Ice Cure certainly was a miracle cure for me! The segment on “Jersey Matters” Starts at the 23:00 minute time mark
A Very Happy Birthday
Former Atlantic Highlands Mayor Helen Marchetti is celebrating her 97trh birthday today (April 7) at Care One at King James Care Center where she has been a resident for the past month. This is a copy of a story I wrote about the former Mayor and native of the borough for the Two River Times in 1994.
Helen Marchetti sits in her comfortable, well-appointed front room looking out windows to the church parking lot across the street. Four little youngers are riding their bicycles around the blacktop, chasing each other, laughing, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine.
“Just look at that, isn’t that terrific?” she enthuses to house-guests. “I’ll tell you, this is just perfect, this is my entertainment.”
It doesn’t take much to let you know one of Helen’s priorities in life, Children.
She loves them.
All kinds, all sizes, all temperaments. “They believe, they’re happy with whatever you do for them, they’re so much fun,” she explains.
The scene switches to the Atlantic Highlands Nursing Home, where Helen is assistant administrator, a post she’s held for the last 27 years. An elderly lady is patiently waiting in the day room for an aide to help her out to the spacious yard under the trees. “Oh, here dear,” let me help you,” Helen booms in her deep voice and ready known to all who hear her.
After she assists the resident, she bends down to give her a hug, a word of encouragement and one of those infectious Marchetti smiles.
“The old folks, aren’t they wonderful?” she beams.
It doesn’t take much to let you know another of Helen’s priorities in life. Seniors. Particularly seniors who need help. She loves them. All kinds, all sizes, all temperaments. “They believe, they’re happy with whatever you do for them. They’s so much fun.”
The two scenarios pretty well size up Helen Marchetti’s joie de vivre, the folks that are most important to her.
But, lest she hurt anyone’s feelings, Helen quickly points out, “all those people in between, they’re fine, too.”
So it’s established. Helen Marchetti – former mayor, councilwoman, recreation commissioner, former planning board member, Historical Society president, Board of Education member and president, Fire Auxiliary member, former Yacht Club Auxiliary presidents, former County Board of Health member, municipal political leader…is a people person.
The record definitely shows she’s involved whenever there’s’ a need to help people. All kinds. All sizes, all temperaments.
But less you think it’s only people who hold Helen’s attention, switch the subject to her hometown Atlantic Highlands, It’s like opening a flood gate.
“There’s no place like it,” she beams, “I mean, were else can you have so much so much history, so much beauty so much conveniences, so much home. And so many wonderful people?”
There’s that word again. People. It’s Helen’s driving force.
This vibrant attractive fastidiously neat professional she goes to the beauty parlor two mornings a week and has her nails manicured once a week…have been having a love affair with the human race since her parents instilled in her a warm affection for humanity. The lesson came almost from the day she was born in the upstairs bedroom of the home where and her husband Pete, sill live.
Her dad, the late William Mount, had a milk delivery route in the borough and knew everybody in town. His family has lived in the borough longer then it has been a borough, and more generations than anyone can remember. Her mom, the late Anna Mount, was of Irish descent and also from a long time well known Atlantic Highlands family.
Helen and her brother Jack, who died in 1980. Were ‘always brought up to help everybody we could, whenever we could, never to intentionally hurt anyone, and appreciate the town where we grew up.” They were lessons Helen never forgot.
It was also the reason why she went into politics. “I didn’t like what was happening to my town, I didn’t like the direction it was taking, so I had to do something about it,” she explains casually, but with enough determination in her voice that you know she means business. So she served on the Board of Education for six years in the early 70s.
Then she got her feet wet in the political pool when former Mayor Dick Stryker named her to a vacancy on the Borough Council and served in that capacity for three years. Then, in the 80s, still not satisfied with how the town was progressing, she became the borough’s first and only woman mayor, serving until 1987.
A staunch Democrat, she boasts about the open-mindedness of the Mount family. The same years she was serving as this borough’s Democratic mayor, her brother Jack was serving as Toms River’s Republican mayor. “We might have had two different ways of looking at things, but we always got the job done,” she laughs.
Helen is proud of the fact that “I tried to do my best, I never intentionally hurt anyone and I always had the overall good of the town at heart” when making her decisions as mayor. Such devotion can be costly as well. Through her years on the governing body, Helen never dipped into the petty cash fund provided for all mayors to pay for tickets, transportation, and related municipal expenses, preferring to assume all the costs herself. “For what this town has given me in happiness and wonderful people, it’s a small price to pay in repayment,” she explains.
