It is always exciting to see new Council Members Sworn in!
With his wife holding the Bible and his daughter at his side, Atlantic Highlands Councilman Brian Gorsenger was sworn into his first term as borough councilman at the reorganization meeting at Borough Hall at noon on New Year’s Day. Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago administered the oath of office.
Kathleen Scatassa , with her husband and daughter at her side, took her oath of office as an Atlantic Highlands council member administered by Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago at the New Year’s Day reorganization of the Atlantic Highlands Mayor and Council. Councilman Brian Dougherty was also sworn in to another term as council president with his oath of office administered by Mayor Lori Hohenleitner. with his wife and thre children at his side.
You can also Find ViniVidiScripto on the Following Platforms …
The Middletown Township Committee will hold its annual reorganization meeting at 10:00 AM on Sunday, January 4, in the Courtroom at Town Hall, located at 1 Kings Highway.
On the agenda will be the swearing-in of Committeeman Ryan Clarke and Committeeman Kevin Settembrino who will accept their Oaths of Office to serve their three-year terms. There will also be the election of the 2026 mayor and deputy mayor. Under the Township’s form of government, the Township Committee designates two members to serve as mayor and deputy mayor for one-year terms.
The Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services officers also will be sworn in at this meeting. Additionally, volunteers appointed to various Township boards, committees, and commissions will be announced. Each group focuses on different aspects of the community and works to enhance Middletown’s quality of life. Residents are appointed to these positions by the Township Committee.
The meeting will be held in person, but community members can also watch it virtually by clicking this event link. Once you visit the link, please scroll to the information for the meeting. Once the meeting begins, the event will say “LIVE” and a camera icon will appear. You can click on the camera icon to stream the meeting. After the meeting ends, a recording of it will be available. Prior to the meeting, the event link will be published on the Township’s Facebook page. The recording of the meeting will be aired on the Township’s TV channel (Verizon FiOS Channel 26/Comcast Cable Channel 20) and YouTube channel.
For more information regarding the meeting, please call the Township Clerk’s Office at (732) 615-2014. Members of the media are encouraged to RSVP to Tara Berson and Raven Rentas in the Communications Department at communications@middletownnj.org.
You can also Find ViniVidiScripto on the Following Platforms …
Highlands Police Chief Robert Burton’s recommended acceptance into and successful graduation from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, is no small achievement for the native born borough police chief.
When Mayor Carolyn Broullon and council congratulated the chief at the reorganization meeting, they highlighted several aspects of the program which is open only to law enforcement officers, managers and executives nominated for the 11 week program, many with more than 20 years’ experience.
But there is more to the program and Burton’s prestige in having accomplished it than the mayor could highlight at the meeting.
The program offers advanced leadership, communication, and fitness training for experienced law enforcement professionals worldwide, fostering higher law enforcement standards, knowledge, and cooperation through academic courses, physical challenges, and networking. It is a key part of the larger FBI training facility at Quantico that also trains new agents, with graduates often achieving executive roles in their agencies.
Some of the primary aspects of the FBI National Academy are those nominated for it must have proven records of excellence in law enforcement, Thei studies then focus on academics , including earning university credits through the University of Virginia, physical fitness, leadership, behavioral science, and counterterrorism. The goal of the program is to improve the administration of justice and raise law enforcement standards globally through education and networking.
The FBI looks at its National Academy as a world-renowned institution for developing top-tier law enforcement leaders, steps above a standard police academy for new recruits, but rather an advanced professional development school
With less than one per cent of all police officers selected to attend, the FBI Academy is considered a prestigious program. Participants attend by invitation only through a nomination process and must demonstrate a proven track record of professionalism within their agencies. The highly challenging curriculum leaves successful graduates with more specialized knowledge, more professional connections, and more resources to help them be successful at the highest levels of their organizations.
