So many people reacted with their own great memories of the Stone Bridge and those years when they were young and the bridge held special memories. That was all in response to Dick Stryker’s memories from his youth and sledding down Mount Ave.. According to Thomas Leonard in his “From Indian Trail to Electric Rail,” here is the story of the formal dedication and the names of those involved in having the Stone Bridge become a reality, thanks to the borough of Atlantic Highlands and “public spirited citizens.” It took place in 1896.

“On Saturday afternoon, according to announcement, the town and township officials and a goodly company of private citizens assembled at the new Grand Avenue Bridge to witness ceremonies attending tis formal opening to the public and acceptance by the borough. A speakers platform and seats for invited guests were prepared at the bridge.

Exercises opened with “America” sung by all under the leadership of Professor W.W. Bentley. Reverend J.B. Haines offered the prayer of the occasion, followed by music by the Casino Orchestra.

George F. Lawrie, whose energy, liberality and enterprise have been the foundation of the undertaking, made a speech recounting the history of the bridge up to its completion. His complimented the town on expending $245,000 on public improvements within a few years and pointed out the opportunity for further expenditures for good roads. The bridge at which they were met was not the least of these public improvements and had cost the borough but $800, private generosity furnishing most of the money used in its construction. The structure spoke for the work of the builders and would do so for centuries perhaps. Mr. Nimrod Woodward, the well-known contractor, received eulogistic notice from Mr. Lawrie.

The speakers asked permission of the Mayor and Council to name the structure “Oonuehkoi” commutative of an Indian tribe once dwelling here.

Mr. Lawrie was frequently applauded and at the close of his address Mayor Jacob T. Stout accepted the bridge on behalf of the town. Mr. John E. Foster, borough solicitor, made a forcible and witty speech in which he remarked the enterprise, courage and perseverance of Mr. Lawrie in conceiving the bridge idea and then consummating it in the substantial and beautiful structure now open to the public. The approach to Observatory Park should never more be termed “break neck hill.”

Mr. Charles E. Crowell, whose property adjoins the bridge on the west, as does Mr. Lawrie on the east, spoke of the bridge as a landmark of progress for the town. Neither Europe nor the United States contained a bridge more beautiful of its size and cost. It is a gem which will adorn Atlantic Highlands forever; of inestimable value to advertise the town. Once known it must become a point of interest for tourists and pilgrimages.

Mr. Hanford Crawford eulogized bridges as a means of unit and neighborliness and Oonuehkoi as the ideal bridge for the purpose. He spoke also forcibly for ideal roads to match ideal bridges. He advocated a movement to make streets correspond with this structure by an outlay of $1 per front foot for the improvement. Applause greeted all the speakers.

Dr. E. C Curtis, who has been closely identified with the east side of Atlantic Highlands as President of the Atlantic Highlands Association, was also invited to speak. He reviewed the development of the east side of town and expressed belief that a small deficit between costs and subscriptions for Oonuehkoi should be made up so as to no further tax the measureless generosity of Mr. Lawrie.

Mr. A. B. Bollor of Observatory Park spoke flatteringly of the bridge as a work of engineering and dubbed Mr. Lawrie the Supreme Bridge Builder of Atlantic Highlands. Mr. Bollor is prominent in engineering circles and his judgment therefore is of practical as well as of rhetorical value.

After the exercises, Mr. George F. Lawrie entertained a number of the guests present at the Casino.”

Leonardo wrote his Indian Trail in the vernacular and style of the day, going into great detail with eloquence, if not always accuracy. The book goes on to tell the history of the bridge from the time it was thought about back in 1868 But that’s a story for another day.

The word Clock actually comes from the Latin work for bell…clocca…so it is no surprise that so many towers and steeples in churches, municipal buildings, government offices of all kinds have clocks, ticking off the minutes and hours and tolling the importance of certain occasions.

And bells, the simple sound of one piece of metal against another, is probably the oldest form of a sound getting attention to make an event known to man.

In churches around the world, clocks tolled the great news of wars ending, gathered the congregation into prayer at times of danger, mourned with the masses at times of death, and celebrated the joyous events of weddings, special anniversaries, and historic events.

The bells at Notre-Dame Cathedral have been used to peal out important times in history; indeed, it has been documented that even before Notre Dame was completed, its bells tolled to mark the time of the beginning of a mass as early as the 1100s.

