Parents in the Oceanport school district received a letter this week indicating the Board of Education is asking the state Commissioner of Education to invalidate the six resolutions approved by the three municipalities and three boards of education seeking to put a question of regionalization on their ballots in three separate municipalities.
In a move that has preceded any apparent attempts by the Oceanport school board to engage in in any communications with the three governing bodies and three boards of education, the unsigned letter, identifying the writer only as Oceanport Board of Education, said the Board had filed a petition the afternoon of June23 seeking an order to invalidate “the resolutions approved by the Borough of Sea Bright, the Borough of Highlands, the Borough of Atlantic Highlands, the Highlands Board of Education, the Atlantic Highlands Board of Education and the Henry Hudson Regional School District Board of Education.”
In a unified effort, each of these six official elected boards had all passed resolutions asking the Commissioner of Education to enable them to out the question on the ballot to create a K-12 regional school district to include Sea Bright, Highlands and Atlantic Highlands. Currently, Sea Bright children attend schools under the Oceanport Board, or the Shore Regional High School Board.
Each of the six bodies who passed the resolutions which have been forwarded to the Commissioner took the action after a new law was enacted in January which paved the way for smaller school districts to conduct studies and pursue actions to ensure academic excellence and economic advantages for taxpayers with a regional plan. Both the municipalities and the school boards sought professionals in the field to conduct studies and make recommendations on the economic and academic impact on both children and taxpayers. Both Henry Hudson Regional school district and Highlands and Atlantic Highlands held several workshops inviting the public to attend, learn about the recommendations, ask questions and make any recommendations. There was no one at any of these meetings or workshops who identified themselves as either professionals with, or members of either the Oceanport or Shore Regional boards of education.
In its letter, Oceanport Board of Education added “it is our opinion that the Borough of Sea Bright at this time is without legal authority to pursue the proposed regionalization and referendum in November of 2022 as a matter of law.” However, in the letter to the parents there was no indication whether the Oceanport Board of Education cited any law or precedence under current law it cited for its opinion.
The Oceanport Board of Education has not responded to a request for information.
Borough Administrator Robert Ferragina announced at last week’s meeting of the Mayor and Council that Bernie Sweeney Way along Simon Lake Drive will be officially signed and dedicated at a ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 29.
The sign will be placed on the Simon Lake Drive sign at the end of First Avenue at at the harbor entrance near On the Deck Restaurant.
The governing body unanimously introduced the ordinance to honor the late Bernard Sweeny, owner with his wife, Kathleen, of the Shore Casino in the Harbor shortly after his death in February following an extended illness.
Mayor Loretta Gluckstein set the dedication date for June 29, which is Mr. Sweeney’s birthday.
Jay Strebb, general manager of the Casino owned by his mother, Kathleen announced that in honor of the occasion, the Shore Casino will be offering hot dogs in front of the Casino following the ceremony. “These were Bernie’s favorite food,” Strebb said, “ and at one time before he converted it to the grand Casino it is today, this building started out as a hot dog stand in the harbor, so it’s fitting we celebrate his birthday and this great occasion with hot dogs.” Light beverages will also be served, and Strebb said there will be other offerings within the Casino at the same time.
“I’m happy they are honoring Bernie with such a grand gesture,” said Kathleen Sweeney , his widow and owner of the Casino, “there is no doubt he loved the harbor and all the people he has met through this long alliance of more than 50 years. Jay and I feel so honored the Mayor and Council appreciate and love him so much that they have taken this step. We thank you all sincerely for friendship and the wonderful support Jay and I have had since Bernie’s death.”
If there is any one thing that stood out for me on a recent visit to the Twin Lights, it is there is always something new and exciting to learn at this museum high on the hill in Highlands.
Nick Wood, the state ranger and historian par excellence, and his team of three well trained volunteers, all give tours daily at the museum . It is well worth the $12 for an hour or so of sheer enjoyment, plenty of knowledge, and a new appreciation for lighthouse keepers, ship captains, the United States Life Saving Service and so much more.
