There’s a small group of ladies at Ptak Tower in Highlands who are their own Prayer Squad and help others without anybody even knowing about it. What they are learning as well, however. Is that it’s great fun and occasionally a surprise or two when doing it.

Each week, a friend of the ladies, some of whom don’t even know each other, brings a colorful little box with ten varied reasons to pray inside to each of them. For the next seven days, each of the women says a prayer a day, some even more, for the intentions included in the box.

Each has her own way of praying for the intentions. One simply prays every day perhaps without even opening the box; another reads each of the ten intentions every day. Some take one intention out at a time and pray for more than one a day. Some take two or three out a day, spending some time thinking about the intention or the person for whom they are praying.

And for some, it’s a connection with the past, a time for some happy memories, or the chance to remember someone they have not thought about in years. For some, it’s a happy coincidence even if you don’t think of things happening for a reason.

But for all, it’s fun and a delightful way to help others, whether they know them or not.

The intentions vary each week and can be as simple as “Say a Prayer for Someone whose last name begins with S.” Or “Say a Prayer for the last person you saw yesterday.”

Some intentions are local such as “Say a Prayer for someone on the third floor” or “Say a Prayer for the First Aid volunteers who want on the last emergency call.”

Some intentions make them think of people they have not thought of in years but who bring back happy memories. When one intention one week was Say a Prayer for a Teacher you had in grammar school,” it prompted one woman go back in memory decades to recall the thoughtfulness and love she had for her kindergarten teacher. For another, it was remembering a friend she had not heard from in years. After saying the prayer, she called her friend and enjoyed yet more time in a conversation with her.

There are prayers for the Pray-ers as well. Prayers like “Say a Prayer that today will be a happy day for me .” Or Say a Prayer that I can get to the store this afternoon.”

There are prayers for the military…the Sailor flying a helicopter, or the Marine getting through boot camp. Or the last woman from Highlands who joined the military. It doesn’t matter to the pray-ers who the specific person is or that they do not know them personally. They just know they are praying for someone else, and they feel confident they are helping.

There are prayers of thanks for everything from being able to get to the doctor today to “seeing my daughter and grandchildren yesterday.” There are prayers for improvement, such as saying a prayer that “I’ll be kind to the neighbor I don’t like” or a prayer that “my arthritis won’t hurt so much today.” There are even prayers for pets, be it the last one I say walking outside or that a child who wants a pet finally gets his wish.

There are prayers for specific people in the area who have died, who are ill, or who work in the local stores, or sit beside them in the same row at an event. There are even prayers for the management of Ptak Tower, and the janitorial team that keep it so clean.

It’s more than simply saying prayers for people or things they would not otherwise be thinking about. It’s taking a few minutes to sit back, relax and let their minds wander into areas they would not have thought of otherwise. And it’s a time for coincidence, perhaps, or praying for a particular person or thing because it’s on the little strip of paper in the colorful little box that reminds the pray-er of something or someone else.

Prayer? Coincidence? Happy Memories? Nostalgia? Never certain what it really is. But it does bring happiness to the Prayer Squad members who pay attention to it every day and eagerly look forward to the next week’s new intentions.

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The Borough Council of Highlands announced they have reached an agreement with the Redeveloper of the property formerly known as the Shadow Lawn Mobile Home Park, Scenic Highlands Owner, LLC. Million Dollars

The official vote will be held at the Council Meeting on Wednesday November 5, at 7pm.

In a press release issued Sunday by the Mayor and Council, Mayor Carolyn Broullon said “This will be a special moment for the Borough of Highlands, and the community is invited to attend the meeting.”

According to the release, highlights of the project, called Scenic Highlands, are a five-story building with 292 units, 44 of those are affordable. There will be onsite parking, a clubhouse and other amenities.

The Redeveloper shall contract with an experienced and qualified administrative agent approved by the Borough to handle the rental process for the Affordable units. There will be a scenic overlook for the public to use, and sidewalks installed from Linden Avenue to Ocean Boulevard.

“This is a unique opportunity for adding approximately 639 new residents, including at least 36 school-aged children, that makes it an invaluable asset to the community,” Broullon said.

