Beach Cleanup Set for Saturday 26 April 2014 - Cliffwood Beach and Other Sites

Clean Ocean Action (COA) will be hosting its semi-annual Beach Sweeps in our area next Saturday morning, 26 April 2014, from 9 am to 12:30 pm. Be sure to volunteer! Bring gloves, hard-soled shoes or boots, and dress for the weather.

You will find volunteer team leaders at our regional rally points as designated below. Click here for many other rally points in New Jersey, sorted by county.

• Aberdeen - Fishermen's Parking Lot at Cliffwood Beach (see detailed map at bottom)
• Keyport - Cedar Street (First Street at the waterfront)
• Middletown - Leonardo Public Beach South (at Beach Avenue)
• Middletown - Ideal Beach (at Ocean Avenue and Bayside Parkway)
• Middletown - Bayshore Waterfront Park
• Old Bridge - Pirates Cove section of Old Bridge Waterfront Park (Raritan and Ocean Boulevards, Cliffwood Beach) (see detailed map at bottom)
• Red Bank - West end of Locust Avenue
• South Amboy - Fisherman's Beach
• Union Beach - Front and Florence Avenue

Fishermen's parking lot at Cliffwood Beach is accessible by taking Cliffwood Avenue north, left on Greenwood Avenue, right on Lakeshore Drive, and a right into the lot (red arrow, above). Old Bridge's Pirate Cove beach sweep is being held just across the Whale Creek bridge on Ocean Boulevard (blue arrow, above). Both sites are accessible from Route 35.

Beach Sweeps at Cliffwood Beach in previous years.

History: Keansburg Gateway, Palmer Avenue & State Route 35 (1926 - 1958)

With the opening of New Jersey State Highway 35 in the 1920s, tourists driving down from New York City to visit Bayshore beaches were soon taking the Palmer Avenue jughandle as the most direct route to Keansburg and its then-popular beach resort and amusements. Known as the "Keansburg Gateway," this intersection, which spawned numerous "Gateway" business names and even a small community, ironically was not even in Keansburg.

For a time, everything was at or near the Keansburg Gateway. Accidents happened, people lived and died in, businesses relocated to, and even school district maps began at the Keansburg Gateway. But when the Garden State Parkway opened in the 1950s, Exit 117 led beach goers onto State Highway 36 instead, leaving Palmer Avenue out of the picture. Also, Hurricane Donna wreaked havoc on the Bayshore in the mid-1950s. The last reference to the Keansburg Gateway that I could find was in 1958, when Middletown and Holmdel were arguing over whether to split 15% of the cost of a traffic light at the Palmer Avenue/Route 35 intersection. There were more important things for them to spend their money on, the politicians said, so the state paid 85% and the county picked up the remainder.

Palmer Avenue at Route 35 is that confusing intersection where the Target store is currently located. I remember the Middletown movie theater at that corner for many years. The property is up on a hill and has complicated entry and exit points. Cherry Farm Road only adds to the confusion at that intersection.

Below is a sampling of local news articles I found mentioning the Keansburg Gateway between 1926 and 1958. If you know of information specifically related to the origins of the gateway name and its demise, I'd be interested. Drop me a line or add a comment.

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The 10 Sep 1926 edition of The Matawan Journal reported the arrest of a Holmdel man at Cherry Tree Farm, near the Keansburg Gateway on the state highway. The man paid a $20 fine, $5 in court costs, and another $200 fine, plus he lost his license for two years, all for driving under the influence.

The 30 May 1928 edition of The Red Bank Register (pg 22 col 4) reported an automobile accident at the Keansburg Gateway.

The 16 Oct 1929 edition of The Red Bank Register included an advertisement for a tradesman's shop called Bergman's, which would henceforth be located at the State Highway and Palmer Avenue, the so-called Keansburg Gateway. Bergman's offered "new and second hand lumber and mill work," "plumbing and roofing," and "sheetrock and paints."

