Memorial Day is not a day designed to make me happy. But it was a day that did make me happy in so many ways, in spite of being set aside as a day to remember all those men and women who have died for the nation in protecting the freedom we enjoy today and every day.
Among the many things that did make me happy was the sight of the American flag. In so many places, sizes, creating such a striking reminder of the red, white and blue and what those colors and 50 stars really stand for.
It made me happy to see the front of Ptak Tower in Highlands lined with American flags, whether as a reminder of the Highlands youth who lost his life in Vietnam and for whom the building is named, or for the veterans living and enjoying life in that building along Shore Drive.
It made me happy, as always, to see the American flag flying at the Highlands Elementary School. At a height overlooking much of the town and so visible to the thousands who travel past it on Route 36, it’s wonderful to see how Dr. Jacoutot, the principal and his staff, not only respect that flag, but the staff teaches the students about it, and the employees do their best to keep it at the right height for all occasions.
It made me happy to see the flags flying along Memorial Parkway in Atlantic Highlands, albeit fewer every year since some flagpoles have come down after accidents along the state highway.
It makes me happy to see the bulletin board in front of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, always with a clever and thought provocative message, to remind passersby this week that “the flag does not fly because of the wind, it flies because of the last breath of every soldier.”
It made me happy to hear the pastor, Father Jarlath, offer the mass of the day for all the deceased men and women of the armed services, as well as those still living and helping maintain the nation’s freedom.
It also makes me happy to see how many homes and gardens fly the American flag daily, but over Memorial Day, there were ever so many more.
The ladies that walked up and down First Avenue or were present at the Memorial Park across from Borough Hall in Atlantic Highlands before and during the parade not only handed out American flags but also poppies, a reminder of all those killed at Flanders Field in Europe during the first World War.
Hopefully, on D Day, the Sixth of June, there were be just as many flags flying to remind Americans and visitors that more than 10,000 Allied troops were killed during that invasion in World War II, more than 2500 of them at Normandy Beach alone.
The day is a day of memory, in spite of also being the unofficial beginning of summer, a time to party, bring out the grill and look forward to vacation days and wide-open beaches. But if it is observed as a day when we truly remember all those who fought so that today, in 2025, and every day forward, we can live to enjoy it, than it’s ok to be happy on Memorial Day.
Memorial Day Memorial Day Memorial Day Memorial Day Memorial Day
Paved Mayor Carolyn Broullon is speaking with Monmouth County officials Monday morning, following yet another water main break on Bay Avenue that closed portions of the county road for several hours over the weekend. There was also an earlier water main break Saturday evening about 5 p.m. However, that break was repaired that night.
Highlands Mayor Carolyn Broullon
Broullon said, however, that both local residents and visitors were both accommodating and understanding with the closures, and the Highlands Police Department has been exceptional in handling traffic direction as well as stress levels and frustrations of motorists.
“It’s standard procedure to notify County officials because Bay Avenue is a county road,” the mayor said. Once the police department notified New Jersey American Water, the company notified the county, and work was started immediately to repair the break and repave the road.
Broullon , who was on site Sunday, said Monmouth County officials were also on site and since the damage to the road was so extensive by the water company accessing the break, it was directed to pave the road from curb to curb.
The Bay Avenue break happened some time before 9 p.m. Saturday night and was repaired and the roads open again by 1:30 Sunday afternoon.
Both the breaks and road closures have been especially frustrating to borough officials and troublesome to borough residents and visitors, the mayor said, since the borough had asked the water company to replace the decades old mains last year when the road was open for the new construction. The water company refused to do the work at that time, in spite of the aging lines, she said. Since the county completed repaving Bay Avenue on October 24 or last year, there have been 14 water main breaks.
Like the thousands who have known him over the decades of his life, VeniVidiScripto mourns the death of Tinker West. He will live on in the memory of so many people for such diverse reasons and for so many dramatic, innovative, creative, and wonderful things he has done throughout his life, all the time keeping his independence, his love of music, and his brilliant scientific mind.
Tinker was a Highlands boy, regardless of where he came from and what he did. His was the purple building with the Nightmare before Christmas on the roof, a bright reminder of his ability to follow the law, do the right thing, but never lose a shred of his independence.
