Ocean Signal - October 11th, 2013 - Vol. 1 Issue 12

October 11th - 24th , 2013 // VOL. 1 // ISSUE 12

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

JACKSON

Hearing on Private High School in Jackson to Continue in November

by Phil Stilton JACKSON-Over 500 residents from Jackson and Lakewood were present at Wednesday night’s zoning board meeting where opening testimony was given regarding a variance application for the construction of a new 400 student private high school. The school is being proposed in a residential zone on Cross Street, near the intersection of East Veterans Highway.

Ray Shea, attorney for the applicant, Rabbi Ephraim Birnbaum who operates Oros Bais Yaakov High School, along with Ian Borden of Professional Design Services presented their case to the planning board stating on numerous occasions that the school would be beneficial to the community.

While Shea said early in the meeting he had hoped for a preliminary and final approval, he received neither from the board, instead, the board adjourned the meeting after a three hour hearing that also included an hour of public comments.

Shea and Borden present-

ed the construction of the school to the board as a benefit to the community that would educate 400 students at the Orthodox Jewish all girls school.

If approved, the building would be a two story brick structure that is 75 feet wide and 200 feet in length with recreational facilities in the rear including a swimming pool and basketball court.

Today, the property is a faded snapshot of Jackson’s past. Dilapidated chicken coops are surrounded by automobile and lawn mower parts and a small engine repair garage operated by GS Equipment. A spokesperson for the company said on Thursday that prior to the announcement of the school, the conditions at the site had forced him to begin relocating his business to a location in the Cassville section of town.

The property is also home

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to James Curtis. Curtis said he had no idea he would soon be losing his home at the public meeting. On Thursday, he said the site has been neglected by the owner and has become a place for transient squatters who come and go, some, he claimed, ending up in jail.

Curtis said the site has been scene to numerous domestic disturbances in the years since he has lived there.

Michael Mandracchai, a White Road resident and former NJ DEP employee raised questions regarding water drainage and septic tank run off on the down sloping side of Cross Street adjacent to the property.

His property lies downhill from the proposed site. ”All of that water is going to run down hill, at least 20 homes are impacted,” he said.

“They are going to have art supplies, biology and chemicals…where is that going to go…my home is right there.

This is a major concern.”

Also at issue at the meeting with residents was their concern over recent news regarding the Lakewood School District’s financial problems related to the cost of busing private school stu-

dents under a state mandate that requires the student’s home district to foot the cost of the bill. Although only one student attending the school currently resides in Jackson, at a cost of just over $800 to the district for busing, residents were concerned about the addition of future housing projects that could be built by the Orthodox community in Jackson.

While Jackson’s School District would not be responsible for any transportation costs for students who reside out of district, they would be responsible, under state law to oversee any future grant funding for the school.

“For any private school in the state, the public school in that municipality would oversee the management of grant funds allocated to the private school by the New Jersey Department of Education,” said Jackson

School District Communications Officer Allison Erwin. ”The private school itself would come up with its own plan for how to run their school and allocate their funds, but the public school district would have a planning meeting to confirm that the school’s plan for the funds conformed with grant guidelines. After

that, we would turn over the oversight of those grant funds to the Middlesex Regional Educational Services Commission, which is paid through the grant funds, not by the Jackson School District.”

Erwin said it’s a function the district already performs at two private schools in town. ”This is what happens with St. Aloysius and Jesus Harvest Time,” she said.

The often contentious deliberation between the applicant’s representatives and the board became apparent in an exchange between board member John Suttles and the applicant.

Borden, testifying on behalf of the applicant, said the school would be a benefit to the community, prompting Suttles to ask, “Which community…define the community we’re benefiting.”

“I define the community to be the surrounding area,” Borden said. ”We don’t distinguish the communities, the community is the public in general.”

Despite back and force debate about the public versus private school issue and dancing around the subject, Shea finally stated. ”Yes, this is a private school for Orthodox Jewish girls…we aren’t hiding that.” His response was met with jeers from the audience.

At several points during the meeting, board Chairman Steve Coztanzo reminded the audience to remain silent after outbursts and cheers. Five Jackson police officers ringed the meeting room.

Other issues with the application raised by the audience and the board’s team of professionals included

traffic safety, tax impact, soil studies and future expansion of Cross Street, all prompting the board to postpone their vote on the application until the November 20th meeting. All of which the board said, should be in order and addressed at the next meeting prior to any vote on the application.

One of the underlying concerns expressed by the public was their opinion of the state of the Lakewood school district and how the large amount of private schools have negatively impact the public school district. Others raised concern over the over development of the southern end of Cross Street where several private schools have been built or are in the early stages of construction.

While the board has the decision to vote yes or no on the application, the applicant also has the right to pursue legal recourse in the court of law should the board turn down the application, an action Shea has become all too familiar with against this board in years past.

After the meeting Shea and the applicants were provided police escort out of the building.

The meeting is open to the public.

Jackson Memorial Jaguar Marching Band 2013

This year, the Jackson Memorial Jaguar Marching band has done it again. Combining band with theater in this year’s performance of Les Miserables, the band once again has set themselves apart from their peers.

The performance can be seen at half-time during Jackson Memorial home football games. Last weekend, the band performed at the Yamaha Cup at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford where they won for best effect and best percussion, according to US Bands.

The Howling Woods Wolf Dogs

by Carly Kilroy JACKSON-Years ago, while living in Tuscon, Arizona, Howling Woods Farm owner Michael Hodanish took in a stray dog only to realize months later that what he actually took in was a wolf dog.

“Her name was Heidi, she became my best friend. I took her for hikes in the desert and when I returned to New Jersey I brought her back with me,” Mr. Hodanish said.

Now, Mr. Hodanish houses up to 18 wolf dogs at a time on his 10 acre farm in Jackson Township.

Howling Woods Farms is essentially an animal shelter dedicated to rescuing wolf dogs and placing them into homes with the appropriate living environment for the animals temperament and needs.

“In the beginning there were a couple that we liked so much we couldn't let them go,” Mr. Hodanish said.

While some of the wolf dogs live with Hodanish

permanently, most of them are awaiting adoption.

Often times the farm takes in animals who were either abandoned or surrendered by those who did not anticipate the amount of work that goes into caring for a wolf dog.

“Usually they're about seven months to a year and a half when we get them.

That's the age at which the become destructive and the people who purchased them from the breeders aren’t really told what to expect,” Mr. Hodanish said.

According to Mr. Hodanish, one of the biggest mistakes people make when adopting a wolf dog, aside from not having enough space, is not providing it with a companion dog of equal size to play with.

Having some of the same characteristics they would in the wild, wolf dogs don't like to be left alone for long periods of time since they instinctively like to be in packs.

“They go through separation anxiety. When people

leave to go to work or go to dinner or whatever they panic because they don't realize the people will come home,” Mr. Hodanish said.

Training wolf dogs can be just as easy as training any other domesticated dog, but according to Mr. Hodanish, training them to do something on command is a whole other story.

“They learn quickly, just as quickly as other dogs, but they are not always as motivated to listen,” Mr. Hodanish said.

Howling Woods Farms isn't open to the public, however, tours are provided on the weekends for those who call ahead of time. A donation of $20 for adults and $10 for children is suggested and goes toward maintaining the needs of the animals.

They also travel through out the state, sometimes with some of their wolf dogs, and give presentations educating the public about the ecology of wolfs and wolf dogs.

Even though the donations help with the costs, Mr. Hodanish says one of the biggest challenges for Howling Woods still, is keeping up with the costs of feeding the animals and vet visits.

To date, Howling Woods Farm has rescued over 100 wolf dogs and for Mr. Hodanish and the rest of the volunteers, it's hard not to get attached.

“It's always hard to see them go, but then again you realize that you can take in and safe another one,” Mr. Hodanish said.

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

Priest Abuse Survivor Group Criticizes Church for “Cover Up”

by Phil Stilton JACKSON-David Clohessy, the director of the Chicago based Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) lashed out against the Trenton Catholic Diocese and Bishop David M. O’Connell for the handling of former St. Aloysius priest, Father Matthew Riedlinger.

A message posted on the SNAP website by Clohessy read: We firmly believe that Fr. Matthew Riedlinger is being suspended now only because these brave victims spoke up and because O’Connell fears that media attention will bring even more victims forward.

Now is not the time for complacency. The root cause of this crisis remains unaddressed – the obsession by Catholic officials to protect one another and their reputations, instead of protecting innocent kids and vulnerable adults. Belatedly and grudgingly suspending just one sexually troubled and abusive cleric won’t fix this on-going and disturbing scandal.

We hope that every single person who saw, suspected or suffered misdeeds or crimes by Fr. Riedlinger – or any other Trenton cleric – will find the courage and strength to step forward.

That’s how innocent kids and vulnerable adults are protected, secrets are exposed and cover ups are deterred.

SNAP was founded in 1988

by Barabara Blaine after liv-

ing for years after being abused as an 8th grader by a Toledo, Ohio priest. Her calls to the Toledo bishop fell on deaf ears, so she began reaching out and networking with other victims of abuse at the hands of religious leaders.

In 1992, Blaine met Clohessy at a support meeting San Francisco. The two now manage the SNAP organization, helping thousands of victims and maintaining a watchdog website on the subject. The group now has 15,000 members worldwide and offers support to victims in every kind of institutional setting, not just Catholic churches.

Their reach has grown to include schools, non-Catholic churches and other institutions where authority figures can take advantage of children and young adults.

This time, they are watching over the actions of the Trenton Diocese and St. Aloysius Church.

“For months, Trenton’s Catholic bishop has kept hidden the fact that one of his priests sent 1,200 inappropriate sexual text messages to what he thought was a teenaged boy and had sexually harassed at least five teenagers and young men, some of whom were seminarians,” Clohessy said.

Clohessy, a victim himself, stressed the importance of closure and justice to those who have been abused. ”Personal recovery doesn’t take place in a vacuum and is often times hampered by the fact that those who commit those crimes are often left in power,” he said.

Clohessy also expressed disappointment with the handling of the incident by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s office, then under the command of Marlene Lynch Ford. Ford now serves as a supreme court judge in Burlington County.

“It’s always disappointing when the independent and experience professionals in law enforcement aren’t able to act, but that doesn’t change the wrongdoing by father Riedlinger and the

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bishop,” he said.

Al DellaFave, spokes person for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s office, now led

by Prosecutor Joseph Coronato said, “The records we have here show that there was a jurisdictional issue and how the investigation was conducted by a civilian and not a by a law enforcement agent. There are laws we have to follow regarding the person who is undercover and the line of questioning that was used.”

DellaFave said his office is not reopening the case, but added, “If somebody were to come forward with allegations, we would of course investigate.”

Clohessy said that the inaction by the Prosecutor’s office prompted the victims in this case to take matters into their own hands.

“I applaud these brave young men for approaching law enforcement,” he said. ”Often, when criminal prosecution can’t happen, victims turn to civil litigation, but many states including New Jersey have archaic creditor friendly laws that prevent civil suits against predators. I think what matters most here is that these courageous young men have publicly exposed this serious wrongdoing by a priest and a bishop…Teenagers and vulnerable adults are safer now because of what they have they done.”

It’s a very common theme that they have seen far too often, Clohessy added, ”In the past month, child sex abuse allegations have come against 5 New Jersey priests. Most has been made public despite and not because of the bishops.”

Clohessy issued harsh words for Riedlinger and the church. ”The bishop is irresponsible and disingenuous. His excuses ring hollow. His flock should be outraged. And every single person who saw, suspected or suffered misdeeds by Fr. Riedlinger should call police, expose wrongdoing, deter cover ups, get help and protect others.”

Jackson Scouts Serve Up Lunch at Fall Festival

by Phil Stilton JACKSON-Every October, the Fall Forestry Festival, held at the Forest Resource Education Center here attracts thousands of visitors from across the region.

Hosted by the New Jersey Department of Environmental protection, the event featured 40 nature themed exhibits, hikes through Jackson’s Pinelands and crafts.

This year, the center hosted demonstrations on controlled burns, black bear awareness, chainsaw carving, blacksmithing and dulcimer music.

