Dogs In For A Treat At Turkey Brook Park

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The third annual POW/MIA Remembrance 24 Hour Vigil sponsored by the Morris County American Legion in partnership with the All Veterans Alliance will be held at the All Veterans Memorial, 30 Flanders Rd. (Turkey Brook Park), Budd Lake, from Friday, Sept. 18 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day) to Saturday, Sept. 19.

The opening ceremony will be at 4 p.m., Friday, Sept. 18 with the closing ceremony at 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19. Throughout the vigil participants will maintain the Memorial Fire, read the names of all 3,700 New Jersey veterans unaccounted for from all wars and ring the Ascension Bell 21 times on the hour every hour to honor their memory.

Individuals and organizations are invited to participate in the vigil with prior coordination. The event is free to both participants and the public.

Also during the 24 hour vigil cadets from the Mt. Olive High School Air Force JROTC will each hike 14 miles to commemorate the Bataan Death March. The commemorative march honors the 60,000 - 80,000 American and Phillipino POWs who were forcibly marched 66 miles from Saysain Point, Bagac, Bataan and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac in 1942.  Exact numbers are unknown, but approximately 18,000 POW deaths occurred over the five-day trek. By completing the 14 miles the cadets will earn the Bataan Death March Memorial Ribbon.  Although the 14-mile Bataan Death Memorial March is nothing compared to what those POWs endured, it is carried out every year in order to commemorate their sacrifice.

For participation in the vigil contact Commander Amery Vasso, 973-349-4777, trupaladin7@msn.com.

About The Morris County American Legion and The All Veterans AllianceThe Morris County American Legion represents 2,300 members in 21 posts located in Morris County. The County American Legion serves to coordinate activities in Morris County to maximize the impact of American Legion programs. Congress chartered the American Legion in 1919 as a patriotic veteran’s organization devoted to mutual helpfulness. The American Legion is the nation’s largest veteran’s service organization, committed to mentoring youth and sponsorship of programs in our communities advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security, and continued devotion and support to our fellow service members and veterans. To learn more visit the website at http://www.legionmorriscountynj.org/The All Veterans Alliance vision is to provide needed outreach services and support to those who have honorably served or are currently serving in the United States Armed Forces; home or abroad. To provide educational and military support opportunities to individuals, schools, and organizations that seek to fulfill community service mandates. To learn more visit the website at https://www.allveteransmemorial.org/outreach.html . 

The High Holidays kick off this Friday, Sept. 18, with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. 

The Chabad Northwest NJ- Western Region has services planned throughout the rest of the month from Sept. 18-28. 

“This year will be unlike any other,” says Rabbi Yaacov Shusterman, spiritual leader of the Chabad Northwest N.J. in Flanders. “Our mission is to be here for you, and provide you with the most meaningful, authentic and uplifting High Holiday experience possible.”  

Traditional High Holiday Services are planned with indoor/outdoor seating available this year with a cantor who “will lead us in socially-distanced, but spiritually uplifting entire holiday service,” says Shusterman.  

There will be limited, socially-distanced seats available, and no walk-ins will be allowed. Attendees must reserve a seat for each service they plan to attend. Masks will be required. 

Rosh Hashanah services are set for Saturday, Sept. 19, at 9 a.m.; Sunday, Sept. 20, 9 a.m.; Shofar blowing at 10:30 a.m.  All services will be held at Flanders Crossing Recreation Center at 13 Watson Way, Flanders. 

R.S.V.P is a must as space is limited due to safety guidelines. Children’s services will not be provided this year. 

To reserve a seat, go to https://www.mychabadcenter.com/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/4877087/jewish/High-Holiday-Reservations.html  

Photo caption: Reid Echevarria, a kindergartener at Sandshore Elementary School, shows off the tee shirt he received during the school’s kindergarten orientation.  

A group of 5-year-olds made Mt. Olive School District history when the school year began on September 8. The nearly 300 young students are the first full-day kindergartners in the district’s history.

In 2013, Mt. Olive began offering a tuition-based extended kindergarten program that focused on literacy and language skills. This school year, however, marks the first time an entire incoming kindergarten class begins its Mt. Olive educational career with day-long kindergarten.

For parents, the offering of full-day kindergarten is an occasion that has been long-awaited in a school system known for its innovation and high levels of student achievement.

“When I joined the district in October of 2018, parents told me that full-day K was one of the programs they most wanted,” said MOSD Superintendent Dr. Robert Zywicki. “I am thrilled to be able to make full-day K a reality. It will help our students academically, socially, and emotionally.”