The Freehold singer who depended so much on Tinker when he himself was down and out and not famous needed Tinker and Tinker helped him make the right connections to get to the right places to become the recording idol, he was.
But Tinker did not need the star; he shared his friendship and generosity with everyone.
Historian, writer, editor Robert Grant had a lot to say about Tinker in memory of him this week.
Calling him the most remarkable person he ever met, Grant , who knew Tinker for 55 years, said, “Tinker was truly a renaissance man: Surfer / Manufacturer / Promoter / Talent Manager / Entrepreneur / Rocket Scientist / Sound Engineer / Mentor / Guitarist / Blues Harpist / Mensch. He was truly a multi-talented man and a perfectionist. “
He continues “. Three words best describe TINKER: Humble, Kind and Generous.”
Grant said he has been writing non-stop for 12 hours sharing with friends in the U.K. how Tinker was the silent force pushing and guiding Bruce Springsteen to monumental success.
Bruce too has been writing thoughtful, heart rendering words about the man he credits with helping him get ahead.
He admitted that Tinker was one of the most important people of his young life. He tells the story “ In 1970 when I had nothing, nowhere to live, was broke with nowhere to go, he recognized my talent and took me in. We lived together in one tiny room of his Wanamassa, New Jersey Challenger Eastern Surfboard Factory. His mattress was on one side of the room and mine was six feet away on the other. He was a natural born misanthrope. He was not an easy man to know, live with, or be around. He was from California and was an old school frontier individualist asking no quarter and giving none. If you weren’t useful, he didn’t want you near him. If you visited the surf shop for more than ten minutes he’d shove a broom in your hand and tell you to start sweeping. He wasn’t joking. “
The singer went on to talk about Tinker’s “1940’s Chevrolet flatbed truck with all our band equipment under a tarp in the back seeking our fame and fortune out west. The truck was old and huge with an unwieldy, grinding transmission and he insisted we drive straight through to Big Sur, our only gig, without stopping, for 72 hours. He also insisted I, without skills or license drive my share. That’s how Tinker taught you something. He just made you do it.”
Springsteen went on to say he believes Tinker “sprung near full grown from the mountains, valleys, and waves of a primitive and unknowable California.”
Even though he didn’t seem to have much, was sitting in his purple building on Bay Avenue, Springsteen said ghat even after he himself became a success, “Tinker asked me for exactly nothing. He was forever alone, working, off the grid and independent. I was always satisfied when I would be the recipient of Tink’s highest compliment. “Springsteen, you don’t fuck around. . ”No, I didn’t and neither did Carl Virgil West “
Springsteen saw his friend and mentor in the hospital , hear his death last week from throat cancer. He said, “He smiled when he saw me, and I kissed one of my errant father’s goodbyes. I hung out for a while; he pulled me close and his voice raspy and nearly gone whispered “ We sure had some adventures, didn’t we?” I answered, “we sure did” . When I was about to leave, I saw something I never thought I’d see in this life or the next. He cried. I loved him. “
In my book, the ABCs of Highlands, “T is for Tinker.” I concentrated more on his turning away from the world of rockets and spaceships he knew so well to the things he liked to do better… music, friends, the Highlands Music and Arts Fair of 1972 and the fact he never forgot his friends.
To all those with special, private memories of Carl Tinker West…my sympathy. Remember the good times, remember the friendship. And say a prayer in thanks for all he brought to the world.
Vivian Bufano, the daughter of Jill and Christopher Bufano of Red Bank, was the local and state winner of the recent Daughters of the American Revolution Essay contest for fifth grade students. Vivian is a student at St. Leo‘s school in Lincroft and was entered into the state competition because of her first place winner in the local contestant which included participants from eight schools.
In addition to choosing to write about one of the three other tea parties held prior to the Revolution in addition to the famed one at Boston, students had to give their reasons for selecting the specific tea party each chose, then in 500 words describe the event from the point of view of a person actually at the tea party.
Vivian, who is a straight A student at St. Leo’s and attends mass at St. Leo the Great Church, chose to write about the tea party at Edenton, NC saying simply she chose that particular town because it was a small town and one she had never heard of before.
She said she found the research into the Revolutionary period thrilling and was thrilled to be selected as both the state and local winner, as well as the honor of reading her essay along with other grade level winners. But, she added, firmly, she would not have liked living in the South during the 1700s, “because girls and women did not have many rights.”