The Museum does not charge anything for visiting and touring on your own, enjoying the magnificent view either from the front lawn or, with a small fee, from either or both of the towers. But the $12 tour also includes a trip up the towers along with an information and a fun-filled visit to the six galleries, two outbuildings, and of course a small gift shop that are all part of the Twin Lights.
Touring with Nick brings history alive. You can almost hear the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance as you rub your hand over the foundation that once held that very large flag before which the first recitation of the pledge was said. In the Lifesaving station building, you learn the difference between the lifesaving station, the lifesaving service, and the Coast Guard. In the outbuilding housing the Fresnel lens, you learn so much more about its brilliance and how it came to be at the Twin Lights. That’s only the start.
The museum, both inside and out, is well designed with plenty of signs, photographs and videos that help explain all of the exhibits. But hearing Nick explain the little extras not captured in the written word, and to learn from the questions and his response to others in the tour group makes the trip ever so much better.
Nick tailors each of his tours to the will and whims of the group, be it two persons or a dozen or more. If there’s a huge interest in shipwrecks, he can expound on that. Or if it’s a technical group and wants to know more about the Marconi wireless message, or even the America’s Cup race, he can go into greater detail. I wouldn’t ask about ghosts or pirates ,though. Nick is a historian and likes to ensure every fascinating fact he gives has a strong foundation in research and documentation.
The historian has excelled in training his team of three other volunteers who give tours as well, each eager to share facts they themselves have learned during intensive training for the part time position.
Tours are $12 for adults, $2 for children, and are offered seven days a week between the museum’s open hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. While there are usually tour guides available, it isn’t necessary to make a reservation; but if you want to ensure a specific day and time, I’d suggest calling 732-872-1814 and making a reservation.
If you are visiting and want to climb the towers and not opt for the tour, $5 enables you to climb one or both for those spectacular views, more history, and a chance to imagine how Fort Hancock looked when it was an active army base, how the merry-go-round turned at Sandlass’s Amusement park, and or how Highlands looked a century ago.
Any visit to the Twin Lights is a grand way to spend an afternoon regardless of weather. Even on rainy days, the galleries within the building are filled with so much information, so many fascinating exhibits, and so many stories about local people that make every Bayshore resident proud. The grounds are wonderful for picnics,
The museum and grounds are open seven days a week, the museum closes at 4 and the grounds at 4:30. Plan a visit of a hour or half a day, enjoy the outdoor seating and grounds, and learn about the important role lighthouses have played in the history of both New Jersey and the United States.
Jackie Caruso Larsen was too young herself to be a witness to anything about prohibition. But she still remembers the names and people she knew as a child who were part of that fascinating part of American history in Atlantic Highlands.
One of Jackie’s stories focuses on the boarders at her grandmother’s rooming house on the west side of the compound the family owned on Center Avenue. Jackie’s parents, Dominick Caruso and his wife, the former Mae McAllister, lived in the bungalow on the east side, their first home after getting married. This gave her mom a bird’s eyes of the comings and goings of her next door neighbors, Jackie said. And she continues the story.
“And come and go they did. From what I was told the men met for dinner in Grandma’s enormous kitchen, ate, made their plans for the evening, played cards and then headed for bed.
Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, dressed in boots and rain gear, they took off. It’s rumored that they went down to the bay, rowed out to a large boat and unloaded crates of Canadian whiskey.
Around daybreak they returned. This went on several nights a week. The year was probably 1929.
Then I’m told one night was different.
There was a lot of commotion in the early morning hours. Jack Rungayne, a Russian immigrant, had his leg smashed between two of the boats. The other boarders, Nick Perfetto, Joe Sceina, Tony the shoemaker and my uncle Lou carried the injured man to his bed. No doctor was summoned because of the secret nature of the injury, but the man managed to survive.
Soon after this, Mom and Dad moved to their own house on Avenue D. By then, Rum running was near its end. But I do remember hearing of other another related incident.
