2014 Elections - Go Vote!

Elections are being held in Aberdeen and Matawan today.

FEDERAL

For US Senate, Cory Booker (D) is up against Jeff Bell (R), Joseph Baratelli (L),  plus 4 other candidates.

For US Congress,  Frank Pallone, Jr (D) is up against Anthony E Wilkinson (R) and Dorit Goikhman (L)

COUNTY

For Monmouth County Freeholder, Lillian G Burry (R) and Gary J Rich (R) are up against Larry Luttrell (D) and Joe Grillo (D)

SCHOOL BOARD

Aberdeen-Matawan School District offers two board slots for Aberdeen and one for Matawan.

For Aberdeen, Allison Friedman (Bailey Road), Weymouth D Brittingham (Orchard Street) and Todd Larchuk (Ayrmont Lane) are vying for two available seats.  Larchuk is an incumbent. The second slot was held by Dennis Daniels, who is not running.

For Matawan, Africa J Nelson (Main Street) is running unopposed. The slot was held by Charles Kenny, who is not running.

QUESTIONS

There are two public questions:

1) There's an effort to amend the state constitution to allow courts to hold offenders without bail if they choose. The current constitution requires judges to offer bail.

2) Another amendment to the state constitution would increase the percentage of business tax revenues dedicated to open space preservation, and air, water and soil conservation.

Cliffwood Beach Park

It might be a good idea to put up some barriers to keep people from driving anywhere they want inside the Cliffwood Beach park. I saw three vehicles drive from the Whale Creek entrance, across no man's land and off the curb to the parking lot. And you can see from the photograph above that some people are having fun making ruts in the grass after it rains. A little investment in guard rails might do the trick.

The edge of Whale Creek has become a Skidoo launch and playground. There are always pick up trucks and jet ski enthusiasts at creekside. People have a right to have fun, no doubt, but they shouldn't be oblivious to nature around them. Loud partying, blasting radios, revving jet ski engines and shooting spray in the creek are making a nearby nesting pair of osprey very nervous. The level of activity seems more appropriate for the bay.

After last week's annual extralegal fireworks extravaganza at the beach, I'm surprised the osprey have stuck around.

Osprey Watch

  

Above is a video about a nesting pair of osprey on the Potomac River south of Old Town Alexandria. The video provides a good primer on osprey identification as well as nesting and feeding behaviors.

There are two active nests in Cliffwood Beach at the moment, in case you want to see osprey in action. The nests in nearby Keyport have vanished, probably due to Superstorm Sandy. I think the nest above Union Beach Police Department is active, based on the comments about pooping birds from the staff there. I've not checked out the nests in Laurence Harbor or Cheesequake yet.

If the weather cooperates, I plan an outing this weekend to find the reported nest off Wilson Avenue in Matawan. It seems to be along the Hudson Trail by the power station.

Check out my page at Osprey Watch for locations of these and other nests in our area. I've posted directions and photographs and Osprey Watch provides maps. You can register from their home page to become an osprey watcher yourself. I welcome additional watcher reports and photos. The breed is starting to thrive again after some difficult years, so please don't disturb them. We all hope for a successful nesting season. And be sure to donate to Osprey Watch if you're able.

UPDATE: After dinner at MJ's Sports Bar on Route 34, where we watched the Brazil v Colombia World Cup match and a bit of the Yankees v Twins game, I took my wife over to Wilson Avenue to locate the osprey nest near the Hudson Trail. Turns out there is an active nest atop the huge -- I mean really tall -- communications tower at the JCP&L Wilson Avenue sub-station.

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.

What Next For The Cliffwood Beach Waterfront?

Mayor Fred Tagliarini had a close call in the recent election and wondered aloud on election night whether he needed to do a few things he promised but didn't delivered on, one of those being the Cliffwood Beach Waterfront revitalization. He pointed out that there's no point to fixing up the place if it is going to continue to flood, something I agree with.

