As I said, it’s the little things every day that keep you happy. Love the signs on the bulletin board in front of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church on Route 36 in Highlands. They’re clever, make you stop and think and keep up with the seasons.
This week, it’s the Irish who are being remembered with the Dia Duit at the bottom of the message. Hopefully it will still be up there Saturday when thousands will be descending on Highlands for the biggest St. Patty’s Day parade around.
Because of the parade, even mass at OLPH has been changed to 5:15 on Saturday to ensure people have time to find their cars and get to church.
Dia Duit, by the way, is the most common way to say “hello” among Irish nationals who speak Gaelic. The greeting literally means “may God be with you.”
Communications High School students Ava Majeski and Sloan Dougherty got a taste of municipal council meetings as an assignment from their journalism foundation instructor recently, and learned it isn’t necessarily all business at local meeting. Meetings are both interesting and fun, they agreed. Journalists
Communication High School, one of the schools in the Monmouth County Vocational School district, is the only high school in the state dedicated exclusively to communication and media arts.
Located in Wall Township, the high school offers a rigorous academic curriculum at the honors level, focusing intensively on journalism, film, publishing, commercial art, computer programming, TV broadcasting, and audio production.
In addition to fostering partnerships with community and industry experts, the school’s aim is to prepare students not for college but also to thrive in their future careers. Towards this end, hands-on learning with industry-standard tools and experiences give students experiences and portfolios that distinguish them in this rapidly changing industry.
Majeski a freshman student from Holmdel, and Dougherty, a freshman from Atlantic Highlands, were assigned by Journalism Foundation instructor Wayne Woolley to ‘cover’ the meeting as part of their overall program which also includes slide presentations, classwork, newspaper updates and video presentations.
Both students read the New York Times, primarily on line, as well as Inkblot, the school’s student-produced publication, which appears both in print and digital and covers activities, events, and opinions at the school.
Mayor Lori Hohenleitner welcomed the students to the meeting, and the young women, seated in the front row, followed the agenda from the opening Call to order and Silent reflection and Pledge to the flag, to the rousing chorus of ‘The Rattlin’ Bog” sung by the elected officials honoring Irish American Month on the Feast of St. Patrick.
Majesti said this is the first municipal meeting she has attended and found it interesting; Dougherty, whose father is Council president Brian Dougherty, has been to other council meetings in Atlantic Highlands and also indicated it was interesting. Both also noted newspapers in print are decreasing in numbers and being replaced by the more easily accessible virtual media.
Mayors It sounds like Highlands Mayor Carolyn Broullon is the one person who might well be able to get the Sea Bright regionalization question at least discussed by all those involved.
At least she is the only one who is suggesting immediate action so everyone can be prepared should it be approved for the question to be put to the public.
Broullon appeared at tonight’s Henry Hudson Regional Board of Education meeting and heard discussion led by Sea Bright resident Charley Rooney, Atlantic Highlands resident Mark Fisher and Highlands resident Karen Jarmusz all reminding the board of education of promises made two years ago and wondering what is happening now to further getting the regionalzation question on the ballot so residents can vote on whether they want Sea Bright to become part of the present two-borough district.
Sea Bright has consistently pointed out their entry into the district would mean bringing in a small group of students that current schools could well accept and also bringing in $2 million as a third borough to finance the school’s $28 million a year cost to taxpayers.
Rooney also pointed out during the meeting that both Highlands and Sea Bright already indicated they favor regionalization. He noted that Shore Regional district got a resounding defeat at their special election last week trying to get a $51 million bond issue approved and is facing serious problems with their teacher contracts that cannot be settled until the Sea Bright issue is settled.
Henry Hudson Board chairman Rich Colangelo pointed out, with explanations from the board attorney Jonathon Busch, that the board of education cannot address Sea Bright or discuss the issue with them until the Commissioner of Education makes a decision on whether Sea Bright does have the right, as three appellate courts have upheld, to seek leaving the Shore Regional and Oceanport districts and becoming part of the newly formed Henry Hudson district.
