Welcome Address

Dear Friends,

4C: Cross Cultural Couples & Children and Interracial Life are taking a break for the summer
and will resume regular meetings in September. Enjoy the summer and we will see you soon.

It's Official!

4C is applying for non-profit status with the state of New Jersey.  In accordance with state regulations,
the following people have volunteered their time on the committee. Each position will last for a one-year term.

Chairperson - Lisa Edwards
Co-chair - Dave Seibel
Treasurer - Vacant
Publicity - Lisa Rasinski
Corresponding Secretary - Kelly Giblin
Program/Speaker Contact - Lisa Edwards
Recording Secretary - Kelli Coulthard/Rosemary Varela
Newsletter/Website - Richard Kapes
Childcare Aide - Vacant

Committee Duties

Chairperson - Organize, coordinate with other members and facilitate meetings.
Co-chair - Assists chairperson.
Treasurer/Fundraiser - Collect/deposit dues, write checks, keep records.
       Coordinate fundraisers.
Publicity - Arrange press releases for  newspapers, Cable TV, Bulletin Boards, etc.
Corresponding Secretary - Respond to group mail with input from the chairperson or co-chair
     (email or snail mail), Thank you notes.
Program/Speaker Contact - Contact speakers as directed by members and recruit them
    as well coordinate topics for meetings with the president and vice
    president.
Recording Secretary - Take minutes of the meetings, assist with mailing.
Newsletter/Website - Create, update and maintain the 4C website. Gather and create
        quarterly newsletter.
Childcare Aide - entertain and care for children during monthly meetings

Membership Dues

Members, friends, supporters we need your help.  Until now, the founders and some members have
been paying mailing costs, P.O. Box cost, and activities costs.  We can no longer afford to do this
and based on previous operating expenses, we have set the following annual dues to cover expenses:
$10 person/ or $15 family.  Checks or money orders should be made out to Lisa Edwards/4C.
Send to P.O. Box 8, Plainsboro, NJ 08536.  Donations are also welcomed.

Happy Anniversary

4C celebrated its first anniversary in May 1998.

The group usually meets on the last Saturday of the month. Agenda and/or guest speaker will be announced in a flyer before the meeting.

Next meeting will be held on:

Date:       Saturday, September 26, 1998
Time:      1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Place:     Plainsboro Public Library
               641 Plainsboro Road
               Plainsboro, New Jersey
 
Topic:     To Be Determined

(April - June )

Kelly Giblin   ----------------------- April 23rd
Ed Rasinski -------------------------May 6th
Frank Varela  -----------------------May 9th
Lisa Edwards  --------------------- May 18th
Alexis Rasinski  ------------------ June 18th
Little Ed Rasinski ---------------- June 24th
Christina Varela ------------------ June 24th

If your birthday is in July, August or September tell us so we can include you in our birthday celebration corner in September.

Congratulations to Janet Brenner on receiving her degree from University of Pennsylvannia.

We'd like to welcome James, Kelli and Keia Coulthard who recently moved from NY to the central New Jersey area.

Childcare Assistant (14 years or older) needed to entertain and care for children during our monthly meeting at the library.  12:30pm to 3:00 p.m., $6.50 per hour.

APRIL 1998

On April 18th, 4C and Interracial Life held their joint monthly meeting at the Plainsboro Public Library. The topic for this meeting was "The Power of Racial Unity," and featured a video presentation entitled "We Are One," and four guest speakers: Jennifer Chingwe, Rhonda McGuire, Tahirih Smith and Betty Turko, all of whom are members of the Baha'i faith.  The speakers and the video presentation provided information that illustrated the various aspects of living together as one regardless of one's color, sex, or race.  After the presentations, there was a question and answer session that drew significant discussion from the attending audience.

Also in April, founders Lisa Edwards and Kelly Giblin met with the Human Relations Council of Plainsboro.  The Plainsboro Human Relations Council has the power is to make recommendations to the Township for the development of policies and procedures, which promote diversity in general.  They are also responsible for providing educational programs designed to help eliminate all types of discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, age, sexual orientation, or physical or mental handicap.

The council represents the community it serves, recognizing various social, religious, and cultural diversity within the township. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce 4C to the council and to see what joint projects we could plan and do together in the future.