For kids, there was pumpkin painting, hay rides, wooden helicopter construction, birdhouse building and tree climbing.

As always, Jackson cub scouts provided food and refreshments.

Mark Howe and his Jackson Pack 204 served up drinks and hot dogs to the masses returning from nature hikes and various exhibits.

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

SEASIDE PARK

Council Briefs

by Erik Weber

The following are news and actions of the Seaside Park governing body during their late summer and early autumn meetings.

Route 35 Reconstruction

For much of the past two months, the reconstruction of Route 35 has been a top concern of business and property owners who have approached the governing body at their meetings.

Leading the charge was Judy Appleby of Appleby Realty, who in August first presented Clerk Karen Barna and the town with a petition signed by approximately 100 people requesting that a part of the reconstruction project – to replace some parking with green spaces along the center of Route 35 – be altered to retain all parking spaces as she and those who signed the petition felt that the removal of spaces would choke the small businesses along that main commerce corridor and push patrons, property owners and their tenants to the narrower side streets on the ocean and bay sides, causing hardships for homeowners in those neighborhoods.

At the meeting held Monday, September 16th – rescheduled from the previous Thursday due to the boardwalk fire – Ms. Appleby and several dozen other business and property owners filled council chambers to voice a stronger opposition to the removal of parking.

Officials stated that they did not have a precise number of parking spots that would be removed in the plans, but that those plans were on view at borough hall for anybody interested to view them and present more detailed requests as to where parking would be removed and where they requested it remain. Mayor Robert W. Matthies also stated that he was aware of the parking removal backlash but referred to a study done a decade earlier by an appointed committee of residents, business and property owners at the time and wanted to ensure that their conclusions were included in the final plans as well.

He added that officials and spokespeople involved in the state highway reconstruction project were also open to adjusting the plans at the borough’s request but added that if green spaces were installed it would “be easier to pave them over later than rip up macadam” and added that Route 35 was the “gateway to our community.”

Jeff Davidson, whose family

owns B&B Department Store on Route 35, approached the governing body stating he was concerned and that he “heard the goal was to stop people from backing out onto a state highway” and asked if there was any statistical information on accidents in areas that had similar parking designs on similar roadways.

Mayor Matthies confirmed about his concerns over the 11 parking spaces present in front of the department store, stating that upon viewing the plans himself he did not see them included.

Tom Hansen, owner of Grumpy’s Tackle stated that he “was appalled when I heard we were losing parking places in town – the probably only benefit would be aesthetic.”

“Every business is going to suffer,” he continued, adding that a lot of the tenants from neighboring properties use the center parking throughout the year and that his business, which is across from marina lawn, suffers due to lack of parking whenever the town holds an event or even the smaller farmer’s market takes place. “Any reduction of parking is just brutal,” the tackle shop owner added, asking whether the town would change the tourism sign on the entrance to town to reflect closed businesses and less parking in the years after parking was removed. “It’s just terrible.”

Linda Stefanik, who was a member of the earlier study that included Route 35 planning, stated that hers and another study member’s opinion were identical at the time, that removal of parking would directly negatively impact both business and property owners, but that they were not in the majority at the time.

Another part of the Route 35 project that she did not want to see occur was the removal of the “S” turn for motorists driving south into the borough, as she felt it was “the only natural block that distinguishes us to the neighbor to the north – the “S” turn slowed people down and it was clear to everyone who came into town that this was a different town and we behave differently here.”

She added that if state officials involved were attempting to remove angled parking along Route 35, that they would also need to look at Lavallette, where it’s all angled parking along that highway.

“A lot of people are really upset about this – I see that if B&B loses its parking, it’s kind of like a mall. A mall has anchor stores, and if it goes down all the little stores will go down,” said Ms. Appleby. “If you take this town and what it’s gone

through in the last year and the lack of people renting [plus] another year like this because the boardwalk and amusements are not there in time, some little businesses will fold, and if the anchor store has no parking [and goes out of business], it will all tumble down.”

The real estate agent noted that the removal of spaces could be the tipping point for the beginning to the end of the quaint town that Seaside Park is known for, drastically altering its social landscape first with the loss of small businesses and domino effect of the loss of tenants and then property owners.

Mayor Matthies stated that he felt the outcry about parking spaces was based on a misunderstanding as they did not then know exactly how many spaces were being requested to be eliminated, adding that rumors flying around went as high as the hundreds.

Following a letter exchange between the mayor and the New Jersey Department of Transportation representatives, he reported that there were 927 total parking slots existing in the town, and that following the current plans implementation there would be 864, showing a total loss of 63 parking slots lost over 34 blocks in that current plan.

Ms. Appleby asked whether those opposed to the removal of parking could address each individual area where parking was to be removed in order to produce a list of where it should remain, and the mayor agreed.

A meeting was schedule by state representatives to discuss the Route 35 reconstruction plan with borough officials, business and property owners earlier this week, and will be reported upon in the next edition of the Ocean Signal.

Boardwalk Fire Reflections

Mayor Matthies thanked the borough police, volunteer fire company and all other first responders and agencies involved in knocking down the boardwalk fire on September 12th and added that “it was a very tough week and a very sad week and a very concerning week, but the good news is there was no loss of life and that was most important.”

Councilwoman Gail Coleman also thanked the businesses and volunteers who helped bring aid to first responders on the scene by providing food, water and ice.

“It was just an unbelievable effort at the last minute and everybody stepped up,” she said. “Thank you for helping – it was extremely generous.”

Mayor Matthies concurred, adding that people both locally

and across the country were sending in emails with memories about the amusement area and offering help.

Police Activity Update

Councilman Dave Nicola reported on recent police activity for the month of August and included a look back to the year earlier, before Hurricane Sandy.

“Before I do that, I’d like to say how proud I am of the Seaside Park Police Department, fire department and Tri-Boro First Aid Squad and all the first responders who came to our community,” he said. “I’m so sorry this happened but we will rebuild and be better than we ever were.”

This past August, there were 1,511 calls for service, while during the same period a year early there were 2,079. Parking summonses totaled 1,519, a drop from 2,005 during August 2012. Motor vehicle moving violations came in at 661, another drop from the previous year’s 1,077. Criminal arrests this past August saw an increase over 2012 numbers, however, of 46 to last year’s 28.

Dunes Update

Barbara Allen, a 14th Avenue resident of the borough, approached the governing body to voice her concern over the construction of a continuous dune between Seaside Park and South Seaside Park in Berkeley Township as she was concerned about the 14th Avenue access at Midway Beach at the border.

“If a storm is coming how can they leave that open and leave us vulnerable?” she asked. “My neighbor stayed and said that’s where the ocean came down from.”

Mrs. Coleman agreed with Ms. Allen but pointed out that the ocean also came through at many other openings that were present but closed up immediately prior to the storm in the borough, adding that in the southern part of the borough the only remaining structure was an old bulkhead.

Borough Administrator Bob Martucci added that anything the state comes in with would be a continuous dune system along the entire barrier island with access through switchbacks over top rather than cutthroughs as in past decades.

Bob Hopkins, a resident of the ocean block on 11th Avenue, also requested an update as to the continuous dune system. Mr. Hopkins previously approached the governing body about reinforcing and rebuilding up the dunes now there until the state acts upon its plans.

Councilwoman Nancy Koury stated that the town was working with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers on the

proposed dune system, and that as part of strengthening the dunes already in place, Public Works Supervisor Eric Wojciechowski was acquiring new dune plantings to be installed with his department and volunteers in the coming planting season and especially during Clean Ocean Action’s annual “Beach Sweep” on October 19th.

Mr. Hopkins further asked about the easements to allow the state continuous dune, noting that Funtown Pier was previously stated by the borough to be the last remaining holdout in town as the remaining easements were municipal-owned and already signed over.

Mr. Martucci stated that he was aware that pier owner William Major was in talks with the state to sign over the easement but also protect his business interest in rebuilding the pier out to the 300 ft riparian right existing there.

He added that when borough officials discussed post-fire plans to install a temporary dune system through the destroyed area of the boardwalk on private and public land there, using temporary easements from the private property owners, that Seaside Heights officials immediately pushed back and stated that they did not want a dune system on their part of the destroyed area.

“I made quite clear that we are going to have dunes,” said the borough administrator, adding that he was concerned about property protection in northern Seaside Park if a temporary dune is not continued through the neighboring borough during the active hurricane and nor’easter season.

Faith Liguori, an 8th Avenue resident, said “it will be interesting to see how that plays out – I don’t think our town should suffer if another town contiguous to us doesn’t want it.”

Bayside Shore Protection

North Bayview Avenue resident Shirley Kreszl asked for an update on bayside shore protection, adding, “I have new stairs and I’d like them to last for a while.”

Ms. Koury stated that the town had been in contact with the NJDEP and Army Corps of Engineers “and the last word we received through Ben Keiser is that the Army Corps of Engineers was waiting for their budget and couldn’t present a program” until that is in place.

“You can make dunes as big as you want on the ocean, but if you leave the back door open, it doesn’t matter,” said Mr. Martucci. “It will flow right from the bay into the whole town – they are fully aware of this. It has to come from congressional funding.”

Beautification Committee Donation

Denise Koury, resident of 6th Avenue and member of the Seaside Park Beautification Committee, reported that their group had recently made a $3,000 donation to the town for continued beautification efforts and that to date they have donated $20,000 to the borough plus $4,400 in in-kind donations.

She added that they enjoyed doing the work and that it was “really the community behind us that’s making this all possible and successful.”

Ms. Koury added that they were looking for new things to do next year, including planting projects, and that anyone interested in volunteering or joining could go to their website at www.sspbeautification. com.

In other news of the mayor and council:

• Regular seasonal beach badges will increase in price in 2014 to $55 until June 14th and $60 after. The holiday pre-season badges will be sold for $50 plus a $2 packaging fee when purchased before the new year. Senior and weekly badges were not affected by the increase.

• Mr. Martucci reported that the borough fire company was in the process of getting three fire engines newer than those currently owned by Seaside Park from Toms River, where a fire tax and district is in place to regularly replace equipment.

• An ordinance extending the limitation period on variances was approved, increasing the time to two years as a result of Hurricane Sandy affected property owners who need more time.

• Mayor Matthies reported that he and Councilman Andrew Sbordone attended the grand reopening of the Upper Shores Branch of the Ocean County Library in Lavallette, stating that “we pay for it in our taxes so use it – it’s a great resource and they have restored this library from the Sandy devastation.”

• A remembrance for the victims of the September 11th, 2001 terror attacks was held at the memorial clock on Marina Lawn at 8:30 am on the anniversary this year with officials and residents in attendance.

Mayor Matthies thanked those who attended to remember those lost and also thanked the Beautification Committee for the clock and grounds around it.

• Mr. Nicola stated that he reached out to the Ocean County Health Department and reported they would offer free flu shots and vaccination boosters to residents in the coming months, and would report that information as it is made official.

South Toms River Paving Company Wins $4.7 Million Debris 8

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

SEASIDE HEIGHTS Seaside Heights Volunteer Fire Department Celebrates 100 Years

by Phil Stilton SEASIDE HEIGHTS-After the centennial celebration, the department placed a 50 year time capsule in the ground, adjacent to the fire station.

For a while now, Christopher Vaz and other members of the Seaside Heights Fire Department have been collecting items to include in the time capsule.

“Time capsules are a common feature of a centennial

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celebration,” Vaz said.

“When I presented the concept to the Fire Company they thought it was a great idea.”

Vaz said many of the Seaside Heights Fire Department members are very interested and excited about the history of their department and sharing that history with others.

He added that Firefigthter Brian Dardis spent many hours preparing the 1926 Cosmopolitan for the parade and Randy Cabral was tasked with learning about time capsules and the best ways to inter them.