Under the district’s pandemic-response scheduling of the instructional day, students in grades K–3 alternate weekly between attending school in person and learning at home. This reduces the number of students in a classroom at any given time.

While not a factor this year because of the staggered in-person instruction, the lack of instructional space had been the biggest stumbling block that prevented full-day K from being offered in the past. Changes of the last two years in the delivery of instruction in Mt. Olive, however, freed up space in the district’s schools and allowed full-day K to become logistically feasible.

Expansion of inclusion at the elementary level, for example, brought the instructional support for special education students into their regular classrooms rather than being offered as a “pull out” service; this freed up space previously dedicated to remediation. The district also shifted to mobile instructional technology and away from stand-alone computer labs, further opening up space that can be used for classroom instruction.

A recent survey showed that approximately 90% of school districts in Morris County now provide full-day K.

Special Olympics has named Mt. Olive High School as a National Unified Champion School. The honor, awarded to just five high schools in the state, recognizes MOHS’s commitment to inclusion and its unified sports program in which students with and without disabilities train and compete as teammates.

To be considered a National Unified Champion School, MOHS met 10 standards including the involvement of youth leadership and the organization of school-wide awareness activities that promote inclusion.

“Unified sports provide meaningful experiences for students of all levels,” said Mt. Olive School District Superintendent Dr.  Robert Zywicki. “This award from Special Olympics is a testament to the dedication of our high school teachers and staff members who have worked tirelessly to give students with disabilities the comradery and thrill of competition that comes from organized athletics.”

The unified sports program began four years ago. Soccer, track and field, and basketball are currently offered, coached by Nancy Gilbert and Pam Molfettos. The unified soccer season is set to begin later this month.

MOHS has a longstanding relationship with Special Olympics. The school has hosted Special Olympics regional activities and has had Special Olympics teams for the past 24 years.

Mt. Olive School District Superintendent Dr. Robert Zywicki has been selected recently as a Superintendent to Watch by the National School Public Relations Association.

According to a NSPRA statement, the award recognizes Zywicki’s “dynamic, fast-paced leadership” and his innovative and effective use of technology “to engage and inform the school community, and to expand two-way communication and outreach efforts.”

Twenty- five superintendents across the country are chosen annually to receive the honor.

Zywicki will receive a certificate of achievement and be featured in an upcoming NSPRA digital publication.

From his very first day in the district, Zywicki made strengthening digital communication a key goal. Mt. Olive had no formal social media presence before he joined the district as superintendent in October of 2018; Zywicki immediately made Twitter the platform of choice for the dissemination of real-time information, building the district's Twitter following from 0 to 2000+ within 18 months.

That social media foundation and other digital strategies proved to be invaluable during the pandemic when decisions and breaking news needed to be quickly communicated. Zywicki also used daily blog entries and live video Facebook Parent University updates to answer questions and address concerns during the school closure, and in preparation for the start of the new school year. In addition, he engaged stakeholders and solicited input on district plans through the use of online surveys.

In 2019 under Zywicki’s guidance, Mt. Olive’s website was redesigned with a focus on providing a more satisfying user-experience.

NSPRA is an 85-year-old professional association with a mission, according to its website, to advance education through responsible communication. The organization offers communications training, products, resources, and research materials to assist school districts, state departments of education, regional service agencies, and related state and national associations.

In less than two months, voters will get to select three candidates to fill three seats on the Mt. Olive Township School Board of Education.  

There are seven candidates vying for a three-year term on the BOE. Running for reelection are BOE Members Dr. Antoine Gayles and John Petrie, whose three-year terms expire this year. BOE member Dr. Asunta Beardsley is not seeking reelection as she is relocating outside the district.

The other candidates running in the November election include: Christopher Zeier, Richard Vanatta, Brian Schaechter, Colleen Suflay and Rhonda Cohen. Former BOE members Schaechter and Cohen are running with Suflay on the same ticket with the slogan “Schools in Motion.”  

As a public service, the Mount Olive Democrats asked the community to
suggest questions to be asked of each of the seven candidates running
for the three positions being voted on this year.

“One goal of our organization is to share information with our community regarding important issues,” explains Irene Sergonis of Budd Lake, a committee member of Mt. Olive Democrats who recently ran for Mt. Olive Twp. Council.

“We received individual responses from Dr. Antoine Gayles, John Petrie
and Christopher Zeier. Brian Schaechter, Colleen Suflay and Rhonda Cohen
responded together. Richard Vanatta did not respond.”

