Roar on the River

By

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May 7, 2024

js65 — Jersey Speed Skiff JS-65 Egg Beater Owner/driver Connie Cottrell

Never Seen a Jersey Speed Skiff? DON’T MISS Roar on the River

The Highlands Business Partnership, Offshore Powerboat Association and Jersey Shore Boat Racing join together to present Roar on the River from May 17 to 19.

Boats for the Roar on the River will arrive Friday, May 17 and kick off a Boaters Pre-Race Party at the Seafarer, 1 Atlantic St., Highlands from 7 to 9PM. Additional activities are also available at Roar on the River Sponsor establishments; One Willow, Sandbox @ Seastreak and Off the Hook.

Saturday, May 18, from 11AM to 4PM, the “Pit” at the Seastreak Overflow Lot, 348 Shore Drive (formerly Doris & Ed’s Restaurant), will be open to the public, where Roar on the River race fans can get autographs and photos with the drivers and view the boats.

Festivities continue with a Boat Parade along Bay Avenue at 5:00PM, starting at Huddy Park, down Bay Avenue. The parade will turn at the circle at Bahrs Landing Restaurant and head back down Bay Avenue to their designated establishment or return to the “Pit”.

The Pit will not be open to the public on Saturday night. Visitors can meet the racers and view their boats at Proving Ground, Seafarer, Sandbox @ Seastreak, Off the Hook, Chilangos and Franny’s Pizzeria.

The pre-race party will be at Chilangos at 8pm.

Sunday, May 19, Raceday begins with the JSBR race from 10am to1 pm and will be viewable from Off the Hook, Proving Ground, and the HBP Raceday Party at Veterans Park.

Kickoff of the OPA Racing series takes place from 1 to5pm, viewable from One Willow St., Sandy Hook Bay Marina, Seafarer, 1 Atlantic Ave., Proving Ground, 56 Shrewsbury Ave., Off the Hook, 1 Navesink Ave. and at the HBP Raceday Party at Veterans Park with VIP seating available at One Willow, Sandy Hook Bay Marina, Seafarer, Proving Ground, and Sandbox at Seastreak for an additional fee. Tickets are limited and can be purchased in advance at highlandsnj.com.

“We are extremely excited, and proud, to be coming to Highlands. The OPA Racing series kicks off here in New Jersey, where OPA Racing was born.” said OPA Racing’s Sr Vice President Nick Smith. He continued “Racing in Highlands as a brand-new venue and racecourse is particularly exciting. We look forward to meeting a new fan base at the Jersey Shore.”

Connie Cottrell, former local female Jersey Speed Skiff driver and inaugural 1971 Highlands Regatta Race winner, who hails from Highlands, will be in attendance with her family. As President of the Jersey Flat Bottoms, a local Jersey Speed Skiff and Ski Racing Runabout Club, Connie was responsible for organizing the first APBA sanction Regatta for Highlands.

Connie’s original race winning Jersey Speed Skiff “The Egg Beater”, built by her late husband, Rob Cottrell, and now owned by their grandson, Rob Armstrong will be on display for those attending the HBP Raceday Party at Veterans Park on Sunday, May 19th.

JS-69 Bumps & Grinds
owner/driver Bob Franson

The Winner’s Circle will be at One Willow Restaurant, immediately following each race, with the winners of each race there to celebrate with their fans in Highlands. The Award Ceremony takes place at the Proving Ground at 7pm followed by a post-race party.

Tickets to VIP locations are available at highlandsnj.com. This event is sponsored by Offshore Power Boat Association, Jersey Shore Boat Racing, the Highlands Business Partnership, and its generous sponsors; Pacifico, the Official Beer Sponsor of Roar on the River, Surfside Iced Tea, Proving Ground, Seafarer/Marina on the Bay, Sandbox @Seastreak, Sandy Hook Bay Marina, One Willow, Off the Hook and Chilangos. For more information email hbpadmin@highlandsnj.com or call 732-291-4713

Sea Bright & Regionalization – Going Nowhere

By

Muriel J. Smith

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May 7, 2024

0

Sea Bright Seems to Be Going From the 2 Step to the 0 Step

The possibility of the promised Second Step for a vote to include Sea Bright and its approximate $2 million into the newly formed Henry Hudson regional School district sounded even more distant than ever heard at the regular and budget meeting of the regionalization board Monday evening.