You can also Find ViniVidiScripto on the Following Platforms …
The Atlantic Highlands Mayor and Council, at a brief special noon time meeting December 29, unanimously approved a resolution authorizing a new collective bargaining agreement with the local police department’s PBA, retroactive to June 30.
Atlantic Highlands Mayor Lori Hohenleitner
Mayor Lori Hohenleitner announced the agreement at the reorganization meeting two days later, expressing happiness the contract has been resolved.
The borough has been involved in extensive negotiations with PBA Local 242, which represents all officers on the department below the rank of captain and chief. The new agreement succeeds the contract which was in effect from 2020 through last June. The new contract is retroactive to July 1, 2025 and will continue through June 30, 2030.
The resolution signed last week also agrees to make the increased salary guide retroactive to last June when that contract expired.
In other business at the meeting, the governing body also cancelled $80,000 in unspent budget appropriations in the water and sewer department, in order to enable the funds to be placed in surplus.
You can also Find ViniVidiScripto on the Following Platforms …
Highlands’ Kevin Smith will be the head caller at a live auction at Smodcastle Cinemas, First Avenue, Atlantic Highlands, tomorrow, Saturday, January 3 beginning at 1 p.m.
This sale will feature All Items Kevin Smith and will also be a live in-person with a Live Broadcast from Smodcastle Cinemas at 2 p.m.
The collection, with items starting at $10, features props, and costumes from various movies and TV shows, scripts, banners, promotional items, Art, Posters, Call Sheets, and unique items that were only obtained by Kevin himself!
Most items are autographed by Smith, and all will come with COAs from Bodnar’s Auction.
Movie items include all the greats from Mallrats, Dogma, the 4:30 Movie, Yoga Hosers, Jersey Girl, Clerks, Jay & Silent Bob, Chasing Amy, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and more! Proceeds will help keep the lights on at the Smodcastle Cinemas.
Interested persons can bid in person on sale day, or online!
This collection, according to Bodnar’s Auction, is a fresh-to-market collection to be sold with no reserves to the highest bidder! In-house shipping on small items, and local UPS Store shipping options are available, as well as local pick-up in Monmouth Junction.
This is a live broadcast sale with auctioneers and callers describing all lots in the sale giving the feeling of being in person at the auction.
The preview at the theater starts at 1:00 pm. For more information, visit www.bodnarsauction.com
You can also Find ViniVidiScripto on the Following Platforms …
Atlantic Highlands Councilmen Brian Gorsegner and Kathleen Scatessa were both appointed to be council representatives on variety of committees at the reorganization of the Mayor and Council January 1, with many other council committee appointments remaining the same as last year.
Gorsegner and Scatessa, both elected to their first terms on council, will serve together as representatives to the Shade Tree Commission. In addition, Gorsegner joins Councilwoman Alyson Forbes as representatives on the Harbor Commission and will also join Councilmen Jon Crowley and Brian Dougherty as representatives to the recreation committee.
Scatessa will also be the lone representative on the environmental commission together with her appointment to the Shade tree Commission.
Council President Brian Dougherty will continue as Chair on the finance, personnel and insurance committees, working with Forbes and Mayor Lori Hohenleitner. He will also serve with Councilman Jon Crowley on the Public Works Committee and will continue as liaison to the Henry Hudson Regional Board of Education as well as to the Planning Board.
Councilman Jose Pujols will be council representative to the fire department, and along with Crowley, to the Public Department and Emergency Services. He will also be council representative for emergency management, Veterans Affairs and the senior citizen committee.
Crowley and Dougherty will be council representatives to Public Works.
Hohenleitner named herself to the Open Space Committee. With unanimous council approval.
Borough attorney Marguerite Schaffer is continuing as municipal attorney, Richard Leahey, Jr. as Municipal Judge, James Butler as prosecutor and Kevin Wiggenton and Wendy Crother as public defenders. Meghan Bennett is redevelopment council and Richad Colangelo continues as code enforcement officer. i
Council set its regular meeting nights for the first and third Mondays of the month for February through June, and again in October . In September, meetings will be on Monday, September 9 and Wednesday, September 21; there will only be one meeting each month in January, July, August, November and December.
