The HOWELL Times
Vol. 22 - No. 33
In This Week’s Edition
BREAKING NEWS @
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Community News Pages 6-8
Inside The Law Page 9
Dear Pharmacist Page 11
Classifieds Page 13
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Each Stitch Counts: Knitting Together A Community Of Caring
By Stephanie Faughnan TOMS RIVER – When Debbie Trainor picks up her knitting needles, it’s more than a hobby - it’s a mission. As the founder and president of the non-profit Each Stitch Counts, Trainor has woven her passion for knitting into a helping hand for families experiencing hygiene insecurity. The organization distributes handmade cotton dishcloths attached to bottles of dish soap to food pantries across Ocean and Monmouth Counties. A Toms River resident and retired public school business administrator, Trainor dedicated 35 years of her career to ensuring students and staff had the resources they needed. Knitting has been a steady thread in Trainor’s life, and she especially enjoys creating usable end products. Retirement allowed her to spend more time knitting and volunteering with The Hope Center, a local organization devoted to supporting individuals and families in crisis with dignity and compassion. “I’ve been knitting since I was a little girl, and I decided to design Photo courtesy Every Stitch Counts some new stitch patterns for one Amy VanBezooijen, Director of the Hope Center, and Debbie of the things I love to knit,” shared Trainor show a sample of the handmade dishcloths and laundry Trainor. “So, I started knitting detergent provided by Earth Breeze. dishcloths as something that had was born. While volunteering at their food pantry lacked cleaning great use.” From this idea, Each Stitch Counts the Hope Center, Trainor noticed (Stitch - See Page 2)
Input Wanted On Transportation Issues
By Chris Lundy MONMOUTH COUNTY – Everyone knows that traffic is getting worse, but what is the solution? The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority is crafting a 25-year strategy on improving various forms of transportation. It might be hard to imagine what 2050 will look like, but assuming we don’t have flying cars yet, they
want to know how to improve roads, bus service, and more. The long-range plan is called Connecting Communities. The survey can be found at njtpa. org/connecting. It only takes a few minutes and you can enter into a raffle for a $25 gift card at the end. The questions ask what town you live and work in, but don’t ask your name or address. They want to know how often you
use public transportation, and what it would take for you to use it more. They address people who need wheelchairs or other personal mobility devices. The questionnaire is in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Chinese or Korean. A Let’s Talk Transportation event is scheduled for 11:30 a.m., Jan. 28. This is a virtual listening session, “where you tell us what works (and what
we need to improve!) in the transportation system you use every day,” the NJTPA said. “This session will begin with two short presentations about how walking, biking and rolling investments can create active and accessible communities.” Registration for this can be found at njtpa. org, under “Events.” You might also spot NJTPA (Transportation - See Page 4)
January 25, 2025
School Board Swears In Members, Chooses Leaders By Liz Ciocher HOWELL – In accordance with the previously established schedule, the Howell Township Board of Education held their fi rst monthly meeting of the new year on January 7. At this meeting, a new schedule was approved, policies were reviewed, and members of the board were sworn in to their respective positions. Three board members who won the election in November were sworn in during the January meeting - two newcomers and one returning member. These three (Jennifer Okerson, Sara Moran, and Margaret ‘Maggie” Lazur) are now officially members of the Board of Education for the 2025 year. In addition to the swearing in of new board officials, official board titles were appointed, including president and vice president. Members of the board were given the right to nominate any select person to be appointed in these positions. Without hesitation, they decided to nominate members who have been established on the board previously. “Last year, we had an excellent change of leadership. New policies and procedures were put in place, we revised our board bylaws, and none of this would have happened without the outstanding leadership of Cristy Mangano,” said board member Dr. Denise Lowe. “It is my honor and my pleasure to unconditionally recommend her for another year as board president.” Following Lowe’s statement, there were no additional nominations for board president. Mangano was unanimously voted to serve for another year in the position. For Vice President, Ira Thor was nominated by the board. He was, similar to Mangano, the only nomination received by the board for this position. (Leaders - See Page 4)
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