Items that were included in the time capsule when it was interred: A centennial flag, Coca-Cola bottle filled with beach sand from Sherman Avenue, the 9/27 edition of the Ocean Signal, the front page of the 9/12 Asbury Park Press, 2013 Seaside Heights BID Centennial tourism brochure, People magazine’s Heroes of the Storm edition, Sea-

side Heights-A Postcard History authored by Chris Vaz with accompanying 15 postcard set, SHFD 100th Anniversary Celebration poster, Seaside Volunteer FD recruitment brochure, a centennial beach badge, 1960’s Seaside Heights commercial on DVD,1970’s Seaside Heights commercial on DVD, Booth2Go photos submitted by the Smith family and Seaside Heights firefighters, a photo taken by Joe Verderossa of Greenrose Media working a stand years ago on the boardwalk, a Carmen Ricci prayer card accompanied by 1950’s era photo of Ricci at an Easter Egg hunt on the beach, hose coupling with the name Delran ci prayer card submitted by Joe Verderosa which accompanies a 1950s era photo of Carmen as a child at an Easter Egg hunt on the Seaside Heights beach, a hose coupling with the name "Delran Fire Company" submitted by the Delran crew, a Craig Newell Elvis Show business

card; a sealed envelope containing photos and a letter submitted by Jean Coccaro, a thumb drive with a letter and photos submitted by the Samarelli family, two 8 gigabyte SanDisk memory vault drives containing electronic copies of most of the Terry Groffie Collection, images from the Dr. Anthony E. & Mary Ellen Vaz collection, images from Chris Vaz’s Hurricane Sandy collection, photos, video interviews with local residents and business owners and boardwalk fire shots by photographer Kathy Cacicedo.

Earlier in the day, the department hosted an antique fire apparatus parade with stations from all across New Jersey participating.

Prior to the interment of the time capsule, the department was presented with a proclamation for 100 years of service by Maor William Akers and a plaque to commemorate the event by the Seaside Park Fire Department.

Photos, clockwise: Seaside Heights VFD by Pete Smith, children of firefighters look on as Captain Randy Cabral inters the time capsule by Phil Stilton, items to be placed in the time capsule by Christopher Vaz, photos from the antique apparatus parade by Erik Weber, Seaside Park Volunteer Fire Department presenting plaque to Seaside Heights Volunteer Fire Department.

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

ISLAND HEIGHTS

Behind the Scenes of the Simpsons Writer Mike Reiss Gives Joke-Filled Speech for Boro Dems

by Erik Weber ISLAND HEIGHTS – Late last month, Councilman John Bendel and the Island Heights Democrats invited longtime Simpsons' television show writer and producer Mike Reiss to give an irreverent talk about the popular animated sitcom at Mancini Hall of the Toms River Library.

“I first met Mike in July 1980 on the very first day I worked as an editor at National Lampoon [Magazine],” said Mr. Bendel. “I met Mike, loved the guy, and I thought [he] was going to be a great standup comedian. [He] failed me, but he's done so well on the other side of the camera.”

One scene he pointed out was from the The Simpsons Movie, which debuted in 2007.

“Remember when the dome came down over the town and panic spread, and at one point there was a church across the street from a bar, and in the panic the people in the bar ran out into the church, and the people in the church ran out and into the bar? Mike.”

Both men have remained friends for 30 years. After National Lampoon, Mr. Reiss and his then-writing partner Al Jean left for Hollywood to write for television, including such shows as Not Necessarily the News, Nine to Five, Alf, It's Garry Shandling's Show, and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. They wrote the first Simpsons episode in 1989. Jean is now the show's executive producer. Reiss is a consulting producer.

Mr. Reiss has won four Emmys and a Peabody for his work on The Simpsons. He wrote the 2009 movie My Life in Ruins and has written for movies like Ice Age, Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Horton Hears a Who! and The Simpsons Movie. He has also written a number of children's books and a new play, "Rubble.”

Mr. Bendel invited Mr. Reiss to give his talk as part of his campaign for the state senate. What follows are excerpted stories from Mr. Reiss's talk that evening, detailing the life and times of writing for America's favorite dysfunctional animated family. ~ “I've been on the Simpsons now for 25 years. It is the longest running show in TV history. If the Simpsons had been aging like real people all this time, Bart would be 35 years old and Maggie, the baby, would be fin-

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ishing law school. Marge would be collecting Social Security and Homer would have been dead for eight years. But the show has been on for 25 years and it's still a hit...

“So how do we keep the show fresh after all these years? Well, we have a trick. We have 23 writers on the how and we only do 22 episodes a year. That means that every writer on the show only has to have one good idea a year. And one guy doesn't have to do squat. I am that guy.

We really have 23 writers on the show. We do. We have 23 writers. Some of them are men, some are women. Two of the 23 are women. Some of us are white, some are black. One guy is half-black or deeply tanned.

Some of us are Jewish and so are the rest. The place is sort of like a kibbutz but more Jewish...

“We have one writer from New Jersey. We have a writer named Mike Price from Plainfield, and he actually wrote a Simpsons' episode which mentioned New Jersey. We never specifically said it was New Jersey. We just said it was a lovely place with a lot of marshland full of dead mobsters...

“Anyway, so how do keep the jokes fresh after 25 years? Well, we get our ideas from everywhere. We get out ideas from the newspapers, from magazines; any movie we see we parody, and we get our ideas from real life. Let me give you an example. A couple of years ago one of our writers went to China and adopted a baby girl. And he came back with a baby and we didn't go, “Oh, congratulations,” or, “She's beautiful,” or, “That's a great thing you did.”

We just said, “Oh, we've gotta do that on the show.” And we did. We had an episode where the Simpsons went to China and adopted a baby girl.

“The next year that writer went back to China and adopted another baby girl and he came back and we said, “Dude, we did that episode.” So he went back to China and returned the baby...

Mr. Reiss then played a clip of a Simpsons' episode parodying Mary Poppins, calling her “Shari Bobbins.”

“I wrote this script and I took it to Julie Andrews herself. Julie Andrews was appearing on Broadway. I said, “Maybe she'll play this part.” I showed her the script and Julie Andrews, the woman who played Mary Poppins, the woman who played the nun in The Sound of Music, told me to go screw myself.

That's on my resume...

“But anyway, so the show is still going strong after 25 years.

The writers are all very happy there and the actors are ecstatic and they should be ecstatic because we have six actors on the show doing all the voices and they each earn $400,000 a week. Oh, no, now that sounds like a lot of money but you gotta remember these people work two, sometimes three hours a week. They make $40 a second.

Could you work under that kind of pressure? Me, too...

“Anyway, what's nice about our cast members they're all very nice people, [and] even though they make close to $10 million a year they don't blow the money on drugs or fast cars.

In fact, one of our cast members recently donated $10 million to the church. The Church of Scientology. It's true. The woman who plays Marge - Marge is played by a middle-aged woman with grandchildren - she gave $10 million to the Church of Scientology. She is the number one contributor to Scientology on earth. She's given as much money as John Travolta and Tom Cruise combined. And the Church of Scientology actually has photos of John Travolta and Toms Cruise combined.

I'm glad you liked that because there's about eight more Tom Cruise jokes.

“Anyway, so leading to a second question: Is there anything you don't make fun of on the Simpsons? The answer is yes.

The Church of Scientology...

“I'm glad you liked the Simpsons' movie. I'm glad so many of you saw it. I worked on the Simpsons' movie. I spent four years of my life on the film. We did 166 drafts of the script. We had 11 writers and nine directors. And after all that hard work what's the only thing anyone remembers in the Simpsons' movie? Spiderpig. “Spiderpig, Spiderpig does whatever a Spiderpig does.” That's the kind of jokes you write when you're high. And we did obviously.

“Anyway, so people want to know is there going to be another movie. Well, we have no plans to make another movie.

But I'm sure we're gonna do it.

We'll make another one and then another one and then I think we're gonna keep making Simpsons' movies till we make a real crappy one and then we'll make two more. You know, like Shrek...

“Anyway, in my 25 years with the Simpsons I've seen the show grow from being a small cult show to having an international following. And I think it's because the show has universal appeal. Americans look at Homer Simpson and go, 'That's my dad.' And foreigners look at Homer Simpson and go, 'That's an American.'

And if you don't believe it here's another story that was in the papers about two years ago. The country of Venezuela canceled the Simpsons. They canceled the Simpsons because they said the Simpsons promote bad American values. So they canceled the Simpsons and replaced it with Baywatch.

Beyond Venezuela there are only two countries that don't like the Simpsons. The Simpsons is not a hit in Japan and you won't believe why. I swear this is true. It's not a hit in Japan because the Simpsons have four fingers and this implies they're in the Japanese mafia. I'm glad that makes sense to everyone.

And the Simpsons is not a hit in France because the French suck.

Seriously, our first season we had an episode where Bart went to France and the French immediately canceled our show and didn't show it again for another 18 years. And this happens to us whenever we send the Simpsons on vacation. We do a different vacation episode every year and wherever we send them that country cancels our show.

And again, another very big news story, we sent the Simpsons to Rio de Janeiro and we wound up being sued by the Brazilian Tourist Council. And this is a quote, they said, “When the Simpsons came to Rio they encountered grinding poverty, rat infested slums, pickpockets, kidnappers and wild monkeys.

There are no wild monkeys.”

When the Simpsons went to Japan the Japanese canceled our show. When the Simpsons went to Australia we were condemned in the Australian Parliament, which is a Hooters by the way.

And then one time we did a song about New Orleans. It went, “New Orleans, home of pirates, drunks and whores.”

That didn't bother them. That's on the state flag. But the next line was, “New Orleans, tacky, overpriced souvenir stores.”

That's what got 'em mad. So they canceled the Simpsons in New Orleans and Bart was supposed to be King of the Mardi Gras that year. And I got a call from a reporter. He says, “You know, when your friend, Bart, comes down here we gonna kill him.” And I said, “Well, you know, it's not really gonna be Bart. It's gonna be a midget in a foam rubber suit.” And the reporter said, “Well, then we're gonna kill him.” And they probably did...

“People always want to know how do you get these great celebrities on the show. Well, we have a trick. If celebrities have had kids their kids will make them do the show.

“For example, years ago we wrote a part for New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen. He turned us down flat. And he's been turning us down for 25 years. We keep going and he keeps saying no. So Springsteen turned us down and then somebody said, “Hey, you know, Sting has like six or eight kids,” many legitimate. So we called Sting. He was in the studio the next day. The Rolling Stones, they did our show because their grandchildren made them do it. That was kinda weird. And Michael Jackson did our show, not because he had children but because he didn't have children.

I know. I know.

So anyway, so we've had 350 guest stars on the show. The only guest star we can't get is the U.S. President. We've asked every President from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama to be on the Simpsons. They all said no. Michelle Obama said no. We got very close a few years ago with Bill Clinton. We wrote a part for Bill Clinton and he sent us back a handwritten letter saying, “I would love to be on the Simpsons but I would never do anything that might bring disgrace to the office.” Sometimes they write the jokes for you.

“We had Steven Hawking on the show. Steven Hawking has been on the show three times.

People have said, “Is that really him?” Yes, and he comes in.

He records his part. He comes to our studio. The guy could be figuring out the universe but instead he's at the Simpsons doing a scene with Moe. And the weird thing is though is not that he's in the Simpsons, the weird thing is that there are days where I'll walk into my office at 10 in the morning and Steven Hawking is just sitting there. And it's not weird he's sitting. The weird thing is my office is on the second floor and we don't have a ramp and (Continued on Page 25)

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

OCEAN GATE Ocean Gate Council Briefs

by Erik Weber The following are news and actions of the Ocean Gate governing body during their late summer and early autumn meetings.

Updated Crabbing Ordinance

In response to an earlier issue whereby a new patrolman enforcing ordinances in the borough asked several individuals to halt crabbing on a Saturday over the summer during times where it was normally acceptable, causing a small uproar among residents, the governing body passed a new ordinance to replace an outdated one from the 1950s thereby allowing crabbing on the Wildwood and Angelsea avenue piers between the hours of 6 am and 10 am and 6 pm and 11 pm.

“Hopefully this one and for all ends the debate over crabbing on the weekend and the hours allowed,” said Borough Attorney James Gluck.