“Besides, it’s all part of the job.:
Even the couples she married during her tenure couldn’t give her any recompense for her labors. “I always refused to take anything; just the joy of marrying a couple is more than enough payment.” The former mayor even went as far as to invite couples who were planning borough hall ceremonies to be married in her historic home, or in the small but elegant garden surrounding it.
Residents of the borough and longtime friends from around the state plan on honoring Helen for her years of service to the community. A testimonial dinner will be held Oct.2 at the Shore Casino to give people an opportunity to show their own appreciation for the myriad of deeds she’s done for untold thousands of people.
Always ready for a party, Helen says she feels honored and proud her friends are insisting on the testimonial to her. But, she commiserates, “there are so many others who have done so much more, who are so much more deserving. There are people who have given so much to this town and to others.”
It’s that word again. Helen’s passion. Helen’s drive. Helen’s love.
People.
The Kavookjian Legacy
With a regionalization informational session set for 7p.m tonight at the Highlands Community Center, it brought back many happy memories and stories about great people who made Henry Hudson Regional a fait accomplis in the first place.
Were it not for Kathleen Mendes, a former president of the Hudson Board of Ed, and her dad, Haik Kavookjian, one of the very generous and spiritually minded Armenians I’ve ever met, there might never be a Henry Hudson Regional District to be the topic of such discussion now.
So I got a great piece from another journalist, Kathleen and Vince Mendes’ son, Vinnie, that he said I could share, showing the side of his mom that we wouldn’t know. Like most women, Kathleen was a mother first, and how she raised her children might well be different from how hard she works to get the best for all students in the bayshore. Enjoy VInnie’s “Legacy.”
THE LEGACY CURSE
My grandfather, Haik Kavookjian, fled the Turks in the 1880’s and wound up on a ship bound for New York. He arrived penniless, and went to work as a photo engraver, which was tantamount to getting into computers in the 1950’s. When he died at age 102 in the 1970’s he left each of his children $25,000, each of his grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren $5,000. He also left $21,000,000 to the Armenian church. Now this was the 1970’s when $21,000,000 was real money!
My mother and all her brothers and sisters wanted to contest the will, and I asked her, “Mom, how much money you got? Well, the Armenian Church has $21,000,000 to hire the best Jewish lawyers in New York before they break even, and you’re going to fight that? “
Papa knew exactly what he was doing, and if my mother had gotten $5,000,000, she would have spent it within a year at Walmart!
What Papa gave us in our genes, not in a bank account, and the sooner we realize that the better off we’ll be.
Now the O/L (Old Lady, aka my mother) was a tyrannical despot, or despotic tyrant. She ruled the roost no matter what. I just said “yes, Mom” and did whatever I pleased. She was always adamant that she treated us all equally, and when she was gone, she wanted us to stick together.
Meanwhile she made up her will so that Haik got the marina, Paul got the house on the hill, Tom, who had squatted in the house for ten years and assumed that he owned it, took her to court and was awarded $170,000 by the jury. She said that she was going to leave me the condo in Miami, (I think on purpose because she knew I hated Miami), so I told her ”No, Mom, leave it directly to Vinnie and Mikey”.
Well, she died, Haik got the Marina, Paul got the house on the hill, Tom had his $170,000, and OOPS! She had sold the condo in Miami, so my kids got nothing. But as I said when Papa died, what we have is in our genes, not in a bank account. We’re insolent and arrogant and can make it anywhere in the world just on our own good looks and our lovable personalities!
Subsequently, Paul, Tom and Haik have all died and I’m still here.
Paul was the last to go and when he died, Vinnie wrote a poem:
The four toughest guys I ever knew,
Were Paul, and Tom, and Haik and you.
Try tho I might, I can’t get my brain,
Round the fact that only you remain!
Thanks for those genes, Mom!
Atlantic Highlands High School Baseball Team
A photo on loan to the Courier in the 1970s from MIke Cassone shows the 1938 Atlantic Highlands High School baseball team flanking Assistant Coach Jim Egidio and Coach Arnie Truex.
Do you know the unnamed player in the front row?
Travel to … Israel
To visit Israel, the Holy Land and tour all the Biblical sites from the Sea of Galilee to Cana to Mount Tabor to Jerusalem, is incredible. To follow it up with three days in Rome at the Vatican, Coliseum, and Trevi Fountain is icing on the cake. But to see both with Nuovo Tours is an experience never to be forgotten.