Today, Notre-Dame Cathedral has ten bells, and the oldest and heaviest is known as a “bourdon” and is more than 600 years old, dating to the 15th century. It was recast 100 years or so after first cast, and was known as the most beautiful bell in all of Europe.

King Louis XIV even named it, calling it the Emmanuel Bell. The bell was so important to French history, and so important to the Church, that even during the French Revolution, it was undisturbed. Every other bell at Notre Dame was broken and melted into ammunition during the Revolution, but not Emmanuel, which was removed for safe keeping. All the destroyed bells were ordered replaced by Napoleon in the beginning of the 19th century, and installed in various locations around the Cathedral, the North and South Towers, the spire and the roof. Some of these were replaced once again, some as recent as the 21st century, because of their inferior quality.

Today, there are ten bells at Notre Dame, two in the South, and eight in the North Tower. Each has its own name, all named for Saints who have had a direct impact on the French church and congregations.

Emmanuel is still the grand bell of the South Tower, weighing in at about 13 tons, and rung not only for the notable events within the Cathedral, but for the historical events that have formed Francy. Tuned to F sharp, it has tolled for the coronation of French Kings and visits of a pope, it has mourned two world wars as well as the funerals of French heads of state. And it tolled for New York’s Twin Towers on Sept. 11.

Emmanuel is joined by Marie, the bell named to honor the patroness of Notre Dame, or Our Lady, the Mother of God.

In the North Tower, Gabriel honors the archangel and is the largest Bell of that tower. There are also Anne-Geneviève, in memory of Saint Anne, mother of Mary and Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris. They are joined by Denis, first bishop of Paris, Marcel, the ninth bishop of Paris in the 5th century, Étienne, honoring the old cathedral church of Paris placed under the protection of Saint Stephen, Benedict-Joseph to honor Pope Benedict XVI, pope at the time of the bell consecration in 2013, during the 850th anniversary of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, Maurice, in memory of the bishop of Paris who laid the first stone of the cathedral in 1163, and Jean-Marie, for Cardinal Jean Marie Lustiger, 139th Archbishop of Paris, from 1981 to 2005.

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral I New York has 19 bells, all with their own story to tell. But that’s another story altogether.

Joe Bolger, 1939-First Row Center with Ball

For those who were around the Bayshore in the late 1960s to the early 1980s, Joe Bolger was best known as the first Superintendent of Schools for the Keansburg school system. For those around for most of the 1960s Joe Bolger was best known as principal of the Highlands Elementary School. And for those back in the 1950s, Joe Bolger was best known as a teacher, coach and athletic director at Red Bank Catholic High School.

But the long time Highlands resident made headlines for himself long before his professional career took center stage. He was president of his eighth grade graduation class in elementary school and was best known as Arnie Truex’s Middletown winning baseball team captain during his high school years at Leonardo High School.

Joe Bolger was a high school athlete who made All-State’s second team as a pitcher, and was known as Jolting Joe in high school football when he led Middletown’s team to its first unbeaten season as team captain.

There was the time, back in 1938, when Joe had an injury and sports fans anguished over whether he would be able to play. It was Marc Krohn, the Middletown physician who ruled that yes indeed, Bolger’s injury would not keep him off the field. The young feisty athlete went on to score three touchdowns, making him the leading scholastic scorer in New Jersey.

After high school, Joe went on to serve in the Army during World War II with the Army’s 98th division, earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Seton Hall University, and a doctorate degree from East Coast University. He also taught at Long Branch high School before coming back to the town where he was raised to serve as principal at the Highlands school.

Bolger also engaged in Highlands politics for several years, and was one of the few elected officials to serve under both forms of government, bi-partisan in 1956, then for another three years beginning in 1959 after the Borough switched to a non-partisan form of government.

In his years on council, he always served with Mayor Neil Guiney, the only mayor to have served under both government forms. But others on council with Bolger also are names that have gone down in local history, Alexander Bahrs, Matt Horan, John Newton, Bob Diebold, Duke Black and Sonny Vaughan.

Joe and Jean, the former Jane Rich, raised their three sons and two daughters in their home on Chestnut St. next to where Joe himself had grown up.

It will be 30 years this February 6, since Joe Bolger, who had retired nine years before, died at home. He left a legacy not only as a scholar, an athlete, an educator, a coach in several sports, a veteran and active member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, but also as a referee for several Football Leagues and the Leonardo Field Club for both high school and professional teams in football, basketball and baseball.