The man living across the street was involved in hijacking trucks. One day his victim surprised him with a gun and chased our neighbor all the way down Avenue D. They couldn’t quite make it to his house so he dashed into Mamie Mardorf’s house, ran up the stairs and hid under her bed. Apparently Mamie possessed great powers of persuasion and got the man to leave.
Years later, I remember sitting at my Grandma’s table with these very men, the boarders. They must have liked the food and lodging! Nick was always joking, Tony never spoke, Jack with his horrible limp frightened me and Joe, also a barber, played the trombone right in that very kitchen!
One such occasion was Uncle Joe’s return from World War II where he served in the Navy on a mine sweeper. There was a huge party and the whole neighborhood showed up. There was food, drink, dancing, singing, and of course, card playing.”
Madeline Dougherty, a fifth grade student at St. Leo the Great School in Lincroft, tied with Juliana Saliga, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Saliga of Middletown, a fifth grade student at St. James School in Red Bank to take the third place awards in the Monmouth County Historical Commission’s annual essay contest for fifth grade students throughout Monmouth County.
The first place award went to James Badishkanian of Oak Hill Academy and second went to Rily Lanigan of the Atlantic Highlands Elementary School.
Ms. Dougherty wrote about the history of the Twin Lights Historical Museum in Highlands.
Twin Lights History
By Madeline Dougherty
Monmouth County is rich in history. All over the county you can visit monuments where people put their blood, sweat and tears to try to fight for what they believed in. One of the most important lighthouses in Monmouth County was the Twin Lights.
The Twin Lights are located near the Sandy Hook area and have had many important roles in history including being the brightest lighthouse in 1841 that lit up the ocean where seafarers used to bring cargo into New York Harbor, the first location where wireless telegraphs were used and the first location where the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
The Twin Lights are two lighthouse, but are the same building. They are situated atop the Navesink Highlands and are two hundred feet above sea level. The current lighthouse was built in 1862 after the earlier building had fallen apart. The Twin Lights project cost seventy-four thousand dollars and the unique design with two identical towers were separated by quarters and rooms was Joseph Lederle’s work.
The lenses installed were Fresnel lenses a “first order ‘light in the South tower and a ‘second order’ in the North tower.
The lenses made up glass beehives and had a series of prisms that surrounded the main light source. After the installation, the Twin Lights became superior to any navigational lightning source at that time and the best.
In 1898 an electric-arc bivalve lens replaced the South Tower beehive light and was visible twenty-two miles out into the ocean, and sometimes could be seen seventy miles away reflecting in the night sky. The South Tower became so powerful in light that the North Tower was taken out of service only to be re-lit in 1962 after a smaller fifth Order lens was placed there.
The Twin Lights are known for three reasons. First, the first wireless telegraph was sent form the Twin Lights. Guglielmo Marconi was the person who invented a wave that could send signals through air to a receiver many miles away. When Marconi became famous for his technology the Navy’s Bureau of Equipment was unable to enter into an agreement with Guglielmo Marconi and soon set up their own wireless station there. Second, on April 25, 1893, on a drizzly and cold morning, dignitaries from Boston, New York and Washington stood in front of the Twin Lights , looked up at the Liberty Pole and recited for the first time the Pledge of Allegiance. Finally, a jump in technology happened at the Twin Lights. The first radar was tested at the Twin Towers and in 1939 testing radar could pick up a B-17 bomber flying over Long Island, New York
When I stepped into the Twin Lights, I felt like I was going back into time. I learned so much about what role the Twin Lights played in making history for Monmouth County. Without the contributions of the Twin Lights, events could have turned out much different for our nation.
I am just a lucky person to live in such a great county, Monmouth County, full of history.
The Vietnam War Memorial Museum
By Julianna Saliga
The place that I am writing about is the New Jersey Vietnam Memorial Museum. When I walked in, I was surrounded with everything there is to know about the Vietnam War . It made me come to imagine how hard it was to survive there. The men and women who fought in the war were only about 19 years old.
