Ghosts on the Coast, a New Jersey based paranormal team, suggested interested people should visit the St. Agnes Thrift Shop for Wednesday and Saturday bargains and perhaps even learn more about the historic actor Robert Mantell who once lived there.
The team, including Greg Gaggiano, recently videotaped inside the two-story thrift Shop, owned by St. Agnes Church and operated to support maintenance and other activities of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help St Agnes Parish, as part of their series on historic persons and places.
Ghosts on the Coast works towards keeping legacy alive and searches out myths and legends either to debunk them or to find further proof of their authenticity.
The visit to the St. Agnes Thrift Shop came as part of the team’s investigation into facts surrounding Mantell, once the most famous Shakespearean actors of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Mantell lived in the Victorian style house at 34 South Ave. and is buried at Bayview Cemetery in Leonardo. He has long been appreciated by the Atlantic Highlands Fire Department, who named the Robert Mantell department company in his honor in recognition of his generosity.
Mantell is buried at Bayview Cemetery in Leonardo, and the Ghosts on the Coast team also visited and videotaped scenes at his burial site.
In the video at the South avenue former residence, the Ghost on the Coast team suggest a visit to shop in the Thrift Shop and visit the house.
The St. Agnes Thrift Shop features furniture, china, books, jewelry, clothing,, seasonal decorations, costumes and kitchen ware in each of the rooms of the former Mantell mansion. It is open every Wednesday from 10am. to 3 p.m. and the second and fourth Saturdays of every month from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The next Saturday the shop is open is tomorrow, July 26.
Ghosts on the Coast Ghosts on the Coast Ghosts on the Coast
Olympian Bayshore residents will be at their TVs early Friday morning, August 2 to see Atlantic Highlands resident Camilla Lopes Gomes Gluckstein compete for the gold in the Summer Olympics in France.
The wife of Steven Gluckstein, also an Olympic athlete who competed in both the London and Rio games, Camilla is competing on the Trampoline and representing her native Brazil under her maiden name, Camilla Lopes Gomes.
The 30-year-old champion Trampoline gymnast, the first Brazilian to win gold at a World Cup event, also won double gold at the FIG World Cup 2023 AGF Trophy event in both the individual and synchronized trampoline events. She also scored her highest individual finish at the 2023 Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships, an achievement that earned her the position as Brazil’s representative in the 2024 Paris Olympics this week.
Camilla has competed at multiple Trampoline World Championships with her partner Alice Gomes. In 2022, the duo finished 7th at the World Championships in synchronized trampoline. She has been named “Trampoline Gymnast of the Year” in Brazil four times beginning in 2014.
Camilla’s family from Brazil will be in Paris for her competition next week, marking the first time her father has ever been out of Brazil.
Camilla and Steven Gluckstein first met in Denmark but began a relationship after working together when she began training in the United States. She continues to train at Elite Training Academy, also Gluckstein’s academy. The couple have been married eight years.
Camilla is now a United States citizen, having been sworn in in January.
Her husband holds a variety of titles in athletics as well as being a former Olympian and six-time National Men’s US Trampoline champion and five times National US Men’s Synchronized Trampolinist and six-time World Team member. He and his partner Logan Dooley were the first gymnastic trampolinists in TEAM USA history to win a gold at a World Cup Series event. Retired from gymnastics, Gluckstein is a trainer at Elite Academy and head coach of the junior US National Trampoline team.
Steven and his brother, Jeffrey, also an internationally competitive trampolinist representing the USA, created a dynasty in competitive US trampoline by winning every National Men’s Trampoline Championship for at least ten consecutive years. They’re the sons of Steven and Loretta Gluckstein, she the former mayor of Atlantic Highlands. Both are graduates of Henry Hudson Regional School in Highlands.
Camilla’s competition on August. 2 will be available at 6 am on NBC/ Peacock.
It took Sea Bright Mayor and Council seven minutes this morning to officially authorize a question on the ballot to ensure they have residents’ opinion on regionalization with the Henry Hudson Regional School District.
Sea Bright council members have indicated for several weeks they plan to put a question on the ballot to get the residents’ opinion on whether the borough should join Highlands and Atlantic Highlands in the newly formed prek-12 Henry Hudson Regional school district.