When Mayor Broullon stood up during the public portion of the Hudson board meeting she calmly stated, “there’s no mystery, let me explain.” She then told the board and residents present at the meeting that she recently made calls herself to Atlantic Highlands Mayor Lori Hohenleitner, Sea Bright Mayor Brian Kelly and Colangelo and suggested they all meet at Highlands Borough Hall for a quiet, informal discussion to talk about what needs to be done; she suggested they could then be in a position to formulate some cohesive arrangement so the board can be ready to move to the “second step” once the Commissioner’s decision is announced.
Atlantic Highlands Mayor Lori Hohenleitner
“I know in my heart there’s a way to make this work,” the mayor said.
Highlands Mayor Carolyn Broullon with Sea Bright Mayor Brian Kelly
While Colangelo noted he cannot speak with Sea Bright on the issue, he has agreed to attend the meeting and hear the viewpoints of the mayors.
The Highlands mayor confirmed after the meeting that the meeting has been set for the mayors and Colangelo to meet in Highlands, but declined to say when it will be, other than “soon”
Every once in a while, actually even more often than that if you stop to think about it, you have a day when you think it is difficult, nothing could go right, only bad things are going to happen and there’s no hope. Then you wake up and realize it’s all in the way you look at things.
If you look for the flower to die rather than appreciate the blooms in their colorful glory, then you’re missing out on the hours of sheer beauty in that flower.
If you rush through the supermarket picking up the one or two things you need and pass up that opportunity to share a couple of minutes chatting with a friend you happen to see, you’ve got to stop and wonder if what you were in such a hurry for was really all that important it couldn’t want five or ten minutes.
So there are several people I have to thank today for giving me an entirely new perspective on things. They made it perfectly clear that it really does feel good to stop and smell the roses.
The Atlantic Highlands post office was one of those places where today three different folks I met made my level of happiness soar and made me realize it truly is the little things that make the big difference.
This particular post office has not been my favorite. It’s one of the places where the American flag isn’t lowered on days ordered by the President or Governor if it’s a day the office is closed….but the flag remains on staff.
It’s an office that opens later than the Highlands or Navesink offices or is closed for lunch rather than workers covering hours for each other . But today was different.
Late afternoon, with no one waiting in line, Todd, the clerk on duty, took the time to share a laugh, share a story, explain one of the postal service’s many ways of sending letters in great detail, and in general, made a few minutes that would otherwise simply be lost in time and space, a lot more memorable and fun.
Even that got better half an hour or so later when I had to go back to the post office, be greeted by the same good-natured Todd, and retrieve something. Not only did he remember what it was, he knew exactly where it was and lost no time in making light of something that, unretrieved, could have been quite serious.
So when I tried to express enough thanks and met Yogi, the postmaster, I got an idea of why Todd likes his job and is so good at it. Yogi’s his boss, it would seem, but made it clear he doesn’t interfere with Todd’s business acumen. He knows he’s a great worker and knows he doesn’t need to stand over him to tell him how to do his job. There you go! A boss who has confidence in his employee. And it shows. Here again, Yogi didn’t just dash off back to his office, but stopped to share a few minutes of conversation, a couple of stories about doing business, and some great smiles that showed one of the parts of his job he likes best is keeping the customer happy…and he does that by ensuring that at least in this branch of the post office, the job is done right.
Leaving after a few minutes of pleasant conversation, I ran into…almost literally… a former councilman himself in a hurry to get somethings done. But Roy Dellosso did not just dash in and rush out; rather, he stopped to say hello, chatted long enough to hear about, and agree on, the excellence of the postal staff, and shared some highlights of a recent meeting. It only took a couple of extra minutes and Roy was in a hurry…but not so much that he couldn’t take the time to share the beauty of the day.
These were only three instances that highlighted the day, but it made me think of so many others that also happened that day….the neighbor who came out just to say Hi and stayed to make an adjustment on my car; the resident at King James Care Center who got everyone chuckling because she had her Bingo card memorized and could carry on a conversation without missing a trick.
There was the aid who laughed out loud at the photo of her little granddaughter sharing some ice cream with an elderly friend, laughter that brought more smiles to faces happy to hear such spontaneous laughter; the nurse who took the time to explain the extra precautions staff was taking to ensure a resident felt comfortable and assured.
There were the ladies at Portland Pointe who simply enjoy their quiet time of sharing prayers and thoughts with each other once a week and exuding confidence that with a bit of faith, everything always comes out right in the end.