The 17 Jan 1935 edition of The Red Bank Register included reporting on the Middletown Village Civic Association, which said the Keansburg Gateway section of Middletown Township would now be included in the 5 cent bus fare zone.

The 28 May 1936 edition of The Red Bank Register reported a serious car accident that took place on Palmer Avenue near the Keansburg Gateway.

The 29 Jan 1942 edition of The Red Bank Register (pg 12 col 3) provided the precise bounds of Middletown Township School District's No 1, No 2 and No 3.  Keansburg Gateway was the starting and ending point for the description of District No 1.
 

Helen Miller ran a tropical fish store on Route 35 near the Keansburg Gateway, according to an ad in the 9 May 1946 edition of The Red Bank Register. She also had an ad on pg 29 of the 29 Jan 1942 edition (below) and ads on pp 8 and 15 of the 30 Nov 1944 edition.

An obituary in the 20 Feb 1947 edition of The Matawan Journal reported that Mrs Anthony Granata, of Keansburg Gateway Road in Middletown, had recently lost her mother.

The 29 Dec 1949 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 6 col 1) identified members of an upcoming petit jury, including Nadie G Stampler, of Keansburg Gateway.

The 12 May 1955 edition of The Matawan Journal mentioned the opening of the Bowl-o-Drome in Middletown near the Keansburg Gateway. (See History: Bowling in Keyport (1954-1955) in this blog for details.)
The 17 Jul 1958 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 1 col 3) reported that Holmdel and Middletown couldn't agree to a deal with the State of New Jersey on the installation of a traffic light at the corner of Palmer Avenue and Route 35, even when the two municipalities would be only paying 15% of the cost -- $375 each. The intersection, known as the Keansburg Gateway, would mostly benefit Keansburg, but the traffic light was not in its jurisdiction and Holmdel and Middletown had better things to do with their money. Monmouth County finally stepped in and funded the light.

History: Trials and Tribulations in Running the Monmouth County Fair (1907-1916)

The 19 Sep 1907 edition of The Matawan Journal announced the incorporation of the Monmouth County Fair Association on Saturday 14 September, with capital stock of $2,000. Mayor C O McFaddin was named president and twenty members stood on the board. The association leased Elkwood Park for its first fair, to be held three days during the first week of October 1908.

The 20 Aug 1908 edition of The Matawan Journal announced that the Monmouth County Fair would be held at Elkwood Park in Long Branch, opening on 31 August and then running all week, including Labor Day. Events would include the Grand Circuit Races. "[M]ost of the fastest trotting and pacing horses in training will compete for the big money prizes offered by the association." Stands to accommodate 5,000 people were being erected. Midway attractions would entertain the thousands expected to attend. 

The 27 May 1909 edition of The Matawan Journal announced that the Monmouth County Fair Association planned to hold its annual fair in Red Bank on 3-4 and 6 September. Improvements had been made to the track and many races would be contested.

The 5 Aug 1909 edition of The Matawan Journal announced that the Monmouth County Fair Association would hold its second annual fair on Labor Day at the corner of Shrewsbury Avenue and Newman Springs Road. Firemen from thirteen companies in the shore area would participate in the day's parade and then attend the fair.

The 11 Sep 1913 edition of The Matawan Journal listed the Matawan contest winners at the recent Monmouth County fair.

The 13 Aug 1914 edition of The Matawan Journal railed against the Monmouth County Fair Association's proposed sale of beer at the annual fair. The editor claimed that representatives of the Monmouth County Federation of Churches were treated discourteously at a recent hearing on the matter in Red Bank, adding that pulpits would likely be referencing the affair from pulpits across the county and a boycott of the event could include hundreds if not thousands.

The 10 Sep 1914 edition of The Matawan Journal told of a local prosecutor's campaign against games of chance at the Monmouth County Fair. Wheels of fortune were banished, as were shell games and a Japanese rolling ball game, possibly pachinko. The game operators quickly discerned that they could sell chances on the co-operative plan and avoid arrest.