Councilman Greg Cannon announced a development project to deal with the flooding of the beach onto Lakeshore Drive by improving drainage and engineering the dunes to withstand storms, things that the township might be able to get state or federal funding for but seem wishful thinking, engineering wise.

The roadway and park are literally immersed in a flood zone and nothing short of a seawall is going to keep out the Raritan Bay. And not for the long term, even with a concrete structure. The tide has been cutting a path towards Greenwood Avenue and regularly floods the woods behind the homes there. After Sandy and Irene, people were kayaking on Lakeshore Drive. No mound of sand, no matter how well engineered, is going to keep out the bay.

It might be time to start pondering a different approach to the beachfront. Perhaps a new bridge to connect Greenwood Avenue with Ocean Avenue? A bridge could provide secure vehicle transportation between Monmouth and Middlesex counties. It could also support a walkway/bike path connecting the Laurence Harbor seawall with the Cliffwood Beach seawall, eventually linking them to the Hudson Trail at Keyport. At the same time, we could develop a saltwater marsh at Cliffwood Beach instead of building basketball courts. A green approach could attract game bird hunters, fishermen, bird watchers and envirotourists. And generous funding at the state and federal levels.

History: Dr Carl Gesswein, Matawan Physician (1881 - 1956)

Charles Albert "Carl" Gesswein was a prominent medical doctor with an office at the corner of Church and Main Streets and a home at 205 Main Street in Matawan for many years. He born on 30 May 1881, in Canton, Ohio, married Bessie Morrow about 1906, and died on 19 Mar 1956 at Riverview Hospital in Red Bank after a long illness.

In the 1881 Canton City Directory, Carl's father Gustave L Gesswein was foreman at the Diebold Safe and Lock Co and lived at 148 South Cherry Street in Canton. In a separate section of the directory, G Gesswein was listed as the 4th Ward's member of the school board. His term of office was due to expire in 1890.

Gustave appeared in the 1888-1889, 1889-1890, and 1891-1892 Canton City Directories.

Carl was a student living with his parents, Gustave J and Mary Gesswein, at 506 Bucher, Canton, OH, in the 1896 Canton City Directory. Carl's sister Laura was in the same household; she was working as a bookkeeper at the co-op grocery. His sister Rose was also there, listed as a stenographer.

Carl was a student living with his parents, Gustave and Marie Gesswein, in Hamilton, OH in the 1900 Federal Census. His father, who was born in Sep 1850 in Germany and came to the US five years later, was superintendent of a safe manufacturer in Hamilton, OH. Home to three major safe companies, Hamilton was considered the Safe Capital of the World at the time. Carl's mother was born in Feb 1856 in the portion of Virginia that would become West Virginia; her father was born in Germany and mother in Switzerland. Gustav and Marie were married about 1877 and had four children, one of which had died by 1900.

The 1900 Hamilton City Directory showed Gustave as Superintendent of the Mosler Safe Company, Grand Boulevard, East Hamilton. Their residence was at 229 North 7th Street in Hamilton. Carl was a clerk at Mosler. Gustave's wife was Mary A Gesswein. Carl's sisters Laura and Rose were in the household but listed no occupations.

Carl was a student in the 1902 Hamilton City Directory. Laura was a stenographer, while the other details above remained the same.

Carl was a medical student in the 1904 Hamilton City Directory. The other details above remained the same.

Carl finished undergraduate work at the University of Cincinnati, then medical school at the University of Illinois, Urbana, according to his obituary. He opened a medical office in Plainfield, NJ in 1904.

Carl married Bessie Morrow about 1906. Bessie and her fraternal twin, Jesse Morrow, were born in Oct 1879, children of John and Ada Morrow, according to the 1900 Federal Census. The family lived in Hamilton, OH, where John was a salesman. The twins were born in Seven Mile, OH, according to Bessie's obituary, which showed her name as Bessie Hudson Morrow. Her burial record and Carl's obituary both showed her maiden name as Hudson, but the Hudson connection was not obvious. John and Ada had been married 29 years in the 1900 Census and the children showed Pennsylvania parental birth places, matching John and Ada.

