WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

Photo below: senior players Taby Dick, Taylor Chain and Jill Stafford

PHOTOS BY BOB STAFFORD CLICK TO ENLARGE

By Bill Cleary

JEER-Recently it was reported that someone stole 100 political campaign signs in Gloucester City valued at $900. The person or persons responsible who committed this crime are depriving candidates their rights to Freedom of Speech guaranteed to all of us in the First amendment of the constitution. How dare them; I hope they are caught and severely punished.

CHEER-To the Market Street WaWa and its management for the fine work done to the expansion of their parking lot.

JEER-To the people that put their dogs out late at night and early in the morning to bark and keep us all awake.

There are veterans buried there also. What does the developer think if a cemetery is too old and not taken care of, will it become condos? Let’s give support to Mr. Bittmann.

Stephen S. Trembach, Gloucester City

LAKES ARE MUCH CLEANER

Cheers to the Lake Association. I know it seems like a hopeless job but, the lakes are so much cleaner and more attractive since the organization started. The fishing tournaments are just great. It’s nice to see our children enjoying the Lakes as we did. Kite flying, sledding, ice skating and fishing were just a few of the activities we enjoyed.

I was also lucky enough to be able to swim every summer day in the pond. The many amusements kept us busy all summer long. We played from dawn to dusk.

Barbara Rein, Gloucester City

JEER-To the judge (s) that left a 16- year- old punk loose on the residents of this city. This juvenile delinquent was arrested on April 4 and again on April 16. He is a suspect in the recent rash of car burglaries. On April 16 he had in his possession, according to the crime report, a stolen .22 caliber handgun, (2) rounds of .22 caliber ammunition and 4 stolen cell phones.

CHEER-The borough of Brooklawn unveiled a new website recently. Very informative, attractive and it is easy to navigate. Kudos to the web designer and to the governing body for keeping the public informed.

CHEER-To the group of people that put the Gloucester City Farmers Market together. This might be the best idea coming out of our community in a long long time. Some of those involved helping with the project include: Kelly Erlink, Mike Stanton, Tisa Batchlor, Bootsie Rebstock, Helen John, The Tedesco’s, The Hastings, Tom Monahan (of Max’s), the Gloucester City Cultural Society, mayor and council, the City UEZ, Housing, Public Works, and the Business Association. Incidentally the Market opens this Sunday May 10 at Proprietors Park.

CHEER-To the Mount Ephraim Borough workers for keeping the parks and ball fields mowed and clean for the families of our town. Sometimes people think they only do trash pickup and recycling but they have a lot of other duties that people know nothing about. They really are a great bunch of guys and they deserve a pat on the back.

CHEER To Chief Dobleman and the entire Mount Ephraim Police Department for always doing a great job above and beyond. It\’s almost a guarantee that any day you go out on the road you see them patrolling the streets or watching over the businesses. We would especially like to thank them for being at the schools in the morning and in the afternoon when they can, to protect the children. Thank you all.

JEER-The swine flu is coming. Once again the media latches on to a story and blows it out of portion just to scare everyone. Not too long ago the nightly news and newspapers were screaming about the number of people who were going to die from the 2006 avian flu. Don Gainor (Boone Pickens Free Market Fellow) writes, \”That’s what you need to be thinking about every time you look at the news stories about swine flu. Is this a national crisis? Not hardly. The United States is remarkably well-prepared with stockpiles of the drug Tamiflu just for such an emergency. You can credit the president who made that happen – George W. Bush – but you can bet the media won’t.\”

Contributing to this month’s column-Theresa Babcock, Mike – Just a Good \’Ole Family Guy and William John

I feel these truckers are getting a raw deal! Most of the truckers travel many miles to get to their location. When they get there, whether it be Holts or any other destination, they are very, very tired and all they want to do is sleep! The truck becomes their home, so in some ways, like it or not, they actually become neighbors with the resident\’s who live near Holt\’s Cargo!

Everything they have is in the sleeper, whether it be a T.V., microwave or running their heater at night to stay warm, has to be done while the truck is idling.

 As you know truck drivers keep America moving! Everything you have in your home or where you work, at some point was delivered on a truck.

CHEER-To the outstanding group who dedicated their Saturday to repair a roof for our own nuns here in Gloucester city that needed repair and a lack of funds to do it with. Thanks to volunteers who in spite of their own economics still try to help others to keep the fabric of our community together.

CHEER–To Saint Mary Grammar School, Gloucester City, on their 150^th Anniversary. Fond memories of my eight years at St. Mary’s come to mind. Although it was years ago I have never forgotten my teachers. Such as Sister Agnes de Lourdes, Sister Ann, Sister Nicolas Marie, Sister Grace de Chantal, Sister Louis Bertram.  Let us pray that the St. Mary tradition continues for many more years to come.