It appears that Sea Bright joining the newly formed school district any time soon is a sinking ship.

At the meeting, board attorney Jonathan Busch made it clear that, in addition to his statements last month that he doubted the question of Sea Bright would be on the ballot in November, by state law it must be on a November rather than school or special election ballot to be decided at all. That would indicate in all probability the Sea Bright question could not be presented to the voters to decide until November of 2025. Inclusion of Sea Bright, if approved, would then not begin until 2026 at the earliest.

Busch did not indicate whether this was added information he had recently received, or that he simply did not include it last month when asked about a possible date for a vote by the three boroughs.

The new Pk-12 Board of Education unanimously approved its first budget for the new regionalized district, absent the $400,000 savings that had been previously touted should the three schools in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands form a single district.

Only a handful of local residents were present to hear district business administrator Janet Sherlock give a thorough and detailed explanation of the $24,146,688 budget which is to be financed in part by $18,567,411 in taxes split between the two towns. The budget is approximately $500,000 higher than last year’s figures for the three schools.

The total budget is offset by several grants and funding from the district’s reserve account, which is $89,175 higher than last year. An additional approximate $31,000 comes from Union Beach as tuition from the ten students from that district who attend the Hudson district among other sources.

The approved figures represent a decrease of one cent for Atlantic Highlands taxpayers because of increased property values in that borough, and a decrease of 13 cents for Highlands taxpayers for the same reason. Th equalized property value in Atlantic Highlands is $1,178,354,088 and in Highlands, $1,016,423,398, or 54 per cent for Atlantic Highlands and 46 per cent for Highlands.

Sherlock highlighted both capital and maintenance projects planned from reserves, including air conditioning and brick work at both Atlantic Highlands and Henry Hudson schools, and windows at the Highlands school. Maintenance projects for Henry Hudson include repairing flooring on offices and updating locker rooms, flooring and cameras in Highlands, and entrance framing and new doors in Atlantic Highlands.

Sherlock said 31 students in grades 9 through 12 opted out of Henry Hudson for one of the six Monmouth County Vocational Schools but did not have figures at the meeting of how many were from each town, or what percentage that represents of the overall high school population.

Attorney fees are not included in the budget, nor could board members give any estimate of the total that was paid in the past year for the new district.

In response to questions from Mark Fisher on the promised immediate $400,000 savings not evident, Administrator Tara Beams noted that since the regionalization law is so new, “there are a lot of unknowns but added that in the future “you’ll see more.” She pointed out that with regionalization there will be one less business administrator and one less bookkeeper than currently employed.

No one responded to Tracy Abby’s recommendation that if forming the regionalization has been as difficult and time consuming as Beams and Busch have indicated, including roadblocks they said they have had with the Department of Transportation and Social Security in addition to the Department of Education, it would make economic sense to retain a professional consultant to work through all the roadblocks.

Fisher asked the board to keep in mind that the Education Commissioner, in light of the fact the regionalization issue has been a focus for at last four years, that “we need to fix it.” He asked what it would take to make regionalization with another town work, and asked the board if there were things it could do to move forward to resolve what they have indicated are “lots of legal pieces.”

Fisher also asked if the board could consider bringing information to the next meeting on what this board could do in order to get the Sea Bright regionalization question moving once the Shore Regional and Oceanport challenges to Sea Bright’s inclusion in the new district are resolved, namely a vote to see if the electorate in the three towns want to include Sea Bright. “That would be awesome,” he said.

High Taxes = HIGH BUDGETS – Tell it to the Board

By

Muriel J. Smith

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May 5, 2024

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Two Options to Let the Board Know Your Thoughts

With the budget for the PreK-12 Henry Hudson Regional School district costing taxpayers in both Highlands and Atlantic Highlands more than half the total taxes they pay in their municipalities, or in short, it costs more to educate fewer than 800 children that it does to operate and maintain two towns, parents and taxpayers alike should attend Monday night’s regular meeting of the transitional Henry Hudson Board of Education to keep themselves updated on the budget for this year and to hear what, if any, steps or plans are underway to include Sea Bright, known at Regionalization “STEP 2” to share in the total costs at some time in the future.