Highlands Mayor and Council unanimously passed a similar ordinance earlier this month. Atlantic Highlands Mayor Lori Hohenleitner indicated that borough does not plan to take similar action.
Mayor Brian Kelly called the Sea Bright meeting to order at 8:30 this morning, with all members present with the exception of Councilman Sam Catalano.
Councilman Mark Leckstein made the motion, seconded by Erwin Bieber and unanimously approved directing the Monmouth County Clerk to place the question on the ballot for the November 5 election.
The question, which asks for a yes or no response, reads:
Do you support the borough exploring educational opportunities and property tax relief available to Sea Bright by having students from Sea Bright attend the Henry Hudson Regional School District?
Council members indicated that similar to Highlands, they want to hear the opinion of the residents before any actions are taken. The question on the ballot is non-binding but gives elected officials a better idea of how the majority of voters feel about any issue.
Local historian and journalist Muriel J. Smith will narrate some stories on the Bayshore and its residents during the Prohibition era Sunday, August 11, on the Navesink Queen cruise to benefit the Atlantic Highlands Historical Society.
Smith, who has been a journalist for 65 years and is the former editor of The Courier in Middletown, is also author of five books, primarily on history. A resident of Atlantic Highlands, for five years, she and her late husband, James E. Smith, Jr., lived in Highlands with their four children for 40 years.
In 1996, after Mr. Smith survived death after a series of heart attacks, the couple lived ten years in an RV and traveled to all 50 states visiting the birth or burial places of Presidents of the United States, while also volunteering at national wildlife refuges. She returned to Monmouth County after his death in 2006 and worked at NWS Earle in Colts Neck where she did public relations and wrote the base newspaper.
The Navesink Queen will leave from Pier 1 (behind Sissy’s Luncheonette) at the Atlantic Highlands Yacht Harbor and lunch will be served with a cash bar. For ticket reservations and further information, go to www.ahhistory.org/events.
Representative Chris Smith met with Elan Carr, the former U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism—and other leaders in his ongoing fight to combat antisemitism and discuss the ongoing threats faced by Jewish men, women and children at home and abroad.
Smith, who is Co-Chair of the House Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, said. “Carr’s continued work to fight antisemitism in all of its many forms commands respect on both sides of the aisle and around the world.”
As Special Envoy, Carr led the U.S. State Department Office charged with anticipating, preventing, mitigating and responding to threats against Jewish communities worldwide. The ambassadorial-level position was established by twolaws authored by Smith which have been successful in elevating and advancing the United States’ efforts to address the alarming rise in antisemitism.
The Congressman is also Co-Chair of the Israel Allies Caucus and met with family members of the Americans who continue to be held hostage by Hamas as part of a congressional roundtable before of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress set for Wednesday. He expressed thanks to the families for their powerful witness to the cruelty that has been imposed upon their loved ones and promised ”We will do everything we possibly can to end their agony and bring them home.’
The Reverend Joseph J. Donnelly Knights of Columbus Council #11660, which serves the Our Lady of Perpetual Help – Saint Agnes Catholic Parish has received a its second consecutive “Star Council” award, the international organization’s top honor for local councils.
The “Star Council Award” recognizes overall excellence in the areas of growing membership, promoting Knights of Columbus insurance benefits, sponsoring Catholic Faith formation programs and volunteering time through service–oriented activities consisting of 16 programs equally divided amongst the four categories of Faith, Family, Community and Life.
This year, the Reverend Joseph J. Donnelly Council reached their membership quota with the addition of five newly installed Brother Knights. “We are truly blessed to be able to serve such a vibrant Parish made up of highly supportive, engaged and faithful Parishioners and Ministries,” said Grand Knight Mike Napolitano. “We are also continually blessed by the encouragement of our pastor, Father Jarlath Quinn who is also one of our own Sir Knights and serves as our Council Chaplain.”
Napolitano, who learned of the award from the Knights of Columbus Supreme Council, said “I continue to be personally blessed to serve with and learn from the wonderful and growing number of Catholic gentlemen who comprise this Council of Brothers along with our Sisters in the Columbiettes Auxiliary.