The man who gave my family and I a tour of the museum fought in Vietnam. He was 20 years old and was there for one year. He saw things that are still hard for him to talk about today. What was truly touching was that he thanked us for coming because it helped him heal by telling his story to other people.
One thing in the museum that really fascinated me was the letters that the soldiers and their loved ones wrote to each other. It took about 2-3 weeks each way do reach the other person. In one letter, a woman was telling a soldier that he was going to be a dad. He died before he even received the letter.
He didn’t even know he was going to be a father.
During the Vietnam War, after a person passed away in service, a telegram was sent to the family to tell them the news. Because this seemed unkind, a woman in the military and a uniformed soldier came up with a finer idea that an armed service person should go to the family’s house and gloomily tell the household when their loved one in service had sorrowfully died.
Another story in the Vietnam War was the use of agent orange. It was a type of chemical sprayed primarily over Da Nang airbase in Vietnam to kill vegetation because the tall grasses hid the people the US soldiers were looking for. This later led to major health problems, and 400,000 Vietnamese people have died.
I’m very glad that I visited this historic place. I learned so much there and hope to visit it again.
When the fifth grade students at the Atlantic Highlands Elementary School received their certificates last week formally completing the LEAD program given by the local police department, it continued a program that was the first of its kind in Monmouth County when this department started it four decades ago.
When the program started, the department presented DARE, another program presented to students, but changed to LEAD to continue to enable police officers and children to have a rapport that enables youngsters to feel more at ease with law enforcement.
As one of few Monmouth County towns that offers the program, Police Chief Scott Reinert said it is highly successful in achieving its goals and has the added benefit of creating new friendships and trust among students and adults.
Capt. John Amici, now a retired police officer, was the first instructor for the program focused on fifth grade students here. In effect throughout the school year, the program includes instructions on ten different modules, with police officers making more than a dozen visits to the school throughout the program. Talks center on bullying, drugs, alcohol, peer pressure, and decision making even when it is difficult to take a stand. Officers also leave time for open discussion to enable the students to bring up subjects and have open interaction on those topics.
After Capt. Amici, Sgt. Stephen Doherty has been the lead officer in the program and has been heading it up for more than 19 years, also working with Det. Travis Morgan and Ptl Scott Chenoweth. Morgan will take over the directorship and Chenoweth, who completed LEAD training this year, will be more active and assisting him when the program resumes in September for the next class of fifth graders.
The local department funds all the costs for the program, including the brightly colored and designed tee shirts each of the students receives. Traditionally, there is a party at the end of each year’s program and local PBA 242, department police officers, fund a pizza and soda for the event.
In working with the students under the LEAD program, Morgan has indicated he has found numerous benefits and increased communication because of it.
Many students will stay after class just to chat with him, he said. The trust with Morgan is especially beneficial since the officer is also the juvenile officer for the department.
Each of the officers involves talks about the benefits the program provides and the satisfaction the officers receive from knowing they are building solid relationships with students cannot be measured. The chief pointed out results show students are encouraged by their interactions with department members to come to an officer if they have a problem or a situation or decision before there are any serious mistakes that require disciplinary action. Potentially the training and interaction at this age also prevents problems in future years.
“The program puts a name to a face,” the chief said, “ It shows children at an early age that police officers are normal people with children of their own and each officer has feelings behind the badge. All of this helps with building trust with the children and allows them to interact with department members in ways that may not occur without the regular contact the program offers.”
While it “would be great to say that LEAD resolves all issues ahead for every child,” Reinert said, “but it doesn’t. It simply makes children aware of what is out there and advises them of the dangers that lurk around one bad decision.”
In his own experience, the police chief noted he has seen firsthand in the past where a child appeared more comfortable talking to Sergeant Doherty or Detective Morgan while working on an investigation because of the rapport LEAD helped create, rather than with other police officers they did not know by name. “The department knows the program is a good one, officers working in the program have seen positive results and increased confidence and all are appreciative the school supports a program which would not be possible without the school’s support and scheduling in a regular school day’s curriculum, “ the chief said..
