The English-Speaking Union
Box 27
Rumson, NJ 07760
E-Mail: monmouthcounty@esuus.org
OF INTEREST TO TEACHERS!
Performing Shakespeare Workshop for Teachers and Students
Saturday, December 10, 2011, from 9-1:30, at Red Bank Regional High School
More about this free master class
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| Our President and Mr. Wilbur Watkin Lewis
performing the music of Sir Arthur Sullivan,
February 19, 2011 at Christ Church, Middletown, NJ |
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Welcome to the Monmouth County, New Jersey Branch of the English-Speaking Union of the United States! We are in what is known as the Garden State. The opportunities for the work and advancement of the ESU are as plentiful as the wonderful foods and produce of this great State – and we have great seafood and the shore in the area of this Branch. Come visit us! |
 Click HERE for 2012 ESU Shakespeare Competition Information.
Midsummer Festivities
About 50 members and friends gathered to celebrate midsummer with food, drink, and entertainment at the waterfront home of Ralph and Meta Wyndrum on July 17th, 2011. Members of the board prepared a feast of Elizabethan foods using recipes from Shakespeare's Kitchen by Francine Segon, and staged a reading of a scene from Shakespeare's “A Midsummer's Night Dream,” which evoked laughter and applause from the assembled guests.
Party goers got a real taste of Shakespeare's time by sampling such delicacies as stuffed toadstools, beef purses, salmon in pastry, and an herb tart. The exotic fare revealed that the Elizabethans liked to mix sweet and savory flavors; their meat dishes often contained dried fruits. They seasoned their dishes with ginger, lemons, and cinnamon as well as parsley, rosemary and thyme; the flavors of English cookery had been influenced by the Crusades, and in Shakespeare's day lemon trees grew on noblemen's estates. Board members who prepared the dished learned how hard the Renaissance cooks worked; they folded and rolled their puff pastry ten times before using it to enclose salmon or other savory dishes. Kudos to our chefs, who spent hours in hot kitchens to recreate the flavors of a bygone day!
Guests were also treated to a reading of the climactic lovers' quarrel from Shakespeare's romantic comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Our President, Richard Biernacki, took on the role of Oberon, the fairy king who wants to make things right by restoring Demetrius's love for Helena. David Henritzy protrayed the faithless Demetrius, who once loved Helena but now pursues her best friend Hermia. George Smuga played Lysander, Hermia's true love, and Harry Brady played the mischievous Puck, who mistakenly places an enchantment on the wrong man and then delights in the confusion that results: “What fools these mortals be!” Barbara Nevius played Hermia, who wakes to find her true love has abondoned her for her best friend, and Robin Blair portrayed the unhappy Helena, who believes all her friends are mocking her when both men declare their love for her. All, of course, ends well, thanks to Oberon's strict discipline of Puck.
Many thanks to the Wyndrum's for hosting this event, to all the dedicated chefs who prepared the period foods, and especially to our courageous troup of amateur thespians: Richard Biernacki, David Henritzy, Barbara Nevius, Robin Blair, Harry Brady, and George Smuga!
TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP FOR SUMMER STUDY
 Pictured (left to right): Richard Biernacki, President Monmouth County ESU; Teresa Ciccone, English teacher and 2011 scholarship recipient from Monmouth Regional High School who will study at Edinburgh University in Scotland; Janet Pitman, Chair of Education, ESU Monmouth County
Each year The Monmouth County Branch of The English-Speaking Union has offered a scholarship to a Monmouth County high school teacher of English, drama, or social studies for summer study in one of three British University Summer School programs: The International Globe Centre in London, Oxford University or Edinburgh University. Since the early 1960's, the Monmouth County NJ Branch has awarded over thirty such scholarships to high school teachers who have benefited from these comprehensive international programs and who have returned to speak about their experiences with our branch members at Scholars' Teas.
For more information* on the BUSS Scholarship Program see the brochure
*Details regarding current ESU Monmouth Branch scholarships will be posted when available.
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