Random Thoughts

Random thoughts on the final weekday of April and a day that saw many get up early to watch the Royal Wedding which in itself is rather strange and perplexing.

Those who attended last night’s Toms River-Ocean County Chamber of Commerce Dinner Gala at Eagle Ridge Golf Course were promised by the Master of Ceremonies that it would be a fast-moving program that would get everyone home in time for the Giants first-round pick in the NFL Draft. I know because I was the MC and I lived up to my promise….actually the program ended in record time. The evening saw the eloquent Dr. Jon Larson of Ocean County College honored as the Distinguished Citizen of the Year while JCP&L and New Jersey Natural Gas were saluted as organizations of the year. In addition the event served as a changing of the guard with Rich Krug replacing Ken Fitzpatrick as chairman of the Chamber and a new group of officers and directors took their oaths of office.
Attorneys Stephan Leone and Harvey York were co-chairman of the dinner committee and had plenty of help, especially from Director of Operations Jean Hryniw and new Chamber President Maureen Stankowitz.

Toms River South and Jackson Memorial played four times last baseball season and it would not be a shock if that happened again this spring. The Indians and Jaguars received the top two seeds in the Ocean County Tournament and will be on a collision course to meet in the finals which they did last year. South won that game and 3 of the 4 meetings in 2010. However the Jaguars topped the Indians earlier this month in a Class A South battle and the teams play again Monday night at Ken Frank Stadium where a Jackson win would put them in great shape to claim the division title. The teams are a combined 17-2 and clearly the best in the area.

Central Regional’s Marc Calleo (cal-e’-oh) will be saluted Monday as the WOBM/Gateway Toyota Student of the Week but he gets some early radio props for his pitching performance Thursday. He threw a one-hitter to lead the Golden Eagles past Pinelands as they remained a game behind Class B South-leading Manchester.

Congratulations to Jess Kavanagh of Point Pleasant Boro, who successfully defended her title at the Ocean County Girls Golf Tournament yesterday at Westlake Golf & Country Club in Jackson. The Panther junior finished five shots ahead of Lacey’s Alexa Leahy who did lead the Lions to the team championship in just their third varsity season. Kavanagh will have a chance next year to become the first three-time winner of the event.

Voting & Judging

School budgets fared much better in Ocean County this year than last although once again some of the larger districts saw their spending plans voted down during Wednesday’s School Elections. Voters in 20 of the 28 districts approved their budgets which was a marked improvement over 2010 when only 11 got the thumbs-up from voters. At least to me one of the bigger surprises was the budget passing in the Toms River Regional School District. It was the first election since the resignation of longtime superintendent Michael J. Ritacco and many expected the backlash of that controversy to be reflected in the voting booth but by a margin of less than 500 votes the budget was approved. At the same time Toms River voters elected Ben Giovine, Loreen Torrone and Alex Pavliv to the Board of Education…the trio ran under the “Clean Slate” banner in an election which saw three longtime incumbents not to seek re-election.

Among other districts to pass their budgets were Southern Regional, Lacey, Pinelands Regional, Barnegat and Point Pleasant. The eight districts that saw voters reject their spending plans were Berkeley, Brick, Central Regional, Jackson, Lakewood, Manchester, Plumstead and Seaside Park. 21% of registered voters cast ballots Wednesday, which is a bit less than last year but still more than would usually vote during the school elections. Part of the interest might be due to special elections to exceed municipal caps in Brick and Jackson which had mixed results with Brick voters approving the waiver and those in Jackson soundly rejecting the plan.

Switching gears I had the distinct honor of serving as a judge once again for the finals of The Crab’s Claw Inn’s Karaoke Contest which featured four winners of previous weekly competitions. This was the third year that the Lavallette restaurant and bar held the contest and I’ve judged all three although my contract will have to be re-negotiated in the future. Anyway all four of the finalists had their own “fan clubs” and it made picking a winner based on vocal ability, stage presence and crowd support a difficult task. The winner was a popular choice as Judy Mekles of Lavallette wowed the crowd with a stirring rendition of Cher’s “Believe.” Mekles, who is the nurse at Island Heights Elementary School finished third in the 2009 contest and had already decided this would be her final attempt at the top prize of $1000 and it proved to be successful.

