TheTOMS RIVER Times Vol. 18 - No. 44
In This Week’s Edition
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Firefighter Writes Motivational Children’s Book
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Government Pages 7
Community News Pages 6-23
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 16
Inside The Law Page 19
─Photo By Bob Vosseller Toms River firefighter and now author, Frank Viscuso, holds up his new children’s book, “Sprinkles the Fire Dog.” By Bob Vosseller TOMS RIVER – With the topic of bullying receiving a strong focus these days, a township firefighter - and now author - has just released his first children’s book, “Sprinkles the Fire Dog” which will provide a lesson to young readers. The story itself however
has been kicking around for quite some time and Frank Viscuso partnered with Canon and JPS Graphics to produce and print the motivational children’s book. It was printed using Canon’s varioPRINT iX-series. The plot of the book centers around a puppy who dreams of one day
becoming a fire dog and must overcome physical limitations and his own self-doubt to turn those dreams into a reality. Viscuso spoke with The Toms River Times about his passion for raising awareness. “I actually started writing when I became the training officer for the Kearny Fire
Department. I did some public relations articles and I also worked on policies and procedures but it wasn’t creative writing. “That is kind of where it started. I write about stuff that I am passionate about. In regards to bullying, when I think about
March 11, 2023
$14M Cut From School State Aid
By Chris Lundy TOMS R I V ER – School officials were in shock when they learned that the state was cutting more than $14 million in aid, after several years of consistent cuts. Every year, the state lists what kind of aid that they are giving for the upcoming school year. In this case, it was published on March 2 for the 2023-2024 school year. For the last few years, a different funding formula has been used which has reduced aid to districts like Toms River that are seeing fewer students. That money is being redirected to districts with growing enrollment.
Toms River officials were reeling when they saw that their aid was cut by $14,421,851. The aid for the upcoming school year will be $30,978,802. This is about a 33% cut. “At the moment we are trying to quantify the irreversible damage these cuts will do to our kids in our beloved school community,” Super intendent Michael Citta said. “Our initial calculation had a worst-case scenario of $2.8 million in aid reduction which, in our planning, was impossible to endure and move forward. So you can imagine our reaction … when we learned of the $14.4 million cut, which (School - See Page 10)
(Firefighter - See Page 4)
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY: Worst Snowstorm Toms River Had Ever Seen By J. Mark Mutter For those who might think that we’re out of the winter weather season, let’s look back on the greatest snowstorm in history: the “Blizzard of ’88.” It was this month in history - March, 1888. It was the height of the “Victorian Era.” In En-
gland, Queen Victoria had been on the crown for 50 years and it was said that the sun never set on her empire. In the United States, New Jersey-bor n G rover Cleveland was finishing up his first term as President, only to lose re-election later that year. Ocean County
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remained a rural area, but new municipalities had recently been created - Bay Head and Point Pleasant Beach in 1886 and Island Heights and Lavallette in 1887. In Toms River, the then-Dover Township government had re-organized for the new year. In the nineteenth
century, townships held their annual meeting in March before the planting season. The New Jersey Courier - the local weekly newspaper - reported that on Saturday, March 10 that the town clerk, tax collector, tax assessor, surveyor of highways, overseer of the poor,
and township committeemen had been selected for the coming year. It was voted that “various moneys were to be raised for township purposes…$2,000 for road money, $500 for ‘poor money,’ and $350 for lighting and care of lamps.”
(History - See Page 14)
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─Photo By Bob Vosseller Buttons and caps promoting the Say Hello campaign, created by Reverend William Simmons, are seen on the table. By Bob Vosseller mission’s suggestion to OCEAN COUNTY – help bring unity within a Just say “hello.” It seems very diverse county. simple enough. It is part As part of their overof the Ocean County all goal, members meet (Unity - See Page 5) Human Relations Com-
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