While Language Arts is her favorite school subject since she enjoys writing and creating stories, Vivian said she also likes math because she finds it fun!.
However, outside the classroom and academics, the fifth grader also attended dance at the Academy of Dance Arts in Tinton Falls and performs annually in their production of the Nutcracker at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, She has her mind set on becoming a professional in a ballet company when she is older, but will not put aside her love and ability to write at the same time.
Academics is important in the Bufano family. Vivian’s older brother, Preston, is an honor student at Christian Brothers Academy.
For Vivian, as a student and parishioner of St. Leo’s, it has also been a banner year because of the election of Pope Leo XIV earlier this month and the fact their parish is named for Leo XIII, who the new Pope admired and revered. Another special admiration for the new Pope is because he chose the same named as her great grandfather in selecting Leo.
Both the fun of research, then writing from the viewpoint of an 18th century women and the honor of being selected as the local winner but also the state winner, Vivian said that while this was her first entry in a writing contest, it is certainly not her last and she is looking forward to the DAR chapter’s competition for sixth graders next year.
The essay, in addition to requiring a minimum of four resources, was based on historical accuracy, interest to the reader, organizational skills, vocabulary and English spelling and grammar perfection.
Vivian’s essay was written from the point of view of a woman who actually participated in the Edenton Tea Party.
The Edenton Tea Party
By Vivian Bufano
I’m so nervous and filled with so much excitement about tomorrow I can hardly sleep! who would have thought I, Elizabeth Moore would be doing something so brave, so courageous, so powerful?
It all started when my neighbor Penelope Barker came to me asking if I would sign her petition against our greedy and cruel motherland and its unfair tea taxes! I had of course heard about the Boston protestors and them dumping 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor and there have been reports of tea being burned in Wilmington as well! It’s hard to even imagine the sight of tea being burned, but the taxes are so oppressive and controlling!
The women of Wilmington are so inspirational and have boldly shown we colonists won’t stand for this unequal treatment and the time has come to demand our independence. The time has come for us in Edenton to do the same! I am so proud of Penelope for taking charge and organizing this petition. Penelope is my wonderful neighbor, and her husband is our colony’s treasurer. Mr. Barker and my husband share beliefs about the future of our little town and the importance of our port.
Even though we are a small port in comparison to Boston, we are vital and growing! I could tell Penelope was nervous when she approached me and passionately told me her beliefs and plan! I could not believe she had even written a petition and had a few signatures already. Most signatures were names I recognized, and I wasn’t at all surprised to see the name of Mary Moore on there! Moore’s husband was a wealthy merchant, and I know these taxes are affecting his trade terribly!
Before signing myself I thought perhaps I should discuss it with my husband first.’ Penelope bravely pulled out a letter she intended on sending to The Morning chronicle and London Advertiser, a British newspaper. After reading the letter in full a fire was lit within me and I signed immediately! I too was ready to protest, ready to show our strength and desire for true freedom’ ready to even burn tea if necessary !
Later that evening, once my husband was home from his job at the bustling Edenton Port, I told him about Penelope’s visit. I was fearful he might be angry with me for signing the petition without first discussing it with him.
My fears quickly disappeared when he jumped up and hugged me, telling me how proud he was of me and how brave I was for supporting Penelope’s cause! I was so relieved and with his blessing I joined Penelope’s quest for more petition signatures!
Together we have collected more than 50 signatures! Can you believe it? After meeting together for weeks, we have decided that tomorrow will be the day for true action! Tomorrow is the day our petition and Penelope’s brave letter declare our freedom and inform England and her tyrannical leaders we will no longer be buying, trading, and drinking tea! We are taking it another step and refusing to buy British clothing and all other goods! I am aware this is a bold choice, but I firmly believe it’s the only way to prove our commitment to the cause!
We are united and our voices will be heard! Tomorrow is a new day, and I am proud to be part of it standing alongside my neighbors and friends! Not buying tea may be very difficult, but falling asleep when I am bubbling over with all this excitement and hope may prove to be even more difficult!
Showing the respect and honor the American Legion Post 141 and the Borough of Atlantic Highlands has for its police chief and his department, Chief Scott Reinert was grand marshal of the Memorial Day parade for the fourth year, thanking the crowd at the Memorial service following the parade for their kindness and thoughtfulness.