Little things. Unexpected things. Unplanned. But all of them thoughts, ideas and words that managed to fit into even very business schedules .
And each one of those little things made so many others a bit happier and so much more wiling to share that same feeling with others.
Springpoint and Parker Health Group received the Excellence in Innovation Award from Leading New Jersey and Delaware for their Affordable Housing Wellness Initiative. The joint initiative introduced affordable housing residents to LivWell, Springpoint’s award-winning wellness program.
Launched three years ago by the Springpoint Foundation with support from Parker Health group, the initiative focuses on residential physical, intellectual,,emotional and social well-being and provides residents the opportunity to engage in experiences that support a high quality of live, lifelong development and an optimal sense of well-being. The award was presented during a “celebrating excellence in aging services ceremony last month, recognizing services that enhance the quality of life.
Portland Pointe on First Avenue, Atlantic Highlands
Portland Pointe on First Avenue, Atlantic Highlands is a Springpoint community, one of 19 similar communities Springpoint has. The Atlantic Highlands facility is under Paula Brescia, executive Director
The etching on the tombstone of Abraham Clark, one of the five New Jersey Signers of the Declaration of Independence, is a synopsis of the virtues and patriotic standards the Elizabeth born politician held.
Firm and decided as a patriot,
Zealous and faithful as a friend to the public,
He loved his country,
And adhered to her cause
In the darkest hours of her struggles
Against oppression.
Clark had such a belief in the colonies being capable of creating a nation of their own, without bowing to the tyranny of any King, that even when two of his sons, both serving in an artillery regiment during the Revolution, were imprisoned and tortured by the British, and he was a member of Congress, he declined to use his influence to give them any priority over any other imprisoned soldier. Both sons survived their imprisonment.
Born in 1726 in Elizabeth in a portion that is now Roselle, Clark was born on his father’s farm and was the only child of Hannah Winans Clark and Thomas Clark. Frail and with poor health in his childhood, he received a decent but minimal education and showed a great aptitude for math and law.
Though he never was certified as an attorney, Clark used his talent and excellent knowledge of the law to represent others without pay. At other times in his life he was a farmer, surveyor and politician and is recognized as much in many ways for his political actions after the signing of the Declaration than that historic act itself.
Clark, like his father, was heavily involved in politics all his life. He was a clerk in the colonial legislature and a sheriff in Essex County under the British Crown. He was a member of the New Jersey Council of Safety during the Revolution. He served in the Continental Congress and opposed the Constitution until the Bill of Rights was added.
It was in 1774 when Clark first got involved with the patriotic cause and was named a member of New Jersey’s Provincial Congress. With the First Continental Congress opposed to a war with England to gain independence, Clark was named, along with the four other New Jersey signers, to the Second Continental Congress with the directive to strive for and authorize Independence for the colonies.
As soon as Congress voted in July 1776 for the Declaration, Clark sent a copy of the document to New Jersey Militia’s General William Livingston, with a note directing the Declaration be published in all the colonies and armies, and also “which I make no doubt you will publish in your brigade.”
The ongoing challenges to his health did not deter Clark from remaining in the Congress and the New Jersey Legislature throughout the war, this in spite of the battles that were being waged near his home and family in Union County and concern over his sons imprisonment.
When the war ended in 1783, Clark returned to his home and served three years in the state legislature, and in 1786 he represented New Jersey at the Annapolis Convention.
The patriot lost a bid to serve in the Senate in 1788 but was elected as a member of the house of Representatives serving from 1791 and 1794. He authored the bill for the manumission of slaves, despite the fact he had three slaves but did not release them until the law was passed.
Although opposed to the Constitution without rigid amendments he felt necessary, Clark’s ill health prevented his attendance at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
However, once the Bill of Rights was included, the patriot approved the Constitution, though ill health prevented his being present for the signing. Only six legislators, including Benjamin Franklin, Roger Wilson and Robert Morris, signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Clark remained active in politics, although he lost a bid for Senate in 1788. He was then elected to the House of Representatives and served from 1791 to 1794 .
On Sept. 15, 1794, the signer of the Declaration of Independence suffered sunstroke while at his birthplace, where he had spent his entire life other than his service to the country. He died within a few hours at the age of 68, leaving his wife, Sarah Hetfield and ten children. Two months later, Nov. 15, 1794, Jonathan Witherspoon became the last of the five New Jersey signers to pass away.