Carl and Bessie were enumerated at 102 Central Avenue in Plainfield, NJ in the 1910 Federal Census. He was a doctor with his own office. He and Bessie had been married for four years at the time.

Carl appeared with a business listing in the 1912 Plainfield City Directory. He was a physician with hours 8 - 10 am, 1 - 3 pm, and 7 - 8 pm. His residence was at 102 Central Avenue in Plainfield, NJ. His phone was 730-J. His father Gustave was listed in the household; he was working as a superintendent in Philadelphia. The women were not listed.

Carl was listed with physicians in the 1914, 1915 and 1916 Plainfield City Directories. Each showed his 102 Central Avenue address.

Carl and Bessie moved to Matawan in 1916, according to his obituary. The 14 Dec 1916 edition of The Matawan Journal contained this report:

"Dr. George G. Reynolds has sold his house on Main Street to Dr. Carl A. Gesswein of Plainfield, who, with his wife, moves here to-day. Dr. Gesswein is a graduate of The Chicago College of Physicians and Surgeons, with twelve years' experience of practicing medicine and has had experience as operating surgeon in the Plainfield Hospital."

An advertisement for Dr C A Gesswein appeared in the 1 Nov 1917 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 6, col 5). His office was at the corner of Main and Church Sts, telephone 214, was open early in the morning (7:30 - 9 am), afternoon (1 - 3 pm), and evening (7 - 8:30 pm).

By the time Carl registered for the WWI draft in Sep 1918, he and Bessie were living at 205 Main Street in Matawan. He was of medium height and build with brown hair and grey eyes and was keeping a medical office at 30 Church Street, according to that record.

Carl's parents and two unmarried sisters were living in his 205 Main Street household in the 1920 Federal Census. His father was no longer working. (This record, in contrast to the 1900 record above, says that Gustave emigrated to the US in 1870 and was naturalized in 1875. And Marie's parents were both born in Switzerland in this record.) Carl's sister Laura was a secretary at the Episcopal church.

Carl and Bessie's household at 205 Main Street in the 1930 Federal Census included his parents, his sister Laura, and Bessie's sister's daughter Lillian Kenny. Lillian was a nurse in an office, presumably Carl's medical office.

Carl's parents went to Germany and spent several weeks there in the early fall of 1930, according to an Oct 1930 article reprised in the 1 Oct 1970 edition of The Matawan Journal. The article revealed that Gustav held the title of Justice of the Peace.

The doctor hit the news in 1930 when he recommended testing the water in Lake Matawan for toxins.

In Jun 1931, Carl took Bessie and their niece Lillian Kenny to Philadelphia, where he attended the convention of the American Medical Association, according to a history article in the 17 Jun 1971 edition of The Matawan Journal.

Bessie hosted the Matawan Women's Club at her home to hear the Mayor Edward Currie speak on municipal management, according to the 25 Nov 1932 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 1, col 3). (Her  attendance in the early 1950s at a Former Presidents of the New Jersey Federation of Women's Clubs suggests that she served as president of the Matawan Women's Club at some point.)

Bessie hosted the Wednesday Afternoon Bridge Club at her home, according to the 25 Jul 1935 edition of The Red Bank Register.

Carl maintained a flower garden on the lot where Daniel B Strong had a store for many years, according to the 16 Aug 1935 edition of The Matawan Journal. (You can also see the text of the 1935 article at History of Singer Sewing Machines in Monmouth and Middlesex Counties in his blog.)

The 1940 Federal Census showed Carl and Bessie hosting his unwed sister Laura and an adult niece named Lillian Kenny at their 205 Main Street residence. Lillian was a technician, office assistant.

Carl served on the committee for the annual dance benefit for Riverview hospital, according to the 18 Jul 1940 edition of The Red Bank Register.