The first regular council meeting of the year will be Monday January 12, at 7 p.m.. at Borough Hall.
You can also Find ViniVidiScripto on the Following Platforms …
For those interested in celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday in an unusual way this year, the Middletown Historical Society has a great way of doing it! You can be part of the team transcribing pension records of patriots from Middletown during the Revolution.
According to Middletown Historical Society Board of Trustees president Tom Valenti, if you have free time and do not mind reading two-hundred-year-old handwriting, let the Society know if you are interested in volunteering.
Volunteers, on their own time, will transcribe the records on the National Archives website (with an assist from Valenti and AI technology) right from the comfort of your own home. This will make the records more accessible to everyone around the world. You can send a copy to the Historical Society as well, so information from Middletown patriots can be shared with our community in other formats.
A number of records have already been transcribed but more await. For more information on how you can help, simply e-mail the Society and they will be in touch in the New Year! If you already have any experience with historic transcriptions, let Valenti them know that as well.
Serving with Valenti on the Board of Trustees are Peter VanNortwick, vice president, Gail Nelsen, treasurer, James Hinckley secretary, and Raymond J. Veth.
The Middletown Township Historical Society was founded in 1968 and is dedicated to preserving and promoting the history of Middletown, one of the oldest European settlements in the state. The Society is independent of the municipality of Middletown and registered as a non-profit 501(c)(3).
Highlands Mayor Carolyn Broullon, hopeful the school regionalization with Sea Bright question will make it on the ballot in 2026, said the mayors of the three boroughs met the week before Christmas to begin discussions on questions that must still be settled before voters get to vote once again whether to accept Sea Bright into the current three school district of some 700 students.
Bouillon said when she, Atlantic Highlands Mayor Lori Hohenleitner and Sea Bright Mayor Brian P. Kelly met last month, they had the updated enrollment and equalized value numbers from October of 2025, so they can now can update their calculations. “ Everyone was upbeat and seemed willing to finally make this happen this year,” Broullon said.
“ I believe we can finally make this work this year, “ the mayor continued, “ I remain hopeful that we can get it on the ballot AND that the people will vote yes.”
In order to be approved, voters in the three towns must approve a ballot question that includes the tax formula for the three towns to finance education. Voters in both Highlands and Sea Bright in the past gave their overwhelming support to having Sea Bright become part of the district; however, Atlantic Highlands Mayor Hohenleitner had indicated she preferred to wait to see the outcome of the appeals presented by Oceanport and Shore Regional school districts to the question of Sea Bright leaving their school systems.
Oceanport and Shore Regional have been legally opposing the departure of Sea Bright, and have contested every decision by state and education officials up to the New Jersey Supreme Court which also recently upheld Sea Bright’s right to choose.
While she is hopeful and confident Sea Bright will become part of the Henry Hudson district, Broullon, in response to a question on whether a negative vote on that could mean the possibility of the Highlands and Atlantic Highlands schools becoming part of Middletown ‘s current 16 school district, saying “it is always on my mind.”
Recent state laws are geared towards eliminating smaller school districts and creating larger districts because of the ever expanding cost of education. At least one school district, tom River, has declared itself bankrupt, and Middletown itself is facing crucial questions on closing two schools because of extensive renovation and repairs necessary as well as higher taxes.
Middletown is so much larger than Hudson, the Highlands mayor explained, noting there are 8895 students in Middletown’s 16 schools. “ We have shown the legislature that we have merged with Atlantic Highlands and now, hopefully, Sea Bright, so we are doing everything the new law asked us to do.” However, she said, “ with the new Governor, we do not know what she has in store on this subject. “ Our plan, she said, is to plan to control what we can control: to update the numbers and get the question on the ballot.”