“This is to clear up any problems that the 1958 ordinance says,” agreed Mayor Paul Kennedy, who added that within hours of the uproar, he and the governing body told the police department to suspend the enforcement of the crabbing ordinance for the remainder of the summer until they met again as an official body to correct it.

Quality of Life Issues

Ocean Gate Avenue Katherine Ranuro approached the governing body with a complaint about quality of life issues around the borough as seen on several properties in town, including one resident on her street that had several tires chained up to his tree with a sign offering them for sale.

“I didn’t think that’s allowable and if they do they have to pay to have a garage sale,” she said, noting another property on West Point Pleasant Avenue that had broken windows and vehicles parked all over the lawn.

“It looks like ramshackle,” the Ocean Gate Avenue resident added, stating there was another property farther north on her street that has been boarded up and for sale since last year.

Mayor Kennedy replied that somebody had purchased that last particular property.

Ms. Ranuro asked when a property was in foreclosure proceedings if the town could require the mortgage holder to make it presentable, including placing false window images on the boarded up openings.

“I don’t think a community has to look like it does because of monetary problems,” she continued. “The banks have a lot of money, they can do something inexpensive.”

Mayor Kennedy said that there were probably 30 properties in the borough that were in foreclosure from before Hurricane Sandy and since, including those who just walked away after seeing the storm damage.

“The majority of banks are cooperative, but about 10 to 12 aren’t, and technically they’re private property,” he said.

Ms. Ranuro asked whether the owners or mortgage holders could be fined.

Councilman James McGrath stated that letters were sent to banks holding the mortgages regarding the properties.

“There’s a house on Angelsea Avenue that has three

summonses – the owner lives in southwest Jersey and just doesn’t care,” said Mayor Kennedy. “Another one today is on the 500 block of Arverne Avenue – the homeowner is in Virginia and walked away.”

“There is a process and we are fining them and until fruition the place looks like that, unfortunately,” he added.

9/11 Memories

At the start of the council meeting held on September 11th, Mayor Kennedy asked that each governing body member share their thoughts on the date and its history.

“I was at the time up in Boston, where the planed had taken off from, and just gotten off an early class in law school when it occurred,” said Council President Brian DiStefano.

“I’ll never forget the terror and sight I saw on television – to this day I can’t really watch a lot of the networks that replay it over and over; it’s a sad day.”

Councilman Dave Kendrick, who was a member of the Woodbridge Police Department at the time, remembered that he was at home “on vacation and saw an immediate need, as the towers came down, to rush to headquarters in uniform even though I called several times to see if they required any assistance and they said no.”

“When the second tower came down, I couldn’t stay home any longer so I got dressed and went to work,” he continued. “We made several trips over to the recovery site and searched for numerous hours for body parts and stuff throughout the rubble that was being brought over from New York City.”

“It truly was a horrific, horrific time not only in the country’s life, but personally.

I know it won’t become a day for barbeques and things like that – it will always be a day to reflect upon the horror inflicted upon this country.”

Councilwoman Joella Nicastro was home in the borough when it happened.

“I’ll never foreget it because I had a girlfriend who worked on Wall Street and had been in the Twin Towers,” she said. “I thought she switched jobs and was in a different building, but I didn’t know for sure and I spent the better part of the day trying to call her with no suc-

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cess because all the cell towers were down.”

“I sat on my deck across from the river, and what I’ll always remember is how the town went completely silent – it was a beautiful day in September but not a boat went by nor car passed my house,” the councilwoman said. “There was not one single walker or jogger on the boardwalk – the entire town and country just sort of stopped in its tracks and was silent.”

“My friend actually didn’t go to work that day, and I suppose that saved her life,” she added.

“I was down away in college in Carolina,” said Councilman Charles Mailot. “My uncle worked on the floor where one of the planes hit directly, and knowing that everyone was very, very nervous, but he thank God missed the ferry that morning and showed up a little late – that changed his life and all of our lives.”

“What a day,” said Mr. McGrath, becoming visibly emotional. “I was working the Jersey City Hazmat and watched the first plan hit the tower. I gave a report that a plan just struck the World Trade Center and were over there in like five minutes on police launches.”

“I spent almost 14 days over there doing what we had to do – it’s very hard to talk about,” he continued. “I don’t watch TV on these days, it just brings back really sad memories.”

He added that it does hearten him to see how the tri-state area picked up the pieces in the wake of the attacks to “survive and do what we have to do to go on with our lives – nobody will stop that in us.”

Councilman Frank Santarpia stated that he was present for the original 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center garage, and that “they thought if it was a big enough detonation, the buildings would collapse, but these people came up with, as we all know, another way of knocking them down.”

“Complete devastation; the lives that were lost and the many, many more that will be sick due to all that asbestos that spewed through the air,” he said. “That’s why I always praise the volunteers, the paid people and our service personnel that give us the privilege of living in this great country.”

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

SOUTH TOMS RIVER

South Toms River Council Briefs

by Erik Weber The following are news and actions of the South Toms River governing body in late summer and early autumn.

Neighbors Decry Bad Neighbors

Carnegie Street resident Ronnell Rush approached the governing body with deep concerns over a nearby neighbor at a rental residence where he said for the past two years the tenants have illegally operated a taxi company, upsetting everybody else living on the block by parking and throwing garbage all over the lawn, double parking on the street and driving very fast up and down the roadways.

“The house looks like Sanford and Son, to be honest,” he said, referring to the 1970s television comedy sitcom where a father and son lived in and operated a junkyard in the Watts section of Los Angeles.

“It’s a wreck – it’s gotten out of hand.”

Mr. Rush stated that he came to the mayor and council because he had been getting bounced between the code enforcement official, Jim Richardson, and police department when calling in complaints, with no success.

“When I first moved here, I liked the fact that my son could ride his bike through the street – no more,” he continued, noting that he’d lived in his house for 14 years and “never saw anything like that before, and we’re not used to that.”

The Carnegie Street resident pleaded with the governing body, asking if anything could be done or whether he and his neighbors would have to resign themselves to living with the blight, noise and danger.

“Definitely there’s something that should be done,” said Mayor Joseph Champagne, who

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was visibly appalled at the resident’s report and stated he would follow up with the code enforcement official “to ascertain what action we’re taking and what other measures we will have to take to rectify the situation.”

In the following council meeting, Mr. Rush reappeared to report that “it looks like nothing was done, and as a matter of fact, if something was said it looks like they got angry because it’s even worse.”

He said tenants had now been seen standing on the front lawn shouting racial obscenities, and that rumors around the neighborhood was that they belonged to “some type of skinhead gang.”

“As we speak there’s a fridge on the front lawn, a truck in the middle of the grass, and garbage on the side of the house,” he continued. “It’s crazy, and I’m not trying to be funny but I’d like to know if this was one of [the streets the governing body members lived on], what would you do and let me know so I can get them to stop. This is ridiculous.”

Mayor Champagne stated that he and the governing body felt that “any street in South Toms River is our street, and whichever section or district it is, as far as I’m concerned, and I’m sure members of the council are concerned, is our street, so certainly what they were saying to you is definitely unacceptable [but] it sounds like a judicial issue.”

He said that as a result, the resident would have to consult with an attorney to seek justice from what the tenants have said directed at him and any other neighbors, but that “as far as dealing with the issue of the enforcement of our codes, I did refer that information to our code enforcer and as you know this has been an ongoing issue, and of course with

the level of problems existing with this particular property, it might take more than a week.”

He added that he and other town officials were “doing our due diligence to address this issue [and] from my standpoint or any sane person’s standpoint is unacceptable.

Mr. Rush stated that he felt the tenants were aware that the code enforcer was only working on certain days of the week, and were likely avoiding him during those days by curtailing their more offensive habits until he was off again.

Applegate Avenue Eleanor Buoncristiano next approached the governing body to state that she also was having a horrid time with a neighbor for years and was simply planning on moving away because “I’ve been waiting for that house to go up in flames – she’s not anybody you’d want to live next door to.”

She then stated that the house appeared to be filled with objects and garbage and that the backyard had washing machines, tires, a pool with trees coming out of it and a dog that goes after children on the street when it breaks free.

“She doesn’t care,” she said.

“You can not talk to her.”

The Applegate Avenue resident added that she just wanted her property to be cleaned up and in accordance with borough code.

“I’ve been fighting since she moved in to clean up her property and take care of it, but it’s a losing game,” she said. “I don’t believe anything you people say you’re going to do because I don’t believe you and I feel sorry for you and I don’t believe it – I’ve been fighting for ten years and I’m putting my house up for sale and I’m losing money.”

Applegate Avenue resident Thomas Rolzhausen said the rental properties present in town appear to be the largest problem, coupled with foreclosures, and that investors were

buying up the foreclosures and turning them into more rental properties with tenants who may not take as much care to be a part of the community as a homeowner would.

“It seems that any house that’s a rental property, the people just don’t care,” he said.

Mayor Champagne and several other governing body members stated that they would look into the borough codes for rental properties and landlord/tenant issues to see if they could strengthen them, but past code enforcer and Dartmouth Drive resident Ernest T. “Ernie” Hemmann stated that he felt the codes were as strong as they could be made following a similar effort several years earlier made in conjunction with the current code enforcer.

“We have a very good renters inspection program, we passed it a couple of years ago,” he said, adding that the real issue was that the problems posed by the tenants and negligent homeowners or landlords throughout the borough takes a lot of time to mitigate, which the current code enforcer does not have on his limited, parttime schedule.

“It’s a big job – that’s where a lot of these problems are,” said Mr. Hemmann.

Councilman Oscar Cradle agreed, stating that the code enforcer’s hours needs to be addressed in order to get more results from the cases brought up to him.

Council President Ernest Reevey stated that he would first meet with Mr. Richardson to see if his management of time was as effective as it could be in tackling these issues.

Mayor Champagne agreed that the code enforcer’s hours was “something we’re going to have to address to ascertain the necessity to increase those hours, and we will have to engage in that discussion pretty soon.

Charlie Gromek, memorial chairman with the submarine veterans, raked the soil adjacent the memorial walkway in April during the Eagle Scout project. Erik Weber / Ocean Signal

Members of the submarine veterans conducted their annual Memorial Day ceremony at the improved memorial at Mathis Plaza in May as Mayor Joseph Champagne looked on. The mayor has recently proposed Mathis Plaza should be renamed Mathis Memorial Park to better reflect the submarine veterans efforts. Damian Kulikowski / Ocean Signal

Mathis Plaza Name Change Proposed

Mayor Champagne recently proposed the borough consider renaming Mathis Plaza – the triangular piece of land formed by dredge spoils from the Toms River in the late 1920s to form the popular fishing and crabbing spot it is today – in honor of the Jersey Shore chapter of submarine veterans who took an interest in first establishing a memorial to their own lost at sea on the northern side of the plaza in the 1990s and recently worked to restore and improve those same grounds.

“We have seen over the years the use of Mathis Plaza as a place where we reflect on those who have contributed so much to our country,” he said. “This is a place where we celebrate Memorial Day and also Veterans’ Day, and it has become home of the submarine veterans and just to reflect the nature of the usage of that place I am proposing to consider changing the name from Mathis Plaza to Mathis Memorial Park.”

The name Mathis in the park refers to Thomas A. Mathis, who was a county resident and secretary of state for New Jersey in the early part of the 20th century and was instrumental in both helping the Borough of South Toms River break away from Berkeley Township in 1927 and incorporate as its own municipality. He also was responsible for directing the dredge project that established present-day Route 166 between Beachwood and Huddy Park in Toms River and added the park as a gift to the young borough.

Mayor Champagne stated the name change was to “send a signal that we honor and respect the contributions of our veterans.”

Members of Troop 150 darkened the worn engravings of veteran names in the pavers of the submarine memorial in April. Erik Weber / Ocean Signal

Michael J. Bost, a boy scout with Troop 150 from Howell, paints the tail of the World War II Mark 14 torpedo during his Eagle Scout project in April which saw the refurbishment of the Submarine Veterans - Jersey Shore Base memorial at Mathis Plaza. His father, Michael E. Bost, is a Navy veteran and member of the veterans organization, which holds its meetings in this borough. Erik Weber / Ocean Signal

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

BEACHWOOD

Beachwood Council Briefs

by Erik Weber The following are recent news and actions of the Beachwood governing body from late summer and early autumn.