Carl's medical office was at 35 Church Street in 1942, according to his WWII draft registration papers.  He and Bessie were at 205 Main Street and their phone number was 214. He was 5'8" tall and 200 lbs with grey hair and had a tattoo on his arm.

During WWII, Carl was chief of emergency medical services of the Matawan Borough Defense Council.

Carl worked on the staff at Monmouth Medical, Riverview and South Amboy hospitals. He served as the school physician for the Matawan Township school district. He also worked in Holmdel Township. He was a former member of the Monmouth County Medical Society.

Carl served on the Board of Directors of Matawan Bank and attained the presidency of the bank, according to his obituary. The 12 Jul 1951 edition of The Matawan Journal had a public notice of the accounts of this bank, showing Carl as president.

Carl was a member of Matawan Lodge #192 F & AM {Free and Accepted Masons}, according to his obituary.

Bessie was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church, according to her obituary. She served as President of the Glenwood Mission Band until 1950, according to the 19 Jan 1950 edition of The Matawan Journal. She was also a circle member, among other activities of the church. She was also active in the Matawan branch of the American Red Cross. She is mentioned in this context in the 13 Apr 1950 edition of The Matawan Journal.

Bessie died of a heart attack on 11 Nov 1952 at their home in Matawan, according to the 13 Nov 1952 edition of The Matawan Journal. Her funeral was to be conducted by Rev Chester Galloway of the First Presbyterian Church on 14 Nov 1952, with burial to follow at Old Tennent Cemetery.

Carl resigned as Matawan Township schools physician in Feb 1955 due to illness, according to the 24 Feb 1955 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 1, cols 4-5). He also resigned as schools physician in Holmdel, according to the 14 Jul 1955 edition of The Red Bank Register.

Carl's obituary appeared in the 22 Mar 1956 edition of The Matawan Journal, (pp 1, 4). His funeral was conducted by Chester Galloway of the First Presbyterian Church. Burial was on 22 Mar 1956 at Old Tennent Churchyard in Tennent, NJ, according to Find-a-Grave.

Carl left $45,000 and the balance of his estate, minus $30,000 in directed bequests, to Lillian Kenny, his niece, according to the 12 Apr 1956 edition of The Matawan Journal. The bequests went to cousins and nieces as well as his late wife's twin brother.

A Book About Sloan Products, Matawan Dry Goods

I'm always on the lookout for books about Matawan and Aberdeen. At the Matawan-Aberdeen Public Library I discovered "A Sloan Product: A Memoir of a Lost Boy" by Neil L Selinger, published in 2011. Selinger tells of growing up in a four-generation Jewish family living on a 23-acre farm at 59 Freneau Avenue (Route 79) in Matawan.

The family owned and operated Sloan Products, a wholesale distributor of a variety of dry goods. The enterprise was closed a few years before the book was published. Once farmland in the Freneau section of the borough, the property is now the home of The Preserve at Matawan, with a street called Sloan Court running through the development. Fifteen acres of the land has been "preserved" in the true sense of the word. It is now protected wetlands.

There is a nice tribute to the author and his book in The New York Times. (See Loss of Speech Evokes the Voice of an Author, by Peter Applebome.) Mr Selinger developed Lou Gehrig's Disease shortly after finishing the book.

The 13 Sep 1951 edition of The Matawan Journal had a classified ad: "BOY WANTED as helper on truck."

The 10 Oct 1957 edition of The Matawan Journal had two graphic ads for Sloan Products, one for a rocking horse they distributed called the Blue Ribbon Wonder Horse; the other ad was for Kaiser Foil.

You can find the book under "Selinger" in the library's Biography section, which is upstairs along the back wall.

Old Cliffwood School Is No More

History: Esso The Giant Power Fuel (1929 Advertisement)

The 16 Aug 1929 edition of The Matawan Journal contained the above advertisement for the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. The company was lauding the virtues of its Esso gasoline in what looks to me to be a rather sexually suggestive ad, both in wording and image.

