Christmas RAINES for thousands of New Jersey children

Over three hundred volunteers showed up at the former K-Mart on Route 35 in Hazlet last night.  37 of the men donned Santa suits, whitened their brows and reddened their cheeks.  50 or elves dressed in red and green got off the shelf to join the Santas and the other volunteers in loading up the fire trucks and vans with toys and bicycles that they had donated, sorted, wrapped and assembled over the prior two weeks.  Then they all headed out in 37 different directions to deliver the gifts to 340 Bayshore families, from South Amboy to Highlands, and a side trip to Long Branch.  Over 800 kids received gifts from Santa and his RAINE dears last night. Read the rest of this entry »

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Dress To Get Wet and Dirty

The Bayshore Watershed Council and the American Littoral Society are conducting a field training for volunteer oil spill spotters, tomorrow, Tuesday, June 26 at 7PM.  The training will be conducted at Bayshore Waterfront Park in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown.

Bayshore Watershed Council Co-Chair Joe Reynolds said, “The Bayshore region is downstream from the Port of NY & NJ, you never know when an oil spill accident will take place. A Spill Spotter volunteer will be the eyes on the water before, during and after an oil spill or other catastrophic pollution event.”

Volunteers will be trained to identify and document coastal wildlife through a biological assessment using serine nets, binoculars and clam rakes.  After the workshop, the trainees will adopt a coastal spot near their homes to monitor throughout the  year.

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STATE COMMITTEEWOMAN MARY FOSTER SELECTED AS MONMOUTH DEMOCTRATIC VICE-CHAIR CANDIDATE

Mary Foster

Vin Gopal, Candidate for Monmouth County Democratic Chairman in the upcoming June election, has selected State Committeewoman Mary F. Foster as his running mate. Foster, a lifelong Democrat, is a retired retail and textile executive. In addition to being an appointed State Committeewoman, she is also an active county committeewoman as the District 29 female representative in Middletown, representing the district alongside longtime county Democratic Party Chairman Victor Scudiery, who is the male representative for the district. For the past 12 years, Foster has been an elected member of the Middletown Democratic Party Executive Committee, serving as Corresponding Secretary. In recognition of her lifelong dedication to the Democratic Party, Foster was recently selected as a District Delegate to this year’s Democratic National Convention. She will go to Charlotte this summer to cast her vote in support of the Obama/Biden ticket.

 “I am excited to join Vin as his running mate and build on the successes that Vic Scudiery built throughout this county. Nobody can fill Vic’s shoes but together we can build on what he has started,” stated Foster.

“Mary Foster will make an outstanding Vice-Chairwoman. She has worked hard for Democrats here in Middletown and is well-respected throughout the Bayshore. Vin’s commitment in challenging Republicans throughout this county is complimented in his choice of Mary Foster,” stated Middletown Democratic Party Chairman Joe Caliendo and Middletown Democratic Club President Don Watson in a joint statement. 

“I am honored that Mary has accepted my offer to run on the ticket with me. Together, with so many Democrats around this county, we will continue to fight to elect Democrats at the municipal, county, state and federal levels,” stated Gopal.

Along with her husband Mike, Mary volunteers at her church. She is also involved in other community organizations. 

Posted: April 17th, 2012 | Author: admin | Filed under: Monmouth Democrats, Press Release | Tags: Bayshore, Don Watson, Joe Caliendo, Mary Foster, Middletown Democrats, Monmouth County Democrats, Press Release, Victor Scudiery | 6 Comments »

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Hey Guv! Here’s a business assistance plan: Get the frickin power on!

3-5 Days Without Power Is Devastating to Seasonal Businesses

Hey Governor Christie!   Even though it makes you seem like a Democrat, I appreciate where you’re coming from with your Hurricane Irene Business Assistance. 

Those $500K lines of credit while waiting for insurance proceeds will come in handy for many, but let’s be real, this is a subsidy to the insurance companies.  Issue an executive order that the insurance companies must pay the interests on those loans and the claims will be paid faster.

If those banks we bailed out were lending, we wouldn’t need this program.  I don’t expect you to fix that problem until you are President.  Thanks for stepping in now.

By the way, Governor, your did a great job this weekend.  You still are.  The business assistance plan is needed, and it is wonderful that the Lt. Governor is out at the shore campaigning for people to come back for the rest of the season (rest of the week.)

BUT THEY WON’T COME BACK IF THERE IS NO POWER!

I know you have a lot on your plate. Did I mention that you’re doing a great job?  I also know you’re talking to CEO’s of the public utilities companies, because you said so during one of your briefings before I lost power.  When you’re talking to the CEO of First Energy, that guy in Ohio, tell him there are thousands of seasonal businesses and seasonal employees serviced by his JCP&L subsidiary that are counting on this week and this coming weekend for a large portion of there annual income.

In Highlands, the small town on the Shrewsbury River where I live, we have 23 restaurants and all of their employees who would rather be earning this week than applying for loans or unemployment benefits.

The lack of information coming from JCP&L to the public is unacceptable:

That a lowly blogger can find out that JCP&L is telling OEM that we’ll be without power for 3-5 days before the main stream press knows is an indictment of both the press and the utility.

It seems to me that JCP&L’s response to outages has been wanting the last few years.  I appreciate the magnitude of Irene, but I wonder if they’d be doing a better job if they weren’t owned by an Ohio company.  Two business owners mentioned to me today how much better the service was before JCPL’s Belford location closed.  We’d wonder about that less, and make less noise about it, if the lights go in the bayshore today.

3-5 days without power at this time of  year is devastating to seasonal businesses and their employees.  It’s like pulling the plug on the week before Christmas for Macy’s.

Governor, you got the Jets-Giants game switched to tonight, but no one will be watching the game at bars in Highlands.

I know you can influence that guy in Ohio’s priorities.  Please do so.  Monmouth County businesses need the lights on.

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