Dan Leonard Commended

What would you do if, during a sudden, torrential rain storm, you came upon a scene of an overturned vehicle with occupants still inside? While common reactions would likely range between calling for help on a cellphone to approaching the vehicle with the intention of seeking a quick solution for those trapped inside until help arrives, for one borough resident and war veteran, the natural reaction was to jump into the vehicle and immediately begin working at freeing those inside.

Spar Avenue resident Daniel Leonard was honored at the October 2nd governing body meeting by Police Chief Robert L. Tapp with a Community Service Merit Award by his department for those actions undertaken on June 24th which resulted in the rescue of one borough adult and child from their vehicle.

“We had [one] of those crazy weather events... torrential downpour, some major thunder and lightning,” said Chief Tapp. “[It was a] very brief but very significant event and it wreaked havoc on the motoring public. We received a call for a motor vehicle accident involving an overturned vehicle [and] I happened to be one of the first two officers probably there that day, and upon my arrival I noticed Dan was already inside the overturned car helping the occupants get out.”

He said that Mr. Leonard was on his way home from work that day when he came upon the incident and “certainly put his own safety aside and jumped right into the vehicle and helped those occupants get out.”

Mr. Leonard was applauded for his continued support of both the Beachwood community and country through his continued service in the military.

“I just want to say, it's an honor to be recognized, thank you very much,” the Spar Avenue resident said. “When I arrived on the scene that day, there was one person on the scene that was calmer than anybody and that's Keegan over there.”

The child that Mr. Leonard rescued was present with his grandfather, Michael Thees, who was also in the vehicle and aided to safety. “I jump in the car; he's talking like normal.

I'm shaking, trying to help him out. He was a brave little guy that day and I'm proud of him.”

Mr. Leonard then walked over to father and son and presented Keegan with large-sized Captain America action figure for his bravery in the incident.

“It's very commendable and it was great what you did,” said Mayor Ron Roma, who said he “happened to be on the accident scene also” and additionally knew the driver and his son. “It was a rainy day and I couldn't believe you were just standing in the van.”

“I don't know to say right place, right time or wrong place, wrong time, but it was just perfect timing and the police, EMS, fire – these guys, they don't get recognized enough for what they do,” replied Mr. Leonard. “They do this stuff all the time so this was just one instance for what these guys do on a regular basis. They deserve recognition

as well.”

The boy's grandfather thanked Mr. Leonard “from the bottom of my heart.”

Multi-Agency Beach Pollution Initiative Announced

Amidst a continuing stint at the top of an annually published and publicized report on nationwide bathing beaches, officials and volunteers here have in recent years sought solutions to reverse the poor water quality as a result of high bacteria counts violating public health standards that result in beach closures and have marked Beachwood Beach as an undesirable “repeat offender” of closures due to the pollutants.

The report's issuing agency, the National Resources Defense Council, is a non-profit environmental action group that seeks, among other goals, the revival of the world's oceans, protection of health by preventing pollution and maintenance of safe and sufficient water.

Mayor Roma and Councilman Gerald W. “Jerry” LaCrosse, the latter of whom is council liaison to the Environmental and Shade Tree Committee, announced at the early October meeting that following months of talks and a recent multi-agency meeting between state, county and borough officials plus various environmental groups, Beachwood Beach was going to get a full spectrum of analysis to determine both the source of the bacteria pollution and how to finally halt it in its tracks.

Mayor Roma noted that all parties involved were “100 percent committed” to the project in “finding out what is the cause and what type of solution we can do here. It's not going to be an easy discovery, [but] everyone is committed to doing it and I believe we're going to have some good results by the end of this.”

Mr. LaCrosse expressed his continued frustration with having the seasonal bathing beach named as “one of the worst in America,” calling it “insane.”

“We have a beach about 350 feet wide, and it's a beautiful beach,” he said, adding that unfortunately due to topography, location on the river and other factors behind their control, the polluting bacteria seems to catch and stay in the region surrounding it.

“It's not just a Beachwood job,” agreed Mayor Roma. “It's an entire Barnegat Bay problem and Toms River problem.”

He added that at the multi-agency meeting, officials discussed potential pollutant sources from as far away upstream as Jackson Township or the defunct Toms River Chemical/Ciba-Geigy site in western Toms River.

“Everybody from the governor's office down to Beachwood is committed to getting that bacteria level cleared up and doing everything we can to make that beach – it might not be number one in the country, but certainly not listed as the worst,” the mayor continued, adding that he would like to see the problem solved before the 2014 beach season and that an earlier effort from the state and local officials in South Toms River to clean up Crabbe Point and Miller Yacht Basin of derelict boats, some of which were illegally housing occupants, was thought to have been a partial if not total solution but proved otherwise as the bacteria levels persisted afterward.

Further, borough officials

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learned that of the 11 stormwater outfall pipes present along the riverfront – including some that were completely buried by the waxing and waning shoreline as a result of the shifting river – seven are owned by Ocean County, two by the state and two by Beachwood, thus greatly reducing the amount of potential cost on cleaning on the municipality.

“It just makes me feel great because sometimes it proves that if you do persist in something, something good will come of it,” commented Mr. LaCrosse. “I'm just glad it's happening.”

Patrick Jeffrey, an engineer with T&M Associates, the borough's contracted engineering firm, reported that the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust was interested in working with the borough, county and state in relocating some of the present outfall pipes away from the bathing beach if the governing body were to pass a resolution supporting such a project, which it did unanimously.

Police Dept. Awards

At the governing body's September meeting, Chief Tapp presented two members of his department with citation bars in honor of their meritorious service in saving the life of individuals who otherwise would likely not have made it had they not responded when they did.

“Over the past few months, our department continues to respond to what seems to be an ever-increasing number of first aid calls,” he said. “While we are busy with those, our first aid squad is certainly busy as well, and we commend them for their service as well.

Our officers are almost always the first on scene on these type of calls, and over the past few months, our officers have responded to several unresponsive patient calls.”

“It was the quick actions of the officers that resulted in the success of the call and the saving of lives,” the chief continued. “I would also like to mention and commend Sgt. [Frank] Melillo, who is our department [cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)] and [automated external defibrillators (AED)] instructor. He has the task of training the officers on such calls, and it is through this training and experience that several of these calls have been very successful.”

He then formally presented Sgt. Melillo and Ptl. Phillip Schena with departmental lifesaving awards for saving the lives of an unresponsive 45-year-old man on July 29th and a 29-year-old man on May 27th, respectively.

Mr. LaCrosse commended the officers for the same and added that as a user of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), he was well aware of those who might encounter cardiac arrest.

“Hopefully you won't have to come and do anything to me because I'll be in double trouble – boy, that's something I don't want – but as somebody who has a problem, it's nice to know that we have a few of our officers that can handle a situation like that because I've been there and I don't ever want to go back,” he said.

Mr. Zakar, who has been a trained and certified emergency medical responder and other related emergency response professions for many years, stated that he knows “what it's like to have somebody come back – they're dead. You

brought them back to life. I've been there; I've done that a couple of times in my first aid days.”

“It's just a fantastic feeling,” he added. “I commend all of you for being certified and being able to render aid to our residents at their time of need.”

In other news of the mayor and council:

• a contract in the amount of $4,285 was awarded to TREC Printing of Toms River for the annual printing and mailing of the borough's 2014 calendar.

• as a result of continued positive financial budgeting, Certified Municipal Finance Officer John Mauder reported that Beachwood's credit rating was raised to A+ from Standard and Poor, allowing for expected future savings when bonding for municipal project funds.

“Good sound financial practices by this council, that's why we get a good rating,” he said.

“It translates back to dollars saved in taxes.”

• The governing body unanimously approved an ordinance on second reading to authorize various water system improvements financed through a $500,000 bond or note.

• Road drainage projects plus the purchase of pagers with charging bases and a thermal imaging unit for the volunteer fire company were authorized with a cost of $893,000, with $850,000 being financed through a bond or note and the remaining $43,000 through the municipality's capital improvement fund.

• Mayor Roma thanked the volunteers who helped and participated in the summer fun nights at Birch and Surf Park through the Beachwood Municipal Alliance. He noted that surveys were handed out to patrons regarding the program and stated that “almost every survey said the same thing – we can't wait until next year, this was great, we love this, please don't stop.”

“Everyone should be very pleased with themselves and the governing body that they allowed the municipal alliance ot continue to apply for these grants and operate each year,” the mayor continued. “We look forward to next summer.”

• Municipal Alliance dances held for for 5th, 6th and 7th grade students, which in the wake of Hurricane Sandy were moved from the traditional venue of the Beachwood Community Center on the riverfront to the firehouse hall on Beachwood Boulevard and Maple Street, returned to its waterfront location for the first of the new school year in mid-September.

Mayor Roma stated that fire company president, Mickey Symington, had “mixed feelings about it – on the one side it was very loud [as fire company meetings were held the same nights], but on the other side there was less talking at the meetings.”

The next dance will be held Friday night, October 11th at 7 pm in the community center and will be the annual Halloween costume dance, with participating students invited to wear costumes but not carry such accessories as fake weapons or other props as they will not be allowed inside.

• Council President Ed Zakar reminded residents to drive carefully as students had returned to school and would be walking to and from bus stops or school regularly and also often outside while the weather remains mild.

• It was announced that the Schedule C agreement between the borough and the county, the annual program where the county road department is contracted for road

repairs and drainage improvements on borough roadways, would be catching up with the 2012 schedule interrupted by Hurricane Sandy. − Membership in the county's joint insurance fund was renewed for a three year term beginning on New Year's Day 2014 and continuing until the last day of 2016.

• Councilman Tom Miserindino, liaison to the construction and code enforcement department, recorded the code enforcement officer's report for the month of August, which included 26 violations and five court summons issued, 19 conditions considered abated, and 23 outstanding violations continuing.

• The annual harvest bonfire event held at Beachwood Beach was moved from Saturday night, October 26th to Saturday night, November 2nd from 6 to 9 pm due to the unexpected break with over seven decades of tradition by the Toms River Fire Company No. 1 to move the annual Halloween parade from October 31st to the Saturday before Halloween. For many decades, the holding that parade on Halloween had many local communities announce trick-or-treating to occur the night before, on October 30th, and instituted a long tradition of 'double dipping' by some ambitious youths and families to trick or treat locally on that night and then in a community farther away on the 31st. Last year the parade was not held due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy, also a break from tradition in what was to be its 75th consecutive year.

• Councilman Greg Feeney reported that the borough received its recycling grant based upon tonnage received by the county in the form of a $3,363.04 check accounting for the first six months of the year.

• Compass Avenue resident Joan Santomenna, whose home is directly across from the marina, approached the governing body to state her concern over small children that may play around the T-dock area and fall or jump in but be unable to climb out due to the reconstructed dock's higher elevation since being redesigned following Hurricane Sandy. She requested that lifesaving floatation rings, a ladder or pegs be installed at the dock area so that anyone who falls or jumps in and doesn't realize the dock's higher elevation be able to either climb out or be capable of holding onto something until help arrives.

Mayor Roma agreed and stated the borough was looking into a solution for that area.

• The borough's engineering firm, T&M Associates, was authorized to go out for bid on several projects within the town, including a security camera system along the riverfront marina and boardwalk – as the last system was installed but not finalized before being mostly swept away by last October's hurricane – and Ship Avenue water main and road improvements.

• At the September 18th council meeting, Susan Minock was unanimously authorized as the borough clerk with an annual salary of $53,000 following a period during which she worked with the past longtime clerk and administrator, Bette Mastropasqua, until her retirement at end of August.

• Land Use Board appointments made by Mayor Roma advancing board alternate Paul Swindell into the unexpired Class IV term of Michael Merola, expiring December 31st of this year; appointing Dave Raimann to replace the unexpired Class IV term of

William Oldham, expiring December 31st, 2016; and retired police chief, William Cairns, to replace the unexpired alternate term of Mr. Swindell, also expiring December 31st of this year.