The 17 Jun 1915 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 4 col 2) includes an open letter from The Red Bank Standard about the possible end of the Monmouth County fair because the association hasn't been able to raise a $1,000 guarantee fund against possible losses. Under the title "The Truth At Last," The Standard's letter complained that the Red Bank Register shamelessly promoted the previous year's fair as being the most successful ever because of the beer and rum being sold there. Plus, The Standard claimed that The Register grossly exaggerated the attendance size, suggesting that half a million had visited the fair when reasonable people would have said thousands attended. The Standard concluded  that 1) the disgusting portrayals of the fair no doubt led investors away from the fair, and 2) the boycott of last year's county fair had necessitated the association's effort to secure a guarantee fund, thus the threat to not conduct a fair at all in 1915.

The 27 Jul 1916 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 1 col 2) announced that the Monmouth County Fair Association would hold the annual fair at the new fairgrounds in Middletown Township on 31 August, 1-2 September and 4 September.

I guess Red Bank had its fill of the fair and abandoned its early zeal for hosting the event -- the Prosecutor's Office prohibiting games of chance on the midway, religious officials decrying the sale of liquor in a time of increased temperance, and a local boycott. It's a wonder the association could find any municipality eager to take over the hosting the county fair after the uproar and turmoil of the early years.

Blogger Seeks the Paranormal in the Bayshore

Freelance writer Greg Caggiano, author of the blog "From New York to San Francisco," included a travelogue in January titled "A Trip to Rose Hill Cemetery in Matawan; And Other Local Hot-Spots." He checked for ghosts haunting the cemetery and also visited spirits at Dempsey House in Leonardo and Spy House in Port Monmouth.

Middletown EMT Arrested After 4 Month Investigation

According to North Jersey, the Passaic County Sheriff's Office snared a Middletown, NJ first aid squad member in what they allege was attempted lewdness with a minor under 13 years old and attempted endangerment of the welfare of a minor. The sheriff's office pretended to be a 12 year old girl from Passaic County while  this retired Army sergeant allegedly exposed himself in live webcam sessions and tried to lure her into meeting him at the mall and going horseback riding together. These cops do God's work.

History: A & P Grocery Stores Open in Cliffwood, Port Monmouth (1959)

1959 was the centennial anniversary of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, otherwise known as A & P. With so many people moving to the New Jersey suburbs, lots of new grocery stores were being built. I found evidence of two new A & P stores opening in our area that year -- Port Monmouth and Cliffwood.

The 29 Jan 1959 edition of The Red Bank Register included a photo of the new A & P on Route 36 at Wilson Avenue in Port Monmouth. The store was one of the largest in the state at 20,300 sq ft. The new store's ribbon-cutting ceremony included Frank F Blaisdell, mayor of Middletown; Raymond Slater, A & P assistant general superintendent for the Newark region; Earl N Hoyer, Chief of Police for Middletown; Harold Welchler, store manager; Roy Klebacher, A & P area meat superintendent; Thomas McManus, A & P district supervisor.

The 8 Oct 1959 edition of The Matawan Journal featured a photo of the ribbon-cutting ceremony at a new A & P grocery store in Cliffwood two days earlier. The photo included (left to right): Robert Cronheim, representing the developers of the shopping center; Roy Klebacher, general meat superintendent; Harold B Cohen, field superintendent; R S Slater, general superintendent; John Marz, Jr, mayor of Matawan Township; Steven Sovinsky, store manager; and Walter Dangler, assistant manager.

McDonald's Restaurant Middletown (1963)

The 19 Sep 1963 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 12) included this ad for McDonald's restaurant on Route 35 just north of Five Corners in Middletown. The ad promoted french fries. "You never had 'em so good."