The township Historical Society is continuing to grow its membership and is inviting local residents to become involved in projects that help the Society to live up to its mission of preserving and promoting the history of the historic township.
In a recent letter to its members, the Board of Trustees of the Society outlined some of its achievements during 2021, including an increase in its membership bringing it to more than 100 members.
Tom Valenti, president of the Society praised the work of the Board of Trustees in promoting its highly popular Speaker Series which is offered both in person and online and in 2021 included nine different presentations from historians and authors.
The Society also began the digitization of the Middletown High School yearbooks, which are now available for view online, and added several entries to the interactive land development map which is also on the website.
With a revenue increase of 65 per cent, the president reported the Society had received a grant from the Monmouth County Historical Society as well as several community sponsorships by local organizations. The Society also accepted donations of numerous historical items for its archive and fielded many queries concerning genealogical and historical matters about Middletown, its families and early settlers. The Society has also successfully renewed its efforts to catalog its archives and make the list available to the public.
Persons wishing to becoming members, or giving a membership to a newcomer in the area, can visit the website at MiddletownHistory@gmail.com, or write the Society at PO Box 180, Middletown, NJ 07748. Memberships vary from $10 for a general level membership to $100 for a benefactor membership. Checks should be made payable to the Middletown Township Historical Society, which is a NJ non-profit corporation and a 501 (c)3 corporation.
Valenti noted the Society also welcomes donations of items relevant to the town’s history and assures donors of the preservation and care of all donations. Community sponsorships are open to all local companies or organizations who support the preservation of local history.
When it comes to painting streets, Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and Sea Bright each have their individual way of handling the legalities and authorities of the action.
Last week, at the Sea Bright Council meeting, residents and council members alike voiced concern and frustration over their long efforts to have crosswalks painted in three different locations along Ocean Avenue, a state highway.
Council members and others noted the number of beach goers, the number of beach clubs, and the frequency of road crossings by pedestrians on the busy road. A former councilman has also pointed out a blinking light and crosswalk are especially needed by the north entrance to the borough. Coming across the Highlands Sea Bright Bridge, there is no warning the next area is both residential and pedestrians trying to get to the ocean side of the highway. Yet the state has not responded to their many pleas for assistance and protection before anyone gets injured.
So Ocean Avenue remains without the needed crosswalks.
At last night’s Atlantic Highlands Council meeting, Borough Administrator Robert Ferragina, in a detailed explanation about how the gay pride flag got to be approved for flying below the American flag on the Borough Hall flagpole, explained he had first received a request to have Gay Pride colors painted along a crosswalk. The administrator researched it, found it is not proper nor authorized, and declined the request for the multi-colored painted crosswalk.
So Atlantic Highlands is flying a Gay Pride beneath the American flag, bringing dozens of people to a meeting in support, and offending a former Mayor who is also a retired Army officer and proud of the nation’s standard flying high and alone.
Last month, with no action at any meeting, and no apparent objections, workmen closed off a portion of Waterwitch Avenue near Huddy Park, to paint a crosswalk with the multi colors of Gay Pride. The crosswalk is adjacent to the park named for the Revolutionary hero who was reportedly hung at the park site. The administrator had indicated, when questioned about the multi colors that were on the crosswalk, that somebody requested it it did not cause any problem, so he allowed it.
So Highlands has a multi-striped crosswalk that few people appear to notice or comment about, and it appeared there with no red tape, no discussions, or outpouring of people at a council meeting.
Perhaps, in the interest of protecting its residents and guests, Sea Bright should take a tip from Highlands. Or maybe the contractor building the new Rumson Sea Bright Bridge could slap a few brushes of paint along Ocean Avenue near that bridge to create a crosswalk. It would be temporary, only until the bridge is completed, and might save lives. It’s doubtful anyone would complain red tape was omitted to accomplish a safety goal.
