Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon is seeking nominations for the Monmouth County Jane G. Clayton Award and for the M. Claire French Award for Leadership in Historic Preservation.
Any individual who knows a person or an organization that has gone above and beyond to preserve the history of Monmouth County may submit a nomination by July 29, according to a press release.
“The Jane G. Clayton and the M. Claire French awards will be presented at the county
clerk’s annual Archives and History Day event,” Hanlon said. “These awards
acknowledge exceptional individuals or groups whose involvement has preserved and
deepened our understanding of Monmouth County’s history.”
The annual Archives and History Day event will take place at the Robert J. Collins Arena at Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, on Oct. 1, according to the press release.
Nomination forms for the Clayton and French awards can be found online at
www.MonmouthCountyClerk.com/Archives. For more information, contact the
Monmouth County Archives at 732-308-3771.
The Monmouth County SPCA will hold its 2022 Fur Ball Gala on July 21 at the Shadowbrook at Shrewsbury. This year’s Fur Ball will honor the life and community philanthropy of Larry Hesse, an animal lover and dedicated supporter of the Monmouth County SPCA, according to a press release.
Guests will have the opportunity to stroll the lush lawn and gardens at the Shadowbrook and mingle with the MCSPCA rescue animals that will be in attendance for the evening.
A high-end live and silent auction will be available to bid on at the event and also online, according to the press release. A live program will highlight all of the animals that were saved during the past year, showing how the support of donors has made such a difference in the lives of homeless, abused and abandoned animals.
Monmouth County SPCA Executive Director Ross Licitra said, “We are looking forward to celebrating the generosity of a man who loved animals and made them a big part of his life. Larry always supported our shelter and we have been so lucky to have had him as such an integral part of our community. Our Fur Ball is our most important fundraiser of the year and we rely on the support of our donors to help us fulfill our mission to save lives. We hope to see a lot of new, and of course, familiar faces.”
The 2022 Fur Ball Gala is made possible by the large amount of support of the event’s sponsors, specifically the 2022 Presenting Sponsor, the Cooper Voccola Family Foundation, according to the press release.
Information about purchasing tickets, sponsorships and/or ad journal opportunities can be found on the Fur Ball website: bit.ly/3mJImkJ
The Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners announced that the county has received $133,527 from the New Jersey Clean Communities grant program to reduce littering throughout the county.
“Monmouth County is thrilled to receive this grant funding that will be used in a variety of ways, all with the goal of reducing litter,” Commissioner Director Thomas A. Arnone said. “The grant will be used to fund local litter abatement programs such as volunteer litter cleanups primarily focused on beaches, river and waterway cleanups. Funding will also be used to make litter-related information and resources available to the public in multiple formats.”
The Clean Communities Program was created in 1986 and all 21 counties and 559 municipalities in New Jersey are eligible to receive funding. Funding from the program can be used for cleanup and removal of litter on public lands, including sponsorship of the “Adopt a Beach” or “Adopt a Highway” program, education programs, graffiti abatement and enforcement of local anti-littering laws, according to a press release from the county.
The Monmouth County Historical Commission recently announced the recipients of the county’s 2022 Historic Preservation Awards. The awards are presented to individuals or organizations who have undertaken restoration and preservation projects for historic buildings in Monmouth County, according to a press release.
“The preservation awards are a marvelous way to express our gratitude to those who have dedicated their time and money to preserve historical buildings in Monmouth County,” said Commissioner Lillian G. Burry, liaison to the Historical Commission. “Preserving these buildings and structures takes a lot of patience and I am truly grateful to those who have committed themselves to helping conserve Monmouth County’s history.”
The Historical Commission recognized Albert Wilcox and Jeffery Rudell for substantially restoring their 1887 Queen Anne Victorian House at 112 Main Ave., Ocean Grove.
Leslie and Jay Eaton were recognized for adaptively restoring their George Barlow 1892 Horse Barn and Carriage House at 916 Broad St., Shrewsbury.
Preston Filozof was recognized for rescuing and restoring his 1720 Dutch-framed Colonial House, known as Maple Hall, at 409 Route 537, Colts Neck.
The New Jersey Department of Health recently announced the first probable case of monkeypox in the state. A PCR test conducted by the department’s Public Health and Environmental Laboratories confirmed the presence of orthopoxvirus in a North Jersey individual on June 18, according to a press release.
A confirmatory test for the monkeypox virus – one of the viruses associated with the orthopoxvirus genus – will be done by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Department of Health believes the risk to New Jerseyans remains low, according to the press release.
At the direction of the department, the individual isolated at home. The local health department conducted contact tracing to identify any individuals who may have been exposed to the individual, according to the press release.
Most New Jersey residents are not at risk of infection with monkeypox. Monkeypox is rare, but can spread through close prolonged contact with an infected person or animal.
This might include coming into contact with skin lesions, or body fluids, sharing clothes or other materials that have been used by someone who is infectious, or inhaling respiratory droplets during prolonged face-to-face contact.
As of June 18, confirmed monkeypox/orthopoxvirus cases had been reported in 20 states and in the District of Columbia, according to the CDC.
In humans, monkeypox symptoms are similar to, but milder than the symptoms of smallpox, and begin with fever, headache, muscle aches and exhaustion seven to 14 days after infection, according to the CDC.
As a precaution, any New Jersey residents who experience flu-like illness with swelling of lymph nodes and rash occurring on the face and body should contact their healthcare provider, according to the Department of Health.
The Clearwater Festival is coming back live for its 47th year on Aug. 6-7 at Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park.
After two years of remote online festivals, New Jersey’s oldest festival celebrating music, the environment and more is bringing the annual gathering to the banks of the Navesink River, according to event organizers.
The festival will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 6 and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 7. Festival favorites The Wag, Spook Handy and Reggie Harris will be be among the national and local performers presenting live music on two stages. There will also be environmental information and discussion groups, plus vendors and food trucks.
A special feature will be free sailboat rides every hour on “Pete’s Banjo.” The sailboat is named after the late singer and environmentalist Pete Seeger, who mentored and inspired the creation of the festival’s sponsor, New Jersey Friends of Clearwater, in the 1970s, according to the organizers.
New or returning donors, environmental groups and volunteers, as well as crafters, green and commercial vendors, and food vendors, are welcome to visit https://www.njclearwater.org/festival.html to donate or for more information.
A Tinton Falls resident has been sentenced to a total of 11 years in state prison in connection with the 2017 possession and distribution of child sexual abuse materials and invasion of privacy, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced.
Robert Mack, 35, was sentenced on May 27 by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Lourdes Lucas, sitting in Freehold, according to a press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
On Dec. 14, Mack was found guilty by a jury of endangering the welfare of a child, possession of child sexual abuse material, distribution of child sexual abuse material and invasion of privacy, according to the press release.
Upon release from prison, Mack will be required to register under Megan’s Law and will be placed on parole supervision for life.
The sentencing was the culmination of an investigation that began in 2017 by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the NJ ICAC Task Force and the Tinton Falls Police Department which revealed Mack was downloading and sharing child sexual abuse materials from a computer at his residence in Tinton Falls.
Mack was also in possession of hard drives containing child sexual abuse materials. Further investigation concluded Mack also had videos of an adult female with her intimate parts exposed without her permission, according to the press release.