• A resolution was unanimously approved to establish a community garden behind the water sphere adjacent borough hall through an effort by the Environmental and Shade Tree Committee.

• Councilman Steve Komsa thanked the Recreation Committee for their work in hosting the annual town-wide yard sale during the last weekend of September, adding that he “was driving around town and there were cars all over the place” patronizing the many yard sales.

• Mr. Komsa also announced that the annual Beachwood Christmas Tree Lighting event will be on the evening of Sunday, December 1st.

“It'll be here before you know it,” he said.

• Mr. Jeffrey of T&M Associates noted that the borough had received an annual New Jersey Department of Transportation municipal aid grant in the amount of $250,000 for improvements on Anchor Avenue and Nautilus Street that would likely occur in the spring.

• Borough Attorney William T. Heiring, Jr. reported that Verizon Wireless was going to install service antennas to the borough water sphere in about six weeks. Anchor Avenue resident David Lipton stated that he had read in the news that cellphone companies have been getting caught installing more service equipment than their contracts allow in order to save money at the expense of the municipality. Mr. Jeffrey said that his firm was aware what Verizon Wireless was allowed to install at the site as part of their lease agreement, and Mayor Roma thanked Mr. Lipton for bringing it up.

• Beachwood Volunteer Fire Company Assistant Chief William Hopson requested that when road projects were being undertaken in the borough that the fire company be notified as it often has been

by Chief Tapp so as to avoid any response issues while traveling to calls and that the fire company receive a key to unlock the gate at Birch and Surf Park so they may secure the fields in the event of medivac helicopter landings.

Mayor Roma agreed that both requests would be honored and Mr. Zakar added that Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L) would be installing “warning balls” on the adjacent power lines around the park to make them more visible to incoming rescue choppers.

• Mr. Hopson also reported that October 6th through 12th was National Fire Prevention Week, and that his apparatus and volunteers would be present at Beachwood Nursery School, Beachwood Elementary School and Toms River Intermediate South within the borough to educate students about fire safety. He added that this month would also be the one-year anniversary since the death of longtime and beloved fire auxiliary volunteer Irene Swancey to breast cancer, noting that “we have never forgotten” and that “she certainly was very much part of our fabric and was just a terrific person all the way around.” Part of the fire company's gear would be the color pink in support of breast cancer awareness this month and over the course of the year the fire company has raised funds to help researchers find a cure for the disease in her honor.

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

PINE BEACH

Pine Beach Council Briefs

by Erik Weber The following are news and actions of the Pine Beach governing body from last summer and early autumn.

Bulkheading and Docks

Bulkheading and dock repairs for the eastern portion of the riverfront starting at the Pine Beach Yacht Club was approved with a $822,000 40year loan through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Mayor Lawrence Cuneo thanked Councilman Matthew Abatemarco for working on the USDA loan and pushing the effort forward with the local finance board to get a 40year loan.

“It's big, we know that, but this is for infrastructure for the town and it has to be done,” he said, noting the bulkheading, which had been deteriorating for years and was further damaged by last fall's Hurricane Sandy and subsequent nor'easters, was beginning to erode to the point of becoming a concern for Riverside Drive.

“If we let it go much longer it will erode the road and that will really cause some problems,” he continued.

Councilman Barry Wieck noted that it was the same bulkheading that had been in place since at least when he moved into town in the 1950s.

Borough Hall Hours

John M. Sgro, the police chief and borough administrator, reported to the governing body that he would like to see borough hall be open and available for the public again past the current 2 pm closing hour, set in place last year to allow employees the chance to keep up with an increased workload after the borough let go one of its office workers.

“I think maybe we need to revisit it and maybe open it up to 4 pm,” he said. “We do get some complaints from residents who want to open it up for business – we have the staff up there now and part of the reason was because lots of things were on them when we scaled them back but [Borough Clerk] Charlene [Carney] is only doing the municipal clerk job now, and I think that can't really make justification with having staff in the building to keep the building closed.”

The chief referred to Mrs. Carney's giving up her court clerk's position earlier this year.

“I'm the only employee here between 3 and 4 [pm],” said Mrs. Carney. “If I leave for any reason or go on vacation, the building can't be open.”

Council President Richard “Ritty” Polhemus agreed that the building should be open more but and “we should be able to do it, but it's got to make sense logistically.”

Mr. Abatemarco asked how many complaints the town had received about the truncated hours it was open to the public.

“Not a lot but you do get people,” said Chief Sgro. “The scuttlebutt is some people are not happy about it, but I'm not going to sit here and say it's overwhelming.”

Mrs. Carney stated that she had often been leaving at 2 pm on Fridays because she had accumulated a great deal of vacation hours and was taking them to leave earlier on those days.

9/11 Memory Through the Years

Mayor Cuneo, who is an educator and coach with Toms

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River High School North, noted that the changing memory of the September 11th, 2001 terror attacks was interesting to see as the years go on.

“The kids I have now in school were maybe one when this event occurred,” he said.

“To listen to them talk about it is a little bit different – all from what they see on YouTube and the internet.”

“They don't have the recall as we have – where we were and what we were doing when it happened,” the mayor added.

“But it is a day to remember so please take all those into your thoughts and prayers.”

In other news of the mayor and council:

• Mayor Cuneo and Chief Sgro were actively seeking ways to halt the geese from using Vista Park field as their personal bathroom, and that a recent application of a special environmentally-friendly solution to keep them away there may be working.

“They've been very comfortable there,” he said, noting that on a recent bike ride he chased off approximately 60 of them, but only about four were bothered enough to walk away.

“They weren't going away and weren't afraid of anything.”

The mayor further urged residents who were walking their dogs there to “let the dog go – that chases them away. You have to break the pattern.”

• Chief Sgro reported that officials from the Beachwood-Pine Beach Little League would be able to take continuous care of Walling Field through the seasons but asked if they could receive mowing help from the borough's public works, as the outfield was a bit too large for them to handle, and to which the borough agreed.

• The borough officially designated October 31st as “trickor-treat” night for the borough for the first time in memory due to the unexpected break with over seven decades of tradition by the Toms River Fire Company No. 1 to move the annual Halloween parade from

October 31st to the Saturday before Halloween. For many decades, the holding that parade on Halloween had many local communities announce trick-or-treating to occur the night before, on October 30th, and instituted a long tradition of 'double dipping' by some ambitious youths and families to trick or treat locally on that night and then in a community farther away on the 31st. Last year the parade was not held due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy, also a break from tradition in what was to be its 75th consecutive year.

Mr. Wieck said that it had been that way at least since he moved into town in 1956.

• An unnamed volunteer was willing to replace the roof at the sewerage treatment plant alongside Mr. Wieck on Pennsylvania Avenue as long as the borough supplied the materials. The councilman stated that the roof was original to the structure when it was built in 1982 and that the replacement was needed. The cost of about $500 would come from the sewerage budget.

• Mr. Wieck thanked the municipal alliance volunteers and other agencies that came together to make the Walk Against Drugs/Night Out a success in August, adding that he knows “it draws a small crowd but it's very meaningful to the people in the Borough of Pine Beach – I think everyone who participated, it meant something to them, and it's a good, positive organizational program and I'd like to see it continue.”

• The councilman also thanked the Van Zile family for being such proactive volunteers in recent years, including cleaning up and establishing the improved plantings and grounds at Pocket Park at the end of Motor Road and Riverside Drive.

• Mayor Cuneo asked that residents go out to support their local sports teams now participating in the fall season.

“If you want to go see true amateur athletes, go watch a high school sports team,” he said.

Pine Beach PTO President Jen Maguire prepared to read a Clifford book to the children gathered in the school cafeteria as part of a popular annual program held last Friday night. Erik Weber / Ocean Signal

Children and their parents alike were delighted with the arrival of the big red dog, who posed for photographs and hugged his small fans. Erik Weber / Ocean Signal

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

POLICE BLOTTER Gunshot Inside Brick Apartment Leads to Suicide on Nightclub Roof

by Christine Quigley BRICK-A domestic dispute in Brick Township on October 3rd ended up with a man shooting himself in the head on the roof of a teen night club in Point Pleasant.

“The incident began as a domestic violence event in Brick, at approx 12:30 am on Hooper Ave,” according to Captain Jack Sramaty of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

Robert Terry III, 22, of Port Monmouth fled the scene of that incident and was later spotted in Brick Township entering a taxi later in the morning.

Before being followed by

Brick and Point Pleasant Police to the rooftop of Creative Experience Nightclub for Teens in Point Pleasant, Terry discharged his handgun in the Brick Apartment where the initial domestic disturbance occurred.

Brick Police said on Thursday, Terry fired his gun once, into the attic and ceiling area of the apartment.

“The victim and her child were in the apartment at the time. No one was injured,” said Brick Police Captain Robert Mazza. “The decedent fled on foot after the discharge, and Brick Police searched the area with negative results. At approximately 8:45am, off duty Brick police officer, Mark

Catalina, observed a subject matching the description, and believed it was the decedent, getting into a taxi.”

Brick SWAT members gained access to the roof of the Creative Experience Nightclub for Teens.

“In the presence of the officers, the suspect shot himself in the head with a .25 cal handgun,” Sramaty said. ”[He] was taken to Jersey Shore Medical Center in critical condition.”

Terry later died at the hospital.

During the search and pursuit, Point Pleasant schools were placed on lock down.

Toms River Police Officers Excel at Iron Man Tournament

LAUREL, MD-Eight Toms River Police Officers traveled to the Prince George County Police Special Operations division’s annual “Iron Team Endurance Competition” on September 25th.

The officers created two four man teams to compete against 36 other agencies including law enforcement, fire fighters, military service members and government agencies.

Team A consisted of Sgt. Gene Bachonski, Ptl. Greig Errion, Ptl. Pat Jacques and Ptl. Kyle Mar-

16

tucci.

Team B consisted of Ptl. Mathew Broderick, Ptl. Mike Foy, Ptl. Eric Harris and Ptl. Frank Moschella.

Their first challenge was to hurl a metal container over five 10 foot high fences while donning gas masks. Once thrown over the fence, the officers had to scale each fence. Once one officer completed the task, they would then run back to the start to hand the keg-like container to the next officer.

Another event had officers navigate obsta-

cles while carrying atlas stones.

In the end, team A finished 3rd and team b placed 12th.

“I’m proud of these officers,” said Chief Michael Mastronardy. “They represented the police department and came out in the top three against teams from the military and other agencies.”

Other activities included chain drag, monkey bars, tire flips, swimming, tire pulls, low crawls and other endurance testing challenges.

Ocean County Court Blotter The following is a listing of indictments filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey’s Ocean County Law Division.

John M. Horlowsi was indicted on one count of eluding and resisting arrest after an August 17th incident in which he eluded from Toms River Police.

Anthony L. Benoit of Toms River was indicted for one count of possession of a controlled dangerous substance from a May 28, 2013 arrest. He was charged with possession of herioin, alprazolam and trazodone.

Peter Ayasse of Jackson was indicted for tampering with physical evidence and hindering apprehension or prosecution during a June 23, 2013 incident.

Richard Campisano, of Lakewood was charged with defrauding the administration of a drug test and possession of a device used to defraud a drug test. The incident occurred June 27, 2013.

Michael Corliss, Jr of Ocean Township was indicted on a charge of CDS possession,heroin.

Diane Giles of Lavallette was indicted for operation of a motor vehicle during suspension and second or subsequent DUI. The incident occurred July 17, 2013.

Kevin Codd aka Kevin Dodd of Point Pleasant Beach was indicted on charge of resisting arrest for a July 6, 2013 incident and two charges of aggravated assault.

William J. Batullo of Toms River was indicted for driving a vehicle during period of license suspension for second or subsequent DUI. Rajhan Davis of Toms River was indicted for burglary and theft after a September 8th arrest in the township. Rajhan entered an automobile, including a purse and electronic devices with a value of $500.

Michael Smith, of Toms River was indicted on a charge of Burglary for an August 11, 2013 incident.