If you can’t make the meeting, click HERE for the names and contact information for the Board Members and let them know how you feel about the taxes you pay

With the board under state mandate to have the new regionalization between Highlands and Atlantic Highlands completed and operational by July 1 the board will hold a public hearing at the 6 p.m. meeting on the 2024 – 2025 budget totaling $26,470,070, an increase of more than half-million dollars over the current budget. The amount to be raised by local taxation is $19,424,429 to be shared by taxpayers in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands Boroughs.

When residents of both boroughs voted to regionalize with just Highlands and Atlantic Highlands and without Sea Bright last September, board members and professionals said at the time that including consideration of Sea Bright’s estimated $2 million to offset taxes while adding fewer than 60 students to the enrollment would be considered “as soon as possible” as a “Step 2” in the overall plan.

Since then, Henry Hudson Board attorney Jonathan Busch, who has been retained by the new board for regionalization purposes and now attends every meeting of the transitional board, at first indicated the Sea Bright question could be on a ballot soon so voters in all three towns could agree. However, last month Busch said he does not believe the question can be settled in this November’s election, citing the appeals Shore Regional and Oceanport school districts have lodged with the state Department of Education.

The state Commissioner of Education has ruled that under the newly enacted regionalization, Sea Bright “could leave those two districts to become a member of the Henry Hudson PK-12 district”; Busch contends that the appeal of the Commissioner’s decision must be resolved before the transitional board can move forward to include Sea Bright.

Others in the public contend that both initiatives certainly should be worked together; starting-up the new PK-12 district by July, and moving forward with the many steps necessary to bring in Sea Bright’s students, and funding, into the new district as soon as possible. Voters would have to approve referendum questions in all three Boroughs to move forward with Sea Bright joining the new district. If even one of the three town votes not to have Sea Bright join the district, the Sea Bright students, and their current $4 million in funding, remains with Oceanport and Shore Regional schools.

So why wouldn’t this new Board let the voters decide as quickly as possible whether the Sea Bright will join the Henry Hudson district? Sooner is much better than later; every year delaying Sea Bright into the Hudson district means at least $2 million in potential funding is lost.

It was apparent to all present at the April board meeting of the transitional board that the eight of the nine members of that board present sat completely silent during the comments made by the public regarding getting “STEP 2” moving forward as soon as possible. Nor did any board member, all appointed members who had previously been elected to boards by the residents of both Boroughs, show any favor publicly to an additional $2 million or more of new funding coming into the new district’s coffers’ . Board members also know including Sea Bright and the additional $2 million in the regional district would bring negligible, if any, impact to the existing class sizes in the three schools.

The budget as introduced at the April meeting, and being discussed Monday night, shows that educating students in the new preK-12 school district will cost taxpayers approximately $27,626 per student this year, one of the highest costs in Monmouth County and the state for districts of similar size. By comparison, it costs taxpayers approximately $17,843 per student in Oceanport, where the Henry Hudson School district superintendent pays her taxes, and $22,964 in Rumson Fair Haven, the nearest regional school to Henry Hudson. Only Shore Regional, at $32,901 shows a higher cost per student in the local area.

There are 761 students estimated to be educated at Henry Hudson for the next school year, with eight other parents opting to send their children to private schools, and five parents opting to send their children to other public schools including the Monmouth County Vocational Technical Schools. However, more recent records from the Monmouth County Vocational School District show seven students from Atlantic Highlands and four students from Highlands have been accepted into the VoTech schools in September.

There will be two opportunities for the public to be heard at Monday’s meeting, one the public hearing on the $26,470,000 total expenditures, of which $19,424,429 will be raised by taxes. The second opportunity will be at the end of the meeting when residents always have an opportunity to speak on any school matters. However there is always the possibility of the Board attorney shutting down any questions and comments that promote, or even reference “STEP 2”.

The last I looked, free speech is still the First Right of all US citizens.

Residents can view the full proposed school budget on the Henry Hudson Regional Board of Education site, or by clicking HERE.

Scudder Preserve Transferred to MCF

By

Muriel J. Smith

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May 3, 2024

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New Jersey Audubon announced the transfer of the 90-acre Scudder Preserve in Middletown to Monmouth Conservation Foundation (MCF), a nonprofit land trust focused on preserving open space throughout Monmouth County. ),

New Jersey Audubon is a private, not-for-profit, membership organization founded in 1897 with a focus on connecting people with nature and stewarding nature for future generations throughout New Jersey,

The Scudder Preserve consists of 90 acres of preserved habitat originally owned by Richard and Elizabeth Scudder. In 2007 Mr.Scudder donated around 60 acres to NJA, and in 2012 the remaining 30 acres and homestead were gifted to the organization in his will.