Borough of Atlantic Highlands police chief Chief Scott Reinert
The chief said it was a day to remember all those who have lost their lives in defense of the country. Referring to names inscribed on the memorial at Memorial Park on First Avenue, Reinert said he was marching “for each of them,” expressing his personal thanks for all those who served in the military.
The Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club marched in this year’s parade for the first time, showing the camaraderie and pride yacht club members take in having their members participate in the annual municipal event.
Founded in 1953, the mission of the club is to attract and bring together dedicated individuals who share a mutual respect for the sea, and to encourage and advance all aspects of boating, yacht racing, and on-water activities.
The club provides a welcome and safe haven to yachtsmen and yachtswomen who visit the harbor. It is highly regarded for its location within the protected Atlantic Highlands Municipal Harbor and maintains the reputation of being a convenient and popular stopover for boaters cruising or in transit to Sandy Hook and New York Harbor.
Bands from both the Henry Hudson Regional school and the Highlands Elementary school provided music during the parade which extended from the Yacht Harbor to the Memorial Park here services were held at the end of the parade.
The fire department, along with Navesink are the traditional final parts of the parade, but not before the children’s recreational activities and Boy Scout Troop 22 all parade, wave to the crowd and show their love for the community.
The Atlantic Highlands First Aid Squad, always an essential part of the borough, displayed their equipment which they raise funds through generous donors to purchase, waving to the crowd and accepting applause along the route.
In the meantime, volunteers with the American Legion handed out candies, poppies and American flags walking along the route to ensure they got to greet everyone and offer them symbols of patriotism and candies for the kids.
In addition to the band and taps, the Hudson choir, as well as Councilman Brian Dougherty and Stefanie Hayden provided music throughout the memorial service. Members of the Legion Post 141 placed flags on the memorial as the names of each of the local men who lost their lives in war were solemnly called out.
The MAST Honor Guard provided a color guard for the ceremony, under the leadership of c/Lt. Cdr. Nicholas Bellows. Prior to marching in the parade, the Honor Guard earlier had also presented a similar guard in Middletown for a memorial service at Croydon Hall.
The American Flag should be flown at half-staff on Monday, May 26, Memorial Day, to commemorate the men and women who have died while in the military service.
Lowering the flag is a visible sign of mourning and remembrance of the American military. At noon, the flag on May 26 should then be raised to full staff until sunset as a sign of the nation’s resolve to continue fighting for liberty and to keep alive the memory of whose who died in service.
Memorial Day had its beginnings as Decoration Day, 1868, when General John A. Logan, leader of an organization of Northern Civil War soldiers, called for a nationwide day of remembrance for all those who lost their lives in the Civil War.
He selected May 30th for the purpose, since it was not the anniversary of any particular battle fought during that war between the states. The war had ended in the spring of 1865 and has gone down in history as the war that has claimed more lives than any other conflict in United States history. It was also the war that required the establishment of the nation’s first national cemeteries.
Many towns and cities in both the North and the South had set aside days to pay tributes in the spring of each year to remember all those killed in the Civil War. Many people met in cemeteries, decorating graves with flowers, reciting prayers, and remembering the military men killed in battle or from illness as a result of battles.
But General Logan wanted a tribute from the united nation and set aside May 30 as a time to continue such honors throughout the country. He called it Decoration Day because of the many people who decorated graves each spring in recognition of those killed. General Logan called for remembrances of the military dead whose bodies he said, “now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.”
On the first Decoration Day, it was General James Garfield, later President Garfield, who made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery; the cemetery had been established in Virginia Jun 15, 1864, and where now 20,000 Civil War soldiers are buried. More than 5,000 people turned out to decorate the graves that day, while many smaller cemeteries observed similar honors. By 1890, each of the norther states had made Decoration Day an official state holiday, while southern states continued to honor the dead on various days during the year.
The federal government declared Waterloo, New York as the official birthplace of Memorial Day, since it hosted an annual community wide event on May 5, 1866 when businesses closed and residents decorated graves of fallen soldiers.
After the United State entered World War I half a century after the end of the Civil War, the Decoration Day observance evolved into a day to honor those who died in all wars and became known as Memorial Day. It officially became the name of the holiday to honor the fallen from all wars in 1967.
