20 or online. The pre-registration cost is $15 for the race and $5 more for brunch to be held after the race at Shaggy’s on Main.

It’s also possible to register on the day of the race, though the costs rise to $20 for the race and $10 for brunch. Pre-registration on Saturday starts at 8:00am at the Main Street Galleria.

There are raffle prizes for race participants and donors. Students could win a Nintendo Wii and 100 hours of free parking in downtown Newark. Area residents could win a one-year permit for free parking in downtown Newark.

The Downtown Newark Partnership will use its portion of the proceeds for improving the appeal of the town through downtown community arts programs.

Alpha Xi Delta proceeds will be divided into two charitable donations, one to a scholarship fund for a college student battling cancer and the other Girls Inc. of Delaware.

For more information, or to donate or volunteer, contact Andrew Haines at (302) 366-7155 or e-mail ahaines(at)newark.de.us.