History: Middletown Turnpike Company (1900)

The 6 Dec 1900 edition of The Matawan Journal

Sale of a Turnpike

The Middletown Turnpike Company has bought out the Turnpike Company of Middletown. The turnpike is the road between Red Bank and Middletown, over which there have recently been so many legal disputes. It is the road which Ovid Tuzeneu made famous with his axe when he chopped down the tollgate. Since the axe chopping and subsequent suits, Mr. Tuzeneu and others have refused to pay toll over the road. The new company, which is made up practically of the same men who composed the old company, will probably begin suit against those who have not paid toll. The company advertises that it will demand and collect toll by legal process, if necessary. William W. Conover, Jr., is President of the new company and Henry C. Taylor, Secretary.

In anticipation of the move that has just been made concerning the sale of the turnpike, it is said that the opponents of the turnpike instituted suit in April 1898 in the name of George E Tilton against the Middletown Turnpike Company. It was claimed that the company was insolvent and had suspended operations for ten years past. A receiver was asked for and also the winding up of the company. The suit was allowed to remain in a state of suspense until ten days ago, when notice was served on the turnpike company's counsel to plead within thirty days. The claim is that the chancery suit makes liable to contempt anyone who undertakes to transact any business in the name of the alleged insolvent corporation.

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I was able to find out a bit more about most of the people mentioned in the above article.

Ovid Tuzeneu was a farmer living in Middletown, according to the 1900 Federal Census. He was born in July 1843 in New York to a Canadian father and NJ mother. He and his wife Catherine had been married 25 years. Only one of their two children was still alive. A 15 year old grandson Frederick lived with them. 

The 1880 Federal Census showed Ovid Tuzenew (36 NY Canada NJ) and his wife Catherine (32 NJ NJ NJ) living in Middletown with their 14 year old son Frederick and a young niece. Ovid was a farmer.

The 1860 Federal Census shows Ovid in the Shrewsbury, NJ household of his parents Stephen (47 Canada), laborer, and Amy (40 NJ). Ovid was second of four children in this census. The last name is pretty much illegible but looks to end in -eau, a reflection of the father's Canadian birth.

There was a farmer named George E Tilton, age 65, living in Middletown in the 1900 Federal Census. He and his wife Catherine had been married 32 years and had two sons, Malcolm (32) and George (30), both of whom were living at home. They had an African American servant from North Carolina named Julia Longest. She was born in Jan 1860.

The 1900 Federal Census showed a William W Conover and Henry C Taylor in Middletown, but both were farmers, not turnpike executives. The names are too common to say the Middletown farmers are a match to those mention in the article.

Matawan Journal Advertisers (Sep 1869)

The third issue of The Matawan Journal was published as The Monthly Advertiser in Sep 1869. Below is a rundown of the businesses and businessmen and women appearing in this 4-page leaflet, most as advertisers.

Page 1

• Dr J G Shackleton, physician and surgeon with offices at his drug store in Matawan
• J P Geran, dentist, Matawan (opposite the bank) and Freehold (opposite the Freehold National Banking Company)
• William L Atkinson, house, sign and ornamental painter, with a shop in the rear of Fountain, Horner and Sons' store, Matawan.
• Doctor McKinney, office at his drug store, Main Street, Matawan
• William D Bailey, manufacturer of sashes, blinds, doors, moldings, etc, Main Street, Matawan
• Vanschoick and Dunn, manufacturers of stone and earthenware and draining tile, Matawan
• James Reid, painting, graining, marbling, glazing, etc, office at his residence on Main Street (above the tannery)
• Doctor W Hodgson, office at Lockport, NJ
• John Aumock, clocks and sewing machines cleaned, repaired and for sale, Matawan