Abraham Clark is buried in Rahway Cemetery. Abraham Clark High School in Roselle, and Clark Township established in 1864, are both named in his honor.
Other Articles on New Jersey Signers of the Declaration of Independence
Separation It isn’t an affair of church and state, but rather a nice cooperative effort and preservation of local history between the Highlands Historical Society and Our Lady of Perpetual Help School.
Historical Society president Sheila Weinstock was looking for a safe and secure place to keep all the memorabilia and records the Society has been collecting for several years. While the artifacts have always been under careful care during the years, the number of items collected has created the need for more space.
A society member who is also a member of the OLPH St Agnes parish noted the parochial school has been closed to regular classes for several years, but is maintained and used for several other reasons. At the suggestion there might be a classroom available for storage, Weinstein approached the parish with the idea.
The pastor, the Rev. Jarlath Quinn, was happy to be able to accommodate the local historical society and the two discussed the needs of the Society.
Weinstein said the result is the Society can now house all its memorabilia in a “Historical Society Room” at the school, keeping it secure let easy to access whenever it is needed.. The Society can also house items it needs for special events.
In gratitude for the parish supplying the secure room, the Society is making a monthly donation to the parish church.
“This has been a wonderful opportunity for us,” the Society president said, ,” we are sure our photos, papers, and everything we have saved are safe, convenient for when we need them, and gives us the opportu9nity to ensure all our items are preserved.”
Anyone having any memorabilia or photographs from Highlands they wish to donate to the Highlands Historical Society can contact Weinstein at HistoricalHighlands@gmail.com
St Pat’s Day The good nature, smiles, music and camaraderie of the Irish was loud and clear at this week’s meeting of the Atlantic Highlands Mayor and Council, falling on St. Patrick’s Day.
In addition to Council president Brian Dougherty proclaiming March Irish American celebration month, and the mayor and members of council leading a rousing 16 stanza version of “The Rattlin’ Bog,” with Borough attorney Peg Schaeffer wearing green, borough administrator Rob Ferragina also wanted the mayor to know it was also the 164th anniversary of Italian Unification day.
Each year, Italy celebrates March 17 as the day Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy, Kind of Sardinia and Piedmont, became the first King of Italy.
However, it was a time when the unification was not yet completed: Veneto, Trento and Trieste were still under the Hapsburg Empire, and Lazio was governed by the Pope, who did recognize the Italian state.
There were 23 million inhabitants on the Italian peninsula at the time, but fewer than two million spoke Italian and a Sicilian and a Piedmontese could not understand each other’s language. Approximately 75 per cent of the residents could neither read nor write.
National identity continued into the 20th century primarily when the Italian sense of belonging was consolidated even further after World War II, and the news media kept the public informed of the excellence Italians brought to the worlds of sports, culinary pride, music, the arts, education, science, technology and so much more.
Even the Irish proclaim the excellence of the Italians on a daily basis!
St Pat’s St Pat’s St Pat’s St Pat’s St Pat’s St Pat’s St Pat’s St Pat’s
When you have a teacher as talented, enthused, dedicated and proud as Jessica Merrigan, you can begin to understand how talented, educated, dedicated and passionate students at Henry Hudson Regional can achieve so much and reach goals they never realized they could reach.
That is the case this year as freshman student Evelynn Knox of Atlantic Highlands competed and represented the school and the region in the state competition of the nation-wide Poetry out Loud contest.
Evelynn Knox
The English teacher, Jessica Merrigan is proud of Evelynn’s accomplishments and knows what it means to a teenager to advance to the state level. After all, this isn’t the first time it has happened under her tutelage at Henry Hudson. In 2012 and 2013, student Lydia Smith also won the regional competition and moved on to the state level. In 2013, she became State Champion and then represented Henry Hudson and the Garden State at the 2014 national competition in Washington DC.
Knox competed at the State Level as the regional winner when the competition was held at the Count Basie theater in Red Bank earlier this month. Although not placing first in the competition, the freshman drew praise and congratulations for Henry Hudson students and faculty alike for competing against students through 12th year of high school.
Merrigan, who is also the SEL facilitator, Yoga teacher, advisor to the Student Council and Journalism Club as well as the Poetry Out Loud advisor, has been at Henry Hudson since first being interviewed in 2013.
