Like so many others, I have so many things that are making me happy this time of year, and grateful for everyone of them, sometimes a bit in awe that I have been the beneficiary of so many kindnesses, neighborly acts, sheer acts of kindness and thoughtfulness.
One that stands out is learning how Dava Grametbauer, and a lot of you know her from the Girl’s Café, discovered she is such a talented writer. Dava had written a story about Chooch, her dog, and her faith in God and told the story in such a warm, heartfelt manner it was printed by Paul Mark Printing in Freehold…the best around by the way…In printing it, the printers began reading the booklet themselves, and were touched by the wholesomeness and sheer beauty of the writing.
My happiness came when Dava first saw the printed version of her story, complete with a photo of Chooch on the cover and saw first hand how delighted she was to see her first book in print. Don’t know yet whether she is having more printed and offering them for sale, but if you like stories about God and faith, or even if you like heart warming stories about dogs, this is a delightful book for you. Stop in at the Girls Café…. before Christmas because they will be closed from Saturday through all of January…and talk to Dava about it. She’s a terrific waitress, and an even better writer.
Speaking of the Girls Café, now there’s a place that brings joy and happiness to everyone who comes in. Talking about God-given gifts that everyone has, surely some of the best gifts owners and employees at the Café have, but especially Vera, Cathy, and Charley, are the ability to make people happy, a terrific sense of humor, the gifts of understanding and sympathy …and the one no one sees but knows is there…the ability to not answer back when they hear stuff that simply isn’t true or is merely gossip. Don’t know what I’m going to do for my weekly dose of happiness during January, so have to stop back several times this week to load up.
Also happy to see that incredibly famous and excellent restaurant in Highlands is open, busy and still putting out great meals and has some wonderful plans for New Year’s Eve celebrations as well!
Also thrilled with the quick sale of my newest book, Christmas Legends of the Bayshore, which is available at both Bahrs and Bayshore Pharmacy, another terrific business in Atlantic Highlands. People like the legends of everything from squirrels and birds to angels and elves. Only have a few left before a second printing, so if you want one before Christmas, e-mail either murieljs1@aol.com or go to STORE to get it. Happy to deliver if close by, but can’t be positive the post office would have it arrive in time through the mail
Jimmie King is indeed the administrator at the Care One at King James Care Center, but it’s difficult to find him in his office. This administrator might be out delivering a medication to a recent resident, or helping staff decorate for the holidays. Or helping residents create paw print paintings with visiting dogs for unique framed hangings. For this affable, hardworking and very business professional, it’s all about the teamwork and getting the job done.
Jimmie King, with all his degrees, is Jimmie King, MSN, RN, MNHA, as well as husband, dad to four children and granddad to two. He is a native of Leonardo, which is still his home, and graduated from all the local schools…Bayshore Middle School, Middletown South, Monmouth Vocational where he earned his LPN, Brookdale College, where he earned his degree in nursing and Kean University where he earned his degree in business and management.
“I’m a local guy,” he says with a grin and obvious pride.
He also hasn’t gone very far from home in his professional medical career. He started out as a certified nursing assistant when Helen Marchetti, later the Mayor of Atlantic Highlands, was the director of Atlantic Highlands Nursing Home and he learned from the beginning at that facility that meeting each resident’s needs, big or small, had to be a priority of his work. After the nursing home closed, he came to Care One, then under the original owners, with Duke Black the administrator and has been there ever since.
His first position with King James was as a licensed Practical Nurse 20 years ago, and from there he earned his nursing degree and was a registered nurse in the same facility. It was October, 2020, that he was named Director Nursing, and then, ten months later, he became the overall administrator of the facility.
King looks at himself more as the captain of a team rather than the formal title of administrator. That is because he is a firm believer it is only with a talented team, a team that works well together and has the same ideas of perfection as he does that he can be the success he is as an administrator.
“We have a great team here, and that is important to me particularly because it is what is needed in order to provide the level of nursing care that the care center is known for,” King said. “Customer service is our overall obligation and that makes it our first priority.”
King said because of the training, background, education and enthusiasm of everyone on his team, the facility is able to reach out and go beyond their obligations. “Our team here not only helps our residents,” he explained, “but also reaches out to participate in community assistance as well.” As an example, currently employees and residents, as well as families of residents, are participating in a fund raiser for the niece of an employee stricken with diabetes. “This is what our family does all the time,” he said matter-of-factly, but with an obvious pride in his voice.