Hundreds went into the Applebrook office to see what the new building would look like; there was a scale model showing 160-units, another of a two-bedroom unit complete with two baths, a dressing room, kitchen, laundry and utility room. Even built-in appliances. All of that, Lefferts said, in addition to the “unbelievable panoramic view from every apartment” together with luxury amenities like oversized rooms, uniformed doormen, TV security systems, and at the very top, close as the nearest elevator, “the Top of the East Club,” the magnificent party room open to all.

It was all gold and glamor as daily and weekly newspapers reported about the last day of October 50 years ago when ground was broken for the highly touted and much publicized Top of the East, the first of its kind 14-story luxury condominium complex set to be constructed on the top of the hill adjacent to Atlantic Highlands. It was also announced that the looming tower, forever changing the skyline of Highlands, might well be accompanied by a sister complex right on the adjoining property, the last property in Atlantic Highlands. Those plans had not yet been completed or heard by that borough’s boards and the future would tell the stories of how Atlantic Highlands said thanks but no thanks to the residential tower. That tract is now the Monmouth County owned Mount Mitchill County Park.

But Oct. 31, 1972 was a big day for Highlands, as King Westerlind, the quieter and lesser known of the duo building the complex, and his partner, the well known and highly visible and verbal James R Snyder, joined with Highlands Mayor James T. White, financiers General Electric Credit Corporations, and movie actress and blond beauty Monique Van Vooren to wield golden shovels turning over the first clumps of dirt that would make room for the foundation of Top of the East.

It was Jacob R.V.M. Lefferts the third, president of the Applebrook Real Estate Agency, who announced the groundbreaking; Applebrook was the exclusive sales agent for the plush condominiums which would be sold at the time for a starting price of $38, 500.

No announcement was necessary; there were hundreds who went to the top of the hill next to Shadow Lawn Trailer Park, and crowded the road in front of the old Cabin in the Sky building which once spread across the very land in two towns that was now going to be at least one luxurious condominium complex; the building was now the official real estate officer for Mr. Leffert’s Agency. He told the crowd that “Snyder and Westerlind were building the complex and establishing a standard of luxury building necessary “to meet the desires and needs of the luxury-seeker their researchers have found to be most important.”

Hundreds went into the Applebrook office to see what the new building would look like; there was a scale model showing 160-units, another of a two-bedroom unit complete with two baths, a dressing room, kitchen, laundry and utility room. Even built-in appliances. All of that, Lefferts said, in addition to the “unbelievable panoramic view from every apartment” together with luxury amenities like oversized rooms, uniformed doormen, tv security systems, and at the very top, close as the nearest elevator, “the Top of the East Club,” the magnificent party room open to all.

The condominium concept, while not new in the area, was different in the high rise complex. Each apartment was owned by the individual, complete with deed to that specific property with tax and equity advantages like any private land owner. But those benefits came without the hassle of maintaining building and grounds, things that would be taken care of by professionals for a monthly fee from each of the property owners. The building is fireproof, of course, and the lobby is linked to each unit by an intercom system. A 24-hour closed circuit TV and a doorman would provide all the security for the new owners.

With Direct Line, later known as Sea Streak, a commuter service of the future., the owners. Builders and realtors promoted the proximity of the luxury condominiums to the Garden State Parkway which offered an hour trip to Manhattan. Of the option of the Railroad, only seven miles away. Shopping centers were close, and history, performing arts, and even the Garden State Arts Center were all within easy reach by car. To say nothing of the magnificent beaches, as well as the complex’s own recreational facilities, which include an Olympic size swimming pool, sundeck, cabanas and tennis courts. For an added fee, owners could also take advantage of a health club on site, complete with saunas, baths, massage specialists and exercise rooms.

And to think that for months before, newspapers and experts said the entire hill contained a fault and warned that indeed the hill was falling, the building would make it occur sooner, and at some time there would be no hill to house a Top of the East.

It’s hard to tell sometimes what makes the news, and how much research goes into the accuracy of stories. Or how imagination can make the news.

There was the time in 1905 when the newspapers reported on a Highlands Murder Mystery. The subhead explained that a pedestrian had found a grave in the words .

The story went like this.

A horse owned by B. Maxson, a Highlands liveryman, got loose in the stable one night and in trying to get out, got stuck in a narrow doorway. The horse, in trying to free itself, was so severely injured he had to be put down. The horse was then led into the woods nearby, shot, and buried where it fell.

The blood on the ground and the fresh mound of earth was the cause of considerable excitement by anyone walking through the woods.