Page 2

•  C T Bailey, -- and Provision Store, at the old stand of D P Bailey, opposite the tannery, at the upper edge of the village. The store has been re-opened and stocked with the choicest groceries, provisions, and liquor.
• George W Bell's drug store, Matawan, featuring Ring's Vegetable Ambrosia for gray hair by Philander Ring
• Warren Ward and Company, Spring Street and Crosby St, New York
• Timetable for the Propeller S S Wyckoff, Matawan
• F C Wells and Company, Fulton Street, NY, featuring Butler's Balsamic Mixture
• George W Bell's drug store, Matawan, featuring Wistar's Balsam, with a testimony by Isaiah Hoff, who lived near Keyport
• A T Howard, Principal, Glenwood Collegiate Institute, Matawan
• Dr Hodgson's drug store, Lockport, NJ
• There was a fire at Mrs Scott's Fancy Store, Keyport
• One of three furnaces caught fire at O H Dudley and Company canning factory, Keyport

Page 3

• G W Bell's drug store, Matawan, featuring an impedient treatment for hair
• David A Bell, Matawan, agent for Globe Mutual Life Insurance Company, New York
• George W Bell, druggist, Matawan, featuring perfumes and fancy articles
• A H Harris, store adjoins Longstreet and Bray's lumber yard
• D H Wyckoff and Company, selling coal
• Schanck and Holbrook, dry goods
• Mealio and Sickel's, Matawan, at the stand once occupied by Theo Fountain
• S Steinbrink, clothing and gentleman's furnishings store, opposite the bank, Matawan

Page 4

• T E Clark, millinery and fancy store, 2 doors above M Bissell's furniture warerooms
• Thomas I ---, Middletown, dry goods, groceries
• Henry J James, jeweler, Matawan
• D H Wyckoff, Matawan, selling a second-hand Lillie's safe
• Bell's impedient for hair
• D A Bell, life insurance agent
• George W Bell and Son, Matawan, selling Bell's Magnetic Liniment, with personal testimonies from Peter Lambertson of Jacksonville, NJ; Daniel Mack, Matawan; William Pitman, Matawan; Dayton T Manning, Matawan; A Pitman, Matawan; Edwin Wilmer, President, Manhattan Brick Company; Daniel Mehegan (?), Matawan; Gilbert W Conover, George Hunsinger; L B Battin (?), Paterson.
• Martin Bissell, furniture
• Stove and Tin Emporium, Matawan, with testimony of Gordon D White.
• S Steinbrink, clothing and gentlemen's furnishing store, opposite the bank, Matawan
• Brannin and Company, owned by Luke Brannin, J B Reid, and A S Dunlop, operated the Matawan Carriage Factory
• William Spader, dealer in lumber, hardware, cutlery, with offices at Washington Hall, Matawan
•  D B Strong, agent for Singer sewing machines, Monmouth county
•   H and K H Wyckoff, wheelwrights and blacksmiths, Main Street, Matawan

History: Grinch Thwarted in Middletown (1991)

The 18  Dec 1991 edition of The Independent contained this Christmas spirit editorial. This spirit is still alive in the Bayshore. I dropped by the Hazlet K-Mart on Thursday to try to pay off a delinquent layaway Christmas purchase of toys or clothing for someone down on their luck, but all of the accounts had already been paid off by other volunteers. Nice. (The layaway payoff phenomenon is all over the web.)

True meaning of Christmas

As the Christmas season approaches, a reminder of the true meaning of the holiday has been presented to Middletown residents from an unlikely source.

Two weeks ago, an unknown arsonist saw fit to throw a lighted torch through the window of the headquarters of Middletown Helps Its Own, a Port Monmouth-based charity organization which distributes toys and food to needy families during the holidays, among its many charitable endeavors.

Two bins of toys, as well as tons of clothes destined for the needy in the township, were destroyed in the blaze; and were it not for the quick reactions of the Port Monmouth Fire Company, the entire building - a converted historic train station - may have been lost.

The results of the tragedy appeared grave. Shocked and saddened volunteers from MHIO were left with fewer toys to distribute to kids who otherwise may have found nothing in their stockings and nothing under their trees this year.

