Neighborhood Challenge
Congratulations to the winner of the year long Centennial Challenge – The Prestigious Hill Section! Hats off to the residents for their 4 challenge wins, and especially to liaisons Dana Pogorzelski and Wendy Kotsen. Find a summary of all the Neighborhood Challenges listed below.
Led by the efforts of the neighborhood liaisons, the 22 Centennial neighborhoods participated in 12 Neighborhood Challenges events. The neighborhoods rose to the occasion… in fact, to the many occasions with spirited competition that resulted in some exciting as well as funny moments throughout the year. The Challenge was designed to to bring the community together in a fun and inclusive way, no event did this better than each neighborhoods party. Enjoy the websites of all the neighborhoods.
January 9, 2011, Kick-off event - Displays from each of Mountain Lakes 22 neighborhoods were set up inside the Community Church where residents voted for the best neighborhood nickname, mascot and flag. The Prestigious Hill Section had the most votes for their neighborhood display.
February 6, 2011, Mountain Lakes Day at the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms was a special day out for many Lakers. Young and old alike enjoyed stories about Stickley’s ideal community, furniture, magazine and family, as well as hot cider and cookies. Residents from twelve neighborhoods attended and The Prestigious Hill Section won the second challenge with the most visitors, just surpassing the Flats and the Acorns.
Mountain Lakes' largest tree with owners Blake and Paula Anderson
April 30, 2011 – Saturday was a perfect sunny but cool day for the Woods and Lakes Run (well, maybe it was a little muddy). Lakers from 15 neighborhoods were running in or volunteering for the Run. Two neighborhoods tied for the most participants: No.10 The Flats and No.14 The Locomotives. Congratulations to both for their first Centennial neighborhood challenge win!
May 30, 2011 – Memorial Day – “Barbeque on the Esplanade” – The Cook-Off Champion, holding bragging rights for 2011 is Nick Kolding, the Wild Norsk. Nick is now the pride of his neighborhood (10), The Flats. For more details about the BBQ and winners for all the categories, go to the ML100 BBQ page.
July 4, 2011 – The Centennial Neighborhood Challenge continued with the annual canoe race; this year one passenger was required to be 12 or under. Charlie and Ellie Halpin came in first place, giving the Cove (Neighborhood 7) their first win. The Gellert family from the Fanny Pack came in second, and Katie Kiely (The Falls) and Olivia Sentowshi (the Woodlanders) came in third.
September 9, 2011 – The results of four big challenges were announced at the ‘Taste of Mountain Lakes’ event on Friday evening at St.Catherine’s (moved from the Esplanade due to the weather). The neighborhood with the most residents born abroad was The Prestigious Hill Section with 22 foreign born residents. In the next challenge, Yorke Village had the most MLHS graduates with 40 grads. 
The neighborhood with the most number of residents living in town for 40 or more years was a tie between the Five Lakes and Yorke Village. We are compiling a comprehensive list of residents living in town for 40 or more years for posterity.Click here for the current list. Please let us know if anyone is missing.
The Locomotives had the most volunteer hours with 6,072 hours. The total number of volunteer hours were reported from 7 neighborhoods andn totalled over 25,000. If we extrapolate those numbers across all neighborhoods, the total number of volunteer hours for Mountain Lakes could be over 100,000 – pretty impressive for a town of just over 4,000. Residents volunteer for over 100 organizations in town and many more wide ranging organizations beyond our small borders, from the American Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals to Hope House to Make a Wish Foundation.
October 22-23, 2011 – The neighborhood with most number of host families and volunteers for United Nations weekend was a tie between the Cove (Neighborhood 7) and the Prestigious Hill Section (Neighborhood 4).
on October 23, 2011 – In honor of the Mountain Lakes Centennial, the Medical Needs Foundation’s Spirit 5K started at the Esplanade and followed the Historic Preservation Committee’s historic walking tour. The t-shirts also displayed the Centennial logo. There was a great turnout on the sunny Sunday. The neighborhood with the most runners and volunteers was the Acorns (Neighborhood 13). It was their first challenge win!
The photos from the Neighborhood Parties were terrific. In fact, they were so good that the Centennial Committee could not possibly choose one. With clam bakes, block parties, dancing in the streets and more, we think that every neighborhood won by celebrating together.
With residents so busy, the Centennial committee agreed that the neighborhood liaisons should not have the burden of counting all newcomers attendees or new Borough Council committee members. In keeping with the wonderful spirit created by the neighborhoods this year, we encourage all residents to continue their neighborhood get-togethers as well as participate in the organizations and committees that make our town so special.
The results board with photos and Centennial Challenge winners will be on display at the Borough Council meeting, Tuesday, January 2, 2012 when the Centennial Committee will have its Closing Ceremony.
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Themocracy
What about number of kids attending Halloween in the village? – Oct. 31st 2011
Halloween in the Village is amazing. So many kids flock to this haven, we don’t know how to begin counting them, let alone determining which neighborhood they are from.
We have been counting and graphing the numbers of Trick or Treaters at Center Dr. in the Village for the last 7 years. Not necessarily a neighborhood challenge, but a Mountain Lakes tradition with a full town effort. FYI: Graphs are available w/ weather conditions included!
The village should be given “points” by our volunteering 4 hours of our time to give out candy to 900 kids. We do this every year but this year it should count for something. Someone every year counts the children with a “counter” and has a graph of past years. It should not be the amounts of kids from other neigborhoods, it should be the fact that the village volunteers 4 hours of our time!