Around 3 a.m the day after the horse was shot, several people living on Miller and Fourth streets were awakened from slumber by strange noises which sounded like a series of screams as though someone was in distress.

A.G. Johnson heard the screams and he hastily dressed and went all over the town but found nothing unusual.

The next day, a man from town walking through the woods saw the fresh mound of earth and blood and imagined at once that murder had been done. He told of his find and it was at once concluded that when the grave was opened a murder would explain the cause of the cry heard the night before.

Several men armed with shovels started at once for the grave and began to remove the earth. Before they had removed much, William Heath heard of the digging party and went to the woods, had a good laugh on the party and told the story of the horse.

There was no further investigation and no reports or information on who had been screaming the night previous, nor what had caused the screaming.

Facebook had a few comments from people in the last few days about the library in Highlands and the former librarian, Miss Violet Murray. She was a fascinating lady with a love not only for libraries but for teaching. A Highlands native, she was born, as she had told newspaper reports many times “in that front upstairs bedroom overlooking Navesink Ave.” Her home, since torn down to make room for the planned Highlands Borough Hall, later became the home of an actor, then later the convent for the teaching sisters at Our Lady of Perpetual Help school, but they are other stories. Her dad was the first wireless operator at the Twin Lights and her sister, Pearl Masciale and her husband, maintained the building for several years until it was taken over by the state.

The Murrays were another of those Highlands families who left their mark in a most positive way on the community.

For Miss Murray ….and through her 60 years of providing library services for the residents of Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, she was always Miss Murray….the Navesink Avenue home was wonderful and memorable but it was the old homestead, a house on Ocean St. where the family lived until 1944 that she loved.. She remembered the date specifically they moved from that house, because as she told it, ,”That was the year my dad grew ill, and poor Doc Opfermann couldn’t make it all the way up those hills to see him. So we moved to an apartment upstairs over the old bank in Atlantic Highlands.” Doc still had to climb stairs to make those visits, she’d said, “but it wasn’t anything like climbing the hill to our house in Highlands.

When she moved out of her parents’ home, Miss Murray then assumed an apartment at the Bay Haven complex on Ocean Blvd.

But her life was always in education. She was a graduate of Syracuse University with degrees in English and Spanish; then took course during the summer to learn abou9t library work. She got a teacher’s certificate from Trenton State Teachers College, as well as certification for library work for the facilities in both public and school libraries. Next she went on to get a degree in primary education, so in the end, she had taught both high school and first grade at the Bayview School in Belford.

When Atlantic Highlands School needed a library, Miss Murray took that job on and worked for both the elementary and high schools as a librarian for 13 years. But space got crowded, and the board of education took away the library to make room for kindergarten, moving the librarian to what had been the school’s nurse’s office. She did her library work there, along with teaching two English classes. Still she served on that borough’s library board as secretary for many years. That was a thriving library in the 1950s, annual reports showed more than 11,0000books were circulated throughout the year and there were more than 200 library members.

But it was while George Hardy was Mayor of Highlands sometime in the 1930s that the library actually started in Highlands. Miss Murray was an active member of the Girls Friendly Society at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Bay Aven, and all the ladies wanted a library. So did Mayor Hardy when he heard their idea. But there was no space for one. So the mayor’s wife, Mrs. Hardy offered her house and officially, that was the location for the first library in Highlands. It was on Navesink Avenue’s a few houses west of the Highlands Bridge on the west bound side of Navesink Ave. When Mrs. Hardy was no longer able to keep her doors open for library visitors on a regular basis, room had finally opened up in the annex of the school a few doors away at the corner of Miller St, a location that housed the Highlands library for several years. After that, there was a move to the American Legion Hall, but a troublesome heating system giving off noxious gases made that stay short. The library moved from building to building for a while, mostly on Bay Ave. Mostly funded by the Girls Friendly Society, and mostly Miss Murray doing all of the work. Nor did she get paid for it. Only the one time when Charles Hatzenbuehler was Mayor in the early 1950s and the state was receiving some funds from the state did Miss Murray accept any recompense for her library dedication.

It was after that that the library finally opened in Borough Hall on Bay Ave., and the library was upstairs, sharing space with John Adair, the borough’s tax collector. It was there for a short time, until space was found downstairs, and the library opened in the back of the building opposite Police Headquarters. Miss Murray served the borough as librarian under Mayors Hardy, Harry Brown, Harry Johnson, A. Meade Robertson, Joe Dempsey, Hatzenbuehler, Neil Guiney, Bud Bahrs, Jimmy White and Bob Wilson, and retired in 1984 when the library moved from Borough Hall to the Community Center. But she was there in 1985 when the library celebrated its first year in a room of its own in a municipal building.

