HRT - Hormone Replacement Therapy in Skillman, NJ

SKILLMAN, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Last week, the FDA gave the green light to the first drug to treat peanut allergies, the nation's most prevalent food allergy.

For families with a loved one with a peanut allergy, even day-to-day things like going to school can be nerve-wracking.

The Kennedy family of New Jersey took part in the clinical trials to test this new treatment. They say it has made a world of a difference for their son.

Eleven-year-old Noah Kennedy of Skillman, Somerset County loves everything about baseball - especially those thrilling games.

"Going 4-for-4, with two doubles, and a triple, and a single, and getting the winning play," said Noah with a smile.

But when it comes to the game's staple snack, peanuts, they're a problem for Noah.

He wouldn't eat peanuts or peanut butter as a baby.

"He wouldn't put it in his mouth," recalled Noah's father Craig.

Then in kindergarten, Noah had a severe reaction to an unmarked peanut butter candy, with a rash, coughing, swelling in his mouth, and gastrointestinal symptoms,

Ever since, he's had to avoid all contact with peanuts.

"He realized all of a sudden he was different, right? And no kids like to be different," said Craig.

"At first I sat at the peanut allergy table, but then my friends, they wanted to sit with me. So they stopped bringing peanut stuff to school so I could sit with them," Noah said.

But a few years ago, Noah qualified for clinical trials at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for a drug that gradually increases doses of peanut flour to desensitize children.

The first test to check allergic level caused a severe reaction; it was difficult to endure for both Noah and his parents.

"You deliberately are giving the child something that you spent years trying to make sure they never come in contact with," noted Craig.

At the end of the first year, the Kennedys found out Noah was getting a placebo, not the real medication.

So, he kept having reactions.

"We find out that he's actually more reactive to peanuts than he was in the beginning," Craig said. "It was one of the saddest days ever for our family."

Still, they decided to stick it out. And in year two, after 12 months of getting the real drug, the Kennedys saw results.

"He was able to eat the equivalent of 18 peanuts in a two-hour period with no significant reaction," Craig said.

Today, Noah maintains his peanut tolerance without medication.

"I'm eating two dark chocolate peanut M&Ms every night," Noah proudly said.

Noah's dad said his son no longer has the fear of accidental peanut exposures, and that has boosted his willingness to try new things, and his overall confidence in life - and at the ballpark.

The new drug, Palforzia, has to be given under a doctor's close supervision. It costs about $1,100 for a year of desensitization.

Another product, given through a patch, is due for FDA approval in early August.

This article originally appeared on the Jersey High School Sports Blog (here at jerseyhighschoolsports.com) which is run by Plainfield resident and high school sports enthusiast Noel Pyne.

SKILLMAN, NJ — When you analyze a statistical chart, usually the outcome is obvious. In the game that is played on what we traditionally call a gridiron, the only statistic that counts is what is on the scoreboard when the clock strikes 00:00.

On Friday night, Plainfield statistically doubled the output of their opponent, the undefeated and #7 ranked team in the Big Central Conference (www.jerseyhighschoolsports.com poll), the Montgomery Cougars. If not for the outstanding defensive effort of Montgomery’s Alessandro Spera, Plainfield could have easily tripled their statistical effort over the overwhelming favorite Cougars. Spera played the role of the man on an island, aka Hall of Fame Daryl Revis. Spera totaled 7 tackles, which were mostly one tackle away from Plainfield inflicting major damage to the Senior Night in Skillman, NJ.

Montgomery juggernaut offense came into the contest averaging over 330-yards from the line of scrimmage and 42-points per game. The exceptional play of Plainfield’s, Ala-Meen Watkins, Josue Cordoba and Al-Khabir Bethune led Plainfield’s defensive efforts to hold the Cougars to less than half of their average offensive output.

At the end of the day the scoreboard showed, 23 – 14 with no time left on the clock in favor of Montgomery.

Next up: Plainfield will host undefeated #11 Carteret on September 16th. Montgomery will travel to face #18 Somerville on September 15th.