English teacher, Jessica Merrigan with Freshman student Evelynn Knox
Among the talents she brought with her when becoming the Poetry Out Loud representative for Henry Hudson was the idea for developing the program and integrating it through the English Department. Admittedly she said it was trial and error in the beginning, and the program took a difficult hit during the Covid years.
But still, the teacher said, “Poetry Out Loud is a magical representation of how writing and speaking words mirror the human experience.” There is so much to the entire program, she eagerly points out, explaining that teaching students to select and analyze poetry helps them “not only to understand themes and poetic techniques, but it also allows young minds to explore the unknown, find themselves, and feel heard.”
The program works by teaching students how to speak publicly through the art of recitation. It begins in the English classroom, where students select and analyze a poem of their choice from the Poetry Out Loud Anthology, then advances to a school-wide school competition, when students compete with their peers for the title of first place.
Every aspect of the program is exciting for both her students and herself, Merrigan explained. But achieving success beyond the regional level has already resulted in a deeper appreciation she has for the program itself and all it has to offer.
“It is incredibly life changing,” she explains with enthusiasm, especially when competing beyond the school, “for both our student poet and myself. We celebrate a shared love for the arts with teachers, students, and families from around the country. Poetry Out Loud is a program that I adore.”
For the teacher, working with students like Evelynn as they make their final preparation for the next rated competition, is a particularly exciting and happy time.
So what is it about the Poetry Out Loud program that keeps a very busy teacher so enthusiastic and eager to work individually with each of her students? “The magic of the program stems from all the storytelling and interpretations that take place,” she said.
Then, my way of example she explained that after rehearsing several weeks with Evelynn this year, “we came to a newfound interpretation of one of her poems for the State Competition. The evolution of thoughts and the connections that we all make with poems is really quite blissful.”
Coaching is personal to each student, Merrigan continued, “as I genuinely value my students and their opinions. I also LOVE watching and interpreting the recitations, looking for all the things we all hope for, the purpose of life!”
Nor are they the only benefits of teaching this program. The educator noted that, in spite of the competition it requires, the program also “unites students. These students want to understand the meaning of their selected poems, they want to know what the poet was thinking, and they want to bring the poem to life for others to acknowledge, interpret, and fall in love with. It’s never the same experience.”
Looking back in response to a question on whether her own enthusiasm for the Poetry out Loud program is because she was shy or reluctant to speak publicly as teenager herself, Ms. Merrigan explained “ I would say everyone at some point has a fear of speaking in public.
Stepping more into that role did begin back in high school for herself. She attended Jackson Memorial High School, at a time when it was a student body of more than 3,000 teens. “In my experience, it was the theater that helped me to find myself and my voice.”
Which is also why the theater is another very sacred space to this teacher. “ From various theatrical performances and leading the Drama Club, I started stepping into a voice of my own. That voice grew with leadership roles I have had over the years through college experience and part-time jobs.”
There are even more positive results of all of that experience, she continued, because as a teacher, “ I learned very quickly that my voice had to be bold, confident and established; therefore, I tried to limit any hesitations I felt and just roll with it.”
Before coming on staff at Henry Hudson, Merrigan was employed in Somerset at Central Jersey College Prep, and believes that is where the love of sharing poetry with her students began.
“I realized how much students needed an outlet for themselves, she said, “ and poetry naturally spoke to them, both reading the works of others and writing the poems themselves.” She also believes that it was her work with poetry which inspired the invitation for her to be full-time at Hudson. “So the journey through this facet, like the POL Program, is constantly evolving. English was always her favorite subject in high school especially in the upper grades because that is where she found the significance of immersing herself in literature. “Furthermore, “ she concluded, “ my love for the theater was also present in every ELA class I took and continues to be present in the ELA classes I currently teach.”
Her teaching obligations are massive at Henry Hudson. This year she is teaching English III, AP Language & Composition, AP Literature & Composition, Public Speaking and Creative Writing.”
She accomplishes it all with an educational and experienced background that includes both an undergraduate degree in English and a master’s from Quinnipiac University); an MDEd in Social Emotional Learning, Mindfulness and Yoga she learned at Woolf University, and she is currently working on a second master’s when she anticipates receiving in June. She is also certified as a Teacher of Students with Disabilities from Rutgers and holds Certifications in AP Lit, AP Lang, ESL, Yoga, and Social Emotional Learning.