School Elections

New Jersey’s Annual School Elections are today with districts deciding the fate of school budgets and in some cases selecting representatives to their local Board of Education. Last year nearly 25% of registered voters in Ocean County cast ballots which was much higher than in previous years. The interest was in part sparked by the bleak economic state of affairs in New Jersey and Governor Christie’s battle with the New Jersey Education Association. Only 11 of 28 school districts in the county passed their budgets which was considerably less than 2009 when 23 spending plans were approved. What really stood out was that most of the larger districts overwhelmingly rejected their budgets with only Toms River, Southern Regional and Stafford able to overcome that trend and get voter approval. It certainly seemed that the bigger turnout was made up by those who clearly were heading to the polls to vote no.

There is no reason to expect a different outcome today but at the very least you would hope that voters are somewhat informed as they step into the booth. The bottom line is many will take out their frustrations today because it’s the only time they get a say in how their taxes are spent and in these times its hard to blame those who simply reject anything they feel will cost them more money. However if they have done some research they may find their district has taken the current state of affairs into consideration and is presenting pretty much a bare-bones budget. Many include administrative wage freezes, personnel cutbacks, significant cuts to programs and extracurricular activities and more. For this reason there will be districts that are presenting budgets that don’t call for any tax increase or ones that are quite small…although again any increase to some is simply not acceptable.

However until our state is able to find another way to fund education besides property taxes this is the system we are stuck with. If you feel your districts has done their homework and is presenting a fair budget then it deserves your support…even if you don’t have school-aged children. If you have children in school and don’t support the local budget then you will have nobody to blame if your kids have to walk further to and from school and they are home early because the extracurricular program they used to be involved in has been cut.

As for those running for the Board of Education they deserve some credit right off the bat for giving their time and effort to a volunteer position that often comes with little reward. Here’s hoping the ones doing it for the right reasons prevail today.

Tuesday This & That

Most public schools are re-opening today after what’s commonly referred to as “spring recess” and it’s now pretty much about a 7-8 week sprint to the finish line.
D
espite all that harsh weather in the early part of winter many districts only had to use a few snow days so they are getting out in pretty much the middle of June.
Tomorrow of course is the annual school elections and I will use this time Wednesday to talk about voting on the budget and candidates for the local school board.

The Toms River-Ocean County Chamber of Commerce will honor Ocean County College President Dr. John Larson during Thursday night’s 48th Annual Gala at Eagle Ridge Golf Club’s View Restaurant. Also being saluted will be JCP&L and New Jersey Natural Gas and I will serve as Master of Ceremonies for event as Millennium Radio is a major sponsor. For last minute ticket information you can call the Toms River-Ocean County Chamber of Commerce at (732) 349-0220.

The Manchester Township Educational Foundation is holding their 3rd Annual Golf Outing on Monday, May 16th at Eagle Ridge Golf Club in Lakewood. Sponsored by EyesFirst Vision Center, all proceeds will help the foundation enhance educational opportunities for students in the Manchester School District. For golf and sponsorship information you can call Jeffrey DeSimone at (732) 856-8331.

The Beachwood Soccer Club is holding a gift auction on Friday, May 14th at Toms River Intermediate School South. The bi-annual event is always a great night with great prizes and gifts to be won. Tickets are available by calling Dawn at (732) 473-0915.

Yankee fans at last night’s BlueClaws game got a special treat….General Manager Brian Cashman and assistant Gene Michael were among those in attendance at FirstEnergy Park. They were on hand to see some of the Yanks top prospects who are playing for the Charleston River Dogs, who are in Lakewood through Friday night.