Congressman Chris Smith was the first member of Congress to issue a statement concerning the Supreme Court decision on states right, including when it comes to abortion.
In anticipation of this morning’s announced decision by the Supreme Court that upholds the states’ rights to make decisions for matters that are not protected under the Constitution , the Congressman iterated the contradiction in modern medicine that today “treats unborn children with disability or disease as a patient in need of diagnosis and treatment,” and adds “there has been an explosion in interventions that have saved children’s lives and mitigated many, many problems that they would have faced if the disability had not been treated in-utero.”
Yet the state of New Jersey has enacted extremist laws that permit killing a baby right up to the moment of birth “for any reason.” Policies, he said, “that pose an existential threat to the well-being and lives of innocent children.”
“Unborn babies are society’s youngest patients and deserve benign, life-affirming medical interventions,” Smith continued. “All unborn babies deserve protection not death by abortion. Unborn babies and their mothers need support; we need to love and help them both.”
Smith also pointed out that in 1972, when the Roe Vs Wade decision permitted abortions for any reason, “the 7-2 majority who issued the opinion wrote ‘‘We need not resolve the difficult question of when human life begins.’’
Sidestepping that fundamental question and giving absolutely no benefit of the doubt to the innate value, dignity and humanity of an unborn child, the Court went on to legalize and facilitate abortion on demand throughout pregnancy, Smith said. The following year, two Justices dissented on another pro-abortion decision and called the decision in both cases “an exercise in extreme judicial power… an improvident and extravagant exercise of the power of judicial review…”
Today’s decision agrees with that statement, returning the power to state lawmakers to significantly regular or prohibit abortion.
Justice Alito writes: “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives… Today, science confirms that birth is an event—albeit a very important one—but only an event in the life of a child. It is not the beginning of life. History…and science…are on the side of life.”
Advance notice that a letter from former Mayor Fred Rast stating his concerns and offense a gay pride flag is flying beneath the borough’s American flag at Borough Hall bothered him as a lifelong resident and a veteran brought out the largest crowd in recent months to last night’s meeting of the Mayor and Council.
While dozens attended the meeting, more than half left when the discussion of the flag issue ended, with few staying to hear the concerns of other residents over parking, cannabis, safety at the launch ramp at the Yacht Harbor or honoring local veterans with more recognition.
Rast , who identifies as a lifelong resident and veteran, had submitted the letter to the Borough in advance of the meeting, and was told he could read the letter at the meeting.
The letter cited Rast’s “Formal notification” he was offended the gay pride flag at the last meeting had been unanimously approved to fly beneath the American flag on the borough hall exterior flagpole for the month of June. Rast cited flag etiquette regulations that ban the flags of other nations or advertisements to be flown on the same pole, and allowed that POW and KIA flags honoring those prisoners or war or killed in action are approved. Anything else takes away from military who have fought to protect that flag, he said.
Rast also made it clear he has no objection to the seven other Gay Pride flags also flying throughout July on light poles in front of borough hall, does not discriminate against anyone for any belief, culture creed or orientation, but believes the nation’s standard should not have another flag of another interest than patriotism flown beneath it.
In a move designed to ensure everyone is aware of the history of the flags being flown for June, Borough Administrator Robert Ferragina gave a brief synopsis of council’s unanimous actions approving the flags at the request of Councilwoman Lori Hohenleitner, tracing the history from Hohenleitner’s first request, the resolutions approving it both last year for flags in front of the building and this year for them in addition to the one on the flag pole with the American flag. He also clarified that the first request was for painting walkways in rainbow colors, an idea denied since it was not authorized by the DOD , insurance carriers or Monmouth County, which owns First Avenue. Ferragina also said since the flags have been flown, there have been no “official complaints” to his office other than from Rast. Ferrugina said the flag was not being displayed in Veterans Park because the park is dedicated to veterans who lost their lives and are listed on the stone beneath that flag in the park across from Borough Hall.
