Burry’s Honor

Monmouth County Commissioner Lillian G. Burry was honored by the DAR Middletown Chapter at the annual Veterans Appreciation luncheon held Monday at the Holmdel Senior/Community Center on Crawfords Corner Rd.

Regent Michele Donnelly made the presentation of the Women in American History Award honoring Burry after Event Chair Terre Higgins-Daniele read pages of accomplishments the Commissioner has made since her first public service in Matawan more than half a century ago. The list included Burry’s time on both the Matawan and Colts Neck governing bodies as well as the County Commissioner post she holds now.

The Commissioner recently suffered an injury at home and was hospitalized and unable to attend. She requested a friend, Muriel J. Smith, a local author and journalist, and Commander Tracie Smith-Yeoman, US Navy (Retired), Senior Naval Science Instructor of the NJROTC program at the Marine Academy of Science and Technology, to accept the award on her behalf.

In accepting the award, Smith reiterated Burry’s thanks for the honor, noting the Commissioner had said she was accepting it on behalf of every veteran who has given so much for the continued security and freedom of the United States.  She expressed the Commissioner’s thanks for the honor and her apology for not being able to be present to accept the honor.

Commander Smith-Yeoman, who has been a friend of the Commissioner since childhood, praised the Commissioner’s enthusiastic support of the Monmouth County Vocational Schools, noting how MAST is regarded among the top schools not only in New Jersey, but throughout the nation. The officer also cited the number of NJROTC scholarships and federal service academy appointments MAST students have received throughout the years.

She praised Commissioner Burry’s work with both the Fort Hancock Committee at the National Park at Sandy Hook and Monmouth County in having one of the historic Fort Hancock buildings restored to safely house the more than one million dollars in uniforms and equipment for NJROTC cadets at MAST.

Commander Smith-Yeoman also cited Burry’s ongoing activity to have work proceed on a former barracks to provide classrooms, bathrooms with showers and a facility for cadets to conduct indoor drills in addition to their outdoor location at Pershing Field adjacent to the MAST buildings. Bids for completion of construction of that building have been delayed due to COVID and other reasons.

Throughout the afternoon, DAR members and speakers thanked and praised all veterans for their service to the nation, and presented special awards to Vietnam veterans, noting they as a group have never been respected and honored as they deserve. There were standing ovations not only for the veterans themselves, but for their widows or widowers who received special lapel pins for their spouse’s service.

In a special Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home ceremony, Vice-Regent Serena Schreiber, who was also chair of the Commemoration committee, noted honors are due each of the seven million veterans who served between 1965 and May 15, 1975, and explained the significance of the lapel pin presented to each veteran present as well as surviving spouses. The lapel pin also recalls the five Allies who served in the war with the United States.

The MAST Color Guard presented our nation’s flag during the opening ceremony, with Aditi Rao of Holmdel High School singing the National Anthem and Mayor D.J. Lucarelli of Holmdel welcoming the crowd and expressing his own thanks for the veterans of all wars.

Principal Speaker for the program was Mike Ferraro who started and runs Bridging the Gap, Inc., an organization started eight years ago to aid veterans in every way possible. Some of his programs have included financing companion dogs for veterans in need, operating a retail store and program to enable veterans to dress and present themselves in their best light for job interviews and programs, and scholarships for veterans who attend the Police Academy. Ferraro also serves as a liaison between Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden and veterans and conducts proper disposal programs for American flags at the Monmouth County Fire Academy.

A complete story on Ferraro’s work to assist veterans and how veterans can seek help will appear in VeniVidiScripto next week.

Portland Place

Opening Portland Place for guided tours through mid-November is one more example that the Monmouth County Parks System is unexcelled anywhere in its dedication to preservation, historic accuracy, and programs that attract people of all ages.

The guided tours and programs at the residence which had been in the Hartshorne family for 300 years are now open, following an extensive historic restoration by the Park system, and includes, in addition to guided tours of the Portland Place house and restored 19^th century bar, educational and cultural programs a variety of classes and walks around the 35 riverfront acres of the Locust area residence.

Portland Place was a gift to the Monmouth County Park system in the will of Daniel Ward Seitz, a Hartshorne descendant who died in 2008.

