When September Ends

Random thoughts on this final day of September:

There was good news for Manchester Township school officials but not in Brick as a result of yesterday’s special referendums on building and renovation projects in the two school districts. Manchester voters by a solid margin approved a facilities project that was scaled down from two previous unsuccessful attempts and will see nearly 30% of the cost paid by state funding and energy grants. The news in Brick was discouraging for as all four questions in the proposal were voted down by nearly a 2-1 margin. I personally received feedback from my segment yesterday in which I strongly endorsed the passage of the referendum, especially dealing with the improvements at Brick Township High School which is more than 50 years old. Several people wrote or called me to say they had no confidence in the Board of Education and questioned why officials had allowed conditions to deteriorate over so many years. It seems there are big problems here and the real losers are the children in the district now and the ones coming through in the near future.

Let me plug a couple of fundraisers and events coming up Friday. The Beach Bar on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights will be the site of “Cocktails for a Cause” as part of LIVESTRONG Day, the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s one-day initiative to unite people affected by cancer. Lori Ditzel has organized the event to raise money for The Cancer Institute of New Jersey Foundation as well as the Lance Armstrong Foundation. It starts at 5pm with free admission; free food, drink specials, auctions and 50/50’s….donations are encouraged.

Martell’s Waters Edge in Bayville will be the site of a Friends of Central Regional Football Night from 6:30-10:30 featuring a Backyard BBQ. Tickets are $25 each and you must be 21 years old to attend.

You’ve no doubt heard the expression….”chip off the old block” or “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Yesterday my daughter Alex called to inform me that she was voted “Most Talkative” as part of the senior class favorites at Toms River South. She thought it was funny because her brother earned that same distinction six years earlier. What I thought was more interesting that 36 years ago while a senior at Central Regional High School I was voted “Class Bigmouth” which is really the same thing.