The property, located on Route 36, was formally the Shadow Lawn Mobile Home Park for many decades. On March 21, 2018, through Resolution R18-069, the Borough designated the property as an Area in Need of Redevelopment. On December 19, 2018, the Borough adopted the Shadow Lawn Mobile Home Park Redevelopment Plan establishing the development standards for the property. Now, on November 5, 2025, the Borough will approve the contracts to be signed by the Mayor and Redeveloper.

“We have been waiting for this day for quite some time and are excited to finally see this property live up to its potential,” Broullon stated. “The influx of the Payment In Lieu Of Taxes [PILOT] is projected to be $51 million dollars over the duration of 30 years after completion and the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy and Certificate of Completion.

This project is a significant addition to the borough, and the Borough of Highlands looks forward to sharing it with the community. The project will create 300 construction jobs and 10 permanent jobs after construction is complete,” the Mayor added.

The resolution for approval of the contract is on the agenda

For Wednesday’s regular meeting and all council members have indicated their endorsement of it.

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Mayor Veni Vidi Scripto is a blog that goes to more than a hundred and fifty countries, most of the continents and is read by hundreds of thousands of people a year. Some like recipes, some like the heart warming stories, others like the history or the travel stories.

Some soldiers and sailors read it simply because no matter where they are serving, it gives them a touch of home. Women especially like the stories on breast cancer and the little company in Israel who is now making headlines in the United States for its painless easy cure now available for some women.

Yet when it comes to stories about Highlands, there is no doubt a faction of people have their minds made up before even reading a story.

They want to say VeniVidiScripto supports one candidate over another.

They want to say VeniVidiScripto is too harsh on a particular school board member, or the mayor, or council members.

They simply don’t read stories, they conjure up their opinion of what is written, then go on nonsense Facebook pages where they do not identify themselves but freely criticize news. Simply because it isn’t news they like.

It happened this week where some unidentified blogger posted a story saying the news of all the new businesses in Highlands over the past five years was a press release that originated from the Mayor.

News Alert! It was not press release. And it was not originated by the Mayor.

It was plain and simple a news story. The mayor was questioned, of course, since she’s been the Mayor for the past five years. But she did not know the thrust of the story or why VeniVidiScripto was running it at all. She simply responded to the questions she was asked.

Let me tell you about Highlands. It is a town where, though the writer does not live there, her heart still remembers, and loves the joys of bringing up a family there, a close knit community where everyone cared for each other’s children.

In the mid 1950s, there were fewer than 3,500 residents, and names like Hartsgrove, Parker, Monahan, Higgins, Dominguez, Guiney, Black, Bahrs, Katz, O’Neil, Ptak, Dempsey; and more were families everybody knew.

It was a town where the police either brought home an errant youngster who had crawled out of bed and snuck out of his house to go early morning fishing or just checked on him to be sure he was ok.

It was a town where the kids would bring dog biscuits to the big St. Bernard who lived across the street from the catholic school. And it was a town that took high water in the street as a nuisance, and flood waters in the house as a bigger nuisance but something that would pass as the tide went out.

That’s the kind of Highlands VeniVidiScripto loved. Sure there were some empty stores, the business area didn’t look too terrific, the roads were in bad shape, the sewers were old and often clogged, and there were no life guards on the beaches in the summer.

Covid came and things changed. Families lost their homes, people whose families had been here for generations sold what was left of their homes and moved to less dangerous areas. Elderly people moved south or in with family.

But Covid also meant people could work from home. And it did not take long for New York couples to realize they could buy a three bedroom house here and pay the ferry or bus to get to New York the few days they had to get there, all for less than it was costing for that one bedroom apartment in a crowded area of New York.

Builders were the first to recognize it, and apartments cropped up. But businesses that were forced to shut down for lack of money or experience simply abandoned their properties and they fell into disheveled messes.

While the town had all the advantages of a spectacular view, historic sites and wonderful natives, it needed sprucing up for the new folks coming in.

That’s when stores that had been closed were scooped up by others, purchased, renovated and put to use. The governing body, itself shaken by Sandy and Covid, wasn’t up to speed in correcting decades old problems, right away. Things like an aging sewer system or unpaved or poorly maintained roads.