You can also Find ViniVidiScripto on the Following Platforms …
Four of the top five stories in the more than 500 stories in VeniVidiScripto during 2025 dealt with teacher dissatisfaction, loss of teachers, higher salaries for school administrators and general discontent with the Henry Hudson Regional School District.
The story most read in VeniVidiScripto in the past year was posted in April and titled “Teachers are running for the doors,” with the story citing some of the fears and concerns expressed by many Atlantic Highlands parents at a board of education meeting. Parents called for an examination by outside resources of the leadership at the PreK-12 school district.
While no one spoke during a public hearing before the board unanimously approved a $19.5 million budget for the approximate 700 student district, parents spoke at the end of the meeting to issue a variety of concerns ranging from lack of communication to serious concern over the sudden absence of one specific teacher.
In the past three years, close to one million people from 119 countries around the world have read some of the thousands of stories in Veni Vidi Scripto, with the vast majority of readers coming from the Bayshore, notably Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and Middletown. Most read more than one story when they log on to VeniVidiScripto.com, and more read stories on Wednesday mornings around 6 a.m. than any other day or time of the week. People tend to read more on overcast or cloudy days rather than days filled with sunshine, and most do not comment or criticize anything they have read. VeniVidiScripto.com has been read in 68 different languages, of more interest, the blog has been read in 25 different time zones.
While the most popular stories were read primarily by residents of Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and Middletown, thousands of others read stories of travel, recipes, American and local history, opinion pieces, and feature stories. Readers from other countries came from Australia to Zimbabwe, with the vast majority of them coming from each of the countries in the British Isles, Ireland having the European most readers. A total of 167,662 times stories were read this year, by more than 131,000 people.
The second, third and fifth most popular stories during the past 12 months also dealt with dissatisfaction at Henry Hudson, with a story in May, “Fear and loathing at Henry Hudson” second only to the teacher dissatisfaction story. In March, a story on Atlantic Highlands failing to put the question of regionalization with Sea Bright on a non-binding ballot similar to action already taken in Highlands and Sea Bright also drew thousands of readers, while a June story, “Survey says Henry Hudson not the place” concerned the Education Association’s Climate Survey summary that shows 44 per cent of the educational staff at Henry Hudson considered leaving the district .
Only a story in October when a procession of vehicles and residents from throughout New Jersey came to the Yacht Harbor to memorialize the late Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA prevented stories on Henry Hudson Regional from being the top five most read of the more than 2,000 stories read by close to one million readers.
You can also Find ViniVidiScripto on the Following Platforms …
Whether you are superstitious or not, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are synonymous with a variety of beliefs about actions or deeds that ‘guarantee’ to bring either very good fortune, or very bad incidents to happen during the upcoming year.
For instance, the Scots believe the First-Footer is the first person who steps into your home after midnight. He or she sets the tone for the year ahead…it’s especially fortunate if that first-footer is a tall, dark-haired man.
Or be like the Greeks. Break a pomegranate on the floor on New Year’s Eve. Let every family member take a whack at it with a spoon, smashing it in the 13th round. That’s once for every month and an extra one for added prosperity!
Breaking a glass on New Year’s Day is believed to chase away evil spirits for the year as well as clear the air of any negativity. In Denmark family and friends visit each other’s homes to throw plates or glasses against the homes on the Eve. By morning, the bigger the pile of broken glass, the luckier will be that year for the family inside.
For the Irish, New Year’s Eve is the time to take that mistletoe hanging from the ceiling and tuck it under your pillow. It’s a sure thing you’ll dream of your future love. They say it works as well with holly or ivy if you haven’t got mistletoe.
Lots of food things are associated with New Year’s superstitions, The Scots believe Haggis, that pudding they love made with from minced sheep is said to bring a heap of good luck in the new year. Chicken is a no-no on New Year’s Eve in some places, since chickens have wings and eating them will cause good luck to fly away for the year.
