A Highlands Love Affair

It was a love affair with Highlands that started with a letter from Washington Avenue resident Michael Roth to his neighbors.

It was also a public acclamation of his love for his late wife, MaryAnne.

Last May, Roth wrote the letter to all his neighbors on Washington Avenue along the Captains Cove area. In it, he asked if he could give each of them a gift that would be a memorial to his wife, but also “add a little more charm to our slice of heaven on earth.”

Roth gave a little history on why he wanted to give his neighbors gifts. He and his wife first came to Highlands around 2007, he said, finding it picturesque, quiet and with beautiful views. “It was all here,” he told them.

So he and MaryAnne purchased property the following year and, describing the house as ‘tired,’ hired an architect to convert it into their dream retirement home, delaying their move into their new home.

The move took place six weeks before Hurricane Sandy hit. When that storm slammed through Highlands, it left eight and a half feet of water on the street and sidewalk. But the Roth home was safe. Their architect had completed the renovations to the newest FEMA guidelines already in place in Highlands, so their house survived in good shape.

Following Sandy, the building inspector even used it as an example of how others could rebuild and maintain their homes in areas along the river.

The next ten years Roth told his neighbors, were the best of his life as he and MaryAnne retired and reveled in the friendliness and beauty of Highlands.

Then MaryAnne got sick. Last year, she passed away, one week before Christmas. They had been married 52 years.

But then Roth remembered something that was making him feel a bit better over his grief. A skilled carpenter and woodworker, the last thing he had made for his wife was a stenciled lobster to hang by their front entry. He told his neighbors MaryAnne had said how nice it would be if all the other houses around them also had one, creating a nautical and marine life theme for this portion of the Shrewsbury Rier.

So it was for MaryAnne, he explained to his neighbors, that he wanted to build a piece of marine life for each of his neighbors, to use for their house address and “something new” for the neighborhood. “MaryAnne would approve.,” he told them.

That is why several houses along Washington Avenue now proudly show house numbers on sea creatures, from lobsters and crabs to sea horses and oyster shells.

At last week’s council meeting. Mayor Carolyn Broullon also wanted to let Roth know how appreciative the entire borough is for his love of it, his neighbors, and the generous way in which he wanted to have Mary Anne remembered.

The borough council unanimously approved the proclamation Mayor Broullon presented to Roth recognizing his creative tribute to Mary Ann by unifying his street with a resilient community effort.

Her proclamation said, “in recognition of one man’s thoughtful and heartfelt tribute to one of his wife’s last wishes, the Mayor and Council of the Borough Highlands do hereby recognize Michael Roth of Washington Avenue for his sense of unifying the community, resilient use of materials and memorializing his wife in such an artistic fashion.”

It seems that’s what the Highlands people are like.

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