Post Holiday Thoughts

I know the weather is always a fallback item when we have nothing to talk about but can you ever remember such a dramatic turnaround like we experienced this weekend? Saturday morning it was not only raining and very windy but it was quite chilly with temperatures in the 50’s and in certain places the wind chill made it feel much colder. I was at an event for the radio station at which people were wearing gloves and others wish they did. Then comes Easter Sunday and a glorious day in which temperatures reached the mid 80’s under perfect sunshine.
As expected we did get some thundershowers later but they held off until the evening and were not nearly as bad as we might have expected. The nicest thing about it all was families were able to enjoy a wonderful Easter Sunday together and it was a great day for outdoor activities, including annual promenades on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights and Point Pleasant Beach.

The weather we have experienced for most of the last few weeks is a reminder of how those who participate in spring sports really get the short end of the stick.
You really have to feel bad for those who play high school baseball, softball and lacrosse and especially golf and tennis. It seems like much of their season is played when it’s either cold or wet and just when the weather gets nice the season is over.

A week ago at this time Madison Square Garden was alive and buzzing with the Knicks and Rangers in the playoffs. Today both teams are done for the season and when it comes to sporting events the Garden will be dark for months to come.

After a long road trip the Lakewood BlueClaws return home and tonight begin their second home stand of the season. The Charleston RiverDogs, the Single-A affiliate of the Yankees are in for five games and will be followed by the Savannah Sand Gnats, who are a Mets affiliate.

This is National Karaoke Week and Wednesday night The Crabs Claw Inn will hold the finals of their annual Karaoke Contest which started in March. For the third straight year I will have the “honor” of being one of the judges and helping decide who gets the $1000 first prize. The finals are scheduled for 8pm at the popular restaurant and bar in Lavallette.

(There was no Hometown View on Friday, April 22)

Only 56 Years Ago

I am always interested in pieces that show how times have changed so getting an email titled “That’s only 56 years ago…comments made in the year 1955” really caught my eye. After all it’s just a year before I was born. Here are some of them and my oh my what a difference five decades makes:

• I’ll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are it’s going to be impossible to buy a week’s groceries for $10.00
• Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won’t be long before $1000 will only buy a used one.
• Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging 7 cents just to mail a letter?
• If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00 n hour nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.
• I’m afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying “damn” in Gone with the Wind, it seems every new movie has either “hell” or “damn” in it.
• Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $50,000 a year? It wouldn’t surprise me if someday they’ll be making more than the President.
• It won’t be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.
• The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.
• If they think I’ll pay 75 cents for a haircut, forget it.
• I never thought I’d see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric.
They are even making electric typewriters now.
• If cigarettes keep going up on price, I’m going to quit…20 cents a pack is ridiculous.
• I’m afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.
• When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 25 cents a gallon. Guess we’d be better off leaving the car in the garage.

A LIttle This & That

I received quite a bit of feedback about yesterday’s segment on what I thought was growing problem today with sports….the win-or-else attitude that many display even for little ones playing youth sports. The general consensus is that the ESPN generation has lost touch with the real world, especially parents who have very inflated opinions of their own child’s athletic ability and talent.

With that said these are good times for Central Regional baseball standout Patrick Sheldrick. Yesterday I received a release announcing he had signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball at Nyack College in New York…the same day Sheldrick singled in the game-winning run in the 10th inning as the Golden Eagles edged Toms River North. He is expected to get a chance to play in the outfield as a freshman for the Division II Warriors, who are suffering through a 1-13 season.
Sheldrick and his Golden Eagle teammates have a big Class B South game today when they host Manchester.

Monmouth University will hold a press conference at noon tomorrow to introduce its new women’s basketball coach. Longtime Asbury Park Press sportswriter Tony Graham says that speculation has centered on Ali Jacques, who just finished her third season at Northwestern where she is the Associated Head Coach. Jacques began her coaching career at Rider University and is a native of Hunterdon County. The Hawks have been looking for a coach since the sudden resignation of Stephanie Gaitley last month.

A reminder that a week from today is when some of us will cast our ballots in the annual rite of passage known as School Elections. That’s where we vote on local budgets and it some cases select Board of Education members. Polls must be open between 5-9pm but most districts have extended hours, usually starting in the early afternoon. I will have more on this next week.

Just seems very strange that this Sunday is Easter. For as late as it is, it just doesn’t feel like it…whatever that means.