The preserve sits on both sides of Browns Dock Road with nature trails winding their way through wooded, rolling hills, grasslands, streams, and a pond along the Scudder homestead.

“Our two organizations have taken a partnership approach in working together to make the transfer a success while keeping the environmental vision of the Scudder family intact and this beautiful space open to the Monmouth County community. This shift of ownership makes the most sense for both our organizations, allowing us to focus on our respective missions and geographies, while ensuring open space protection,” said Alex Ireland, president and CEO, NJ Audubon.

MCF is no stranger to the Scudder Preserve. As the nonprofit originally responsible for holding the conservation easements on the site, the Foundation has conducted annual monitoring visits and stayed in close communication with NJA as the landowner.

As part of its mission to acquire and preserve open space and farmland and conserve natural habitats throughout Monmouth County in support of outdoor recreation, agriculture, clean water, and wildlife for long-term sustainability, MCF stewards 1,100 acres of conserved lands through 46 easements across the county.

The Scudder Preserve will remain permanently preserved under the current conservation easements, but stewardship of the easements will be co-held by MCF’s peer organization, the D&R Greenway Land Trust based in Princeton and MCF. Joining with another accredited land trust assures that the easement will continue and, in fact, be enhanced with further protections. Legally, the same organization cannot take title to the land while continuing to hold the easement(s) without having the interests merge and extinguish.

“D&R Greenway was happy to jump in to assist MCF with this permanent protection,” said Linda Mead, President and CEO. “This solution that brings together two sister land trusts and NJ Audubon is truly a partnership model that brings public benefit to everyone who lives in the region.”

“This collaboration enables MCF to solidify our organizational relevancy long into the future. In our 47 years, MCF has often acted behind the scenes to help preserve some of Monmouth’s most cherished parks, green spaces, and farms. Having our own preserve will allow us to engage with our community directly, model sustainable practices, and hopefully excite future generations to carry on our work to #KeepMonmouthGreen,” shared William Kastning, MCF’s Executive Director.

MCF has secured a $1 million donation from an anonymous donor in support of costs related to the Scudder Preserve improvement to the infrastructure, maintenance needs, as well as general operating expenses.

Founded in 1977, Monmouth Conservation Foundation (MCF) works to acquire and preserve open space and farmland and conserve natural habitats throughout Monmouth County in support of outdoor recreation, agriculture, clean water, and wildlife for long-term sustainability. An independent nonprofit organization that works with Monmouth County and its 53 municipalities, MCF’s vision is to lead conservation and education efforts to preserve and protect our natural environment, so all individuals and communities have access to and can benefit from open space and nature for generations to come. For more information, visit www.monmouthconservation.org

Scherfen is Wild About Atlantic Highlands

By

Muriel J. Smith

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May 2, 2024

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Marilyn Scherfen, co-founder with Elaine Egidio of Wild About Atlantic Highlands, gave a talk recently on native plants and their importance to the area as well as disseminating information on other upcoming events to help gardens, wildlife and the environment in general at the Arts Gallery on First Avenue.

More than two dozen area residents attended the afternoon event and received printed information as well as native seed packets and written guides on landscaping with native plants in the Monmouth and Ocean county area.

Scherfen explained that that plants are those which have adapted and evolved over thousands of years to conditions in a particular region as well as to other plants and animals in that same area. This makes native plants thrive in both the climate and soil of a specific area, as well as build up natural defenses to plant diseases, harmful insects and other pests.

The environmentalist and speaker noted how native plants also save time and money because they require less water and fertilizer than plants newly introduced to an area, as well as provide food, shelter and nesting sites for native wildlife. Because native plant roots also hold soil in place and increase the infiltration of rainwater into the ground, they also improve water quality by reducing the need for fertilizers and pesticides, she said.

Included in the information she made available, Scherfen cited such shrubs and trees as American Holly and Beach Plum, as well as perennials like Black-Eye Susans, and Columbine as native to this area.