King believes said a well-staffed and enthusiastic kitchen staff is also necessary to keep up both health and morale for all residents. “We have a sound dietary program, and our chef can meet every resident’s dietary restrictions and requirements with ingenuity and attention. That is not only in the preparation of the proper foods in the proper manner, but also adding those little extra touches that make a dinner dish more appealing, and therefore more apt to be enjoyed by the resident. It’s a vital part of a good dietary program.”
The activities department has done everything from “running up and down the halls to provide entertaining Bingo games during the Covid restriction that limited their meeting together,’’ he laughed, “to preparing and helping with the first wedding we ‘ve ever had at King James.” That happened when the daughter of a resident wanted to be sure her mom could attend the ceremony. “A good time was had by all and it was a beautiful wedding,” King said.
The care center also participates in a number of veterans programs to honor their residents who served in the military. As far as the paw print program, that was on a day when several of the employees brought their canines to work for a full day, having them visit the residents in their rooms, then having the residents assist the dogs in putting their paw prints on artist canvas to be displayed in their own rooms or given as gifts. “Animals always are a treat for so many residents, and we have dogs that visit on a regular basis and delight the residents,” the administrator said.
“Striving for excellence is our goal and we do that every day,” he said,
“We want to treat our residents as if they were in a five star hotel. Here at King James, we’re family, and we treat the resident, not the computer.”
Since he was named administrator earlier this year, does King have any other ambitions within the Care One nursing home complex? “Upper administration knows I live close and can be here in any emergency, night or day, within minutes,” he said, “they like the fact that if any emergency ever occurred, I’m only five or six minutes away.”
Then he grinned and added, “I told you I’m a local guy. I’ve been here 20 years. I don’t plan on going anywhere.”
Grab a cup of coffee, sit back, scratch your head, and see what apparently the leaders of Atlantic Highlands are doing to people who are truly interested in knowing what’s going on in town.
They are making a mockery of keeping the public informed and involved. They are doling out one more very difficult blow to people with disabilities who cannot attend night meetings.
It’s all about last night’s reorganization meeting of the Atlantic Highlands Planning Board.
Was there an official meeting?
Among other reasons this makes me wonder because it was made clear even before the onset, that the general public did not have any idea where or how it was being held.
One also has to wonder whether all those five residents who had applications for approval on the agenda had attorneys they were paying to be present to represent them and whether the borough will pay those bills for them …
Even if there are no added costs and they simply postponed action on any of those things…is that any way to treat a new business in town or a taxpaying residents?
And one truly has to wonder whether no one from the planning board was present, heard, or understand what happened at the Jan. 1 reorganization meeting of the governing body. That’s the meeting when the public was told that ALL meetings that the public is entitled to attend would be held virtually, at least through Jan. 13, the next council meeting. Yes, even the physically disabled were led to believe Jan. 1, five days ago, that all municipal meetings would be virtual until Jan. 13 at least.
In fact the virtual meeting idea was discussed, questioned, and then yep, the Mayor said it again. All meetings that the folks have the right to attend, not only council meetings, would be held via zoom at least through Jan. 13. A couple of Council members questioned it out loud, just to be sure they, and everyone else understood, ALL meetings would be virtual.
That all happened Jan. 1. We’re in a state of Covid or Omicron or some other kind of health emergency. Making the decision five days ago to have ALL meetings be virtual gave the governing body plenty of time to get the word out to people, in the daily paper, on their website, on Facebook, any number of ways.
But that didn’t happen.
No matter how much I searched, I simply could not find the Planning Board meeting anywhere on line. Borough Council changed their own meeting to make it virtual at the last minute. Couldn’t they do the same with the Planning Board in five days?
To say actions in Atlantic Highlands have been disappointing at best, possibly improper or illegal at worst, is rather an understatement.
Either way, it’s downright scary.
OK, as a refresher, because this is getting a little difficult to follow. At the reorganization meeting of the Mayor and Council… you remember the one, the one where the public could not speak, were told there would be no public comment, yet an Assemblywoman who had no active part in the proceeding was indeed allowed to speak…yeah, that one….. the public was told that ALL municipal meetings to which the public had the right to attend, would be held virtually until at least Jan. 13 when the idea would be revisited.
Don’t know what happened at the Harbor Commission reorganization meeting Wednesday night through my own fault. That was presented on ZOOM. Thanks, Harbor Commissioners!