Scoring: 1st Quarter 05:48 – M- Golubitsky 12-yard pass from Schmelzer (McFadden kick)

2nd Quarter 10:04 – P- Lowry 2-yard run (kick failed) 00:22 – P- Watkins 1-yard run (Watkins pass to Bethune 2-point conversion)

3rd Quarter 10:56 – M - safety 04:00 – M- Schmelzer 1-yard run (Schmelzer pass to Giambra 2-point conversion)

4th Quarter 02:03 – M- Post 7-yard run (2-point conversion failed)

Offensive Stat Leaders:

Touch Downs M-Schmelzer – 2

Passing P-Watkins – 14/20 – 217-yards

Rushing P-Wyatt – 50-yards on 8 rushing attempts

Yards Receiving P-Joel Cordoba – 110-yards on 6-receptions

Defensive Stat Leaders:

Tackles M-Spera – 7

Tackles for Loss Yardage P-Josue Cordoba – 3

Sacks P-Watkins – 2

Interceptions P-Bethune – 2

Fumble Recovery/block fg/xtra points M-Mutton – 1

Pass Breakups P-Bethune – 2 M-Schick – 2

Longest Punt P-Watkins – 36-yards M-McFadden – 36-yards

Longest Punt Return None

Longest Kick-Off Return M-Mutton – 23-yards

Longest Field Goal None

Penalties P-16-penalties; 112-yards M-10-penalties; 45-yards

A five-acre homestead on Hollow Road in Skillman — once home to a Black Union soldier and then to generations of the True Family — will be preserved.

The Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum (SSAAM) and the Sourland Conservancy have purchased the farmstead, located at 183 Hollow Road (adjacent to the Mt. Zion AME Church) in Skillman.

The True family lived on and around Hollow Road in Skillman for five generations — beginning when Friday Truehart’s enslaver brought him to Hopewell from South Carolina.

A home on the site of what was the True (Trueheart) homestead on Hollow Road in Skillman.

Trueheart descendants Spencer and Corinda True made their home on the farmstead. They also had donated some of their land for the Mt. Zion AME Church in 1899. (The church is listed on the National Historic Register. It now serves as the home of the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum.)

SSAAM advisory board member Patricia Payne, a descendant of Truehart, grew up visiting her grandparents on the family farmstead in Skillman. There was a time, she recalls, when she knew every inch of the landscape of trees, ponds, and trails that surrounded the property.

“We had plenty of gardens,” Payne recalled. Her ancestors “raised peaches and apples, and they certainly had huge collards, and greens and tomatoes, ... and my father’s favorite, Jersey white corn. They trucked all these green groceries down to Trenton.”

The True family sold the farmstead to the Normile family in 1994. By purchasing the True Farmstead, SSAAM will be able to tell the story of the African American community of the Sourland Mountain Region.

“Evidence of these families, their homesteads, their histories and their contributions have all but disappeared,” said John Buck, SSAAM president. “People who have moved into the area over the past 35 years have no idea of the culture and contributions of these families who worked hard to develop the unique character and economy of the region.”

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Elaine Buck and her writing partner Beverly Mills, both Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum co-founders, have conducted extensive research into the history of African Americans in the Sourland region. Their first book, If These Stones Could Talk, was published in 2018. They are currently co-authoring a follow-up volume, Harmony and Hostility: A View from the Mountain, due out this year.

Visit ssaamuseum.org to learn more about the museum and the homestead. ■

Spencer and Corinda True made their home on the farmstead, which originally included the land on which the National Historic Register-listed Mt. Zion AME Church stands today. Spencer and Corinda donated the land for the church in 1899. The original church, built around 1866 on the Sourland Mountain, had burned down. Mt. Zion AME Church welcomed its African American congregants until 2005, and now serves as the home of the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum.

SSAAM advisory board member Patricia Payne, a descendant of Friday Truehart and Spencer True, grew up visiting her grandparents on the family farmstead. There was a time, she recalls, that she knew every inch of the landscape of trees, ponds, and trails that surrounded the property.

“We grew up on a five-acre farm,” Payne recalled, referring to the True family farmstead. “We had plenty of gardens. They raised peaches and apples and sold greens from the garden. They certainly had huge collards, and greens and tomatoes, and whatever else they grew, and my father’s favorite, Jersey white corn. He loved Jersey white corn. They literally trucked all these green groceries down to Trenton. It was a big deal to come all the way from Hopewell/Skillman and truck it down to Trenton.”