It was a stalwart, hearty group from Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St Agnes parish who joined an equally stalwart group from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and beyond, all under the guidance of Peter and Raj, the father son two-thirds of Nuovo Tours….Peter’s wife Angie, makes up the triumvirate ….at JFK for a flight to Rome and immediate transfer to Tel Aviv and arrival at our hotel in Tiberius, home for the next three nights.
Weather delays put us in the hotel long after the planned dinner hour, but an affable hotel team nevertheless provided sandwiches and beverages in each of our rooms that evening, a charming welcome after a long flight and a night’s sleep before meeting early in the morning to go to the Sea of Galilee.
Traveling with three priests made it easy and poignant to be able to attend mass daily, each offered in a different church or area marking the location of events in Christ’s life 2000 years ago.
Then it was on to the Bethlehem Hotel on Manger St. in Bethlehem for another four nights and an introduction into the disagreements between the Palestinians and Israeli citizens. After staying in the Palestinian state which includes Bethlehem and journeying into the Israeli state every day to visit Jerusalem and surroundings, it’s easy to see that putting politics and government aside and encouraging the Palestinians and Jews to talk to each other as they both talk with visitors, peace could be a possibility between these warring nations fighting over the most fertile, but also most historic space in the desert.
Not sure how the system works, but Israeli citizens are not allowed into the Palestine area where Bethlehem is located. So daily, our Israeli guide, Hillel, said a warm adieu just before we went through the checkpoint to be back to the hotel. AND EVERY MORNING, Hillel got back on the bus just after we passed back into Israeli territory.
Palestinians can work in Israel with a special permit, and many do, showing their papers at the checkpoint and returning home in the evening. Some guides and bus drivers can visit most states in their work, high fences and winding, gnarled barbed wire reminding bus passengers that wandering from the roadside is not a good idea.
Ask a Palestinian over a glass of wine about it, he’ll laugh, be courteous and joke, “oh, so you want to talk politics again!” But he quickly changes the subject and you never get a response to any question about the divisions.
We arrived in Jerusalem at the Damascus gate, one of seven into the walled city, just days after a reporter was shot there. We left the day before the report of an American tourist shot at the same place. There is a heavy military presence at the Damascus gate, busiest of all the gates and military men and women carrying weapons are not an unusual site anywhere in Jerusalem.
For Israeli citizens, three years of military service for men, and two years for women, are required of all teens before college and studies that lead to many making their mark in the worlds of science, technology, medicine, philosophy and religion. The system seems to work…Israelis are hardworking, intelligent and craving and appreciating education. Their medical facilities and medical genius are up there with the best of them, I personally learned about and appreciated … But that’s a story for another day.
Travel: The Sea of Galilee and St. Peter’s Fish
Visiting Israel to see the Christian sites must involve visiting the beautiful, serene, placid area around the Sea of Galilee where Christ began his three years of public ministry and performed many miracles. Visiting the sites with three priests made it possible to attend Mass and the historic churches and sites built and revered over the grounds that Christ walked more than 2,000 years ago.
Our first mass was in Tabgha, in the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, a church built in 1930 by Benedictine brothers on the site of two earlier churches.
As with many churches and other buildings in Israel, the building has a long history of venerations and destructions by numerous nations and religions, the Byzantines, Persians, and many others over the centuries, in some cases, even before Christ’s time.
Today, at the Church of the Multiplication, the altar is constructed over a block of limestone found during an earlier excavation and venerated as the stone on which Christ served the meal to 5,000 or more from the two loaves and seven fishes of a youngster in the crowd listening to His message. As wonderful and meaningful as that is, the fifth century mosaics, Christian art, depicting birds and fish, and the mosaic in front of the altar of the two fish flanking a basket of bread are also striking and memorable.
An afternoon boat ride on the Sea itself was light-hearted, fun, and far more commercial than the church and monastery visits that were made throughout the tour. Sailing on the water when Christ recruited his first disciples was especially meaningful to the bayshore visitors who appreciate hardworking fishermen and watermen, and listening to live music from a friendly group, singing along, and joining in dance made a delightful afternoon under glorious sunshine. The heart is picturesque, heart-shaped and fed by the Jordan River; today, with very little changing in appearance of either the lake or surrounding area from 2,00 years ago, it serves as a reservoir for Israel. The Israelis in charge of the entertaining on the little boat made it clear they love Americans and welcome them at every chance…..it’s something to hear the US national anthem while enjoying a mini-cruise on the Sea of Galilee in Israel!