On the other hand eating donuts is a must on New Year’s!. Many believe eating ring-shaped foods like donuts, bagels, and cakes will bring good fortune full-circle. In Greece, a special sweet bread called vasilopita is served at midnight. A coin is placed inside the batter and whoever finds it in their slice will have extra luck!
The Spanish believe you should put down that champagne at midnight and eat 12 grapes instead. Bound to bring you good luck every month of 2026.
For some, obviously none of those who ever visits the Lobster Boss at Bahrs Restaurant in Highlands, think eating lobster on New Year’s brings bad luck. It’s only those who believe that because crustaceans move backwards, it could mean setbacks in the year ahead.
On the other hand, there are those who believe pork is a must on the menu, especially among those of Chinese culture. They hold the pig high on good fortune and prosperity anyway, and like the Germans, believe pork is lucky since pigs look forward when they eat and that represents progress in 2026.
Of course, making Hoppin’ Johns is a very old tradition and superstition. Hoppin’ Johns have roots in African and West Indian traditions and haves been a popular MUST in the South since the 1800s. Black-eyed peas represent coins and collard greens stand for cash. Eating Hoppin John’s assures the diner of both during 2026 when eaten on New Year’s Eve.
In Poland and Scandinavia, and many other places, it’s pickled herring at midnight that brings prosperity for the year to come. It’s a sure thing because of course the fish is silver like coins! So tuck some herring into that smorgasbord platter along with any other smoked fish.
On the other hand,. There are those who think that simply families banging loaves of Christmas bread against the walls and doors will ward off evil spirits and pave the way for a healthy and prosperous new year.
Then there are the energetic superstitions. In Denmark, jumping off a chair at midnight means a leap into the new year filled with good fortune. Rising early on New Year’s Day in Poland ensures one will wake up easily throughout the year and be a fortunate early bird. Stepping forward with your right foot first at midnight is said to bring good luck for the year in a number of different cultures.
For those of us near the ocean, and ready to brave frigid temperatures and icy water, jumping over seven waves on New Year’s Eve and making one wish on each wave, is a guaranteed they’ll all come true in 2026. Of course, that superstition started in Brazil where today’s temperature is 78 degrees, compared to New Jersey’s 29 degrees.
Italians believe by tossing out old dishes, clothes or anything else on New Year’s Eve is the same as getting go of the past and making room for good fortune in the new year.
In the Philippines, they make it easier.. Simply wear polka dots to ensure wealth.. Polka dots look like coins, so wearing the pattern is good enough to have the real thing come in during the coming months, right? If you’re looking for luck in your clothing, start with underwear. Red, white, and yellow pairs of underwear have their own symbolism in Mexico; red means romance, white stands for peace and yellow brings wealth.
Cleaning up your house on New Year’s Eve day is not a good thing; it is similar to swiping away a loved one in the coming year, something those in doubt of whether to accept that marriage proposal look to. On the happier side, it’s a great excuse for not cleaning before the New Year comes in. Either way, open doors and windows just before midnight lets the old year out and the new one in.
Depending on your belief, either carrying cash in your wallet on New Years, as well as getting your finances in order and settling past debts are a sure thing for good fortune in 2026. On the other hand, carrying an empty suitcase guarantees lots of travel adventures next year; but filling your cabinets with plenty of foods means there will be a scarcity there for you in 2026.
Either way, be sure not to cry on New Year’s Eve as it may well set the tone for the coming year.Instead, make lots of noise at midnight; that scares away all those evil spirits, so smile when those noisemakers go over the limit.
Regardless of whether it’s attached to superstition or not, it’s always good to share that midnight kiss with someone you love. It’s probably the oldest of traditions, dating back to when the Roman’s celebrated Saturn.
As for me, simply leaving a Christmas card with the Three Kings on it over the front door year round absolutely guarantees a year filled with friends, love, thoughtfulness of others and enough good fortune to look forward to another year of peace and happiness.
You can also Find ViniVidiScripto on the Following Platforms …