“For generations, my family was all about central NJ,” Payne said. The True family has lived in central New Jersey for five generations, beginning when Friday Truehart’s enslaver brought him to Hopewell from South Carolina. Closely connected to the tight-knit African American community that lived on and around Hollow Road in Skillman, the Trues remained on the mountain and in the Hopewell Valley until Payne and her cousins dispersed to go to college and live elsewhere.

Descendants of the True family sold the adjoining farmstead to the Normile family in 1994. With the recent purchase of the farmstead and recombining of the parcels, the True family story has come full circle.

Purchasing the True Farmstead will enable the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum (SSAAM) to tell the story of the unique culture, experiences, and contributions of the African American community of the Sourland Mountain Region.

“Evidence of these families, their homesteads, their histories and their contributions have all but disappeared,” said John Buck, SSAAM President. “People who have moved into the area over the past thirty-five years have no idea of the culture and contributions of these families who worked hard to develop the unique character and economy of the region with back-breaking farming, and the strong cultural bonds of family and camaraderie of neighbors that was a key feature of life on the mountain and in the Hopewell Valley.”

According to Elaine Buck, author and SSAAM co-founder: “Anyone with a long family history in this area will tell you how tightly connected and interdependent the families were and how they helped one another survive and thrive through adverse times.”

Elaine Buck and her writing partner Beverly Mills, also a SSAAM co-founder, have conducted extensive research into the history of African Americans in the Sourland region. Their first book, If These Stones Could Talk, was published in 2018. They are currently co-authoring a follow-up volume, Harmony and Hostility: A View from the Mountain, due out this year.

Preserving a Significant Site

SSAAM and the Sourland Conservancy have partnered to preserve the spectacular beauty of the Sourland region through land and ecological preservation, while also sharing the historical and cultural narratives of the mountain and its inhabitants with the wider community. This will be the core function of the proposed Sourland Education & Exhibit Center that will sit on the parcel of land adjacent to the museum and the recently acquired True farmstead. Grants from the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission and New Jersey Historic Trust have funded the development of a master site plan for the Sourland Center, which will welcome school groups as well as host educational talks, art exhibits, and other public programming. The historic True farmhouse will house the two organizations’ offices.

Donnetta Johnson, who became SSAAM’s Executive Director in October 2021, recognized that the history of this region may be unfamiliar to many New Jersey residents. “Until recently I, like many others, had no idea that there was a substantial African American presence in the Sourland Mountain and Hopewell Valley region,” she said. “Nor did I know that the Sourland Conservancy was founded by an African American resident of the mountain named Robert Garrett, who organized a group of residents concerned with protecting the area from overbuilding.”

While the name of Garrett’s organization would later change from the Sourland Regional Citizen’s Planning Council to the Sourland Conservancy, its mission would grow stronger, and the Conservancy would become an essential partner in SSAAM’s creation.

“I’ve learned a lot very quickly,” Johnson said. “What I know now, and am incredibly proud of, is that these two amazing organizations are working hand in hand on a mission that is so brilliant and makes such incredible sense that it is mind-blowing.”

“Sourland Conservancy is proud to have played an important role in the preservation of the Mt. Zion AME Church and formation of SSAAM, and is now very excited that the True farmstead joins the land co-owned by the Conservancy and SSAAM on Hollow Road in Skillman,” said Dante DiPirro, President of Sourland Conservancy. “In terms of the ecology, visitors will be able to get to know the Sourlands better by learning about the forest, water, animals, birds, and other resources. We want visitors to come to enjoy a rich and enjoyable experience and leave with a better understanding of the region and a new-found passion for enjoying, cherishing and protecting it.”

These preservation efforts were able to come together thanks to many different groups' support, including the expertise and advice of Jay Watson, co-executive director and head of the land protection program at NJ Conservation.

“Sadly, there are very few historic sites in our great state dedicated to telling the story of the African American presence, experience and contributions throughout history," said Watson. "Having an opportunity to play a role in assembling this land with this unique partnership makes us very proud and thankful indeed."