” Our Council #11660 achieved its second “Star Council” award by continuing its program with a mix of tried-and-true parish favorites,” the Grand Knight continued. “These include hosting a weekly Rosary Hour, a free monthly themed Pancake Breakfast, the annual Spaghetti and Meatball Dinner fundraising event (now coupled with the Annual Columbiettes Charity Gift Auction.” The Knights also make regular donations to local Food Pantries, local seminarians, and sponsor an Annual Blue Mass and Dinner for First Responders. We also donate to Deborah Hospital, local Pregnancy Centers along with newer initiatives such as creating a Multi-Council Special Needs Bowl-A-Thon, sponsoring a Special Olympics Polar Plunge team, a May Crowning Mass and Initiation Sacraments Breakfast, a Catholic Education Scholarship, the 9-11 Remembrance and Veterans Appreciation Breakfasts,” Napolitano continued.
In addition, the Council conducts its Annual Oktoberfest and Sinatra Night Dinner fundraising events and helps numerous other causes without any recognition.
Membership in the Knights of Columbus is open to men 18 years of age or older who are practical, practicing Catholics in union with the Holy See. For information on joining the Knights of Columbus Council #11660 contact Membership Director Dave Convery (Email: david@converylaw.com) or call Grand Knight Ian McGinniss at (732) 500-6706.
Napolitano noted he is the outgoing Grand Knight after serving two years, and Convery has been named the Grand Knight for the next two years,
Knights of Columbus
To learn more about the Knights of Columbus visit https://HighlandsKofC11660.org. The Knights of Columbus is one of the world’s leading fraternal and service organizations with two million members in more than 16,000 parish-based councils. During the past year, Knights around the world donated more than 47 million service hours and $153 million for worthy causes in their communities. The organization also offers extensive life insurance services to members and their families, resulting in more than $116 billion of life insurance in force. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors offers investment services to individuals and institutions in accord with Catholic social teaching and has over $27 billion in assets under management. From helping children in need, to providing wheelchairs for the disabled, to helping stock food banks, to offering top rated and affordable insurance products to its members, to creating a legacy of giving, the Knights of Columbus have supported families and communities for more than 140 years.
There is something very wrong with priorities. Literally, thousands of people have read the headline that used a nickname based on the person’s last name. Eisenhower was frequently known as Ike.
Blackie, was Mr. Black of Connors fame, those of us old enough remember Herbert “Whitey” White of the Lindy Hoppers, all are frequently nicknames for folks who share their last name with colors.
Mac is used for McCarthys, McNamee, Mc Doogle and many more “Macs” or “Mc.s’. Guys named Fisher are often called Fish, and Murphys are called “Murph.” Smitty is used more often than Smith and the list goes on.
Yet the vast majority of comments and opinions have been about the headline. Not about the story which was read by the thousands who spent more than an average three minutes each reading about the subject.
Hidden in all the hoopla is the fact very few of these people are asking why the Atlantic Highlands Mayor and Council is saying its residents do not have the same rights that residents of Sea Bright and Highlands have.
Those towns want to hear from their residents on whether they want Sea Bright in the regional school district. It’s been the topic of discussion, for years now, and sadly caused much division between the towns. Why not simply ask the folks want they want, listen to them, and maybe take their opinions into consideration?
Non-binding questions on a ballot don’t cost a cent. People don’t even have to answer if they don’t want. They don’t have to stand up at a public meeting and voice their thoughts, they don’t have to give their names. They simply check off yes or no and the results can give guidance to the governing body and even the school board on how they want to act.
Atlantic Highlands thinks it’s important enough to put a non-binding question on the ballot to find out if residents want to pay two cents more in their tax rate to help preserve open space in that borough. Yet the Mayor said she thinks the question on whether the regional district should include their neighbor a little to the east is “frivolous.’ Why is a question on education ‘frivolous’ and one on open space not?
The Mayor of Highlands has a non-binding question on their ballot concerning whether those residents want a wall surrounding the town from flooding or not. She even had all the Army Corps experts come to answer questions to be sure the people are informed, But she still wants the residents’ opinion before taking any action. She thinks the education question is also important enough to get the people’s opinion so those voters will have TWO non-binding questions on their ballot.
Sea Bright wants to know what their voters think. They only have a handful of kids in the school system, and like Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, don’t show any signs of growth in the younger population. So they want to get some input from all the residents.
What a shame Atlantic Highlands voters are not given that same option.
If Sea Bright is ever to come into this regional district, all three towns have to agree. So quite simply, why not quit wasting time and money. If it’s clear any one town doesn’t want to proceed, then elected officials have to re-think their future actions.