The gardener also gave tips on starting a garden for wildlife and continued to invite all to have their own gardens, large or small certified as National Wildlife Federation Wildlife Habitat sites. Applications for that certification are available at nwr.org/garden.

Scherfen noted a Blooms & Brews celebration will be held May 10 from 6pm to 8 p.m. at the Chubby Pickle, 23 Bay Ave, Highlands. Registration is necessary for the $40 event which will feature terrarium planting and a succulent creation station.

Dominic “Bud” Vitollo

By

Muriel J. Smith

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May 2, 2024

0

He sings, he laughs, he’s had a fascinating life enjoying his children, half dozen grandchildren and two great grandchildren. And Vitollo, better known as Bud, has a host of fascinating and engaging stories from every phase of his life to remember as he looks back on more than 90 years. Best of all, he has a great ability to recall and tell the exciting sagas in great detail.

The nonagenarian who lives in the New Monmouth section of Middletown, was born in East Orange and raised in Newark. But in 1954, when he and his wife visited friends in Monmouth County, they fell in love with the area, and bought their home here in spite of his having to commute to Harrison daily for his job. There’s no doubt he loves the house and all its memories…he is still living there! “Ad communing wasn’t bad at all,” he recalls, “I just took the train from Middletown and was there.”

Bud, who has many friends in the Chorus of the Atlantic Red Bank Barbershop Quartet and has attended so many of their immensely popular events, enjoys singing as well saying “I think I’m a baritone!” but great with a tune regardless.

Retired from a life of creating the molds for the intricate patterns for heavy metal work such as sewer covers and other heavy materials poured and made in the molds, Bud still enjoys some hearty laughter when reminded of the intricacy and exactness of the work he did so successfully.

It goes back to his grammar school days in the late 1930s and early 1940s when Mr. Schaffer was a teacher, he’ll never forget.

“After seeing my work in class in arithmetic and figuring out things, using a ruler and such,” Bud laughs, “he told me I couldn’t even draw a straight line! And maybe I couldn’t then!”, continues, along with another great burst of laughter, “but I could do it in the end and was really good” at that intricate work at his job in Harrison creating the molds with precision and perfection.

His job came only after graduation from high school in 1946 and his draft the month before into the US Army at the closure of World War II. He completed his basic training in Mississippi and was eventually transferred to Roswell, New Mexico, after completing six months of training to be a radio operator in the army. “There were no letters on the keys,” he chuckles, “I just had to know them!”

It was 1947 when he was transferred to Roswell New Mexico, where, while he didn’t know it at the time, he was there for a piece of history that is still filled with mystery, intrigue and US Army intelligence silence.

Bud was at the Rosell army base in 1947 when suddenly the entire base was ordered into shutdown. There were unknown reasons for this, he recalls, and it wasn’t overly exciting.

During the three-day lockdown, however, there were a few things the young GI noticed. Not only was General Curtis LeMay on base, but so were “General Eisenhower and General MacArthur and more top officers of all kinds then you could count.” There was a lot of activity going on then” Still, with the base clothed in secrecy, the soldiers had no idea what was going on, or how long it would last.

It was only months later when the public learned of Project Mogul, a top secret project by the US Army Air Forces involving microphones flown on high-altitude balloons. Their primary purpose was for long-distance detection of sound waves generated by Soviet atomic bomb tests.

However, when one of the ballons launched from the base crashed in the desert and was brought to the army base by those thinking it was a weather balloon. The military covered up the true nature of the balloon and the ever-growing conspiracy theories among UFO enthusiasts flooded the nation. Throughout the year, the military was continued to assert it was a weather balloon and not a UFO as so many thought, nor any studies of sound waves to tract enemy bomb tests.

But the three-day shutdown of the massive base is something a young GI will never forget.

Bud also remembers more exciting times in the Army when he was on duty in the firehouse when a B29 took off, smoke was detected coming out from the engines, and a wheel had spun off, landing the bomber in a ditch with fuel spilling throughout the area and fire rapidly spreading.. The plane’s complement of both enlisted and primarily army officers were out of the plane and on top of the cabin because of the pending fire.

Bud as the driver, with an assistant in the truck with him, drove into the wreckage to save the men. The truck was scorched, the men were all saved, and Bud was put up for the Silver Star. That he did not receive, because his bravery took place in a non-battle or war situation. However, he did receive a lifesaving medal and numerous commendations for his heroism.