With the economy in the shape it's in, there would be more and more such children this year than ever before. But then a miraculous thing happened.

Phone calls started pouring in from volunteers, disgusted by the actions of that unknown Grinch who tried to
ruin Christmas for kids whom he's never even met, and willing to help the organization rebound from the
loss.

The Marines donated a truckload of stuffed animals from their "Toys for Tots" program. Donations from individuals skyrocketed. The Middletown police offered to pick up toys from people too busy to get to Port Monmouth to deliver them themselves.

The community responded to the actions of one isolated idiot with togetherness, caring and spirit, and the results were remarkable. MHIO officials now say that their stock of toys for the holidays is larger than it was before the fire, and they have dozens of new volunteers to help distribute them. Middletown helped Middletown Helps Its Own.

In a strange way, it took an arsonist to show everyone the true meaning of Christmas - to give of yourself to help others. When you think about it, it makes a pretty good Christmas story.

History: USS Solar Explosion at Leonardo (1946)

The 2 May 1946 edition of The Matawan Journal contains details of the local response to the "disastrous blast of the USS Solar at the Leonardo pier area of the Earle Naval Ammunition depot." After the initial response from US Naval and Middletown authorities, first aid squads from 35 communities responded to a call for assistance, including local squads from Matawan, Keyport, Union Beach, Laurence Harbor, and Keansburg. 125 injured sailors were taken to area hospitals. 7 sailors lost their lives in the explosion.

The Destroyer Escort Sailors Association (DESA) has a web page on the incident, including photographs and transcriptions of New York Times articles about the incident..Wikipedia tells the history of the ship,which was officially designated DE-221.

History: Bowling in Keyport, 1954-1955

According to the 12 May 1955 edition of The Independent, a new 20-lane Bowl-O-Drome being built on Route 35 near the Keansburg Gateway in Middletown would replace the Keyport landmark known as the Raritan American Legion Post No 23 alleys. With air conditioning in summer, a lunchroom in the lobby and a meeting room for club gatherings, the new alleys were prompting leagues from Long Branch, Red Bank, and Keyport to sign up. They alleys would continue to have pin boys setting the lanes in the back, but new underground ball returns would prevent disturbance of bowlers' concentration. Dom Lafayette, the owner of the Keyport alleys, was partnering with Lupe Ruffini of Red Bank in the new enterprise, which was expected to open in August.

A year earlier, there were 6 columns of bowling teams listed on the next to last page in the newspaper. The page was nearly filled with team and individual player names, game scores and set totals, and standings. Bowling was a big deal in the 1950's and nearly every shop in town had a team, or two, or three. Here are the leagues and teams:

The Keyport Businessmen's Bowling League: Keyport Radio & TV, McQueen's Cleaners, Keyport Jewelers, Burlew's Restaurant, Keyport Cleaners, Tourine's Tavern, Montagna's Sunoco, Garber Supply, Cliffwood Inn, Varlese's Construction, Keyport Bar, Pete's Tavern, Walt's Tavern, Mike's Esso, Single System, and Rollo Trucking.

The Matawan-Keyport Merchants League: Burlew's Restaurant, Frank's Barber Shop, Regan's Bar, Cliffwood Amoco, All-Bros. Woodworking, OK Sales and Service, Cliffwood Fire Co, Cliffwood Angels, Crate's Beverages, Keyport Diner, Wehrle's Dairy, Consolidated Fuel, Rapolla's Market, Jag's Sport Goods, DeLuxe Cleaners, Anchor Inn, Walling's Market, Old Mill Dairy, Schank's Oil Heaters, and Mat-Key Rec.

The Key-Mat Church Bowling League: Calvary Methodist, Bayview Presbyterian, Gethsemane Lutheran, Matawan Presbyterian, Matawan Methodist, Keyport Reformed, Hebrew Congregation, Keyport Baptist, St John's Methodist, and Matawan Baptist.