The Atlantic Highlands Mayor is a smart lady and very definitely loves her town and works hard for it. So do all the members of Council
Representative Chris Smith and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Ralph Zucker
WASHINGTON—Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester), Co-Chair of the Israel Allies Caucus, today commended Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his historic joint address to Congress as Israel continues to defend itself from a host of adversaries in the Middle East.
Representative Chris Smith and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Ralph Zucker
“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s passionate yet deliberate address, which comes at a very pivotal time, was a grand slam,” said Smith, who invited two constituents—Ralph Zucker and Yaakov Wenger, both from Lakewood—as his guests to the Prime Minister’s speech. “It marked not only a critical call to action but also a heartfelt expression of gratitude to the American people and those in the United States and Congress who continue to stand by Israel.”
“Israel is facing an existential threat from Iran and its proxies including Hamas—which wants to eviscerate it from the face of the earth,” said Smith, who is an avid supporter of Israel and fierce advocate for aid to the U.S. ally.
“Netanyahu brilliantly made the case that these threats are not only directed to Israel, but also to America,” Smith continued. “He reminded everyone that Iran—which also hates the United States—routinely chants ‘death to America.’”
“He also called out the blatantly antisemitic protesters at our college campuses—such as Rutgers University in New Jersey—who are very prone to violence,” said Smith, Co-Chair of the House Task Force for Combating Antisemitism.
“Sadly, the Biden Administration’s vacillation especially and including on Israel has sent mixed messages to Israel’s adversaries and has enabled those who hate Jews because they are Jews,” said Smith. “Now more than ever, we must stand in absolute solidarity with this great U.S. ally—and the only true, stable democracy in the Middle East.”
Whether it was directed at the school board attorney, the board or simply in utter anger and frustration, Highlands resident Gina Melnyk blurted out an F-bomb before she left the podium at last week’s meeting of the Henry Hudson Regional Board of Education.
She further turned to the residents attending the meeting to let them know the board attorney receives $90 an hour to attend meetings and to let everyone in general know “You’ll see me November 5.”
No one from the board responded in any manner to the loud outburst but routine business which included an adjournment the meeting minutes later for a brief and scheduled executive session. Nothing was said about the outburst when the board returned after the executive session to continue the meeting.
An estimated 30 residents were at the meeting, most of them parents complaining and seeking further information on the proceedings for determining students for the pre-school program and the need for a waiting list in order to have a child received into the program.
But Melnyk, who is a former member of the Highlands Board of Education, rose during the scheduled first of two public portions to ask three questions, two concerning, the payment of bills and a consultant’s pay for specific work, and the third on the school’s policy on firearms.
Each of her questions was based on information on the agenda indicating payments made, whether the business administrator received additional compensation for work at the Highlands school, and a change in policy that included a first reading for revisions of several policies, including one on firearms and weapons.
Melnyk simply asked for board members’ opinions on the firearms policy change.
But the outspoken Highlands resident was thwarted in all her attempts to get responses, including no one from the board table advising her on the board policy, or if there is one, on when to stand or sit until her questions were answered.
During the public portion, Melnyk was recognized to go to the podium, identified herself and said she had three questions. She expressed the three questions, then sat down in anticipation of the responses.
When the first response was given, it prompted a question for further explanation, so Melnyk once again rose, apologized for not knowing she had to go back to the podium, and asked that question.
She then returned to her seat awaiting the answer to the next two questions, then again going to the podium for more explanation.
It was while she was at the podium the third time, that the board attorney, Jonathan Busch, not a board member or the chairman, began telling the resident her time was up, she had been there more than three minutes, she was asking too many questions, that wasn’t the policy, and the board would not be answering any more questions from her.
Melnyk continued talking from the podium, the board continued with the agenda item that called for a a brief statement from the business administrator on her certification, then a motion to adjourn, also scheduled on agenda, for an executive session before a resumption of the open meeting minutes later.
Melnyk continued to talk as the board members left the table for their executive session, telling the residents about Busch’s hourly rate, the lack of information she was receiving, and her assurance she would see them November 5. The Highlands resident is expected to be a candidate for one of the five Highlands seats on the board to be decided in the November election.
There were no further actions, disruptions, or references to Melnyk’s questions when the meeting resumed.
