"Do The Swamp Thing" Sweepstakes Winners Announced

The parks and preserves of the Great Swamp watershed region offer a variety of wilderness orienteering classes. The Watershed Association, however, couldn't teach the winner of its "Do the Swamp Thing" Sweepstakes, cosponsored by King's Supermarkets and the Recorder newspapers, the kind of orienteering skills he would need to maximize his prize payoff. Speckled linoleum smoothed his trail. Signs overhanging well-stocked aisles replaced his map and compass. Kings Supermarket was his suburban jungle. Winner of the "Do the Swamp Thing" first prize shopping spree, Matt Rodman of Convent Station was given one minute to fill a shopping cart with as many Kings items as he could.

The sweepstakes drawing marked the end of the Watershed Association's third annual "Do the Swamp Thing," a month-long celebration of the recreational, historical, and educational resources in the Great Swamp. Rodman's spree was held at Kings in Chatham on the morning of June 27. When asked beforehand if he had planned his route, Rodman said that he had scoped out the store on the Tuesday before the spree.

"I'm going to go down the imported coffee aisle, to the meats, and back through."

He said he planned on looking around again before 7:45AM on Friday, when the clock was set to start. The meat, he said, would be for his family. He wanted to pick up some DVD's for himself.

On Friday morning, the atmosphere in the store was sleepy as Rodman reviewed the rules with manager Carole Tasker. He wore a gray tee shirt, khaki shorts, and a pair of well-worn sneakers. With his hands revving the cart handle, Rodman watched the store clock intently. The second hand reached 12 o'clock and he was off, sprinting from checkout lane one to aisle four, where-- according to plan-- he grabbed three bags of coffee beans. He made good time down the aisle, picking up several containers of cooking spices further along.

A fast start, however, is no guarantee. Rodman reached the back of the store and slowed down, scouring the meat case for filet steaks. He paced back and forth a few times, but couldn't find them. His momentum never quite recovered.

From the meat section he veered into aisle five, picking up bottled drinks. He was halfway to the front of the store -- with the DVD case in full view -- when Tasker called time over the intercom.

"One minute's not that long, is it?" she asked, scanning his groceries through checkout back in lane one.

"No, it's not," Rodman replied.

"Do the Swamp Thing" second prizewinner Susan Palmer of Oldwick received a pair of Nikon binoculars donated by the New Jersey Audubon Society. Betty Estwin of Morristown won third prize, a Northface backpack from Blue Ridge Mountain Sports of Madison. While this gear might not be suited for supermarket sprees, it will come in handy on visits to Great Swamp preserves like the Audubon Society's Scherman-Hoffman Sanctuary in Bernardsville and Loantaka Brook Reservation in Harding Township. The Great Swamp Watershed Association was formed in 1981 to protect all of the land -- wild and developed -- in the Great Swamp watershed basin. For more information and a listing of events, visit the Watershed Association website at www.greatswamp.org.

Matt Rodman, winner of the "Do the Swamp Thing" Sweepstakes, 
completes his shopping spree at Kings Supermarket.

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