JEER–To those school districts who allow their students to dress in pajama bottoms, baggy shorts and pants. Besides a sloppy looking appearance baggy pants could be interpreted as gang dress. Dressing as a gang member intimidates other students and spreads fear. I would ask school boards to consider adopting a school uniform for both boys and girls to wear. The intent of the uniform is to keep students safe and focused on academics.

JEER-To the Diocese of Camden for purchasing an 11-acre residence for $800,000 in Pittsgrove NJ to house five nuns. The new home is located on several acres comes complete with a horse stable, wet bar, a five-car garage and a fountain. In these hard economic times the money could have been better spent in so many other places that are in real need of financial help.

JEER– To Mayor and Police Department who have made and broken promises to residents of North King Street to establish a Residential Parking Permit system to keep Holt employees from parking in front of homes near the terminal. Not only do these workers take up limited on-street parking, they leave trash on the road and sidewalks, disturb the peace with loud noise and profanity. There IS a designated parking area for Holt employees, but if no one stops them why should they walk the extra 1/2 block?

 JEER-To all the big rigs who idle their motors ALL NIGHT LONG in front of the Holt terminal entrance. Despite the proliferation of \”NO IDLE ZONE\” signage, if no one is going to enforce the law, why should the truckers obey? Last week,

an idling trucker was observed urinating in the \”NO IDLING ZONE\”, a mere 35 yards from a residence. According to Pastor Doster a call to Central Dispatch was made but no police ever showed up. \”It\’s puzzlement that Quality of Life is not a concern for certain parts of our city,\” he said.

JEER-The national outrage over the scandalous bonuses paid to executives at AIG is fully justified, but the response in Congress doesn\’t make sense. Using the tax code as a weapon to exact revenge on a select few, no matter how badly they\’ve behaved, is a horrible idea. Slapping heavy taxes on the bonuses and on the company that issued them may satisfy enraged taxpayers who see incompetent executives being rewarded for failure, but it sets a bad precedent.

JEER–Once again we have a NJ State Legislator being indicted. This time it was Assemblyman and former Perth Amboy mayor Joseph Vas on charges he conspired with city employees to steal approximately $5,000 in funds of the City of Perth Amboy to pay for personal purchases and expenses.

JEER-Spending $3 million to build a new firehouse in Mount Ephraim is against Governor Corzine’s directive that small municipalities should consolidate. According to newspaper reports the community of Bellmawr is also planning to build a new station at Browning and Bell, less than a ½ mile away from the site of the new Mt. Ephraim firehouse. Consolidation of services, school districts is the way to go for a more prosperous New Jersey.

JEER-To the parent of a player who recently punched a Gloucester City Little League Coach injuring him. And to all parents who become so emotional over a youth sporting event that they become violent and an embarrassment to their children who are just playing a GAME! Incidentally the coach suffered an injury to his shoulder. The parent was charged with aggravated assault. What is wrong with our society today? This seems to be an everyday occurrence. Parents of kids playing sports should just step aside an allow their youngsters to enjoy themselves.

Contributing to this month’s column was: Joe Murphy Jr., Len Lacovara, Pastor Jim Doster, Joseph Mc Crea.

The suit claims that plans to build a methadone clinic in a marine terminal on Broadway to serve 900 drug addicts a day would be detrimental to the neighborhood, according to documents filed by Marlton attorney Ann C. Pearl.

Also named as a defendant is Parkside Recovery, which plans to move its clinic — located downtown in the 400 block of Broadway — to the port.

JEER– I witnessed another car make a left hand turn from Market Street into traffic on Route #130 south. This is the third time this year that I have seen this happen. The NO LEFT turn has to be more clearly marked. Bigger signs or flashing lights might help. Two times they were entering the motel parking lot. Maybe someone will have to die, before something is done, hope not. ~John Hindsley

CHEER-Alice Costello School seventh graders Gabryelle Doherty and Sydney Weichmann took it upon themselves to find a creative way to raise money to directly benefit cancer patients who are treated at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Gabryelle and Sydney created Purses 4 Patients, a project where the girls collect and recycle juice pouches and sew them together into fashionable purses. Since its inception Purses 4 Patients has raised over $7,000 by selling hundreds of purses.

CHEER-Twelve players were suspended from the Rowan baseball team for underage drinking, and instead of a press release, Rowan chose silence. It was great journalism – in a Division III school, sometimes these things get let go, but it is a journalist’s job to get information out there. Good job Cody!

CHEER: To all the people who have donated igloo houses, blankets, and straw to help keep the feral cat colony on Charles Street safe and warm.