Several residents, who identified themselves as gay or transgender, praised the governing body for their unanimous approval of the flag’s display, as well as the fact they believed the display gave residents and visitors alike the borough is truly open to all people without discrimination. Some praised the council on behalf of their children or other young people who are gay or transgender and have suffered from lack of inclusion because of heir differences. One person suggested installing another flagpole on the borough’s front lawn to accommodate the Gay Pride flag and not offend Rast, another reminded council of her previous request, expressed many times in the past, that honor be paid to the local men who lost their lives and are cited on the memorial in Veterans Park through a better and more comprehensive display of their photos or biographies.
Rast responded to some statements saying anyone who know him or his background knows he has never discriminated against anyone for any reason. He noted he had not identified himself as a former mayor, “just as a veteran..” but in ending municipal meetings he frequently noted how friendly and welcoming Atlantic Highlands is, and “no one ever need walk down any street in town unless he’s there to do damage.” The former elected official, also a former police officer and Monmouth County investigator has volunteered in municipal government committees for decades, serving three terms on the governing body and eight years as Mayor. He was a lieutenant colonel in the Army and retired after 41 years of active and reserve service.
The letter from Rast that brought so many to the meeting follows:
I want this letter to be a formal notification to the Mayor and Council that as a lifelong resident and military veteran I am extremely offended the presence of the gay pride flag being on the same official municipal flagpole in front of borough hall.
The etiquette for the presentment of the American flag on official buildings within the United States has for many years that the US flag is flown on the flagpole in the top position, the flag itself it to remain the largest in size of any additional flags on the flag pole. Beneath the flag which is authorized for years is the POW flag and the KIA flag. The significance of the flagpole on official government buildings is to show the world our support of our country and to show respect and support for those veterans who either were missing in action or were identified as killed in action defending our nation.
The gay pride flag which is present on our town’s flagpole in front of borough hall signifies to all concerned a political stance that is not directly related to beliefs of some people. The presence of this flag on the same flagpole is entirely offensive to me, as a lifelong resident and military veteran.
There are pride flags on separate light poles in front of borough hall depicting gay pride which are present during the month of June, which have been authorized by council. I have no problem with this, except for the added symbols from the original rainbow flag.
Traditionally there should t no other flag flown on the same government flagpole and I might point tout that in Veteran’s Park the pride flag does not exist on that flagpole, and should not. The argument that I have with this flag being flown on the same government flagpole in front of Borough Hall is any any organization, with any type of agenda, should then in fact in the future be allowed to be added to the flagpole in front of borough hall. How can one say that the gay pride flag is any more important than perhaps a Christian religious flag, Jewish religious flag, a Black Lives Matter or Blue Lives Matter flag.
What I find also very offensive as an example, when Peter Donoghue our former mayor and veteran died, I requested that the flag in front of borough hall be placed at half staff in honor of his being a former mayor. I was told that it could not be done because it was not authorized. I also find as a lifelong resident of Atlantic Highlands that there seems to be a tendency by a lot of people in town to try to show through symbolism, that they are good people, not by their participation in our town. I see signs on people’s lawns that show that they have taken the pledge to be friendly with and work with people of color. Good honest people don’t have to show others through superficial symbols that they are allegedly good. Truly good people are people who go through their life supporting everyone in every manner possible, regardless of their religious preferences , sexual preferences or skin color. What I have seen over and over again is that the people who want to display phony signs, for the most part, have never felt fairly and honestly with people who are different from them.
I know that some of would disagree with my comments about the pride flag at Borough Hall will cite, what I consider a disgraceful policy by the current administration in Washinton, to authorize or instruct embassies throughout the world to fly under the American flags the pride flag. Clearly this has been done for nothing other than political purposes by phony people. However, you’ll notice that they did not openly instruct municipalities to fly the pride flag under the American flag.
Those who truly know me personally know that I have always stood for and demanded that people are treated fairly and supported regardless of their personal preferences or skin color.