But Thursday’s planning board meeting had the agenda on line for all to view. It included agendas for the reorganization meeting at 7, a workshop meeting immediately following, which included a public comment period for items not on the agenda, and a regular meeting immediately after that ostensibly with the newly organized planning board members acting on minutes approval, paying the attorney for his November work, and no fewer than five applications for variances, or site plan approval.
But therein lie a FEW PROBLEMS. The agenda says the meeting would be as duly advertised by law and posted, etc. and gave the regulations on speaking out at a meeting. But neither the agenda nor the official website ever showed where the meeting would be…would it be the one advertised in the papers as part of the annual notice last year, or the one announced at the borough’s reorg that said all meetings would be available on ZOOM? Just wondering. Because there was no way the governing body or the planning board let anybody know.
So for those who believed the meeting would be ZOOM, just like the Mayor and Council said all the meetings would be, the only zoom connection on the website was for a Mayor and Council meeting. Could the planning Board use the same Zoom connection? Probably. Did they? Absolutely not. Or if they did, they did not let the public in on it.
So herein lies another dilemma. The Agenda says “as advertised…in the annual notice…” so that would make the meeting live and at borough hall. But the state is in a state of Omicron emergency. And the Mayor said five days ago ALL meetings would be virtual for safety and health sake. So in five days the governing body had the means, ability, and obligation to let the people know either they couldn’t act quickly in the face of an emergency…which they had done for their own meeting….or the meeting would indeed be virtual so all of us who cannot make night meetings could watch and be involved at home.
But in the end, there was No ZOOM capability at all. Not sure, but I think there was a meeting. At Borough Hall. In accordance, perhaps, with a notice sent out a year ago. But with no correction or advertisement to inform the public of the governing body’s decision five days ago.
Well, IF the planning board meeting was really held, IF they followed the agenda, IF the majority voted the way everybody apparently was sure they would, then these are some of the things that happened at a meeting that was held live, without ZOOM, and in contrast to what was said five days before:. Martin Hawley was recognized as the Mayor’s Class II appointee, newly elected Councilman Brian Dougherty the Mayor’s Class III appointee, Thomas Josko the Mayor’s Class IV appointee, and David Krupinski, Chris Kurdes and Katrina Majewski were named alternates 2, 3 and 4 respectively. In addition, presumably the board attorney, engineers, planner when needed, secretary, official newspapers, meeting minutes and calendar for the year were all approved.
What apparently DID NOT take place, since I’m pretty sure the public would have to be heard first, were approvals of the Little Chicken Kids on First Avenue, Starbucks on Rout 36, and a few more applications on South Avenue, Memorial Parkway and Ocean Blvd. Don’t know exactly when they’re going to be acted on.
Nor do I feel confident the Planning Board will let the residents, even the interested disabled persons, ever know.
It begs the question … Who’s the Boss? The Mayor & Council or the Planning Board?
For everybody waiting for The Girls Café to re-open….and I know that’s a huge group and they’re probably already lining up down Bay Avenue….you have to wait until Feb 23! With the weather being so February-ish, and ice and snow becoming more of a realty, Vera and Cathy decided the end of the month makes more sense. They’re down there all the time making sure everything is ship shape and ready for the Feb. 23 re-opening, so we all just have to be patient. They have to be patient as well……understand they are really eager to get back to work with those award winning pancakes, great coffee and everything else! Heck, I can’t even get the recipe for what makes their oatmeal so deliciously different!
I’ve decided to start this Blog, partially because I am so weary of so many things and comments and poor taste on Facebook, partially because I have lived in the Bayshore more than six decades, love it and love to talk about it, and partially because I am opinionated and want the space to both express and share my opinions on a variety of subjects.
I’ve chosen the name, or I Came, I Saw, I Write, primarily because of my love of Latin, the result of four years at Mount St. Mary’s Academy with a wonderful teacher who encouraged me not only to learn it but to realize knowing Latin automatically means understanding and expanding my English vocabulary. I’ll share thoughts, ask questions, invite responses and keep you interested.
“My task, which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel–it is, before all, to make you see.”
Joseph Conrad said it first. But I can repeat it with conviction.
The words you write very often have a huge impact and many times create a lasting memory, either good or bad, on the reader. I’ve been a Smith for more than 65 years, but I’ve been a wordsmith from the day I first learned to talk.
