Great Swamp Watershed Association to Honor Former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean at Annual Gala & Silent Auction – October 11, 2018

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Morristown, NJ—The Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA) announced today that it will host its annual Gala & Silent Auction at the Brooklake Country Club in Florham Park, NJ on October 11, 2018.  With over 400 community leaders, elected officials, and top New Jersey environmental activists expected to attend, the event traditionally represents the year’s largest gathering of advocates and boosters supporting the protection of water and land in New Jersey’s Great Swamp and Passaic River region.  The Great Swamp Watershed Association also announced that Thomas H. Kean, former governor of New Jersey will be honored for his environmental leadership both locally and nationally.

“We are thrilled that the Great Swamp Watershed Association is honoring former New Jersey Governor, Tom Kean,” stated Nicolas Platt, GSWA Chairman. “I have known Tom for many years. He is without a doubt a true champion of the environment and one of New Jersey’s most relevant and influential politicians. A person most deserving of this honor.”

As governor, Kean was recently rated among America’s most effective state leaders by Newsweek magazine, and is revered for, among other major accomplishments, creating landmark environmental policies. His environmental record was highlighted by his aggressive push for legislation to protect freshwater wetlands and address toxic spills at the Jersey Shore. After completing two terms in office, former Governor Kean became president of Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, and was appointed to head the 9/11 Commission by President George W. Bush. He holds more than 30 honorary degrees and numerous awards from environmental and educational organizations.

“It is an absolute privilege for us to honor Tom Kean at this year’s Gala,” stated Sally Rubin, GSWA Executive Director. “With his unyielding passion for safeguarding the health and well-being of the environment, it’s no wonder he remains the most popular of all of the New Jersey governors 28 years after leaving office.”

GSWA is thankful to their generous Gala Underwriters [to date] New Jersey American Water, Normandy Realty, Pfizer, Inc., Whole Foods Market, Drinker Biddle and Reath LLP, Private Advisor Group, PSEG, Atlantic Health, Brimstone Consulting Group, and Dixon Energy.

“Clean, safe, reliable water is essential for life, and it is a limited resource. As stewards of the environment and the communities we serve, we believe that it is not only our job, it is our obligation to responsibly manage water resources, maintain our infrastructure and reduce our carbon footprint. We are proud to support the efforts of the Great Swamp Watershed Association, with whom we share the same vision,” stated Frank Marascia, Sr. Production Manager, New Jersey American Water – Northern Operations.

This year’s Gala announcement follows a year of many accomplishments at GSWA. As an environmental leader in New Jersey, GSWA continues to implement a series of initiatives to serve New Jersey as the premiere land conservation and advocate in the Passaic River region. In December 2017, GSWA announced the acquisition of 20 acres of land in Harding Township, increasing the organization’s Conservation Management Area to 73 contiguous acres, open to the public for passive recreation. GSWA continued to deliver on their expanded mission by broadening their water quality monitoring program further down the Passaic River. In June 2018, GSWA also hosted their inaugural music festival. The location for this successful fundraising event, Hartley Farms Polo Field in Harding Township, was donated by the organization’s board chairman, Nicolas Platt. The event was so well received that the second annual music festival has been scheduled for Sunday, June 9, 2019 at the same location.  GSWA also recently entered into an exciting, new environmental education collaboration with Students 2 Science (S2S) a New Jersey based non-profit that provides unique, creative science education for students, and inspires them to pursue S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers. GSWA will provide hands-on, outdoor learning experiences to urban schools to complement the laboratory experiences already offered by S2S, expanding GSWA’s education outreach by an additional 1,000 students annually.

Those interested in learning more about the Gala or purchasing tickets may visit GreatSwamp.org or call (973) 538-3500.

To participate in the Gala’s silent auction, an auction catalogue including instructions for mobile text bidding will be made available at GreatSwamp.org beginning in early October. The silent auction will close at 9:00 p.m. on October 11.

Proceeds from all underwriting, ticket sales and auction purchases will go to support the environmental stewardship, education and advocacy programs of the Great Swamp Watershed Association.

About the Great Swamp Watershed Association

Founded in 1981, the Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and improving the water resources of the Passaic River region, from the Great Swamp headwaters to Newark Bay, for present and future generations. Through education, advocacy, science, land preservation, and stewardship, in collaboration with partners, we work to instill our communities with an awareness of water’s effect on health and the beauty of the environment, from source to sea.  The organization currently educates more than 3,000 school children, monitors over 30 sampling locations covering eight tributary streams and the upper Passaic River, and holds over 50 public events each year.

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