A capital campaign to build the center and restore the church and the farmstead is underway for 2022, and Johnson believes that generous individual donors are the key to the success of this campaign.

“By sharing stories from our unique past, current residents can have a greater appreciation of how our community came to be. The ecology and environmental landscape of our region that supported farming and other industries add interesting subplots to our history.” She added “We can build stronger relationships and celebrate our community and shared future by understanding each other’s unique cultural perspectives, relationship to the land, and our difficult and powerful shared history.”

To learn more, visit www.ssaamuseum.org. To support the project, visit https://www.ssaamuseum.org/donate and select “Sourland Education and Exhibit Center.”

Congratulations to SSAAM Board member Kevin Burkman for winning two 1st place prizes in this year's New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Mapping Contest!

The first was in the Educational Map category for "African American History of the Sourland Mountain Region," which pinpoints 25 important Black history sites in central NJ. As part of our educational outreach program, SSAAM has distributed more than 30 of these maps free of charge to local schools, libraries, & nonprofits.

Montgomery Township Committee is looking to the county for help in finding tenants to fill office space that has been vacant since before the pandemic.

Montgomery is primarily a residential community with pockets of large office campuses such as Johnson & Johnson (now Kenvue), which still occupies its large property on Grandview Road. Kenvue recently announced its new headquarters will be housed in Summit, on a 46-acre campus. It is unclear whether the multi-billion dollar company will keep its current campus in Skillman.

There are some large office campuses on Orchard Road that are mostly empty, such as The Orchard at 23 Orchard Road. Walt Lane, the director of The Somerset County Office of Planning, Policy and Economic Development, said the future looks bright for Montgomery. Lane and his associate, Jessica Paolini, spoke at township committee’s June 15 meeting.

The large office building at 23 Orchard Road, visible from Route 206 in Skillman, is looking for more tenants.

Opportunities in Montgomery

Life sciences companies are familiar with Montgomery, Paolini said. “Your proximity to Princeton University, and with the university being more external facing now with their own life science incubator and bio labs, there is an opportunity to catch some of the startups that are spinning out of the university."

“Also, the Montgomery Promenade, when that comes on line, will provide access to desirable amenities and create the now coveted live-work-play environment," she said. “We are working to attract new companies to the county.”

Paolini spoke about growth in the life-sciences industry. Montgomery Township Committee members expressed their hopes that the township will become a good home to these companies.

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Isolated Campuses

“Companies are moving out of isolated campuses, and are seeking Class A space, the highest quality space,” Paolini said. “Before, companies wanted campuses where employees would come to work and everything would be there—cafeteria, daycare, gym—and employees did not have to leave. “

"A lot of companies now, because people are working from home, they want to attract people to come back into the office," she said. "This includes a trend in which companies want to be in more of a downtown setting—somewhere where employees can go out after work. They can get a bite to eat and be more social.”

Life Sciences in NJ

“In New Jersey, life sciences wages are up almost 50 percent,” Paolini said. “And, there is not enough office space to meet current demand. We know six tenants seeking 440,000 sf of space.”

While Montgomery has empty office buildings, there is construction going on nearby. The $731 million Helix project in New Brunswick; the NEST life sciences hub at the former Merck site in Kenilworth; and The Cove mixed-use innovation hub in Jersey City are three of the biggest ones.

Mayor Devra Keenan asked, are there plans in Somerset County? How about Montgomery?

Paolini said the county is working to help redevelop the former AT&T campus in Bedminster (Somerset County). The campus was re-zoned for aseptic manufacturing, and will allow offices, labs, manufacturing space, and warehousing. It could also host a hotel, conference center, retail, public performance space—everything but residential.

We caught up with Mike Rizkalla, cofounder and CEO of Snorble (Skillman), a tech company focused on child development, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this month. Snorble was one of a handful of featured companies to have a suite to themselves several floors above the Venetian Resort’s two levels of conference trade-show booths. Numerous other startups were showcased at the adjacent exhibition space called “Eureka Park.”

