Thanksgiving 20015 – A great time to be thankful in Freehold

Happy-Thanksgiving-from-The-TwineryThanks to the talented graphics department of the University of Connecticut

November 26, 2015 – “A great time to be thankful”.

With Freehold Township Municipal offices closed both Thanksgiving Thursday, and the day after, Friday, maybe it’s a good time to relax and reflect on our fortunes.
And, not to take away from the Black Friday opportunities or FOOTBALL, perhaps we could add to the activity with:
… Calling a family member, friend or an old school buddy who we haven’t spoken to in a while;
… Ring the next door neighbor’s bell and wish them well;
… Visit someone in the hospital;
… Forgive someone. We probably can’t remember what they did, or, they can’t remember why we stopped talking to each other. Even if our memory holds, maybe the grudge shouldn’t.
… Take a walk through one of the 14 Freehold Township municipal parks or Turkey Swamp or Lake Topanemus Parks.
Speaking of Lake Topanemus, the Freehold Running Club is holding their 30th annual 5 mile “Born to Run” event on Friday, November 27th which starts at 9:00am at the Freehold Fire House, 51 W. Main St and loops through the lake. The event benefits the Open Door Food Pantry. See this link for more information
So, we hope you get the best bargains, your team wins handedly, and you do something special and kind that makes you feel good. And yes, most of all, have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

 

DECEMBER 2015 FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP REPUBLICAN CLUB MEETING SUSPENDED TO JANUARY 25th, 2016

THE NEXT REPUBLICAN CLUB MEETING

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Club Board Member Corey Folta announced that the December meeting would be suspended for the upcoming holidays and that telephone calls, email and text messages, along with posts on the Freehold Township Republican Club Website and Facebook will announce the speaker and details of the January 25th, 2016 meeting.
Szechuan Star Restaurant, Route 9 South near its intersection with Elton-Adelphia Road.
Dinner will be served at 6:30 P.M.  A nominal fee will be charged for dinner.

November 16th – Freehold Deputy Mayor Anthony Ammiano stepped in for the Scheduled Guest Speaker John Curley, Monmouth County Freeholder

November 16th, 2015 – Freehold Township Deputy Mayor Anthony Ammiano stepped in for the scheduled speaker, John Curly, Monmouth County Freeholder, who was unable to attend because of illness.

Mr. Ammiano, being newly reelected to the Freehold Township Committee, spoke about the dynamics of the recent election campaign. While he and Mayor Thomas Cook were reelected to the Township Committee, and John Curley and Christine Giordano Hanlon, were also successful for their county positions, the candidates for the New Jersey Assembly, Caroline Casagrande and Mary Pat Angelini were not.

Both he and Mr. Cook felt that the anticipated low voter turnout, and State issues related to the Governor strongly contended by PACs, while not the only factor, was major factor in their defeat. Mr. Ammiano felt that perhaps more visibility of these candidates in certain municipalities may have overcome the close margins in their outcomes.

Messrs. Ammiano and Cook thanked everyone for their support, and were looking forward to the upcoming year, along with the rest of the Township Committee, Messrs. Lester Preston,and David Salkin, and Ms. Barbara McMurrow, in continuing to make Freehold Township a model place for its residents.

Club Board Member Corey Folta announced that the December meeting would be suspended for the upcoming holidays and that telephone calls, email and text messages, along with posts on the Freehold Township Republican Club Website and Facebook will announce the speaker and details of the January 18th, 2016 meeting.

October 26th – Guest Speaker Christine Giordano Hanlon, Monmouth County Clerk

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October 26th, 2015 – Christine Giordano Hanlon, Monmouth County Clerk, returned to the Freehold Township Republican Club as the key guest speaker to bring attendees up to date with the four major services of the Clerk’s office as well as other programs offered.

The first and perhaps the most important is the recording office. With about 30 employees, it is responsible for accepting, recording and filing any document related to property within the county and make them available to the public.

The function generates $55 million in revenues each year in fees that are shared between the State and the County for their respective operating expenses.

Second function described is archiving of present and historic records for preservation. These are stored in the basement of the County Library in Manalapan and currently consist of about 27 boxes of county, court, town, etc., records. Some include deeds going back to the 1600’s. Of interest is recently surfaced 250,000 negatives from the Red Bank Register Newspaper. These are being reviewed and indexed by staff and volunteers with the expectation of making them available online.

Additionally, the County Clerk is responsible for Passport service provided as a convenience, for a charge, through its two offices in Freehold and Neptune.

And finally, along with the Superintendent of Elections and the Board of Elections, the County Clerk is responsible for about a third of the election process. Tabulating, handling the “Vote by Mail” program, providing ballots and handling Candidate Petitions are provided through the office all year long which includes more than general elections, such as Boards of Education, Special Elections, Fire Districts, to name a few.