Seitz was intensely proud of his Hartshorne heritage and history and maintained the 18^th century home, and family heirlooms from three centuries while he resided here and in New York for 40 years. It is because of his pride and preservation that the restored home includes furnishings, portraits, and materials from history. The estates are on both the state and national Registers of Historic Places as a representation of the area’s early settlements and culture as well as the impact of the Hartshorne family on Monmouth Conty.

Richard Hartshorne, one of the large Hartshorne family members who came in the 1600s to settle in the British colony of New Jersey was a Quaker seeking the resources and religious freedom that the colonies offered. Arriving in 1669 and settling in the Bayshore, he became a leader in local politics and Quaker matters and over the years acquired 2,400 acres along the Navesink Highlands and Sandy hook peninsula.

The lands served a variety of needs and uses over the centuries, from farming and forestry to subdivision, and development, some being sold by Hartshorne family members. Hartshorne Woods Park, established in the late 20^th century, is all part of the former Hartshorne estate.

Portland Point includes the 200 acres the Hartshorne family acquired along the Navesink River in 1720. There, a simple farming homestead was built from the wood surrounding the land and farmland was later created on the site along with grazing lands for cattle and other farm animals.

Once a small cabin, Portland Place house was enlarged in the late 1700s, then again in the late 1800s when a small section was added, and finally in the early 1900s when a second floor was extended over the earlier addition and a country estate was established. One of the paintings in the home, a William Hahn oil painting from 1878, shows the carriage road that led into Hartshorne Woods, and the County Park system followed the design in creating its own maintenance roads to ensure upkeep and preservation of the historic area.

In donating the land and Portland Place house to Monmouth County, Seitz wrote he did it to honor the values of the Hartshornes, from Richard, “the first of the family to come to America and to build on the land.” His efforts were “exemplified both by his action in public service and by the principles set forth in his letters to his children.”  It is those principles and lessons to his children that were inherited by Steiz in making his generous donation, which also included some instructions to ensure the property remains intact, preserved, and following the Hartshorne principles.

Visitors to Portland Place can begin their tours at the Visitor Center adjacent to the house in a restored 19^th century. There are are numerous exhibits, information, interpretive panels and literature in that building alone to ensure appreciation of the estate. That building is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

Guided tours are conducted at 10:30 and 11:30 a.m., 1:30 and 1:20 p.m. and are limited to ten persons at a time. The guided tour takes approximately a half hour…more if you have numerous questions for the well-educated and enthusiastic staff and volunteers.

For more information, visit the Monmouth County Parks System site at www.MonmouthCountyParks.com or call the office at 732-842-4000.

Vote By Mail

Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon reminds residents they can vote by mail, which is an available option for all registered voters in Monmouth County, and that mail-in ballots for the November 7 General Election are now available.

“Voting by mail provides a convenient, private, and secure way to vote early,” said  Hanlon. “Voters can vote by mail for any reason and can be assured that all properly cast mail-in ballots will be counted and included in the election totals.”

To vote by mail, voters must first complete a Vote by Mail Ballot Application which is available from the County Clerk’s Elections Website at MonmouthCountyVotes.com, on the County Clerk’s Monmouth County Votes Mobile App. It is also available at the County Clerk’s Elections Office or from the Municipal Clerk of your hometown.

Applications to Vote by Mail that are sent by U.S. Mail must be received by the County Clerk’s Office seven days before an election. For the Nov. 7 General Election, the date is Tuesday, October 31.

Voters may also apply in-person at the County Clerk’s Elections Office located at 300 Halls Mill Road in Freehold up until 3 p.m. the day before the election. When applying in person, voters can obtain and cast their mail-in ballots early.

Voters may return their ballots to the County Board of Elections for counting in-person at the Board of Elections Office at 300 Halls Mill Road, by mail, or via one of the County’s ballot drop box locations.

Simple instructions for completing and returning Vote by Mail ballots are included in the ballot package.

Vote by mail is one of three available options for voting in the 2023 General Election. The other two options are early in person voting at one of the County’s 10 designated locations from Oct. 28 to Nov. 5, and the traditional option of voting in person on November 7 Election Day at your assigned polling location.

Voters with additional questions regarding Voting by Mail should call the County Clerk’s Elections Office at 732-431-7790 or email to ClerkofElections@co.monmouth.nj.us.

For more information, visit the county website at MonmouthCountyVotes.com or download the free Monmouth County Votes Mobile App.