So yes, it did take a mayor and council who wanted to improve things, who wanted the borough to clean up, be better, and show its true face, a face of beauty, friendliness, and convenience. And in the past five years, Highlands had a Mayor, and a council, who took the necessary steps to bring its infrastructure up to a level that the newcomers would be eager to pay their taxes and appreciate everything about living here.

It apparently worked. The story is in the fact so many businesses did come into town, so many more adventurous property owners dared to take a risk, the town’s population as grown and word has been spreading Highlands is a great place to live.

And that, simply, is news.

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New businesses including both a Portuguese and Indian restaurant, a music café and a bagel shop that draws standing room only crowds on a routine day are only some of the new businesses that have opened in the Borough of Highlands since Carolyn Broullon became Mayor four years ago.

Add to that the opening of the new borough hall which had been on the agenda amid rising costs and changes  for years and construction of new apartments on a long empty lot on Bay Avenue have enlivened not only the entire community but the amount of visitors who come into the borough, visit their shops, try out new restaurants, and come back again to attend any of the numerous activities and events staged by the active Highlands Business Partnership.

“Sometimes, people just need a bit of encouragement to open their businesses in the borough, “ the Mayor said, when asked why some 20 establishments have opened their doors since she has been mayor. “Once they see the potential in the borough, the charm, beauty and history of Highlands, and the welcoming attitude of the residents, they want to stay.” As a businesswoman and property owner who fell in love with the borough when she first arrived, she added, “It doesn’t take anyone long to realize our location is excellent for businesses that cater to the needs of the people and that they are welcome here.”

Stores that were empty for decades, or since Hurricane Sandy have changed the appearance of a main street where for several years many businesses were closed and buildings left unkempt. Each of the new businesses or reopening older buildings and restoring formerly successful businesses not only make the business district more inviting, but also add considerably to the income from taxes without adding any costs for education in the regional school district.

It took Broullon most of her first year in office to conduct her own studies and listen to the residents on what they felt the borough needed most. She then decided on a variety of paths of both introducing new businesses to the borough and enticing older businesses to reopen after Sandy so could go about accomplishing that mission.

But by 2021, food establishments like Franny’s Pizza and the Sandbox at the Sea Streak ferry terminal in Waterwitch found success would follow their openings. Allegra Law took over an attorney’s practice on Route 36, and Wolf Claw Ceramics and Core 9 Catch Jujitsu both decided Highlands would be the perfect place to open their unique establishments.

Gert’s re-opened in 2021 after having been closed since Sandy and Gianna’s also opened that year. The following year Et al moved to the old Scuba on Shore and both U.N.Owens Music Cafe, and the Farmacie, opened by Rumson’s French Market also decided Highlands was the best place for their new businesses.

When the ever-popular Girl’s Café closed in 2024 when the Hartsgrove sisters decided to retire or take life a little easier, the Highlands Café with it homemade ice creams and other delicacies continued to fill the bill for breakfast and lunch. Bistro Iberia, Saltwater Social, which had also been empty since Sandy and construction of the Gipper Way Apartments got underway on the lot that had been empty for 40 years and the street behind it was created and named for Gipper O’Neil, a beloved longtime resident and father of a former mayor.

During the pasts year, it’s been busy and unique for Bay Avenue as the borough became one of the first in the Bayshore to open a cannabis business after the Honorable Plant met all the stiff specifications of both the state and the borough and opened in another building that had been closed since Sandy. The Honorable Plant was welcomed in the borough even before the additional money it brings in started , because of its added vivid exterior murals, in a shore related theme, cleanliness and ample parking for the shop run by one of the most respected leaders in the cannabis field.

Gems opened in the former Katz Confectionery, one family business following another, and was an immediate hit from early morning to mid-afternoon every day of the week. Most recently Not 2 Shabby opened its much needed and most unusual thrift shop where the Farmacie had been and Sea & Sand brought a highly reputable Indian restaurant to another site which had been vacant for 25 years.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Broullon said when asked about all the new businesses in town. “People know a good thing when they see it, business owners want to be profitable, but also be a part of a community, and all of these different business owners cold see the value of having their establishments in a borough that appreciates quality with a home-town feeling.”

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