The Mat-Key Mixed Sunday Night League: LaZare's Shoes, Mat-Key Rec, Keyport Diner, Jim's Bar, C F Bahrenberg Market, Oswald Seafood Market, Bayshore Stationers, Bayshore Hardware, Hollywood Service, and Keelan's Bar & Liquor.

Keyport Recreation League: Tetro's Bar, Rose Hill Trucking, Martini's Diner, Aumack's Furniture, John's Bar, Dixie Lee, Brentwood Hotel, and Burlew's Restaurant.

Keansburg Ladies Monday Night League: H Wasserman & Son, Gentile's Market, Pete's Inc, Keyport Recreation, Mat-Key Recreation, H L Scott's, Marquet's Pharmacy, Richard's Hollywood Market, Keansburg News, and Louis' Restaurant.

Keansburg Businessmen's League: Andy's Station, Thompson's Sweets, Central Tavern, Crate's Beverages, NJ Shore District, Harold's Garage, Ambrosino's Farm Stand, and Consolidated Fuels.

Middletown Bowling League: King's Hardware, VanNortwick Bros, Port Monmouth First Aid, Mack's Oil Delivery, Mallett's Builders, Giles Market, Prestage Plumbers, Noble's Service Station, Brady's Sport Club, and Beacon Beach Assn.

Stuff The Bus, August 2011

Visit Target of Middletown on Saturday 6 August 2011 between 11 am and 4 pm so you can pick up a few extra school supplies for the needy in support of Stuff The Bus, a charitable project of the United Way of Monmouth County. Their staff will be on hand to collect your gifts and direct them to needy kids throughout the county. Even a small contribution could help and will be most appreciated. Similar drives will be held at Target of Manalapan on 13 August and in Freehold on 20 August at Sam's Club. See UWMC and APP for further details.

Jets Stadium Beckons Matawan Fan

Matawan resident Andrea Riemen is vying with 13 other candidates to have the honor of singing the national anthem on Fan Appreciation Day at the Jets' new stadium in the Meadowlands on 23 October 2011, according to APP. Riemen is a music teacher at the Harmony School in Middletown.

Freeholders Adjust Speed Limits From Matawan to Middletown

Middletown Patch points out that our Freeholders tinkered with the speed limits on Route 516 at their 23 June meeting. For those unfamiliar with our local roads, Wikipedia provides the complicated tale of how County Route 516 wends its way through our county from Matawan to Middletown. They will soon be writing to let our local municipalities know they have to change the speed limit signs.

The change could be a good thing, but the agenda (and Patch's article) didn't indicate that local municipalities were involved in the decision at all. Given that Route 516 cuts through the heart of multiple jurisdictions, such a change will affect all of us and there should be more transparency.

By the way, Mtown Patch: Your article erroneously states that Route 516 is 40 MPH and that it will now become 35 MPH.  No one is legally doing 40 MPH on Main Street in Matawan. Or on Green Grove in Keyport. The Freeholders' 23 June 2011 agenda shows Resolution 2011-0503 would amend an earlier resolution to reduce speeds for safety's sake. Our twisted little route has 8 different speed limit zones which will now range from 25 MPH to 40 MPH. The issue was considerably more complex than your article reported.

Earth Day and Plant Exchange Events in Middletown, April 16-17, 2011

Huber Woods Environmental Center will host Earth Day festivities next Sunday 17 April 2011, according to The Independent. The Center is located within Huber Woods Park at 25 Brown's Dock Road in the Locust section of Middletown Township.

Map to Huber Woods Environmental Center, Huber Woods Park, Middletown, NJ

And on Saturday April 16, 2011, Deep Cut Gardens is hosting its annual plant swap. Check our the details at their site, but basically you bring plants in containers and trade with others who have also brought plants. Be sure to read their restrictions. Deep Cut is located on Red Hill Road, also in Middletown Township.