From the time my father the newspaper reporter taught my three siblings and me the importance of always speaking out if you can help someone, change something that should be changed, or make a lasting difference for the better, I have appreciated the power of works. Like Confucius, my dad used to tell us that “To See What Is Right And Not Do It Is A Lack Of Courage.” He made it clear that those of us who inherited his gift of writing should take that gift to do what is right and always show courage.
While those mandates have been with me all my life, and I have written literally millions of words over those years, I have never really thought about the lasting impact of what I write, or for that matter, the distance my words have traveled.
Not until my technical guru for this blog directed me to a bigger and better base for VeniVidiScripto and then gave me some of the statistics after the first few weeks in this new adventure.
Televangelist Robert H Schuller said, “Today’s Accomplishments Were Yesterday’s Impossibilities,.” And I believe him after seeing some of my guru’s figures.
In the last two weeks, my blog has reached, and been read, on three continents, North America, Europe and Asia. They have reached readers in more than five countries, England, Ireland, Vietnam, Canada and the United States. And within the United States, they have been read in just about every state on the East Coast from Maine to Florida, as far west as California and as far south as Texas and Alabama, as far to the north as Minnesota.
Of course the largest readership is in the Garden State, and the largest number of those followers read the blog from home or business in Monmouth County. But there are dozens of readers from Jersey City, Newark and Hoboken as well, and many more scattered throughout most of the 21 counties.
Many readers come on to read one story, then stay to read a couple more. Stories of controversy and change attract the most readers, with hundreds, not only from Highlands but widespread, following the ups and downs of that $10 million Taj Mahal borough hall planned for the highway in Highlands.
Many are interested in some of the medical issues I have covered, from Ice Cure’s amazing cryoablation techniques that remove cancer through freezing rather than surgery to nutritional ideas to prevent, halt or decrease the frightening aspects of macular degeneration.
Literary director Rachel Wolchin once said,” Be mindful when it comes to your words. A string of some that don’t mean much to you, may stick with someone else for a lifetime.” I do not know enough to have an opinion on her thoughts, since it’s never been my practice to use a string of words that don’t mean much to me. I know how words can stick with a person for a lifetime, both good and bad.
But I do believe in what Steve Jobs said, and it’s a way of life for me as well. “The only way to to great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” I don’t have to look any further to find the work I love. In fact, I never looked for it. Writing simply comes naturally. Thanks, Dad, for the inheritance.
So thanks to my guru for showing me in statistics how far reaching my words have been. Thanks to readers throughout the world who have read them for letting me touch your hearts with my thoughts and fact. And thanks to al of you for your input, your continuing to read what I write, and the encouragement and ideas you give me to continue go forward with more.
I don’t mind admitting it in the least. I am not a technical guru. I do not even know much more about my computer than how to type on it, save, edit, and send. I can read and enjoy all my e-mails and respond to them, I can access Facebook and do all kinds of research, to me, the very best advantage of the internet and all the magic it offers.
I learned to type in high school on a Remington with a keyboard that required heavy pounding; it was years before I even had an electric typewriter.
Soon after our marriage, I joined my husband’s hobby of ham radio, and became WA2GXT. I studied, passed federal tests for licensing and learned that Ohms Law accurately describes the conductivity of the vast majority of electrically conductive materials over many orders of magnitude of current. I knew the farad was a unit of capacitance and the 2-meter amateur radio band is a portion of the VHF radio spectrum, comprising frequencies stretching from 144 MHz to 148 MHz in most of the world.
One of the first magazine stories I ever wrote was for 73 Magazine, all about erecting a two meter antenna in our back yard in Highlands.
All of that is in the past and holds no interest for me now. Which probably explains why I have a sensational technical guru to handle and distribute the tens of thousands of words I write on a regular basis.
While I have no trouble putting the words into print, it’s this guru who puts them out in the world of unseen communication that gets those words all over the world.
So I am always amazed by where VeniVidiScripto is read. I am delighted dozens of people in Ireland read it, most likely for my stories on travel to that country; I know the many people afflicted with eye and vision problems read the experiences I have encountered with aging macular degeneration, be they in the United State or Germany, Pakistan, South Korea, or Belgium.
I do not know whether my columns are translated into Japanese for readers in Japan, but I do know they are translated into German, French, Spanish Italian and Urdu.
I know people on Facebook read VeniVIdiScripto in every state of the Union and in more than 60 countries, a fact that keeps me in awe.
And now I learned I am on Pinterest. So I had to look up a few details about Pinterest because I can already see I have several followers on that.