Shaun M. Anderson,Cailee Jackson, and Ramona Craighead of South Toms River were all indicted on Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance, Possession with Intent to Distribute, and Possession with Intent to Distribute within 1000 Feet of a School Zone. According to the indictment, they were all in possession of and intended to sell heroin within 1000 feet of South Toms River Elementary School.

Danilo Rivas of Lakewood was indicted on two counts of Aggravated Assault and two counts of Possession of a Weapon for Unlawful Purpose. According to the indictment Mr.Rivas caused bodily injury to both Maria Olivan and Eric Lopez with a deadly weapon, presumably the knife in his possession at the time of the altercation.

Autumn M. Parkerson of Manchester was indicted on Eluding, Obstructing Administration of Law, and three counts of Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance, and two counts of Possession with Intent to Distribute.

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

TOMS RIVER Toms River Vest A Cop - 2013

Toms River Police put away their ticket books and started taking orders at the Route 37 Pizza Hut to help officers purchase new bullet proof vests.

Police Officers in the town pay out of pocket for their vests, so the Toms River PBA hosts the annual event to offset the costs of the purchase.

TOMS RIVER-On Saturday September 14th and Sunday September 15th the Ocean County College Sailing Team and the Toms River Yacht Club hosted the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association qualifying regatta. Photo by Erik Weber.

Read the Ocean Signal online: www.oceancountysignal.com

17

The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

Toms River Scouts Explore Forest in Jackson Cub Scouts from Toms River’s Walnut Street Elementary School were on hand at this year’s Fall Forestry Festival in Jackson Township.

by Phil Stilton TOMS RIVER-It might sound strange, but my first date with my wife of 14 years was at the St. Barbara Greek Festival, nearly 20 years ago.

For me, going to the festival each year was as natural as crossing the street. That’s because I grew up on Church Road...across the street from St. Barabara’s.

You would think after nearly 30 years of attending the event, at some point the excitement would subside, but these days, I passed on our family tradition to my two children.

The festival is something you just don’t get that often in Ocean County. It’s a chance to indulge yourself in an authentic ethnic celebration.

Over the years, the carnival has grown and expanded and shuttle service to the college was introduced.

It has become a truly fun family affair for all ages no matter what ethnicity or religion you are.

It’s a chance to experience culture that seems a little bit out of the box when compared to tradition Jersey Shore culture.

So why did why was it our first date? I always maintain the story of how important it was for me to not miss a year, but the thing is, who asks a girl to a Greek Festival on the first date? I needed a good cover, because I didn’t want to miss the event and it was the last day. Can you imagine that first impression? “I want a gyro and that supersedes any romantic encounters you might have thought prior.”

But, we had fun, as we do each year and now as our children have for years.

It’s a great time. Don’t miss out next year.

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Photos by Erik Weber

39th Annual St. Barbara Greek Festival

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

Silverton Fire Department

Photos by Erik Weber

Fall Festival

Completely Random

Band season is in full swing in Ocean County as high school bands from all over the county compete during the 2013 season.

Check out your local high school band at most high school football games or at tournaments. Check out US Bands on the internet to see a competition schedule. Pictured: Toms River Marching Mariners.

Read the Ocean Signal online: www.oceancountysignal.com

19

The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

Cattus Island NatureFestival

by Christine Quigley Still gutted and damaged from Hurricane Sandy, the visitor center at Cattus Island was host to this year’s Cattus Island Nature Festival.

After nearly a week of summer-like weather, the warm sunny skies gave way to a humid and seasonably mild overcast afternoon, bu that didn’t stop the fun.

Guests explored the vast natural marshlands and bay front of Cattus Island and assisted by the park’s team of junior naturalists.

Pontoon boat rides ran all day on the Barnegat Bay and Osprey Express van tours were provided along the miles of nature trails.

Kids enjoy fish printing, archery, butterfly, nature twister, seining on the bay, nature walks, scavenger hunt, bug races and Native American nature stories.

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by Phil Stilton TOMS RIVER-When Toms River Detective Kevin Scully was diagnosed with a brain tumor, his fellow officers did what anyone else would do. They grew mustaches to raise money and dubbed it Scully’s September Stachtacular. On September first, all officers who were to engage in the month long battle of the stache showed up clean shaved and the tournament began.

Slowly, the once clean cut department with uniform standards began to resemble a 1980’s era North Jersey department. Towards the end of the month as the mustaches filled out, it went full blown 1970’s New York City police department.

On Tuesday, September 30th, the contest ended and prizes were awarded for the best and worst mustache.

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

OCEAN COUNTY Jackson Police Chief: County Claim is Without Merit

by Phil Stilton JACKSON-Citing concerns over public safety, in July, the Jackson Police Department ordered a shutdown of an Ocean County road department job site on East Veteran’s Highway.

The project in question, according to Ocean County Engineer Frank Scarantino, involved the removal of trees along a curved section of road, just south of Bennett’s Mills Road as part of an effort to soften a curve along the 50 mile per hour highway, which also called for relocation of the road surface.

To save time and money, the county, according to Scarantino, opted to use in house county employees to clear the trees along the roadway, creating a lane shift to divert traffic away from the workers.

Jackson Township traffic safety officer Chris Kelly, after receiving a report of branches falling on passing vehicles, said he was dispatched to the site and cited multiple safety violations.

It wasn’t the first time Jackson Police were called to the scene of a county road project, Officer Kelly said.

“We have been having some issues with county road crews in Jackson for some time now on other roads where the county has not upheld state and federal safety standards,” he said at the time of the incident. “The county did a lane shift here on a curve where vehicles often travel at a high rate of speed and diverted traffic into the opposite shoulder, not leaving much room.”

He described the situation as unsafe, leaving open the possibility of a car’s tires leaving roadway near a guardrail and steep embankment on the south side of the road.

“Aside from that, there was also an incident where a tree branch fell on top of a van which was passing the site,” the officer added, noting that the safety concerns were not just for passing drivers, but to workers performing the work on the busy county highway.

Sgt. Brian Geoghegan, who manages the Traffic Safety Unit confirmed it was not the first time the department has not-

ed safety violations with county road crews.

Scarantino however, offered a different story. “I completely disagree with the statements of the Jackson Police Department,” he said. “They seem to have wanted to just post off-duty officers to receive overtime pay.”

Scarantino said the county crew was to remove trees in advance of the project being awarded to Lucas Construction, Inc., to ensure the utility companies had ample time to relocate their services prior to construction.

Due to the shutdown, that never happened, until this week when work resumed.

“They are doing that every time we perform work in Jackson,” Scarantino said. “We’re being harassed by the Jackson Police Department.”

It’s a claim not being taken by the police department.

The moving force behind the current safety project was when three teens – Kristen O’Hara, 19, Julie Tracy, 18 and Alexandra Teneriello, 19 – died at this location on September 10th, 2007 – when their teenage driver, who survived, lost control of the vehicle and collided with a car in the opposite lane of traffic.

The curve has also been the site of numerous single vehicle rollover crashes over the years.

Jack Kelly, the Ocean County Freeholder Director and Director of Law and Public Safety said he was aware of the issue and met earlier this summer with Jackson Township Mayor Michael Reina.

“I called the mayor to see how we can establish a better working relationship between local law enforcement and the county road department,” he said. “We don’t want to have to pay overtime to local police departments.”

As far as which side was right, Freeholder Kelly said probably somewhere in the middle, but “I support my road department.

When they say they were in compliance, I believe them,” he added. “Unfortunately it’s all subject to interpretation. We just want to make sure in the future we can ensure the projects go forward.”

Former Jackson Mayor

Read the Ocean Signal online: www.oceancountysignal.com

and Police Commissioner Joe Grisanti disagreed with Freeholder Kelly.

Grisanti, who is running against Kelly in November’s general election doubts the Jackson Police Department’s motivation was overtime pay.

“Was the police department notified ahead of time about this? I don’t think they were. I have worked closely with the Jackson Police Department over the years and I highly doubt overtime had anything to do with it. Usually, traffic safety is budgeted for road projects,” he said. “It seems more like lack of coordination at the county level.” he said.

The section of East Veterans Highway in question has been host to 11 fatal accidents in the past 10 years and was recently dedicated to the memory of Ms. Tenneriello through the Ocean County Adopt-a-Roadway Program.

“To sacrifice safety for savings is not prudent,” Grisanti said.

Jackson Police Chief Matthew Kunz said road safety is not a matter of preference for the Jackson Police Department.

“The Jackson Police Department asks that all contractors, whether private vendors or government entities comply with the ordinances promulgated by Jackson Township code,” Chief Kunz said.

“We do so in the interest of the safety of the public and the workers alike. No entity, inclusive of Ocean County personnel, to my knowledge, is exempt from these ordinances.”

Kunz said that his department’s Traffic Safety Unit participates in pre-construction meetings, reviews traffic control plans and conducts highway construction site inspections. The review function is necessary on all highway work.

“To suggest the police department has issued violation notices for the purpose of compelling any entity to hire officers on an extra duty basis is absurd and without merit.”

Officer Kelly was the investigating officer in the 2007 incident in which the three young women lost their lives. He was also the Jackson Police Officer who ordered the project to be shut down.

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

S PORTS

Ocean County Football Week 4 Top Four

Jackson Mem. 40, TR North 7 Senior running backs Ken Bradley and Khani Glover each had touchdowns to help the Jaguars (3-0, 3-0) jump out to a quick lead on their way to rolling past the Mariners (0-4, 0-3).

Pt. Beach 40, Mater Dei 14

HS Football Week 4: Who Wants to Win Class A South in 2013?

by Scott Stump, Shore Sports Network Visit www.shoresportsnetwork.com for daily Shore Conference sports news.

Brick Mem. 14, TR East 10 Connor Owen had a 7-yard touchdown run and Rob Triano added a 10-yard score as the Mustangs (2-2, 1-2) took a 14-7 lead at the half and held on to knock off the Raiders (0-4, 0-3).

Dom Spalletta had a 46yard touchdown run and Jerry Caporale hit a 27-yard field goal in the loss for Toms River East.

Lacey 32, TR South 24 Junior quarterback Conor Davies came on in relief of starter Tom Kelly, who suffered a concussion in the second quarter and did not return, and went 15-for20 for 207 yards and two touchdowns passing to help the Lions (4-0, 3-0) pull out a win over the Indians (2-2, 1-2) to remain unbeaten.

Junior George Sayre had a 14-yard touchdown run, a 19-yard touchdown catch, an interception that set up his own touchdown run, and a fumble recovery in the win. Senior Chris Jensen caught a touchdown pass from Davies and also stripped the punter and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown on special teams. Kelly had an eightyard touchdown run in the first quarter before getting injured.

Khaleel Green had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs, and junior quarterback Tymere Berry threw a 39yard touchdown pass to Jared Egan in the loss for the Indians.

Brick 13, Southern 7

Photos by: John Portelli/JPPhoto (TRS,Southern,Lacey); Phil Stilton (TRE/Jackson/TRN).

22

Junior quarterback Carmen Sclafani scored on a 12-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to snap a 7-7 tie and junior linebacker Ray Fattaruso had a game-sealing interception at Brick’s 12-yard line with 15 seconds remaining to help the Green Dragons (3-1, 3-0) pull out a win on the road over the Rams (21, 1-2).

Senior wideout Mike Gesicki had a 9-yard touchdown catch from Logan Sheehan for a 7-0 Southern lead with 4:26 left in the second quarter, and Brick tied it when Sclafani hit wideout Drew Scott with a six-yard pass with just 20 seconds left before the half.

Junior fullback Joe Wegrzyniak ran for touchdowns of 1, 4 and 16 yards as the Garnet Gulls (3-1, 1-0) began their defense of the Class B Central title by handing the Seraphs (3-1, 1-1) their first loss.

Mike Frauenheim added an 8-yard touchdown run and Jake DeLorenzo had a 1-yard score in the win for Point Beach.

Junior quarterback Christian Palmer had a 10-yard touchdown run and senior running back Derek Lopez had a 25-yard touchdown run in the loss for Mater Dei. Lakewood 28, Manchester 14 Junior tailback Chapelle Cook ran for 120 yards and scored twice on 16 carries to help the Piners (3-1, 2-1) pick up a win over the Hawks (0-4, 0-3).