Or the years long fight the Borough had in razing it once it became a health and fire hazard?

That historic house on Avenue D recently in the news because of a donation being made to the Atlantic Highlands Historical Society also had another era of historic significance in its background, one that is especially important and appreciated by the local volunteer fire department. It was the home of famed actor Robert Mantell.

Built by Capt. James H. Leonard and his wife, Emma T. Leonard in the early 1800s, the house was most recently the St. Agnes Thrift Shop, is now closed and part of the property belonging to the Catholic diocese of Trenton which is negotiating the sale of the tract that includes both the closed Mother Teresa School and the Thrift Shop.

But at the turn of the 20th century, it was home to Mantell, a famed Shakespearean actor, and his equally talented fourth wife, Genevieve Hamper, who was 35 years his junior. She was also known as a most gracious hostess for parties and gatherings at the Mantell home.

Mantell had an interesting childhood and personal life. Born in Scotland, his family moved to Ireland for business reasons when he was young. Not an enthusiast of either discipline or education, he was dismissed from five schools before finally being educated at a seminary. His mother was aghast at his desire to be an actor, and only agreed when he changed his last name to avoid her ‘embarrassment.’ He was married four times and had children by three of his four wives.

Mantell, also know as a dramatist, purchased the home from the Leonard family and had a touring company of Shakespearean actors who traveled as much 10,000 miles a year bringing voices of heralded actors and the lines of the Stratford on Avon Bard into theaters both here and in Canada. Summers, the entire troupe…and there were 35 of them, spent at the Mantell home, practicing their lines and rehearsing their roles for their next tour.

While they summered here, the troupe also became a vital part of the community. They were welcomed by the friendly folks who live here year round, people who were rather in awe of the talent around them. But it was Mantell himself who tuned out to be the hero.

The town had organized its first fire company in 1882, and shortly after, the following year, formed a second company. Both were officially declared a department by 1894.

The equipment had the finest equipment of any in the area for a community of its size albeit before all that motorized equipment.

So by 1911, with a need for more modern equipment, the town realized it simply did not have the money to purchase what was needed. It was Mantell who suggested that his troupe while summering here stage a fundraising Shakespearean play as the perfect way to raise funds for a fire truck fund.

At the time, there were two theaters in Atlantic Highlands, both in the center of town. The Majestic was on First Avenue, the other, the Lyric, was an open air entertainment center that backed up to the Majestic Theater, so playgoers had access to culture and entertainment rain or shine.

It was summer, 1911 when the Lyric was filled to capacity, standing room only, and Fritz Leiber and the rest of the Shakespearean troupe brought MacBeth alive to the Atlantic Highlands outdoor stage. Lieber was recognized as the greatest voice of the day, and had the capability of projecting his voice to the rafters long before the days of microphones and amplifiers.

The entire troupe, all staying at Mantell’s House, which was known as Brucewood, contributed all their talent so the borough could have a motorized fire truck. Genevieve Hamper, Mantell’s wife, brought down the house with her portrayal of Lady MacBeth and people came from throughout the area to view what then became the full dress rehearsal for the Shakespearean troupe’s winter touring program. The play was termed “a cultural and financial success.”

That is why, the Grand View Hose Company, which had been formed in 1893, changed its name officially to the Robert Mantell Company on Oct. 16, 1911.

Mantell died in Atlantic Highlands on June 27, 1928

This article was first published in the Atlantic Highlands Herald in July 2016

One doesn’t have to live in Highlands or even the Bayshore very long before hearing a story about Conners Hotel, or the Brothers Black, or the swimming pool where many romances blossomed and old friends met. Or even the snack bar at the pool where Sis Black did the honors at the counter and Edna Black flipped the hamburgers and dropped the French fries into the hot oil. Everyone remembers Billy and Sal’s lobster dinners in the hotel dining room…a delicacy still presented at Wind ‘n Sea on Shrewsbury Avenue where the owners have their own great memories of summers at Conners.

It’s gone now, the pool, the hotel, the family homestead, even the bungalows and beach. The family built condos and apartments on part of what was once a piece of the heartland that stretched from the Shrewsbury River to the red clay hills, and sold the rest to Sea Streak, the relaxing, enjoyable commuter boat trip from the Bayshore to New York, for its docks and parking.

