Group Urges Unity Among Cultures

By Bob Vosseller OCEAN COUNTY

– Just say “hello.” It seems simple enough.

It is part of the Ocean County Human Relations Commission’s suggestion to help bring unity within a very diverse county. As part of their overall goal, members meet monthly either virtually or in person to discuss what positive change they can work toward.

(Unity - See Page 4) aid to districts in Ocean County that are seeing fewer students. That money is being redirected to districts with growing enrollment. Some local districts got a modest increase such as Berkeley (+$326,229), Central Regional (+$250,949), Lakehurst (+$207,948), Manchester (+$270,031) and Southern Regional (+$367,264). The only Ocean County districts that got a significant increase was Barnegat

(School - See Page 5)

Former Fire Chiefs Honored At Memorial Exhibit

─Photo courtesy NJ Fire Museum

By Bob Vosseller OCEAN COUNTY –Former Ridgeway Fire Chief

Frank Copeland

of Manchester, and former Manitou Park

The accomplishments of former Fire Chief Garland “Griff” Griffin of Manitou Park were noted at an exhibit at the New Jersey Fire Museum & Fallen Firefighter Memorial Exhibit in Allentown. Chief Garland “Griff” Griffin of Berkeley were part of an exhibit honoring Black fire chiefs at the New (Chiefs - See Page 5)

DIRECT CREMATION $1995

Includes: arrangement conference, removal from place of death, alternative container Batesville ccbmdfc, transfer to crematory, crematory fee

“We are dedicated to exceeding expectations and delivering a standard of service that is 100% guaranteed.”

Unity: Continued From Page 1

“What we are working towards is the elimination of violence and racism and we are working with people developing programs that break the silence people have and working towards a dialogue. This committee is through the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office,” Commission Chair Reisa Sweet said.

“What we are focusing on is the elimination of violence because we are experiencing a time of so much division,” Sweet said noting a rise in anti-Semitism incidents in Ocean County as well as incidents of hate crimes throughout the state.

“The Prosecutor (Bradley Billhimer) has been very supportive and it is a program where we try to get everyone to really listen to each other and to talk about issues,” she added.

Sweet noted that the Commission has a fine example with one of its members who served as an inspiration, Reverend William Simmons, the assistant pastor at the Sixth Street Baptist Church in Lakewood.

Simmons has his own mission which is simply to get everyone to say hello to one another. “We have to do what no one else is doing, make a difference in your community and in your state. People on this Earth are living a fast lifestyle to match our fast-paced activities in today’s world. It’s to the point where people can’t take a few seconds out of their time to acknowledge another person.”

He added, “many people don’t understand that saying ‘hello’ can make someone’s day. A small or simple greeting. It’s a simple principle that more people need to take part in. Going out of your way and not saying something to a person should make you feel uncomfortable. Is that the lifestyle or person you want to be? I don’t think so.

“People crave and need attention, and by offering up the simplest greeting by saying ‘hello,’ it could impact a great day for someone and you wouldn’t even know it. It feels good to make others feel like they are important,” the Reverend added. His observation grew to a full-fledged campaign of the Commission which resulted in the Prosecutor’s Office getting 250 hats made with the directive “Say Hello” printed on their front.

Billhimer said, “saying ‘hello’ is the jump point of this and I think it is the beauty of this program. You start off a conversation by saying ‘hello.’ So much of what we do here in this office is trying to break down stigmas. Breaking down stigmas with opioid abuse or bias crimes, I think if we can focus on what we can accomplish together and talk to someone one on one all that other stuff goes away. Just try to build relationships one on one, I try to do that every day.”

Reverend Simmons added, “hello is a powerful word, and it is important to show others they are deserving of (Unity - See Page 19)

School: Continued From Page 1

(+$2.7m) and Lakewood (+$1.9m).

Others weren’t so fortunate. Ocean Gate – which only has one school – lost almost half of their aid (-$234,537). That hits harder for a smaller district. Similarly, Seaside Heights (-$215,059) and Ocean Township/Waretown (-$635,051) are also seeing disproportionately large cuts.

Beachwood, Pine Beach, High School South

Toms River officials were reeling when they saw that their aid was cut by $14,421,851. The aid for the upcoming

Chiefs: Continued From Page 1

Jersey Fire Museum & Fallen Firefighter Memorial.

Copeland, along with being a life member and fire chief of Ridgeway from 1978 to 1990, was also a District 7 forest fire warden.

He was drafted into the Army in 1963 serving active duty for two years and in the National Guard for 18 years. Copeland was employed by Toms River Chemical (Ciba Geigy Corp.) and is retired and living in the Carolinas.

Griffin, who died in 1994, served as Manitou fire chief from 1959 to 1976. He was also a talented artist. He created school year will be $30,978,802. This is about a 33% cut.