I've rendered the text of the ad below:

ESSO THE GIANT POWER FUEL
Smoothes Out The Hill Roads And Gives You Greater Power

For Esso is a red giant for power. More pent-up energy than a swollen river or a cyclone. But Esso is flexible power. Throttle down to a lazy crawl. Or open up to seventy. It's all the same to Esso.

Of course, Esso has the best anti-knock qualities. But it does more than cut out motor "pings". Gives new life to any car.

And there is only one Esso - uniform in quality - sold at thousands of silver Esso pumps with Esso shields. You can't mistake the name or the results.

Esso contains tetra-ethyl-lead.

STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF NEW JERSEY

Cliffwood Beach Access Road Cleanup

I pulled some tires, bottles and plastics from along the beach access road today and left them near the Greenwood Avenue gate. Perhaps some others might want to help out over the weekend by picking up some other debris and leaving it there? And then the Aberdeen Utility Dept could come by next week and pick it up?And people could stop leaving their beer bottles in the brush along the access road? Show some class.

Board Gives Last Minute Notice of Park Cleanup Event

It was a great idea for Aberdeen Township to seek volunteers for a Saturday morning clean up event at the River Gardens Natural Area, but it seems to me that the Township's Environmental Board could have done more to draw in volunteers for this worthy project in the Riverdale Park section of Cliffwood.

The board's press release was dated Thursday for a Saturday morning event, a bit late in my view. I know I didn't come across word of the event until about an hour ago. While it was somehow picked up before press time by Gannet's weekly Independent, the original press release didn't go out to Aberdeen residents by e-Bulletin until Friday morning and there was no information in The Matawan-Aberdeen Patch or Asbury Park Press.

The board could have taken advantage of the Patch's free community events feature or given them a brief interview. There was nothing in The Asbury Park Press, but that's no surprise. We're not in southeastern Monmouth or Ocean County, so we don't count.

I hope the project was well attended and wish I could have participated. Its last minute and limited promotion might have kept many people like me in the dark.

By the way, in the course of conducting my research for this article I noticed that the Township website search tool only brings up 3 hits for the string "River gardens," while an advanced Google search of the website ("river gardens" site:www.aberdeennj.org) yields 19 hits. The Township webmaster might want to take a look at the search tool and see what's up. Neither tool brought up Thursday's press release, but that could be due to a slow web crawler.

Free Smartphone App Guide to NJ Wildlife Released

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has developed a smartphone app that serves as a guide to finding the best spots to find our state's wildlife, whether you want to watch them frolicking in the wilderness or hunt them down with your weapon of choice and kill them. The press release reads, in part:

The free Pocket Ranger® New Jersey Fish and Wildlife application is a cutting-edge mobile app
that provides on-the-spot information on the state’s fish and wildlife species along with extensive
mapping of public open spaces, showing and providing site information on access points for
hunting, fishing, boating and wildlife watching.

Pocket Ranger has social networking capabilities, and provides an advanced map-caching feature
that allows users to continue to navigate even if mobile service is lost. In addition, advanced GPS
technology allows users to keep track of where they are, how far they’ve gone and to mark
favorite hunting spots, fishing holes or wildlife sightings.

Park Cleanup in River Gardens (Cliffwood)

River Gardens is a part of the Cliffwood section of Aberdeen Township. It was developed by Laurence Harbor Heights Company in the late 1940s. The neighborhood is situated between Matawan Avenue, Route 35, Matawan Creek and the Matawan border (just north of the Garden State Parkway). West Prospect Avenue is the major route through the neighborhood, running from Route 35 to the Matawan Avenue Middle School (MAMS).

River Gardens is home to a 25-acre undeveloped park located on Riverdale Drive along Matawan Creek. The land was acquired as public open space by Aberdeen Township in 2004. The Bayshore Regional Watershed Council and the NY/NJ Baykeeper organized a recent park cleanup, according to The Matawan-Aberdeen Patch and other sources.