Ms. Hanlon presented three initiates she has been working on since taking office as the County Clerk from the former retired County Clerk, Claire French. One is an elections website called http://www.monmouthcountyvotes.com. This represents the first county internet source for almost everything one may need from registering to vote, becoming a poll worker, requesting a ballot, finding where to vote, and getting up-to-date detailed election results, and quite a bit more.

Another recent initiative is a Monmouth County Veteran Discount Guide. Along with the Freeholders, and especially John Curley, its liaison to the Monmouth County Veteran’s Service Office, Ms. Hanlon recently announced the ‘Honoring our Heroes” program for more than 30,000 veterans of the county. The new military appreciation program, provides a way for local businesses to honor the Veterans and help them save money. They may qualify by simply showing their Monmouth County Veteran’s ID cards. Obtaining one is also a program of the Clerk’s office, and can be effortlessly obtained by bringing in a NJ Driver’s License and an original DD-214 “Report of Separation” to the County Clerk’s Freehold office or the Neptune Monmouth County Connection. You can read more in the following recently published article, http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2015/10/monmouth_county_businesses_to_offer_veteran_discou.html.

Christine concluded by describing the Monmouth Mobile County Connection program where teaming up with the Sheriff and the Surrogate, go through different parts of the Monmouth County offering services to people within their own municipalities who can’t easily get around the county. With eight past events, the plan is to do more in the future. More recent information link to the following:  http://co.monmouth.nj.us/PressDetail.aspx?ID=2185.

More complete services information can be found on the following webpage: http://co.monmouth.nj.us/page.aspx?ID=125

As always, Ms. Hanlon cordially stayed on to answer question.

September 28th – Guest Speaker Rosemary D. Peters, Monmouth County Surrogate

hdr-surrogateSeptember 28th, 2015 – Monmouth County Surrogate Rosemary D. Peters, Esq., spoke to a very well attended meeting of Freehold Township Republican Club.

She discussed the complexity of the issues addressed within the Surrogate’s office, how it serves County residents and beyond, and plans for its future.

Giving an extremely informative presentation of many matters we need to be aware when it comes to passing along assets, and what we should know were we to be involved in handling an estate of our loved ones. She provided many valuable tips and pointers about wills and probate and as surrogate, Rosemary and her office has authored several publications to assist citizens.

  Personal Record        A Citizen’s Guide to Wills, Trusts, and Estates

Surrogate - Personal Record

Surrogate - Citizens Guide

Both are available, free of charge, online at: http://www.visitmonmouth.com/page.aspx?ID=3891

As well as many other forms at: http://www.visitmonmouth.com/page.aspx?ID=1761

 

Ms. Peters, is a graduate of Brookdale Community College, Thomas A. Edison State College and Rutgers School of Law-Newark.

She is serving in her second term as Monmouth County Surrogate and was appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court to serve on its Judiciary-Surrogate Liaison Committee. Ms. Peters also serves as Vice President of the Constitutional Officers Association of New Jersey and chief of its Surrogates Section.

Before being elected Surrogate, Rosemary was a member of the Middletown Township Committee for 18 years, four of them as Mayor and three as Deputy Mayor. She is also a former member of the Middletown Township Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Adjustment. She initiated and chaired the township’s Open Space Preservation Committee and is the founder, past president, and a current trustee of the Middletown Township Cultural and Arts Council.

In addition to her public service, she worked as Director of Public Relations for the McCall Publishing Co., New York City, as well as a cable TV and video producer, an advertising and public relations copywriter, and a freelance writer and editor.

Veterans Day – Freehold Township November 11th, 2015

 

 

 

 

REMEMBERING THE HONOR OF SERVING, AND THOSE WHO SERVED

Standing Vets

 

 

Color Guard

Freehold Township’s Honor Guards

Deputy Mayor Anthony Ammiano    Anthony Speaking 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mayor Thomas Cook

Tom SpeakingMajor Roeder’s Presentation

Major Roeder Speaking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 16th Meeting – Freehold Township Republican Club Meeting – Newly Re-elected Monmouth County Freeholder John Curley will be the guest speaker.