“At the moment we are trying to quantify the irreversible damage these cuts will do to our kids in our beloved school community,” Superintendent Michael Citta said. “Our initial calculation had a worst-case scenario of $2.8 million in aid reduction which, in our planning, was impossible to endure and move forward. So you can imagine our reaction …when we learned of the $14.4 million cut, which was, essentially, ‘This must be a mistake.’ Rest assured, however, that no stone will be left unturned as we work to resolve what is quite honestly a monumentally unrealistic reduction. This isn’t a fiscal cliff; this is a fiscal many hand-painted signs and did the lettering on many fire trucks in the area.

According to the website of the Manitou Park Volunteer Fire Company, “with only seven firefighters remaining in 1967, township officials suggested Chief Griffin disband the fire company and the township would use the firehouse to store road department equipment.”

Instead of giving in to the township, Chief Griffin went out to recruit new members anywhere they could be found.

“A man doesn’t care what color a fireman is when his house is burning” was the slogan Griffin used to recruit new members.

The membership grew as men were joining from the surrounding areas. This apocalypse.”

According to district figures, if the 2023-2024 aid stays this bad, the school system would have lost approximately $96 million since the new funding formula was instituted. The last year of the formula is the 2024-2025 school year, and officials are expecting a total loss of about $139 million.

Several districts who have been impacted by the school funding formula over the past few years have sued the state in order to get them to reveal the calculations on how the formula works. Trenton has said that this is proprietary information. Toms River Schools Business Administrator William Doering confirmed that the state has refused to proved to be the turning point in the history of the Manitou Park Volunteer Fire Company. At a time where most fire companies were resisting state directives to integrate, blacks and whites were working together fighting fires for the Fire Company.

The New Jersey Fire Museum & Fallen Firefighter Memorial Museum is located at 4 Polhemustown Road in Allentown.

It opened this new exhibit in honor of Black History Month recognizing the accomplishments and honoring the service of several Black fire chiefs throughout New Jersey.

Dave W. Horsnall, the president of the New Jersey Fire Museum & Fallen Firefighters Memorial said, “we are hopeful this will be just the start as we provide the formula as of March 3. In previous Board of Education meetings, he has said that it is difficult to craft a budget without knowing what the aid is going to be – or even what the aid is going to be based on. intend to build and grow this exhibit so that it may become an example of the museum’s commitment and dedication to honor all those that wear the uniform and serve as the chief of their department.”

Toms River wasn’t alone in the cuts but they are the worst in the county. The county as a whole lost $26,052,901 from last year, so more than half of the entire county’s loss is from one district.

Others that were hit hard were Brick (-$2.5m), Jackson (-$6.3m), Lacey (-$3.9m), and Stafford (-2.3m).

The governor has suggested allotting $20 million to be divided among districts that are facing severe financial impact.

Manchester Councilman Joseph Hankins, also a firefighter, attended the event and stated, “I had a great time at the New Jersey Fire Museum. Many chiefs, departments, and most importantly family came together to recognize some of the Black fire chiefs of New Jersey exhibit.”

There Hankins met State Trooper RJ Frank Copeland, the grandson of the former Ridgeway Fire Chief who is currently living out of state and could not be present at the exhibit.

April 4th, 2023 4-6pm

Park: Continued From Page 1 they have to go through the process again.

“All of our youth leagues have expanded, especially because of the pandemic,” he said. The grant funding would also improve drainage.

The township is also applying for a $125,000 grant from the State Department of Community Affairs to create a walking and biking path at Veterans Park.

Amato said that between the summer concerts and other events, about 100,000 people go through that park a year.

They recently installed pickleball courts and a pump track. The concession stand and restroom facility is being finished. In related news, there are two dog parks that have been in development for some time now.

One dog park is planned for .9 acres of vacant land on Butler Boulevard. It would also include a 24-spot parking lot.

Councilman James Byrnes said that the www.TallwoodsCareCenter.com

DEP required an archaeological study of that site to make sure it was clean. This was a thorn in his side because they had already cleaned up this previous sewer plant land and the DEP had already approved it.

The town will also be adding a dog park to Whispering Pines Park.

At a recent Township Council meeting, resident Bob Darnley asked about the Whispering Pines dog park, since it’s going to be about 200 feet from his property. He was worried about flies, contamination of the soil, and the smell in the summer.

“We can put up a stockade fence,” Amato said. He noted that people already walk their dogs in that area; the dog park would make it official and would limit the location. Township staff would be there every day to clean up.

“We think it will be a better situation than what’s there now,” he said.

“Believe me, we’re good neighbors,” Byrnes said.

Darnley then turned to his wife and asked if this means he can get a dog now.