Bud served in the Army until October of 1947, joining the Ari Force Reserve and then being recalled to serve in Korea,

Today, he is a 90-something gentleman and veteran who served in two wars, spent a lifetime helping others and can recall so many of the exciting and even mundane years of his long and happy life..

Read About Some Other Great Veterans HERE

Killing the Witches

By

Muriel J. Smith

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May 2, 2024

0

Very definitely the best book I’ve read in a long time is Killing the Witches by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard.

Whether you liked O’Reilly in his Fox News days or not, this book will hold your attention every page of the way both for its quick action as well as its very thorough research and great presentation. If Mr. Dugard is the researcher for O’Reilly’s book, he’s done an outstanding job. If they’ve written it together, they’re masterful.

The author have written a series of “Killing “ books, including Killing Reagan, Killing Kennedy, Killing the Mob and Killing the Killers, and I’m eager to start on another in the series, most likely Killing the Mob, the story of Lincoln’s last day.

But top of the list is Killing the Witches, the story of Salem, Massachusetts, how religion ad tradition were really behind the Massachusetts’ town’s frightening years in the late 1600s when women who simply acted strange were suspected and hunted down as witches, women who were demonic possessed and should be burned at the stake.

While the book is sensational in tracking down the hysteria of the day and how the very strange affliction of two young girls caused a terror in Salem, it gets even better when it tracks the impact of those few years in later centuries, influencing such greats as Jefferson, Washington and Adams, as well as the Constitution itself.

The book shows how religion helped shape the very birth of the United States and how witch hunts are still the subject of social media. Think Roseann Barr claiming witch hunters destroyed her career, or how JK Rowling took so much heat for promoting traditional and real gender. Think of how teachers and police are charged with crimes that destroy their lives, are highly publicized and ruin their futures, only to be found innocent in the end…a modern day witch hunt.

Killing the Witches is spellbinding,

Other Book Reviews HERE

Brew by the Bay

By

Muriel J. Smith

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May 1, 2024

0

The Highlands Business Partnership’s 6th Annual Brew by the Bay will take place Saturday, May 11 with a rain date on the next day, May 12 from noon to 5:00 PM at the Seafarer, 1 Atlantic St.

The festival features craft beers from New Jersey for beer lovers to sample.

Sample local craft beers on the pier at this picturesque location overlooking the NY City skyline and Sandy Hook. Local breweries participating in this years Brew by the Bay include Artis Brewery, Birdsmouth Beer, Carton Brewing, Grin Brewing, Jersey Cyclone Brewing Co., Last Wave Brewing Co., Ross Brewing Co., Twin Lights Brewing, Yale Terrace Brewery and Wild Air Beerworks.

General admission tickets for the event are $40 and include seven 4-ounce samples and one pint of the craft beer of your choice. Additional tasting can be purchased at the event for $3. Enjoy local craft beer on the scenic waterfront, with cozy fire pits on the beach and delicious cuisine by Cuts & Catch for an additional fee.

The Highlands Business Partnership is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Brew By the Bay is made possible with the generous support of our sponsors, which include Monmouth County Tourism, Montecalvo/Bayshore Family of Companies, Bahrs Landing, Off the Hook, Proving Ground, Seafarer, Valley Bank, Feed & Seed, Farmacie by the French Market, Dovetail Vintage Rentals, Hufnagel Tree Service, In the Garden, Sandbox at Seastreak Ferry, Bridge Marina, and WRAT, 95.9.

For more information on the Brew by the Bay or to purchase tickets, visit www.highlandsnj.com or call 732-291- 4713

Find More Local News HERE

Sisters of St. Francis; For 150 Years

By

Muriel J. Smith

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April 30, 2024

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In celebration of their 150^th anniversary in the United States,the Sisters of St. Francis invite the public to join them May 31, with Mass at 8:30 a.m., followed by a breakfast reception at Mary Mother of God Church, 19 Cherry Tree Farm Road, Middletown.

In 1874, women of courage, Mother Aloysia Lenders, and Sisters Veronica Conradi, Felicitas Dues, and Leonarda Hannappel crossed a threshold, leaving Germany to sail to America, arriving in New York on June 5^h, 1874.