The Township's Environmental Commission is looking into the history of the area's renowned brick companies, which established their works along Matawan Creek and the railroad to facilitate shipment of their goods to market. Remnants of at least one brickyard, most of which were uprooted by the building of the Garden State Parkway in the 1950s, have been found in Riverside Park.

History of the River Gardens Subdivision

According to the 22 Dec 1949 edition of The Matawan Journal, outgoing councilman William Regan complained to the Matawan Township Council that developers were receiving preferential access to the water supply from township officials, while local residents remained on a long waiting list. He asked in particular about deliveries of pipe "at the old Pennsylvania Railroad property in Cliffwood, now in the course of development as River Gardens by Laurence Harbor Heights Co." Regan pointed out that there hadn't been any Council discussion of the River Gardens development since January 1947. Township Chairman John Marz Jr said that the company had agreed to buy its own pipe and the Township would take possession of it after 20 years. One councilman suggested that the Council was working in the dark and should have a copy of the plans.

The 27 Sep 1951 edition of The Matawan Journal featured a complaint to the Township Council from a River Gardens residents group. The developer had installed septic tanks at $250 each, but the State came in and found the septic systems inadequate. The residents wanted Laurence Harbor Heights Co to fund their required deposits on a new sewer system, including a plant, piping and pumps. The estimated cost of the system was $75,000 to $85,000.

The 30 Jan 1958 edition of The Matawan Journal included coverage of a River Gardens residents group that petitioned the school board for a restoration of bus transportation for their high school students. The article identified River Gardens as a section of Cliffwood.

Laurence Harbor Heights Company

I found references to land transfers by Laurence Harbor Heights Company in The Matawan Journal as early as 1935, but no fundamentals about the company itself. I checked the web and found a Google Books record showing that the company advertised in an 18 Oct 1922 "Railway" magazine under Rivers and Harbors as a builder  of bulkheads, boardwalk and gradings. The ad appeared in The Collected Works of Sir Humphrey Daly, by Halbert Powers Gillette. A New Jersey court case titled Villa Corp vs S D Walker, et al (187 F.2d 493), heard in 1950 and decided the following year, said that Laurence Harbor Heights Company was owned as of 1947 by one S D Walker.

History: Raritan Bay Pollution Symposium, Keyport (1953)

The 5 Mar 1953 edition of The Matawan Journal covered a Raritan Bay pollution symposium held at Keyport Borough Hall on 27 Feb 1953. The front page article was titled Mayor Scholer Protests Sewer Plan: Union Beach Officials Charge State Board, Legislature Knew Pollution Cause.

Government officials from Keansburg, Keyport, Union Beach, Matawan Borough, Matawan Township, Perth Amboy and South Amboy, as well as local industry representatives, gathered at a symposium in Keyport convened by Keyport Mayor Herbert R Rothenberg to discuss the growing problem of the pollution of Raritan Bay. Of particular concern to those gathered was the pitiful state of the the bay's shellfish industry, which was being put out of business by pollution caused by the dumping of industrial wastes and sewage effluent into the Hudson, Passaic, and Raritan rivers and the Raritan Bay itself.

Experts and state authorities came to the meeting to advocate for a new sewer treatment system that would heavily treat local sewage with chlorine then pump the processed sewage into the bay a full two miles off Laurence Harbor. In several years the system promised to remove water pollution from the waters around the Amboys and begin to bring back the shellfish industry.

The symposium was startled when Union Beach representatives in attendance refused to accept the assurances of NJ state health officials and legislators that the outflow from the proposed Raritan Valley Trunk Sewer would not contaminate the bay. Instead of going along with the proposal, the Union Beach officials accused the state of long turning a blind eye to influential polluters and leaving a real mess.