Sophomore Amir Tyler added an 8-yard touchdown run and also had an interception at linebacker on defense, and junior defensive lineman Datrell Reed had a 5-yard interception return for a touchdown and three sacks in the win.

Barnegat 42, Jackson Liberty 3 Junior quarterback Cinjun Erskine was 12-for-17 for a career-high 301 yards and four touchdown passes, including ones of 76 and 8 yards to junior wideout Manny Bowen, as the Bengals (4-0, 3-0) cruised past the Lions (1-3, 1-2) for their first 4-0 start in program history. Barnegat’s next game at home against Central on Oct. 18 will be for sole possession of first place in the division.

Bowen finished with 3 catches for 146 yards and two scores, Ricky Gerena caught an 18-yard touchdown pass, Vincent DiGirolamo had a 26-yard touchdown grab, and tailback A.J. Opre added a pair of 2-yard touchdown runs in the win on his way to 91 yards rushing on 16 carries.

Brendan Yorke had a 33yard field goal in the loss for the Lions.

Central 42, Pinelands 20 Javon Hardy, Mike Yager and Nick Leone each had two touchdowns to help the Golden Eagles (3-1, 3-0) knock off the Wildcats (1-3, 1-2) to set up with a first-place showdown at Barnegat on Oct. 18.

Leone finished with 133 yards on 11 carries, Yager had a career-high 126 yards and touchdown runs of 40 and 36 yards on only five carries, and Hardy had 50 yards on five carries in addition to an interception on defense.

by Scott Stump, Shore Sports Network From the Shore Sports Networks Shore Conference Top 10.

1. Lacey (4-0) The Lions, who have their own 14-game winning streak against Shore Conference competition, fought through adversity to pick up a hard-fought 32-24 win over Toms River South in Class A South.

Junior Conor Davies stepped in at quarterback and was outstanding in 2 ½ quarters of work. Senior standout Tom Kelly left the game in the first half with a concussion, and Davies stepped in and threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns on 15-for-20 passing to power the win. Junior George Sayre was also outstanding with a touchdown run, a touchdown catch, an interception that set up one of his own scores, and a fumble recovery. Senior Chris Jensen also had a pair of touchdowns as the Lions

posted 30 or more points for the fourth time in four games.

The Lions head to winless Manchester (0-4) for a nondivisional game on Friday.

2. Barnegat (4-0) I think this team will continue to rise in the rankings if it handles its business, because the Bengals will be favored in every non-playoff game remaining on their schedule. They could run the table on their nine-game regular-season schedule and have a shot to do some unprecedented things for their program in the playoffs. They are coming off a 42-3 victory over Jackson Liberty in which junior quarterback Cinjun Erskine threw for a career-high 301 yards and four touchdowns, and junior wideout Manny Bowen had a pair of touchdown g r a b s .

With that passing attack complementing a punishing running game led by tailback A.J. Opre, this looks to be the best team Barnegat has ever had, and the scary part is that a large chunk of the roster returns next season. They are on their bye week and return with a big home game on Oct. 18 against Central (31) that will give the winner sole possession of first place in Class B South.

3 Brick (3-1) The Green Dragons grinded out a 13-7 win over a tough Southern team in Class A South thanks to more heroics from juniors Carmen Sclafani and Ray Fattaruso. Sclafani ran for the game-winning 12-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Fattaruso made an interception at Brick’s 12-yard line with 15 seconds left in the game to seal the win. The victory kept Brick unbeaten in Class A South play and marked its first win over Southern since 2007. The Green Dragons welcome

Wall (3-1) for a nondivisional test on Friday night.

4. Jackson Memorial (3-0) The Jaguars have already tied their win total from last season and have outscored their first three opponents 116-14. They are coming off a 40-7 win over Toms River North, which included a pair of touchdown runs by Khani Glover, a touchdown pass from Joe DeMaio to Marcus Ademilola and a 64yard touchdown run by DeMaio. Their first three opponents are a combined 2-10, so this is the week to shock the Shore and make the biggest statement of all when they travel to No. 2 Manalapan on Friday night. The Jaguars are the last Shore Conference team to beat the Braves, which they did in the 2011 season opener. They have been a thorn in Manalapan’s side over the past 10 years, and they hope to continue that tradition.

Photos by (Top to Bottom): Bill Normile, Phil Stilton, John Portelli/JP Photo.

-shoresportsnetwork.com

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

Read the Ocean Signal online: www.oceancountysignal.com

23

The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

AYF Football Standings - Week 6

8th Grade South

W L

Jackson

6

0

Ocean

5

1

Brick Dragons

4

2

TR Indians

3

3

TR Raiders

3

3

Berkeley

2

4

Howell

1

5

Pt. Pleasant

0

6

Jr. Midget South

W L

TR Indians

4

2

Brick Dragons

5

1

Berkeley

4

2

Southern

3

3

TR Angels

3

3

Manchester

0

6

Pinelands

0

8

Toms River High School East

Pee Wee National Division

W L

Pee Wee Patriot Division

W L

Manchester

6

0

Brick Dragons

6

0

Berkeley

4

2

Jackson

4

1

Jackson

3

2

TR Raiders

4

2

Southern

3

3

Howell

4

2

Pt. Pleasant

3

3

Lacey

2

4

TR Angels

1

5

Brick Memorial

2

4

Pinelands

0

6

TR Indians

1

5

Jersey Coast Jags Lose 35-0

TOMS RIVER- The Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology football team jumped out to an early lead and defeated Jersey Coast Academy, 35-0, in a Seaboard Conference game on Saturday at Toms River North High School.

24

Cheering to Fight Breast Cancer

The Bulldogs scored on their first play from scrimmage and never looked back.

The Jaguars (1-4) were led on offense by tailbacks Alex Rivera, Brent Rachel, Jaron Addison and Oliver Boucard, who ran for a total

of 110 yards on 24 carries.

Jersey Coast’s defense was spearheaded by linebackers Diquan Gilbert, who made six tackles, and Donnell Hubbert, who intercepted a pass.

Brick Memorial High School

Jackson Jaguars YFC

Across Ocean County this month, kids are showing their support for breast cancer research to honor Breast Cancer Awareness. From pink pom-poms sported by the Brick Memorial High School cheerleaders to pink bows and socks by the Jackson Jaguars American Youth Football chearleaders to pink...just about everything at Toms River High School East. There’s a few more weeks left in the month and we’d love to see creative ways your team has shown their colors to support the fight against breast cancer.

Let us know. Send your photos via email to news@ocsignal.com. Photos by Phil Stilton.

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

Good Times at the RenFaire

by Carly Kilroy LAKEWOOD-Huzzah! As it's been done for the past 32 years, the third weekend in September traditionally marks that time of year when the Lakewood Lions Club celebrates their annual Renaissance Faire.

The fair, held at Pine Park in Lakewood, takes visitors back to the days of 16thcentury Europe when people gave thanks to the Gods for making it through another winter and celebrating the arrival of spring with large country-wide festivities.

“Now a days it's mostly crafters carrying merchandise, things of the period, and entertainment performers,” event director Don Alemany said.

Founded by The Lions Club in 1981, the fair serves as a fundraiser to help fund community needs such as eye and hearing screening for the needy, scholarships

for graduating seniors, and donations to the Ladacin Network Lehman School.

“It's a fun filled event that won't break the bank,”Mr. Alemany said.

Rain or shine, families are encouraged to come dressed in their best Medieval garb, although not required, and spend the day laughing with jesters, cheering on jousters, and dancing with the gypsies.

The cost is generally $10 for adults and $1 for children.

There are plenty of time period activities for the whole family to participate in, but according to Mr. Alemany the fairs most unique attraction is it's jousting competition.

World renowned jouster Shane Adams and his team, The Knights of Valour, host an authentic joisting competition at the fair each year.

“Without a doubt these are the best Jousters worldwide,” visitor Todd Brugnans said.

Read the Ocean Signal online: www.oceancountysignal.com

Even though the fairs were traditionally held in the beginning of spring, The Lions Club choose to hold their event in September to accommodate the members of the Society for Creative Anachronism [SCA].

“They are the ones who really recreate the types of scenes here,” Mr. Alemany said.

According to their website, “The SCA is an international organization dedicated

to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe”.

“We have groups in Australia, Japan, and throughout Europe,” SCA member Mary Jo Candeletti said.

“Basically where ever the military is because we have a lot of people who are in it and as they move they start chapters,” she added.

Acting as blacksmiths, artists, scientists, equestrians, kings and Queens, the SCA try to stay as true to the time period as possible. Some even camp out in traditional tents over night at Pine Park.

Ms. Candeletti has been coming to the Lakewood Renaissance Faire for over 10 years now.

Known to her fellow SCA members as Kismaria or “Mika”, Ms. Candeletti acts as the groups Baroness, greeting visitors and talking with them about the time period.

“It's just fun. It's about friendship and camaraderie and just hanging out with a lot of cool people with a lot of diverse knowledge,” Ms. Candeletti said.

the Simpsons

(Continued from page 10) we don't have an elevator, and we don't know how the hell he got up there. I think he's faking...

“My favorite character I created for this show was a character named Troy McClure. My favorite movie I ever wrote for Troy McClure was a Troy McClure movie called P is for Psycho. I tell that joke down south they go, “No, it ain't.”

But let me tell you about the joke I'm proud of having written. One night Homer is watching TV and TV says, “Warning Beer can cause liver damage, kidney failure and (Indiscernible).” And Homer goes, “Mmm, beer.” Now, I wrote that joke, but that's not the one I'm proudest of.

But the day after that aired I got a call from a woman who works for Budweiser and she said, “Stop picking on beer.”

And I said, “Come on. It was just one joke.” And she said, “Nope, last week Homer went to the (Indiscernible) brewery and one of the bottles had Hitler's head in it.” And I wrote that joke, too. But that's not the one I'm proud of.

Well, by now, the woman who works for Budweiser gets very upset. She goes, “I'll have you know the president of our company, Augustus Busch, was considered a very big hero in World War II. And I said, “By the Nazis?” That's the joke I'm proud of...

“So what do [people] get wrong about the Simpsons?

Well, I'll give you an example. Every one of these college courses, and I've logged into them, I've sat in with them, these college courses they always say, “The Simpsons is the most topical show on television.

Oh, it's topical. It's timely. It's ripped from today's headlines.”

You know, it takes us eight months to a year to produce sin-

gle episode of the Simpsons. So we are, in fact, the least topical show on television.

And very often this long lead time gets us in trouble and I'll give you an example. One night on the show Mr. Burns is supposed to say, “Well, I'm no young matinee idol like Rex Harrison.” Yeah, Rex Harrison being a very old English actor, right. So two days before the show airs Rex Harrison dropped dead. Nobody saw it coming. The man was only 98 years old and we couldn't get our actor to come and replace the line. So I spliced the tape.

I had to take audio tape and cut it and paste it together and I changed it from Rex Harrison to Red Foxx, the guy on Sanford and Son. So the line now ends, Well, I'm no young matinee idol like Red Foxx.” It wasn't funny. It didn't look good. It didn't make a lot of sense but we were spared an embarrassing situation. The morning that show aired Red Foxx dropped dead. And it reminded me of something my grandfather told me when I was a little boy. He said, “Michael, God hates you.”...

“Anyway, that is my speech.

I want to thank you for having me. I am just so honored to be here. That, that's how much I hate L.A. I am honored to be in a library in New Jersey on a Monday night. You've gotta believe me. I'm not making this part up. I love this part of the state. I came two years ago.

I came and stayed in Seaside Heights. I loved it. Hung out on the boardwalk. Storm washed the boardwalk away. I came back this summer. I stayed in Seaside Heights. Boardwalk burned down. I was thinking of coming next year to Seaside Heights and God said, “What do I have to do?”

Special thanks to Isabel Cole for her services in transcribing Mr. Reiss's talk.

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

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The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

Read the Ocean Signal online: www.oceancountysignal.com

27

The Ocean Signal | October 11th - 24th, 2013

28

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