We also visited St Peter’s Primacy, a modern church built in 1933 over the remains of a 4th century church; a projection of limestone rock in front of the altar, known as Mensa Christi, or table of Christ, is regarded as the site where Christ prepared a meal for his apostles and named Peter to head His church. The church is located in Capernaum, a town that archeologists have dated back 2,000 years before Christ, and where Christians believe brothers Peter and Andrew, brothers James and John and tax collector Matthew, all Apostles, lived.
This is the town where Jesus performed many miracles, including curing Peter’s mother-in-law, casting out demons, and curing an official’s son. The ruins of an ancient temple tell stories of their own about the rich and long history of this very unique country in the middle of a barren desert. The town is one of the few that is mentioned in the Gospels of all four Evangelists, and is known as the town of Jesus because of the time He spent there during the last three years of His life.
An absolute must for tourists in the area is a sampling of St. Peter’s Fish, though it’s up for discussion whether the fish actually lives in the Sea of Galilee.
The delicacy is mindful of the New Testament story about St. Peter, the fisherman, being asked if Christ paid the temple tax. In response, Christ told Peter to go fishing, and when Peter caught a fish, it had a silver coin in its mouth, enough to pay the temple tax for both Jesus and Peter.
Today, however, there are about 20 different species of fish in the Sea, and of those, only about half could possibly be the kind Peter caught. Of those, popular belief is it’s a barbel that Peter caught, a bottom feeder that fishermen have for centuries, caught on a baited hook.
Regardless of the story or the specific type of fish, we all enjoyed a wonderful luncheon of St. Peter’s fish, which in actuality tastes a lot like tilapia, served in the traditional style: deep fried, on the bone, with slices of lemon. We enjoyed the luncheon in a relaxed setting at long tables facing the water and captivated by the scores of sea gulls who came up to the open windows to feast on the remains waiters tossed out for them.
In the evening, back at the Restal Hotel in Tiberius, our buffet dinner included everything from fresh vegetables, served both hot and gold, tilapia, chicken, desserts and fruits…apples, tangerines, pears and oranges. An evening stroll around the town below the hotel showed plenty of happy shoppers, lots of little eateries with arrays of fresh vegetables and condiments offered tapas style, and little coffee shops for lattes, wines, beer, and friendship. Closing out the evening seated in comfortable chairs in front of the hotel and soaking up clean, refreshing warm air and soft breezes among friends gave us all time to appreciate everything Israel has to offer.
Travel-Carlisle Pennsylvania
I wrote this in 2017 when I was in my one-woman battle to have the Medal of Honor earned by Pvt. Thomas Fallon of Freehold during the CIvil War returned to its rightful owners rather than being displayed, wrongfully, as a Medal of Honor earned by another outstanding military hero at Dickinson College. I was joined in my battle by Congressman Chris Smith after the Army declined to return it to Freehold, and then by Glen Cashin who is the rigthful keeper of this highest award given to a military hero. The Medal of Honor is now in Cashin’s family and they have generously given in on loan to the Monmputh County Historical Association for their exhibition on New Jersey’s Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen is also a descendant of the Fallon family and can claim, rightfully so, relationship to a hero of an earlier era.
CARLISLE, PA. It’s only a three-hour car trip along beautiful roads especially at this time of year, but for historians who like to expand their knowledge of people whose names became known through Monmouth County connections, this is a neat little community with pleasant people, lots of great restaurants, and charming B&Bs at reasonable prices.
Carlisle, located in Cumberland County about 20 miles west of Harrisburg, the state capital, dates to the 1700s when John Armstrong laid out a plan for the city to accommodate the Scot-Irish who settled in the area to farm the land. It’s about five miles in size with just under 20,000 residents and is named for its sister city in England, also located in Cumberland.
For Monmouth Countians, probably the most famous name associated with Carlisle is Molly Pitcher, the legend of the Battle of Monmouth who carried water for the cannons and soldiers when her husband was injured during this turning point of the Revolution. She died in Carlisle in 1832 and is buried in the local cemetery, her monument large and imposing complete with cannon and surrounded by fencing. Almost adjacent to the cemetery is the Molly Pitcher Brewery where any number of brews with fascinating names like Cannonball Kolsch, Redcoat, Patriot Pale Ale, Black Powder Stout and The Minuteman remind visitors of Molly’s days of fame. There’s also the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion restaurant, highlighting the day when President George Washington himself led his troops to squash the insurrection of farmers from Pennsylvania and New Jersey who objected to the whiskey tax. The rebels left before any encounter with the troops, but the tax was not repealed until Thomas Jefferson became President.
Every Wednesday through December, there’s also a terrific Farmer’s Market set up in the heart of town, where you can purchase numerous products from the Amish, like pickled beets and Cole slaw, along with great cheeses; other booths offer unique varieties including Alpaca fur products, salmon from Alaska and fresh produce.