Today, in addition to visiting graves and placing flowers and American flags on soldiers’ and sailors’ graves, many communities hold parades and memorials for the fallen. Many wear a red poppy in remembrance of those fallen in war, a tradition that began with a World War I poem.
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
The poem was written by John McCrae, a poet and physician from Ontario Canada.
The physician was fighting with the Canadian army at Ypres in the Flanders section of Belgium when it was under attack by Germany. He wrote the poem after one of his friends, Alex Helmer, was killed in the fighting. McCrae helped bury his friend in a makeshift grave with a simple wooden cross. He was moved by the sight of the red poppies just beginning to bloom between many new graves in the fields of Belgium, and wrote the poem sitting in the back of an ambulance.
McCrae came home from that battle, was transferred to another unit with the Army and served in France. He contacted pneumonia, developed cerebral meningitis and died January 28, 1938 in a military hospital in Wimereux.
He was buried at Wimereux Cemetery with full military honors, not far from Flanders Field.
MAST cadets at flag with Senior Chief Michel Vaccarrella and Post Commander Peter Doyle at far right.
Photo by c/SN Margaret Parker, a freshman at MAST
Community Service “We are so proud of our extraordinary cadets at MAST,” said Senior Chief Mike Vaccarella USN (ret), this week, speaking of the more than 80 cadets, approximately 25 per cent of the student body, who participated in a variety of special events over the past week at various parts of Monmouth County.
Cadets, for the third consecutive year, volunteered in the early morning hours Saturday to assist Fins for Freedom, the non-profit agency designed to offer “Aqua-Therapy” for veterans.
The Cadets arrived at the Atlantic Highlands municipal Harbor before 6 a.m. to help register the nearly 100 veterans who were given a day’s outing on various private craft with fishermen who donated their craft and services to enable veterans to enjoy a day of fishing that started with breakfast and ended with a dinner at On the Deck Restaurant after a day of fishing . Cadets helped serve breakfast, give out gifts and escort the veterans to their respective crafts for the day’s outing.
Participating in this event were Juniors/LCDR Nicholas Billows, c/ENS James Baeta, c/SCPO Jack Cohen, c/SCPO Samuel Schultheis, c/CPO Anthony Conheeney; and sophomore c/PO2 Peter Brown. Additionally, Monmouth County Vocational School District junior student, Ryan Deverin, from the Academy of Law and Public Safety (ALPS) also volunteered with the MAST students when he learned that C/Lt Tyler Terhune, who has organized the cadets for the day for each year, was unable to attend because of a prior commitment. Deverin said he was aware of the importance of the job each cadet was doing, and “I wanted to contribute to it as well and fill in as a substitute for Terhune.”
MAST cadets at flag with Senior Chief Michel Vaccarrella and Post Commander Peter Doyle at far right. Photo by c/SN Margaret Parker, a freshman at MAST
Vaccarella said at the same time another 15 cadets were at Bayview Cemetery replacing more than 700 American flags on the graves of veterans from the Revolutionary War to the 21st century, another annual service the cadets provide in advance of every Memorial Day. The cadets work with other volunteers from Rumson Fair Haven High School in removing flags they placed last year with new flags, then folding the discarded flags and turning them over for Boy Scout Troop 22 to hold their own disposal service.
These MAST volunteers included freshman c/SA Liam O’Reilly, c/SA Jack Grumbach, c/SA Gavin Conk, c/SA Anisha Gupta, c/SN Lucas Abrams, c/SN Margaret Parker, c/SN Scottie Moran, c/SN Abigail Reilly, c/PO3 Mateo Gonzalez, c/PO3 Luca Portelli; sophomores, c/PO3 Ryan Gilmartin, c/PO2 Kyra Pepe, c/PO2 Madelyn Kilar, and juniors c/LTJG Donovan Post, and c/LTJG Samantha Vo.
“Honoring our Veterans, Community Service is an integral part of NJROTC, “ Vaccarella said.
“Their volunteerism is not limited to these two events” said the acting senior naval instructor
Since April 1 of 2024 to April 1, 2025, Vaccarrella continued, “MAST cadets completed 13,775 Community Service hours. MAST NJROTC supports our local Veterans of Foreign War, the American Legion, many local municipalities in parades and Color Guards memorials and remembrance events. MAST also supports many environmental projects, Clean Ocean Action, NOAA, Littoral Society, and the Student Summit to mention a few.”