The NJ Public Health Service noted that fecal coliform bacteria levels in the Amboy channel were stable between 1915 and 1941 tests at 80 per 100 mm, but ten years later the level was 20 times higher. Exacerbating the problem was the faulty plant run by the Passaic Valley Sewer Commission. He thought those levels would improve with the construction of new treatment plants at Hunt's Point, Owl's Head, and Rockaway in New York City and a new plant at Linden-Elizabeth in New Jersey.

A Rutgers University expert said voluminous samples were taken of the waters of the Raritan Bay in 1950 and, except for the high values in the Amboy channel, the bay seemed to be in good condition. In an apparent reference to the nascent pharmaceutical industry along the Raritan River, the Rutgers expert asserted that the manufacture of certain drugs had been the primary cause of the sharp increase at the Amboy Channel.

The Rutgers expert admitted that the proposed plant would not meet state requirements for dissolved oxygen content but thought that the bay could deal with it naturally. ". . . the discharge would not be 'crystal clear water fit to drink' but felt the bay's capacity of self-purification would dispense all offensive matter a few hundred yards from the nozzles and the intense chlorination at the South Amboy chlorination plant." He also noted that 2/3rds of bay pollution came from industrial sources, not sewage.

It was here Mayor Scholer intervened to protest there wasn't a "decent disposal plant in the State of New Jersey" and he did not see why people living in towns along the bay had to be subjected to the gamble that the trunk sewer treatment plant would properly handle all the sewerage and wastes of the Raritan Valley due for dumping in bay water. He wanted to know why the Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority was not called the "sewerage dumping authority."

Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District Forms Packet 2012-13

The Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District (MARSD) has issued its 2012-2013 school year forms packet for parents to sign by 7 Sep 2012. The "complete packet" is 24 pages long and paperless.

Parents are told the rules about:

• pp 1-3: Student use of computers and the possible consequences for abuse
• pg 4: Student attendance
• pg 5: Asbestos hazards
• pg 6: Pesticide hazards
• pg 7: Bias incidents
• pp 8-16, 22: Harassment, intimidation and bullying
• pp 17-19 - Cyber bullying
• pg 20 - Parent Portal - communications with the school
• pg 21 - Rules regarding late arrival and early dismissal
• pg 23 - Authorization for family physician
• pg 24 - Consent to use your child's image on school website and/or Huskievision

A few points of concern:

1) The Internet Safety/Protection section (pg 2) makes a simple if fundamental error in its application of the Miller vs US three-prong test of obscenity. The US Supreme Court ruling calls for all three prongs to be met, not just one or two of them. The current "either/or" rendering of the school rule erroneously leaves each prong to stand alone as a violation of obscenity. The individual elements cannot stand alone but must be applied and met together to add up to obscenity. And for good reason. Notice that the third element -- images are deemed obscene that lack literary, artistic, scientific, or political value to minors -- certainly doesn't on its own necessarily add up to obscenity.

The rules ask parents to give the school permission to act reasonably in the area of computer use, which sounds okay until you realize that individual teachers and school district officials are left to apply their own values when they enforce what is "generally acceptable in the community."

One day we'll all look back at this aspect of these guidelines and gasp.

2) Notice that bullying gets the lion's share of attention here. Lots of detail. But at the same time they want you to sign 1) that you're aware of a vague plan to deal with asbestos in MARSD buildings and 2) that their use of pesticides won't be discussed this year but isn't any big shakes.

3) Parents have to grant the school permission to post their child's image on the school's website and on Huskievision. The form doesn't allow a parent to say no. Instead, a parent would have to sign the form granting permission, then take the second step of writing a letter to the school rescinding that permission. The simple answer is to have a form that offers yes or no checkoff boxes to grant permission or not. Most parents, if they read these 24 pages, will throw up their hands and grant this permission.

Matawan Resident Observes Fish Kill in the Toms River

Atlantic menhaden (Wikimedia)

The Asbury Park Press posted an article last night discussing a fish kill in the Toms River involving Atlantic menhaden. The article featured personal testimony from Don Baker, an 80-year old resident of Matawan, who keeps his sailboat at Lighthouse Point Marina in South Toms River.  The NJ DEP noted that large schools of menhaden are known to enter lagoons, deplete the available oxygen and die in large numbers.