It’s also a great area for wineries, and the Castleriff in the heart of town offers daily wine tastings, and great company.
The city is also home to Dickinson College, named by Benjamin Rush after the Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress who declined to sign the Declaration of Independence. President James Buchanan, the nation’s only bachelor President, is also an alumnus of Dickinson, despite almost being kicked out for bad behavior before being given a second chance at finishing his education.
And it’s in the Museum at the college where there is a Medal of Honor which had been given to a Freehold resident for his service in the Civil War. The Medal of Honor received by the Freehold resident, Pvt. Thomas Fallon, doesn’t honor the Freehold tailor and father of three children, but rather is being used to show the type of Medal of Honor that a Dickinson College alumnus earned during the Civil War.
Nor is there any indication the Medal of Honor on display belongs to our local hero. Rather, the sign simply denotes it was given to Cornelius King to replace the one he had received, also during the Civil War. Of course, that isn’t true either. The Medal of Honor earned by Pvt. Fallon was given to Dickinson College, not General King, in 1957, long after both Civil War heroes had died. In making the presentation to the College named for a non-signer of the Declaration of Independence, the Army simply said they gave the College the honor at their archivist’s request because “among the few old medals on hand we have found one which is of the appropriate type.” The Medal of Honor, our nation’s highest and most esteemed honor for a military person, was ‘salvaged’ the Army said. But there is no indication from where, how, or when it was ‘salvaged,’ or whether in fact any effort had been taken to locate a descendant of the true recipient of this great national honor. It was just one of “a few old medals on hand.” The Congressional Medal of Honor!
Just outside of town is the U.S Army Heritage Education Center and Carlisle Barracks, where Washington went to review the troops for that Whiskey Rebellion. Today it is an outstanding museum with displays, information and artifacts from every war in which the Army has participated from the Civil War to the present. The Barracks is part of the US Army Training and Doctrine Command and the site of the Army’s War College. It’s also the second oldest still active military base in the nation and, had Washington had his way, would have been the site for the Military Academy now at West Point. The Archives has a wealth of information on another famous New Jerseyan, Civil War General Philip Kearny, the same general who recommended Pvt. Fallon for his Congressional Medal of Honor.
Hotels and B&Bs in town look inviting and charming, but even more so is an 18th century B&B set on 1,500 acres of land complete with a handful of horses and rolling hills. The Fallen Tree Farm B&B is minutes from the heart of Carlisle as well as the quaint village of Boiling Springs, a 19th century settlement complete with ironworks stables, an iron furnace, grist mill, and walking tours past great historic homes. B&B Hosts Kim and Brent Hanlin, along with their daughters, give you the privacy you want in a luxurious retreat but the warmth and friendliness of the community..to say nothing of terrific breakfasts including poached pears and caramelized Texas grapefruit before servings of homemade pastries and breads.
No Ones Talking
ATL. HIGHLANDS – Independent candidates for Borough Council Zack Brown and Morgan Spicer have withdrawn from the Oct. 18 debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters, cancelling that possibility among the six candidates vying for the two seats open on council in the Nov. 2. Election.
In their letter to the League of Women Voters, the two candidates wrote:
We are saddened that the Republican candidates have withdrawn from this debate. Morgan Spicer and I were excited when we believed all six candidates were participating, and we have been preparing eagerly.
Our feeling from the beginning has been that the purpose of this forum is to educate the residents of town about our campaigns, and give them a chance to ask us questions about issues that are important to them. We continue to feel this is only possible with all 6 candidates participating.
As the Republican candidates have confirmed that will not be possible we no longer feel that our participation in this debate is in the best interest of our campaign, or the residents of our Atlantic Highlands.
We greatly appreciate your time, energy, and passion for our democracy. Therefore, we have sent a $100.00 donation so those efforts were not in vain.. We are grateful for the opportunity and deeply sad that we feel we must now respectfully decline the offer to participate in this forum.
We continue to believe that a forum with all 6 candidates present is in the best interest of our community, and if the other campaigns can find a mutually agreeable arrangement, we will be there.
Regretfully,
Zack Brown & Morgan Spicer
The two Republican candidates, incumbent Council President James Murphy and Ellen O’Brien, had advised the League earlier this week they would not participate in the debate based on discussions they had with members of the league and their belief there was no acceptable protection in place for several terms of the debate as set forth by the League. With only the two Democratic candidates agreeing to the debate, the League has now canceled the Oct. 18 event.