 THE NEXT REPUBLICAN CLUB MEETINGMonday. November 16th. Guest presenter will be our newly re-elected Monmouth County Freeholder John Curley. If you haven’t heard John before, you can’t miss him presenting his plans now that he’s been re-elected to his 2nd term

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John Curly 10-06-2015


John is a fourth generation Monmouth County resident growing up in Shrewsbury. He’s an alumni of Christian Brothers Academy and has his Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Thomas Edison State College. He is Vice President of Jim Curley GMC Buick and Kia auto dealership in Lakewood and serves as a trustee of the Christian Brothers Academy Alumni, and has been a trustee of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Central Jersey Chapter.
Mr. Curley became immersed in a political life with his election in 2002 as a Democrat on the Red Bank Borough Council. During his 5-year tenure serving in many capacities which included: a member of the Red Bank Zoning Board of Adjustment; council liaison to the local Planning Board; the Historic Preservation Commission; and Special Improvement District and the Public Works Committee. Seeing the light, he also transitioned as a Republican becaming Red Bank mayor in 2006.
John resides now in Middletown, and has been a staunch proponent of fiscal responsivity leading improvements always mindful of taxpayers. Most noted during his first term as a Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders is limiting costs and in many cases eliminating unnecessary spending in running the county’s government. By promoting and implementing a philosophy of “Zero Base Budgeting”, which counters the familiar practice of what did we spend in the prior year, and do at least add the same in the future year adjusting upward for inflation, spending has held firm. Instead John asks, “do we still need it, if so, to what degree, and then, can we spend less for the same thing”. Bottom-line, we get better government.
Freeholder Curley was a major factor in rooting out corruption, mismanagement and overspending of Brookdale Community College’s leadership ultimately removed the College’s President.
Lets hear what he has in store for his second term.
Szechuan Star Restaurant, Route 9 South near its intersection with Elton-Adelphia Road.
Dinner will be served at 6:30 P.M.  A nominal fee will be charged for dinner. 

September 28th Meeting – Freehold Township Republican Club Meeting – Monmouth County Surrogate Rosemary Peters guest speaker.

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Monmouth County Surrogate, Rosemarie D. Peters spoke to a very well attended meeting of the Freehold Township Republican Club.

She discussed the complexity of the issues within the Surrogates office, how it serves county residents and beyond, and plans for its future.

Szechuan Star Restaurant, Route 9 South near its intersection with Elton-Adelphia Road.

Dinner will be served at 6:30 P.M.  A nominal fee will be charged for dinner. 

October 26th Meeting – Freehold Township Republican Club Meeting – Monmouth County Clerk Christine Hanlon will be the guest speaker.

Monmouth County Clerk Christine Hanlon will be the guest speaker inaugurating the first meeting after the summer break.

Clerk Logo001Ms. Hanlon will discuss changes within the County Clerk’s office and plans for its future.

Szechuan Star Restaurant, Route 9 South near its intersection with Elton-Adelphia Road.

Dinner will be served at 6:30 P.M.  A nominal fee will be charged for dinner. 

VOTING IN MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY

your vote counts


VOTING IN 2015 – Monmouth County 

An American tragedy is upon us. Considering that many of our people have given their lives from Bunker Hill to most recently, Chattanooga, Tennessee to protect our democracy and its fundamental right to vote. In New Jersey, it is estimated that we will experience less than 21%, or only about one for every four registered voters will cast a ballot this November 3rd.

Doesn’t matter whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Unaffiliated, a skeptic of the times, hardworking and busy, whatever the reason, if you’re a citizen, you vote.

What makes it inexcusable is how easy it’s become. You can go to the polls which are open early and close late, but, you can also vote by mail, for free.Application For Vote By Mail Ballot_2015

You just have to fill out an “Application for Vote by Mail Ballot“ and send it in to the Office of the County Clerk so they get it 7 days before the election. You’ll get a ballot sent to you. Need more information and the form? Simple, you can get them everywhere from the library, post office, county offices, or just go to the website: http://visitmonmouth.com/page.aspx?ID=1803.

As a note, you don’t need an excuse to vote by mail. Not like before when you had be out of the area, sick or some other reason to vote by mail when it was called an Absentee Ballot. Now, if you just want to vote from your arm chair, that’s enough. So if there’s no reason needed, there’s no excuse.

And if you’re a procrastinator, like many of us, you can submit an application in person at the County Clerk’s Office at 300 Halls Mill Road up until 3 pm the day before the election.

Of course, you’ll need to be a registered voter. If you’re not, that’s easy to get done as well. Get the form to register at:

 http://co.monmouth.nj.us/documents/8/VoterRegistrationApplication.pdf  

VoterRegistrationApplication

You can get all the information you need from the New Jersey Division of Elections on line at: http://www.njelections.org.

So, please respect all those wonderful men and women who protect our lives and privileges, every day. We’re not asking you to take up arms, dip your finger in blue ink under threat of death as you’ve probably seen done by people in other countries. We are just asking you to take up the ballot.

 

As an added service with all your voting needs see:  http://www.monmouthcountyvotes.com/