After establishing foundations in Buffalo, NY and Columbus, OH, the Sisters of St. Francis were invited to teach at St. Agnes in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey in 1924, thus completing the continental expansion of the Congregation in the United States. By the 1950s, the Sisters would begin teaching at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Highlands as well as St. Mary’s in New Monmouth, and later at Mater Dei High School in Middleton.

In addition to teaching, they applied their gifts and talents to ministry in parishes, social work, and spiritual direction.

This year, the Sisters are celebrating their 150^th anniversary, “Crossing the Threshold – Then and Now!” with small gatherings across the United States. Little could Mother Magdalen Damen, the foundress, imagine that her small community would grow and expand beyond the borders of the Netherlands and Germany to far reaching lands. With her, the Sisters continue to trust that “It is God’s work” and “God will provide,” as they walk together into the future.

In order to adequately prepare, please contact Barbara Johnson, Sisters of St. Francis, at 716-754-2193 if you are able to attend.

On hand to greet guests will be Provincial First Assistant, Sister Nancy Zelma; Provincial Councilor, Sister Regina Snyder; Sisters Diane Bernbeck, Virginia Dehner, Joanne Fogarty, Patricia McMahon, Patricia Russo, Christella Ritchey, and associate Elaine Schuttinger.

Isaac Harrison Carman

By

Muriel J. Smith

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April 30, 2024

0

Although New Jersey is not credited with his Congressional Medal of Honor, Isaac Harrison Carman was born in Monmouth County, served honorably during the Civil War, and received the nation’s highest military honor for his bravery at Vicksburg, Mississippi.

A Corporal in Company A. 48^th Ohio Infantry, Carman’s family apparently moved to that state during his youth and he was sworn into the Army as an Ohioan, though born in Monmouth County, New Jersey November 17, 1841.

The soldier joined the Infantry in September 1861 and was promoted to corporal May 1, 1863. Twenty-one days later, he was serving the Union in the Battle of Vicksburg. He had already served in battles at Shiloh, Holly Springs, Corinth, Chickasaw Bluffs Arkansas. Fort Gibson and Champion Hills as well as a time of detached service aboard the Gunboat Chillicothe in early 1863.

The Battle of Vicksburg is considered a major turning point in the Civil War. Coming one day after the Union victory at Gettysburg, the battle split the Confederacy in half. When General Pemberton, who had rebuffed General U S Grant’s “unconditional surrender” terms at Fort Donelson, Tennessee earlier, finally accepted the surrender terms at Vicksburg with parole for his army, it was July 4, 1863. For that reason, the town of Vicksburg did not celebrate Independence Day for 81 years.

With the taking of Vicksburg, the Confederacy had no further means of getting supplies or communications across the Mississippi River.

Carman’s company was part of the assault on the fort, the second major assault on Vicksburg. He was serving as color guard during the battle on May 22, 1863 and had been severely wounded in the leg by a bayonet. However, he was determined, successfully, to prevent the capture of his colors to the Confederate forces.

Recovering from his wounds. Carman continued serving with the army and was captured at the Battle of Mansfield. He was held as a prisoner of war from April 8, 1864 until Nov. 3, 1864 when he was part of a prisoner exchange. He was mustered out of service in December. 1864 and returned to his home in Ohio.

Cpl. Carman died in Fayette County, Ohio, and is buried at Washington Cemetery, Washington Courthouses, Ohio. His name, through poor Army record keeping, has been spelled both Carman and Carmen.

His Medal of Honor Citation Reads:

Saved his regimental flag; also seized and threw a shell, with burning fuse, from among his comrades.

Veni Vidi Scripto

Veni Vidi Scripto

Veni Vidi Scripto

Veni Vidi Scripto

Roar on the River

Never Seen a Jersey Speed Skiff? DON’T MISS Roar on the River

Sea Bright & Regionalization – Going Nowhere

Sea Bright Seems to Be Going From the 2 Step to the 0 Step

High Taxes = HIGH BUDGETS – Tell it to the Board

Two Options to Let the Board Know Your Thoughts

Scudder Preserve Transferred to MCF

Scherfen is Wild About Atlantic Highlands

Dominic “Bud” Vitollo

Killing the Witches

Brew by the Bay

Sisters of St. Francis; For 150 Years

Isaac Harrison Carman

Veni Vidi Scripto

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