In addition to Finns for Freedom and Bayview Cemetery, another 18 MAST cadets were also volunteering last weekend for the 21st annual Ocean Fun Day, a free marine science educational event open to the public where science agencies and nonprofit organizations donate their time to provide fun hands-on activities to people of all ages. “The MASTies participated by helping the scientists teach the public about research projects including effects of ocean temp on lobsters, providing children with face painting, and stocking and manning a touch tank. “
c/ENS Laila Caramanica is Battalion Media Specialist at MAST and secures and reports all the information on a variety of MAST activities.
Community Service Community Service Community Service Community Service Community Service
Fins for Freedom and all their sponsors not only provide a day of fun, friendship and fishingfor veterans on private boats every year, thanks to the help and generosity of boat captains, their mates and their craft, but they also rely on the help of cadets from MAST, the Marine Academy of Science and Technology, who have volunteered in the program for the last three years, with C/Lt. Tyler Terhune of MAST organizing the cadets to their various roles.
The cadets not only help serve breakfast in advance of the day’s fishing, as well as give Fins for Freedom T shirts and other gifts provided by generous sponsors to the veterans, but they also help direct the veterans to their fishing boats for the day and introduce them to the captains. In recognition of all their volunteerism every year, Fins for Freedom President Jake Campi presented an award to MAST students at this year’s event, thanking Terhune for his organization, and all the MAST cadets for their hours of providing a service to veterans.
VeniVidiScripto has received many, calls, notes, e-mails from teachers, other employees, spouses of employees, parents and taxpayers with no children in the Henry Hudson district schools, ranging from “why do we have to pay o much in taxes for the schools?” or “You better check into Henry Hudson, there’s something going on but I’m afraid to tell you.” Or “I’m going to take my kids out because they’re not challenged enough there.”
Lots of questions. Lots of complaints. Every day. Practically all come with the plea, “don’t let anybody know this came from me, because I’ll get in trouble,…or I’ll lose my job “or something will happen to me.”
Oceanport Resident and Henry Hudson School District Superintendent Tara Beams
Questioned further on the fear factor, the response is simply something like “check how many teachers have left since this super came,” or “are you kidding? You don’t know how mean she is?” or “go up to Hudson one day, you can hear her screaming in her office.”
This week VeniVidiScripto ran a story on the contract awarded to the business administrator at over $190,000 a year plus benefits and the fact that at the same meeting this was unanimously approved by the board of education, the board also unanimously approved cutting three full time employees to part time. That meant in addition to leaving them with smaller paychecks immediately, it also cost them vacation and medical benefits.
Within hours more than 1,000 readers read the story, Yet only one made any comment afterwards. And that comment was simply, “so that’s why our taxes are so high.”
Knowing how many comments VeniVidiScripto usually gets to stories on Facebook, having this story absent comments came as a surprise. The story pointed out that between the administrator and the superintendent, taxpayers are paying more than a quarter of a million dollars And with about 700 students in the schools, which comes to a hefty chunk of the local tax dollar which accounts to more than half of the total municipal tax rate in both towns.
But only one person who read the story had any comment to make? Is there more fear out there?
Rocco Savin was cited as the Student of the month for the Highlands Elementary School. Although principal Dr. William Jacoutot could not be present at the meeting because of a family emergency, he noted that Savin deserved the award because he is very respectful of both his peers and his teachers. “He has persevered and shown tremendous growth as a student,” the principal said.
Faye Kotzas was honored as the Atlantic Highlands Elementary School Student of the Month and received her certificate from principal by Michael Ferrarese.
Henry Hudson students were honored with school attendance awards, and these included Devan Dail, Madison Smalize, Ben Rossbach and Shane Panarra. The High School’s anchor Awards were presented to Alyson DiBlasi, Blake Lewis and Kaitlyn Nastasi.
Staff members of the month honored by each school and the board are Susan Cusson at Highlands, Meghan Leahey at Atlantic highlands, and Rachel DeWyngaert at Henry Hudson.
Board member Rebecca Wells of Highlands was recognized by the board on achieving 10 years of service with the NJ School Boards Association. Ms Wells served on both the Highlands and the Henry Hudson boards and currently is on the Henry Hudson Board.