History: Nord Chemical Co Explosion, Keyport (1952)

The 1 May 1952 edition of The Matawan Journal (page 1, col 8) covered the overnight explosions and fire at the Nord Chemical Company at Broadway and Clark Street in Keyport.

"Area residents were jolted from their slumbers early this morning by a series of explosions . . . that set off successive waves of a roaring inferno that consumed much of the plant . . ."

Area fire companies couldn't approach the benzol-fueled chemical fire until retardant foam was delivered from Standard Oil in Linden and applied.

Nord Chemical, which had been in operation for 14 years, consisted of a plant, office buildings and storage tanks situated on 9 acres. Authorities were able to move three of four chemical tank cars on the plant's railroad spur. A neighboring company had  relocated much of its operation to Marlboro for fear of such a fire and still suffered an estimated $33,000 in damages. Nord's estimated loss was $100,000.

The manufacture of benzol distillates from waste had prompted complaints of odors and the pollution of nearby Luppatolong Creek. See "Fumes Many Complaints, Probe" in the 8 Feb 1951 edition of The Matawan Journal (page 6, col 5) for details of these complaints and Keyport's unsuccessful efforts to get the State of New Jersey to assign blame to Nord Chemical.

The 13 Aug 1942 edition of The Red Bank Register (pg 11) reported on what was the sixth fire at the plant in three years. The 29 Jul 1948 edition of the Red Bank Register (pg 9) mentioned yet another fire.

Low Tide at Cliffwood Beach, May 2012

I went down to the bay Saturday afternoon at Cliffwood Beach to see if there was a beached sailboat there, as reported in a comment on this blog earlier this week. I didn't see anything. Perhaps it was removed?

I snapped a few pictures while there. It was low tide. There were signs that the horseshoe crabs had come and gone. And there are signs that the bay is eroding the sand bank covering the old pool.

Horseshoe crab at low tide on Cliffwood Beach, NJ

Low tide at Cliffwood Beach, looking westward from seawall.

Low tide at Cliffwood Beach, looking eastward along seawall.

Signs of erosion near old pool at Cliffwood Beach seawall.

Wild flower on access road off Greenwood Avenue

Video: Cindy Zipf, Clean Ocean Action

Middletown Patch put together a wonderful piece on Cindy Zipf and Clean Ocean Action. Well done.

Cliffwood Beach Sweep - Spring 2012

We went down to Cliffwood Beach this morning to participate in Clean Ocean Action's Spring Beach Sweep in honor of Earth Day. Hat tip to The Patch for letting us know about the event. There were lots of folks down there walking around with collection bags and clipboards, collecting debris and logging what they find. We noticed Aberdeen Councilman Greg Cannon and family. There were also a lot of fishermen at the surf line trying to catch stripers, poles in the ground. The lot was nearly full, because there were so many people in the fishermen's parking lot today. 

We always enjoy the beach cleanup and try to participate each time it is held. Thanks to those who organize these events. I believe the events make a difference, not only in the appearance of the beach but in improved  understanding of what is washing up onto the Raritan Bay shoreline.

We collected a bag of debris -- mostly shopping bags that had washed up on the shore, plus beverage cans and bottles -- and we found three big tires that had floated our way and found a home on our beach.

We took turns rolling one big truck tire up the beach. What a struggle! 

We found an exit to the road and rolled the tire down to the collection area, where we loaded it onto the Monmouth County refuse truck with some help from a county employee.

I took a piece of driftwood and dug this monster tire out of the surf. It seemed like a simple matter to roll it back to the collection station, but it turned out to be a major task.

We found two more tires down by the seawall. We brought them back to the collection area in our car.

There was a very organized process for volunteers to sign up and get bags, work gloves, and data sheets and pencils.