Pinterest is the #1 alternative to Facebook, I read, but minus the negative comments so often expressed on Facebook.
It’s where people go to ‘Boards” to find special stories they want to review on specific topics.
The Boards are great splashy and colorful pictures for easier visualization than the written word, sometimes a benefit to draw someone in to reading the written word. Because of that color those big pictures, those designs, Pinterest is a boon for people with aging macular degeneration or any of a number of vision problems.
The pictures make it easier to find a particular story that is worth the struggle to read without wasting all that energy in the search.
That advantage of Pinterest draws the reader into reading what he is specifically looking for. It isn’t necessary to scroll through stories, no matter how great they are, that are not of the reader’s specific interest; he simply checks the “boards” for the topics he likes best.
All of which makes this a great location for multiple generations, from the younger, more knowledgeable folks right through to my age and beyond who might not understand the whys and wherefores of it but like reaping the benefits of easy, enjoyable reads on topics of our choice.
Finally Pinterest lets you see what is trending right now, giving writers better information on the types of stories people want to read.
I know you’ve been asking and I know you deserve an answer… How come there have been so few new posts on VeniVIdiScripto in the last couple of days?
Well, the truth is, in a way, I’ve been researching yet another broad spectrum of stories to write.
Well, that wasn’t really my intention, but now that I’ve had the experience, I do realize I have an entire series I can write on staying overnight in a hospital, having a surgical procedure, beginning recuperation at home, the great and not so great aspects of the hospital, the wonderful and dedicated people I met, the excellence of a surgeon and my own personal doctor, both of which I knew about long before this but was reiterated because of this latest incident, and what happens next.
It was the two days in the hospital that kept me from writing, but once back home, secure, comfortable, and basking in the love and care of a terrific son and daughter, as well as friends and all the special people who included me in their prayers, I’m happy to report the procedure had nothing to do with either my fingers on the keyboard or my research and writing ability.
So look for an abundance with articles in the next couple of days, one of a favorite pharmacist who is retiring from my favorite pharmacy, several on the progress of that wonderful new submarine, the New Jersey, a few wondering articles on what is going on in Highlands, more commentary on how fortunate Atlantic Highlands has been to have Adam Hubeny its administrator for so many years, and a few surprises as well.
Hard to understand why Atlantic Highlands is so eager to resolve all the questions about cannabis but was so reluctant to work more quickly so disabled people, those with children they need to care for, the elderly and people who just don’t like to go out at night can know what’s going on their town.
When they’re talking about all the tax money they’ll get from having some cannabis business in town, they’re overlooking it’s currently a cash business. How exactly are they going to get all this money and how are they really going to know if it’s the right amount? Anyone read what just happened in Kansas? I hope that money wasn’t enroute to some deserving town.
Now it also looks like there are a few other glitches in the New Jersey law. Again, what’s the rush? People are always going to want it, I suspect, even if there are shops in Highlands and other towns. From hearing some folks talk during the workshop, there are an awful lot of alcoholic beverages places in town, so they must all be successful, so again, why not wait until the state gets all the rules in place, some other towns see how it’s working for a while, and gain from their experience to make an even better business? To repeat a statement from last night concerning all the folks comparing liquor stores with cannabis businesses….it’s the state that is mandating security in cannabis shops during opening hours, that is requiring that closed door, locks, and all that stuff, none of which is required in liquor stores. So somebody, someplace along the line must think there’s a heck of a difference between the two. Why not wait and see, or get more information? It would have been nice, with all those facts being announced, if there were some law enforcement professionals on the team that presented cannabis information last night. Are the police being too silent on this issue?
Any issue that brings out four former mayors must be something they all think will have a vital impact on the town.
It was wonderful to hear so many people speak out, to hear such fervor about any subject, and to see the very courteous and correct response from an interested council. The workshop was terrific, and the entire town benefited from the wisdom of the governing body in having it. Nice to hear all the thanks and appreciation to the council members as well because it’s one sign that the people truly do want to know and want to participate.
On the other hand, it is also hard to understand why they want to do yet more studies on the question of regionalization for the schools before taking any action or letting the people have any say on what could be a tremendous tax savings for property owners and offer a more comprehensive and cohesive form of education for youngsters from pre-k through high school. By their failing to approve some kind of action now fairly soon, they are also preventing both Highlands and Sea Bright from getting the question on the ballot, the easiest way of ensuring all the people who want to be heard are heard. Not very neighborly and certainly giving the appearance of not really caring what the people want.