To learn more about these candidates and responses to some concerning questions see the link https://mountolivedemocrats.org/posts/board-of-education-candidate-responses/

County Bids Farewell To Communications Director

The Morris County Board of Freeholders has announced the retirement of Lawrence “Larry” Ragonese, whose service over the past five years as Director of Communications for Morris County capped off a career in New Jersey media and public relations that spanned more than 40 years.

“I just want to say what an asset he has been to me, to the entire freeholder board and to all of Morris County,” said Freeholder Director Deborah Smith. “Aside from his sense of humor and charm, we will miss Larry’s strong work ethic, his genuine concern for helping people who come to the county seeking assistance and his extensive knowledge of Morris County.”

Ragonese officially retired on Sept. 1, but continued for the past week in assisting in the transition of a new director. He had become an enduring presence in the Morris County Administration & Records Building in Morristown, as well as the Morris County Courthouse, largely because of his many years as a news reporter in the area. But the freeholders and county administration also hailed his work in modernizing the county Office of Public Information and expanding constituent relations.

“The legacy of Larry Ragonese will remain a treasured institution within Morris County for years to come, for in so many ways he has touched each of us -- and through his too numerous to mention contributions, has improved our lives,” said Morris County Administrator John Bonanni.  “As a journalist, as well as a communications director, Larry approached every issue with both integrity and a smile, the mark of true gentleman. I wish him and his family the very best!”

Ragonese, a Cedar Knolls resident, had covered Morris County government as a news reporter from the 1980s until 2010.  He began his career as a deejay in Parsippany for WQTK 1310 a.m. in 1977, but by 1978 he moved on to become news director at WSUS 102FM in Sussex County before taking on a reporting position at “The Daily Record” of Morristown in 1980.

At the time, “The Daily Record” was privately owned and had a large circulation throughout northwest New Jersey.  Ragonese originally served as “The Daily Record’s” Sussex County bureau chief, but quickly became the Morris County courthouse reporter. By 1984, he ascended to the “The Star-Ledger,” the state’s largest newspaper, where he covered Morris County government until April 2010.

He subsequently joined the administration of then-Governor Chris Christie as Director of Communications for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, holding the post until becoming the Director of Communications in Morris County in February 2015.

“I just want to give a very heart-felt congratulations to Larry Ragonese on his retirement from Morris County,” said Freeholder Doug Cabana. “For many years, Larry has been the voice of Morris County. He should be proud of what he’s done. He’s going to be missed, and I just wish him all the best in his retirement. I wish he would stay a little longer.”

Ragonese spoke briefly at the Aug. 26 freeholder meeting about his retirement, calling it a bittersweet decision and sharing fond memories about his time in Morris County, conjuring “the ghosts” of the many county officials he knew, wrote about and developed friendships with over the past 40 years.

“It’s been my privilege to walk in their great footsteps,” Ragonese said. “So I leave you with a smile and a thank you, and I hope the best for all of you in county government. And I have just one request: Please, Freeholder Krickus, keep my taxes low.”

The freeholders honored Ragonese with an official resolution recognizing his service.

The post of Director of Communications has been assumed by Brian T. Murray, also a Morris County resident who spent more than 30 years in the daily news business in New Jersey, including more than 20 years as a reporter at the “The Star-Ledger” with Ragonese.

In 2011, Murray followed Ragonese into state government, serving as Communications and Marketing Director for the New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development, until leaving in 2015 to become Press Secretary and Communications Director for Governor Chris Christie. He founded BurnPin, a communications and public relations company, after leaving state government in 2018.

Library Goes Virtual For Kids

Virtual Storytime: Do your kids miss Storytime and coming to the library? Tune in Monday through Friday to see all of the Children's Room Librarians reading stories on Facebook and Instagram. 

Buzz's Spring Reading Challenge: Are your kids looking for a fun challenge, that could also brighten up your home? Take part in Buzz's Spring Reading Challenge and help Buzz grow flowers all over Mt. Olive. Printable reading logs and flower coloring pages can be found online at www.mopl.org/youth. 

Library Open For Curbside Pickup 

The Mt. Olive Public Library is open for curbside pickup.

Requests can only be made via phone call or email.

There is a limit of six items for adults and eight for kids and young adults.

Patrons will be called once their items are available for pickup.

Bags will be placed outside of the library, marked with the last four digits of the patrons card number

Due to COVID-19, patrons may not enter library.

No books will be left outside the building after curbside hours

Also due dates will be spread out throughout August to prevent everything being due back at one time.

Hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Thursday: 4 p.m.-8 p.m.

Saturday: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Closed on Sunday.

For questions email: curbside@mopl.org; call 973-691-8686  ext.106.