4C also participated in Communiversity Day in Princeton, NJ on April 25th. Communiversity Day is a festival, which is a joint effort with Princeton residents and Princeton University.  It is a day full of fun activities, music and lots of food. Lisa Edwards, Kelly Giblin and Lisa Rasinski manned a table with all sorts of literature about the organization and upcoming events.

Several new potential members joined our mailing list as a result of our efforts.

MAY 1998

4C participated in Founder's Day in Plainsboro, NJ on May 3rd.  Founder's Day is an annual celebration sponsored by the Township of Plainsboro featuring a parade, food, childrens activities, games and rides, music and other live demonstrations.  Lisa Edwards, Kelly Giblin, Kelli and James Coulthard, and Ed and Lisa Rasinski sold soda, cake and candy in the food tent to raise money for 4C expenses such as mailing, reproduction, and legal documents.

On May 17th, 4C and Interracial Life participated in the Statewide MultiCultural Outreach Day held at the First Unitarian Society Church in Plainfield, NJ.  This event was co-sponsored by the Multiracial Family Support Group of Plainfield, NJ and GIFT of Montclair, NJ.  The overall topic of the day was "Discovering Ourselves as a Community."  There was an opening presentation by Betty Turko of GIFT from Lakewood, NJ discussing the oneness of the human race, followed by small breakout discussion groups.  The topics of the discussion groups included Transracial Adoption; Dealing with Parents, In-Laws and Others; Child Rearing and Racial Identity; Parenting Teenagers; and Coming Full Circle - Mixed Race Adults.  4C and Interracial Life members Lisa Edwards, Dave Siebel, Irene Rothenberg, Jeff Hitchcock and Lisa Rasinski served as moderators for three of the discussion groups.

JUNE 1998

On June 20th, 4C and Interracial Life held their joint monthly meeting at the Plainsboro Public Library. The topic for this meeting was "He/She is Not One of Us Anymore… How Do You Deal with Criticism From Your Own Race." The topic generated a very lively discussion from the attending audience regarding such issues as what really defines racial identity, and whether we act differently because of our interracial involvement.

• Statewide Multicultural Picnic -  August 8, 1998
• Possible book signing at Barnes & Noble(West Windsor) in September with Danzy Senna, author of Caucasia
• Multicultural Heritage Festival -  To Be Determined

by Dave Siebel

I love camping, but seldom have the time.  So our trip on July 11th/12th was a welcome break from the daily grind. We drove up on Saturday morning and set up camp on a beautiful site next to a lake. Irene Rottenberg of GIFT brought an inflatable raft, and we spent the afternoon lazing around, floating on the lake and skipping rocks across the water. We visited a swimming beach about a five minutes' drive away, near the High Point monument (the highest point in New Jersey, at 1803 feet above sea level).  The beach is sandy and slopes so gradually it is just right for young kids. My five-year-old daughter Nicole made two new friends at the beach and they played to their heart's content.  As we cooked our dinner, the sunset cast purple and pink hues in the sky over the lake. It was a welcome change from the thunderstorms we had on last year's trip.  Sean Rottenberg tried his hand at splitting logs and won the Scrabble game. My teenage son Mike built a cooking fire and Devon Rottenberg built a campfire to sit around.  Irene's friend and GIFT member Kathy provided insect repellent that was amazing.  Irene concluded, "we had great food, a GREAT campfire, great company and perfect weather" (which I am going to take credit for).

On Sunday morning, some of our crew woke up early, while others slept in 'til almost noon. Mike cooked breakfast (a dozen scrambled eggs with cheese, a pound of bacon, OJ and bagels) for my daughter and I, and we had plenty left to share. We took another trip to the beach, then broke camp about early in the afternoon to go rafting down the Delaware River in the shining sun. The water level was high and very few rocks poked through the full river. We took our raft straight through the rapids and big waves with no fear (well, almost no fear).  Mike paddled the stern and aimed for the biggest waves and most fun. Nicole asked, "why do the red letters on that rock say 'KEEP RIGHT'?" which saved us from going over eel traps in the rocks that we had forgotten about.  Thank God she is learning to read.

I am looking forward to next years camping trip already and hope that more IRL/4C members will join us. If we remember to contact the park service in January, we will be able to reserve a cabin for those who do not like tent camping. If you are interested in joining us next year, send me an e-mail at [email protected].