Map to Deep Cut Gardens, Middletown, NJ

Matawan-Aberdeen School District Names New Superintendent

The Matawan-Aberdeen Board of Education has hired David Healy to be the district's new superintendent of schools as of 1 March, according to The Independent. Mr Healy is alternately described as one of four district directors or the assistant superintendent for operations and personnel for the Middletown Township's school district.  His responsibilities included student discipline, athletics & extra-curricular activities, facilities, and transportation.

The Atlantic Highlands Herald published a piece in October 2008 showing Mr Healy getting tough on out of towners trying to attend school in Middletown. It would be interesting to know who these supposed interlopers were just to be sure this policy wasn't an institutionalization of racism or classism under cover of a need for fiscal austerity.

Oh, this isn't Middletown keeping out strangers?

David Healy, MTSD Assistant Superintendent responsible for enforcing residency requirement policy, comments, "Middletown has a great school system in a very safe and nurturing environment. It is no wonder that residents from other towns might attempt to enroll their children in our schools under false pretenses. Our hope is to discourage this practice in order to avoid any expense for families or hardship to their children who will be redirected to their town's school when fraudulence is discovered."

The Atlantic Highlands Herald featured Mr Healy discussing improvements in violence and vandalism statistics in the Middletown school district in Dec 2009. (He doesn't miss a beat as he tells us us that self-reported use of illicit drugs in the district was down by half but actual possession incidents were up 700%. Also, observe his emphasis on how the statistics are audited , therefore reliable, and says nothing about their potential for misinterpretation or even worthlessness.)

Middletown, NJ -  Assistant Superintendent of Operations and Personnel, David M. Healy, recently presented the annual report of Violence and Vandalism to the Board of Education, which showed a remarkable 35% decline in the total number of incidents reported of Violence, Vandalism, Weapons and Substance Abuse. The all-inclusive statistic fell from 315 for the 2007-2008 school year to 204 for the 2008-2009 school year.

“This drop is all the more significant,” Mr. Healy explained, “because Middletown gives an accurate report of data as confirmed by state auditors, who have commended the way we aggressively report incidents to the state.” 

Decreases were experienced in practically every reported category, including simple assaults, harassment/intimidation/bullying, damage to property, theft, weapons possession (the latter category reflects only 3 incidents and none involving firearms). Substance abuse also showed a significant decline in the area of reported use with only 43 incidents compared to 95 the year before. One increase occurred in reported drug possession, moving from one to seven incidents from the year before.

In November 2010, drug use in the Middletown district rose by 12%, according to My Central Jersey. At the same time, more and more students surveyed testified to being drug-free. Mr Healy made no effort to reconcile this obvious inconsistency,instead he cherry-picked the data.

The district's drug use total has risen to 68 incidents in 2009-10 from 53 incidents in the 2008-09 school year, but Healy said the district's random drug and alcohol testing program and aggressive counseling programs are working to identify and treat students who are using drugs. . . .

Healy also referred to an anonymous survey given to students at the high schools in 2006 and again in 2009 that asks questions about drug use. The survey has reported a 10 percent increase in the number of students who claim they are not using drugs at both the junior and senior class levels, Healy said.

Mr Healy doesn't attempt to explain why random drug testing, instituted in 2006 and intended to deter drug use, wasn't effective. (Source: World Lingo, citing "Middletown school board OKs random drug testing: Some say plan would deter use," Asbury Park Press, October 24, 2006.)

As for the MARSD challenge before him, Mr Healy is quoted as saying, “I look forward to build on all the good works of Dr. O’Malley and bring Matawan to a place that it needs to be." Hmmm.

UPDATE: The Asbury Park Press published its me-too article about Mr Healy on Friday. APP mentioned that the acting superintendent of schools, Patrick Piegari, in this role since 5 February, is making $640/day until the end of the month.