Thousands of companies from all over the world descended on Vegas to show off their tech-related businesses to a global audience estimated at 115,000 in-person attendees.

This was approximately triple the crowd in 2022, when many international visitors were restricted from attending due to the pandemic. By contrast, the 2019 CES attracted a pre-Covid crowd of more than 180,000, making it one of the largest trade shows in the world.

CES is a fire hose of FOMO (“fear of missing out”), featuring panels on several hundred topics, demonstrations, trade-show booths and suites, networking parties, etc.

It’s so large, in fact, that in addition to the entire Las Vegas Convention Center, a portion of CES is also hosted by several hotels, including the aforementioned Venetian.

Below is a post-CES interview NJ Tech Weekly contributor Rob Rinderman (founder SMC Consulting) conducted with Rizkalla after meeting him in person and seeing a demonstration of Snorble in action. The answers are mostly verbatim, with minor edits for clarity and brevity.

What’s the elevator pitch for Snorble?

Snorble is a smart companion for children designed to promote learning, educational advancement, and social-emotional development, and to help build healthy habits that last a lifetime. As children engage with Snorble, they are also engaging with the world around them. Instead of simply building a STEM/STEAM toy, we’ve built an interactive and magical experience that is based on proprietary natural language processing and expert research to deliver a comprehensive path to playing with potential.

What makes you unique from other games/tech geared for younger kids?

Perhaps the feature that stands out the most is a great selling point, and is different from other robots or children’s companions, is that Snorble can operate offline. The use of edge computing means that Snorble doesn’t require a constant internet connection, which is an important differentiator, particularly when you consider child safety and privacy. Not only that, but it also means Snorble is portable and can be taken from the home to the car and perhaps to a friend’s or grandparent’s house while continuing to engage with the child along the way.

What problem are you solving for caregivers/kids

Initially, Snorble was focused on sleep and born out of me Googling ways to help my son sleep through the night, and finding literally millions of results, but no real solutions. However, Snorble has evolved to be so much more than just a magical bedtime experience, and we will continue to expand the features available through updates.

By interacting through play, Snorble can educate children and help parents and caregivers encourage healthy habits, not only around bedtime, as initially imagined, but throughout a child’s development. Thanks to our ability to update features, including yoga and meditation in a future update, Snorble will be able to grow with the child, unlike so many other products for kids.

Discuss your background leading up to your cofounding the company, and how that may have influenced Snorble.

I have an electrical engineering background, but most of my career has been in motion graphics and UX design for digital products and television. During that time, I had the good fortune to be surrounded by these incredible people in my career, and I’ve also been a part of incredible companies that have changed the way that we’ve used technology around the world.

While doing this, I started to look at the global landscape of what was happening in technology, looking at what was happening in all the technical labs, all around the world. And I started to see all these technologies converging, and they were all converging in a way that showed a new opportunity. That opportunity was to define the human interaction experience for robotics. So, I set out on a journey seven years ago to build out a robotics lab, and Snorble is the most recent development of that journey.

New Jersey Tech Weekly covers New Jersey-based companies. Are there any specific benefits you derive from being based in the Garden State?

Aside from living in a picturesque location that is ideal for my family, from a geographical point of view, there are advantages to being in New Jersey. I travel, often at the last minute, so the proximity to airports is important, and we have both staff and partners in New York, with whom I can meet regularly.

What’s your employee headcount?

Our team is spread out across the world. Within the USA, we have team members from New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island to Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Outside of the USA, our animation team and several other staff are based in Canada, and we have other staff and partners who are in Europe. Currently, our headcount is around 40.

Where do you manufacture?

The main factory that produces Snorble is in China, but we have vendors and partners in the United States, Spain and Ukraine.

What are the biggest challenges for you as a small business owner and entrepreneur?

We’ve been very fortunate that everyone involved with Snorble has been totally committed to our goals, and they have expertise in multiple areas. So, the common issues many small businesses face in terms of being able to successfully navigate different areas of the business when it comes to staffing resources have not been a concern for us. Granted, we did face some complications associated with the pandemic and the knock-on effect, such as the shipping crisis, which pushed back our original timeline, but that certainly isn’t unique to our business.

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