She never received any response to her question about a change in policy related to firearms.
Questioned on that policy change and the procedure for first and second readings of amendments to policy, Dr. Beams told this reporter, in response to written questions for more information:
“The public does not have a say in policy,” explaining that is the function of the board elected by the public and this is their primary responsibility. She added “the district must follow all applicable laws and administrative statutes that govern the state of NJ. The policies are derived from all applicable laws. The policy advises the Board’s and school district how to implement those laws as they pertain to schools.” She also pointed out the public would be able to see the policy once it is approved and part of the policy manual. It becomes part of the manual once it has passed first and second readings by board members, not in public, and voted on when any amendments after both readings are approved.
In answer to further questions about whether anyone on school property is permitted to carry weapons , Dr. Beams said that “currently, no staff or students are permitted to carry firearms with the exception of our school security officers who are licensed and trained and our class III police officers.”
Asked why the agenda indicates the policy revisions came with her recommendation, rather than stating they were submitted under the Strauss Esmay Policy, Dr. Beams explained “this is how Board of Education agendas work. The Superintendent in all districts collaborates with the Board committees, the administration or other staff members to make the appropriate recommendations for the various required approvals by the Board of Education.”
Other revisions in the policy, expected to be approved at the August meeting, after a second reading, include the board members term, staff physical examinations, service animals , attendance, as well as student suicide prevention, emergency and crisis situations and volunteer coaches and advisors. Abolished under the first reading approval, which was unanimous, is “remote public board meetings during a declared emergency “and gifts from vendors.
It was a love affair with Highlands that started with a letter from Washington Avenue resident Michael Roth to his neighbors.
It was also a public acclamation of his love for his late wife, MaryAnne.
Last May, Roth wrote the letter to all his neighbors on Washington Avenue along the Captains Cove area. In it, he asked if he could give each of them a gift that would be a memorial to his wife, but also “add a little more charm to our slice of heaven on earth.”
Roth gave a little history on why he wanted to give his neighbors gifts. He and his wife first came to Highlands around 2007, he said, finding it picturesque, quiet and with beautiful views. “It was all here,” he told them.
So he and MaryAnne purchased property the following year and, describing the house as ‘tired,’ hired an architect to convert it into their dream retirement home, delaying their move into their new home.
The move took place six weeks before Hurricane Sandy hit. When that storm slammed through Highlands, it left eight and a half feet of water on the street and sidewalk. But the Roth home was safe. Their architect had completed the renovations to the newest FEMA guidelines already in place in Highlands, so their house survived in good shape.
Following Sandy, the building inspector even used it as an example of how others could rebuild and maintain their homes in areas along the river.
The next ten years Roth told his neighbors, were the best of his life as he and MaryAnne retired and reveled in the friendliness and beauty of Highlands.
Then MaryAnne got sick. Last year, she passed away, one week before Christmas. They had been married 52 years.
But then Roth remembered something that was making him feel a bit better over his grief. A skilled carpenter and woodworker, the last thing he had made for his wife was a stenciled lobster to hang by their front entry. He told his neighbors MaryAnne had said how nice it would be if all the other houses around them also had one, creating a nautical and marine life theme for this portion of the Shrewsbury Rier.
So it was for MaryAnne, he explained to his neighbors, that he wanted to build a piece of marine life for each of his neighbors, to use for their house address and “something new” for the neighborhood. “MaryAnne would approve.,” he told them.
That is why several houses along Washington Avenue now proudly show house numbers on sea creatures, from lobsters and crabs to sea horses and oyster shells.
At last week’s council meeting. Mayor Carolyn Broullon also wanted to let Roth know how appreciative the entire borough is for his love of it, his neighbors, and the generous way in which he wanted to have Mary Anne remembered.
The borough council unanimously approved the proclamation Mayor Broullon presented to Roth recognizing his creative tribute to Mary Ann by unifying his street with a resilient community effort.
Her proclamation said, “in recognition of one man’s thoughtful and heartfelt tribute to one of his wife’s last wishes, the Mayor and Council of the Borough Highlands do hereby recognize Michael Roth of Washington Avenue for his sense of unifying the community, resilient use of materials and memorializing his wife in such an artistic fashion.”
It seems that’s what the Highlands people are like.
Love Affair Love Affair Love Affair Love Affair Love Affair Love Affair
