How A Pond Became A Symbol Of Play In a bucolic setting near our Morristown home, a former Peck Athletic Director has devoted her summers to preserving values we cherish as a community today— the play and magic of childhood, and meaningful time to enjoy the bonds of family. For over 60 years, Nancy Tasman “Taz” Brower and husband Bailey have operated The Noe Pond Club in Chatham Township. The crystal clear pond and surrounding facilities have become synonymous with family fun for three generations. Many a Peck family has considered Noe Pond a summer play haven.
The connection between Peck and the Brower family goes deeper than the pond itself. Taz Brower directed the Peck Athletic Department and coached girls lacrosse from 1951 – 1959. In 1951, she was instrumental in creating a student club system that still today spurs on school spirit and friendly competition every Grandparents and Friends Day in May— the traditional field day contest of Downy vs. Redhead. In addition, Mr. and Mrs. Brower are the parents of four daughters who are Peck alumnae: Kate Brower Solisti ’72, Kris Brower Shulte ’75, Kim Brower Barton ’81, and Karin Brower Corbett ’84. The Browers founded The Noe Pond Club in 1955. In doing so, they forever transformed a three and a half acre prerevolutionary farm pond that rested on an 800-acre tract of land owned by the Noe family (Bailey Brower Jr.’s ancestors). The Brower’s ancestors were among the first to settle in the area now known as
Nancy Tasman “Taz” Brower Chatham Township. In the 2016 book, Noe Pond Club: 60 Years of Family Fun, co-authored by the Browers and William Westhoven, the authors explain that, “Everything at the Noe Pond begins and ends with family. And while bathing caps, transistor radios, and station wagons have been replaced by designer swimwear, iPods, and sport utility vehicles, Noe Pond remains, remarkably, much the same as it did 60 years ago.”
SP R IN G 2017
Taz Brower (back row), at far left with the 1969-1970 lacrosse team. The Noe Pond Club has managed to retain its vitality and remain relevant to every new generation it has served. At the same time, it has honored childhood and family in a way that seems to be fading from our world today. Summer is a separate adventure from the
as long as there are still safe places and spaces to provide the opportunity. Perhaps the symbolism of Noe Pond is best summed up by a Chatham native who has had a lifetime relationship with The Noe Pond Club, “I always like to say, it’s not the place, it’s the state of mind.” That
state of mind, of course, is the power of play in children’s lives—in their recreation as well as their education.
school year and an opportunity for families to grow and learn in altogether new ways. Unbound by the restrictions of the school day, children can dedicate hours and hours to recreation and physical education,
Peck News
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