Bucks
SPCA Jack Merritt
Dear Friends,
Good morning. There’s a big-hearted Bucks Countian that you readers should know. I met a rescue animal pilot at a Bucks County SPCA fundraiser a few weeks ago. Jack Merritt lives in Milford Township, works in New Jersey, and flies dogs and cats up and down the east coast during rescue missions.
Let me set the stage.
The Bucks SPCA is closing in on an ambitious $2 million project to build a new animal shelter in Richland Township. The groundbreaking ceremony will be in late August or early September. To crank up the economic heat, the SPCA held its “Pawsome” Garden Party, a major fundraiser on June 27 at Hortulus Farm near Pineville. That’s where I met Jack Merritt.
If you ever get the chance to visit Hortulus Farm, by all means do so…what a treat! Its gardens, fountains and architecture are spectacular. Beth Kittrell runs the development effort for the SPCA. She sent an email to me, which explains how the event came to be.
“The party date was pre-ordained, if you will,” she began. “The owners of Hortulus Farm- Renny Reynolds and Jack Staub- were hosting a wedding there the previous day. The animal-loving wedding family (Andrew and Mary Lou Arbruzzese, parents and owners of the Pineville Tavern, and Drew and Juliet Arbruzzese, groom and bride) were kindly willing to let us use their tents, tables, chairs, and port-o-potties for what amounted to only a “restocking” charge by the also generous vendors.
“Renny and Jack- devoted owners of rescued dogs Zach, Chester, and Bandit and dear friends of the [SPCA] shelter- allowed us to use Hortulus completely free of charge,” Kittrell’s email continued. “It was too amazing an offer to pass up and, as you saw, the place was absolutely spectacular. No one expected heat that extreme, but we made do, didn’t we? Three cheers to the fountain! And to the Bow Wow Bellinis and Meow Martinis!”
I had a Meow Martini and lived to tell the tale. The Hortulus fountain proved to be a sight for sore eyes. There was a plethora of beauties dangling their legs in the cool water. The event cleared $33,000 for the SPCA!
Spay and neuter are the by words of the SPCA. Unless a dog or cat is used for breeding purposes, spay and neuter are musts for pets.
And now to Jack Merritt.
He’s an activist. Not only does Jack use his 1967 Mooney M 20 F, a four seat single engine airplane, for pet rescues, Jack is a member of the Milford Township Planning Commission and is also a Republican committeeman.
His real job is a senior manager for Quest Diagnostics. Headquartered in Madison, New Jersey, Quest is the largest clinical laboratory in America. It has 43,000 employees and handles more than 250 million medical patients yearly. His daily commute is 90 minutes by automobile unless he flies his plane to Madison, just 30 minutes by air.
I had a chat with this energetic and entertaining pilot at his Quakertown Airport hanger. In addition to his single engine Mooney, named “Matilda,” one of his friends stores a 1945 Piper Cub in Jack’s hanger. Jack gets to fly the “Cub.” With its 85 horsepower engine, the piper cub becomes airborne at 40 mph! In addition to the two airplanes, Jack has a “Segway,” a small platform machine on two motorized wheels, which transports him around the Quakertown Airport at 10 mile per hour.
Jack helps the “Young Eagles,” a group of children ages 8 to 18 who are interested in aviation. Young Eagles meet monthly at the Quakertown Airport where local pilots give the kids 20 minute rides. Founded in 1992, Young Eagles have issued nearly 2 million certificates nationwide to kids who’ve flown with pilots like the 40 at the Quakertown Airport.
Why the name “Matilda?”
“A youngster once asked me for an explanation,” Jack began. “Suddenly, I heard a deep, female voice booming in my head…Matilda.”
Although Jack’s been a pilot for 12 years, he’s flown pet rescue missions for nearly one year. After seeing a news program on TV about “Pilots-n-Paws,” his wife Vickie (Tarentino) gave him the idea. He schedules three rescues each month. Animal Rescue Flights (ARF) is the second organization, which he serves.
Jack doesn’t charge for these flights. Neither do the other good souls who donate their airtime to rescue pets, which would face grim consequences otherwise.
Vickie understands the $100 hamburger. That’s when Jack uses $95 worth of fuel to fly to the Ocean City (NJ) airport in order to eat a $5 hamburger. “You might as well do some good,” she joked.
“Now I fly with a purpose,” he told me. There are hundreds of pilots who fly rescue missions. Jack listed the steps that a typical mission makes on the east coast.
“Registered rescuers identify dogs that need rescues,” he said. “After finding homes for each dog, the rescuing institution contacts ARF (or Pilots-n-Paws) which uses an electronic bulletin board to spread the word to willing pilots. Various pilots fly to a central location, pick up the dogs and transport them to permanent homes.
Jack is 60 but looks much younger. A Florida native, he’s lived in the Quakertown area since 1989. “I’m a local by marriage,” he claims. Between Vickie and Jack, they’ve had 120 years of dog ownership. But on a serious note, if there’s one message, Jack would like to send to the world, it’s this: “Neuter your pets.”
Jack Merritt sums up his mission of rescuing pets behind the controls of ‘Matilda.’ “I’m just the bus driver,” Jack laughed.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith
PS. I met Katlyn Nelson a 16-year-old friend of the Merritt family. “She soloed on her 16th birthday,” her father Brian told me. Bravo Katlyn!
Segway