But for now, Educator Jessica Merrigan is continuing to enjoy every aspect of teaching her students at Henry Hudson Regional,, especially her very successful Poetry Out Loud Program and each of her students who works so hard and achieves so much.
Her husband has admirably gone down in history as the first signer of the Declaration of Independence as a representative of the New Jersey delegation, but his wife, Annis Boudinot Stockton, can well claim a seat in American and Literary history as well. The daughter of the owner of a copper company, she was one of the first female poets in the 13 colonies and published her first poem when she was only 16 years old.
She also was a staunch patriot, secreting important papers about the Whig Society when the British ransacked Morven, the family home, and later raising money for the Continental Army
Born in what is now Darby, Pennsylvania in 1736, Annis was able to secure an excellent education because of her father’s social position due to being a company owner as well as postmaster in Princeton.
Annis was 21 years old when she married Richard Stockton, the son of the founder of the College of New Jersey, now known as Princeton.
Throughout her life, she authored poems, including several to and about George Washington, a patriot she admired greatly. However, very few of her poems were published during her lifetime, since she was a woman, and little attention was paid to publishing women’s writings at the time.
The Stockton children, four daughters and two sons. were between 3 and 17 years of age when the British took over Morven, the Stockton home in Princeton, and General Cornwallis used it as his headquarters when the British launched their assault on New Jersey.
Before they arrested and imprisoned Stockton, he was able to have Annis and the children leave the house for safety. She, however, returned and managed to bury family documents and family silver, including important papers relating to the American Whig Society. Annis and Richard’s son, Richard, though only 12, and attending college across the road from Morven, remained behind with a servant and guarded the house.
After her husband died of cancer and debilitating health brought on by the torture he endured from the British during his five weeks in prison, Annis remained at Morven and continued to raise money for the Continental Army.
She became a frequent correspondent with Washington and drafted several poems which described the bravery of the revolutionary army. She continued her correspondence with Washington after he became President and he and his wife Matha were frequent visitors to Morven and the Princeton area.
After Stockton died in 1780, his wife remained at Morven until 1795 when she handed the property over to Richard, her oldest son. Morven continued in the Stockton family until 1945 when it was sold to Governor Walter Edge with the provision it be transferred to the state, which he did two years later. Morven became the first executive mansion for the Governor and is now a museum with historic gardens and recognized as the most historic home in New Jersey.
Annis Boudinot Stockton is the only woman ever admitted to the American Whig Society thanks to her safekeeping of the Whig Society documents during the Revolution which protected the identities of the Society members from the British.
The poetess, patriot and widow died February 6, 1801, in Fieldsboro in Burlington County. She is believed to be buried at White Hill Mansion there, a mansion listed on the New Jersey Register of historic places.
A pom Annis Boudinot Stockon wrote to George Washington, with a reference to his wife and friend, Martha, known to her friends as Amanda
Jesus thy Servant is resign’d
To thy unering will;
Oh; may my heart be more inclin’d
Thy precepts to fulfill.
Do with me what thou thinkest best,
Conform my soul to thee,
Stamp thy dear image on my breast
And ne’er depart from me
For in thy blissful smiles I live —
More sweet than lifes thy love,
And in thy favour is Contain’d
The heaven I hope above.
Thou art my souls honour and wealth
Her bliss and friendship too,
The source of all her peace and health
And every joy in view.
Then lead me thro the giddy path
Of youths deceitful road,
Nor leave me to the tempters wrath
My Saviour and my God
And at the last and gloomy hour
When death my flesh invades,
Oh! let thy staff thy crook thy power
Support me through the shades.
Then with thy presence gild the gloom
Of that tremendous vale
O! guide the wandering exile home
Nor let my foes prevail.
But let thy spirit whisper peace,
And shew my sins forgiven;
Make ev’ry doubt and sorrow cease,
And antedate my heaven
Annis Boudinot Stockton Annis Boudinot Stockton Annis Boudinot Stockton Annis Boudinot Stockton Annis Boudinot Stockton Annis Boudinot Stockton Annis Boudinot Stockton