PHOTO: “homestead” of the William and Mary Conners, later Jack and Sis Black’s house

Shore Drive takes the place of the railroad tracks that brought so many visitors from Jersey City, Union City, Hoboken, New York, Staten Island and Brooklyn.

But there’s so much more to know about the patriarch and matriarch of this Highlands landmark, William H and Mary Conners.

This was the site William fell in love with in the late 19th century when he came here from his native Pennsylvania. He purchased the 10 acre or so tract next to the O’Neil property and filled in the land himself, drawing buckets of soil from the red clay hills to fill in the swamp land that ran to the water. He hauled all that clay by horse drawn wagon, using a trip lever to create buildable ground.

Once he established new land, William then leased out portions of it, bringing folks from the city to enjoy the shores of the Shrewsbury in their tents. When that venture secured enough money, William then set out to build the hotel, which he named the Cedar Grove House, keeping the tents for the regulars who wanted to come back every summer.

Hardworking and energetic, William and Mary worked the land themselves, growing vegetables for the table, and becoming more popular and sought after as the years went on.

By the 1920s, the couple added bungalows to their summer offerings, and the place blossomed. They also built their own home, the “big white house” that later in the 20th century became the home to son Jack and his wife Sis, and their four children.

William died in 1938, but not without leaving a legacy to his daughter, Marie. She was married to Herman “Blackie” Black, and the charm and growth of Conners continued. The Blacks renamed the hotel Conners, and from an early age taught their four sons the benefits of hard work and the necessity to give back to the community.

Each of the sons, Bill, Jack, Herman, better known as Duke, and Bobby, knew and did every facet of running the business their grandparents had started. They moved with the times as well, adding the pool; the bungalows gave way to spanking new condos, the carriage house which at one time had been home to the nearly two dozen gardeners, groundskeepers, plumbers, band members and other employees who lived on the grounds, became a memory as the Carriage House Apartments were built.

Still, the Conners Charm continued.

The restaurant at the hotel became a series of dining rooms, as the popularity of Bill and Sal in the kitchen drew crowds every night. In the early years, the family was happy when the dining room capable of holding 60 diners had 19 or 20 on a Friday night; by the 1980s, the added rooms could accommodate 225 diners at one time, and the overflow didn’t seem to mind a bit sitting on the hotel’s front porch, cocktail in hand, waiting to be seated.

Generations enjoyed the Cedar Grove turned Conners Hotel over the centuries. The four brothers Black have all passed on, as have all their wives except Edna, Duke’s wife, the last matriarch of the third generation connected with the hotel.

There are numerous great-great grandchildren with unforgettable memories of their special times at Conners, a plethora of great-great-great grandchildren who hear the stories of their ancestors, and now a sixth generation being born and welcomed into a family that has been as much a part of the growth, love, and uniqueness of Highlands as the river and Twin Lights themselves.

HIGHLANDS – Local historians Walter Guenther and Muriel J. Smith will team up to encourage ­public participation in memories of Highlands past at Thursday’s ZOOM meeting of the Highlands Historical Society.

The historians will lead discussions and invite topics of interest among attendees at the Nov. 18 meeting, leading to personal and sometimes untold stories about people, places and events in the community during the 21st century and beyond.

Guenther, who has done extensive research of the borough where he has summered since a child, can highlight many of the military figures who have also played roles in the borough either in politics, family or business.

Smith, who with her husband, a former councilman, raised their four children in the borough and has been here since 1955, will lead discussions calling for memories of how residents felt when the merry-go-round or the trains ended, when the Cedar Inn was run by the Knittel family or seeing Jersey Speed Skiffs on the Shrewsbury River.

“When Society President Sheila Weinstock had a ZOOM meeting in the past, it generated a lot of interest from former Highlands residents, “ Smith said, “people in Florida, Kentucky and Virginia among other places were able to be present for the meeting and share their own thoughts and memories. It’s a great idea and important in keeping history alive to hear everyone’s stories,” the historian and author said.

Weinstock also noted guests are invited to show photos or memorabilia at the Zoom meeting.

The meeting will take place at 7 pm. And it is not necessary to be a Society member to attend. Guenther will also let interested persons know how they can become members or donate to the Society.

To join the meeting, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8042936197

The meeting ID is 804 293 6197. Or visit One tap mobile +19292056099,,8042936197# US (New York) +13017158592,,8042936197# US (Washington DC) and dial by location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

Or to find a local number, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdk6hUBkoj