I would like to thank Gloucester City Mayor Bill James for resolving a problem that I have had since late September. I had three trees removed from my property in late September. The tree grew around the Verizon and Comcast lines.

The landscapers were unable to remove the branched from the wires. I contacted Verizon and Comcast and they did not remove the branches that were hanging from the wires.

Some of the branches were about fifty pounds.

I went to a city council meeting in December because this was a public safety issue. I spoke to the City Administrator and I was told that he would take care of the problem. Finally, I spoke to Mayor James.

He came to my house to see the branches. He told me that he would take care of the problem. It has only been a few weeks and he was able to have the branches removed.

I am so glad that we have a mayor who is caring and \”gets the job done.\” Thank you again Mayor James.

Mary Lou Testa, Gloucester City

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On March 30, 2007. Age 87. (nee Schillinger) Of West Palm Beach, Florida. Formerly of Gloucester City. Loving wife of the late August Schille. Devoted mother of William J. Uricher (Judith), Betty Ann Pacio (Phil). Richard J. Schumann (Carolyn), Judith M. Gruff (Bill), Bruce C. Schumann (Patricia). Beloved grandmother of 11 and great-grandmother of 19. Marie was born and raised in Gloucester City. She retired to Florida in the 1950\’s. At the request of the family, cremation and inurnment are private at New Saint Mary\’s Cemetery, Bellmawr. Expressions of sympathy can be e-mailed to the family through our funeral home website www.mccannhealey.com under online obituaries of Marie R. Schille. Family requests that memorial donations be made in Marie\’s memory to Saint Mary\’s R.C. Church: Memorial Fund: 426 Monmouth Street, Gloucester City, NJ 08030.

 

How dare you criticize the volunteers of the Gloucester City Fire Department when all you hearing in what is in the City News and Bill\’s webblog! You have no idea of what is going on behind the scenes unless you are involved.

The City Chief brought this to the Four Company President\’s attention one week after he took office at the annual banquet. The President immediately called for an audit of the Treasury and Softball Marathon Accounts. Mr. Kephart tried to come up with an excuse to cover himself but then realized he was caught when the officers said they were going to the bank the next day. The police were called that evening but the officers had to wait for the prosecutor\’s office to complete their investigation.

Nothing was ever tried to be covered up and for you to insinuate that is ludicrous.

As for the volunteers being thieves and the residents not trusting them in their homes, maybe you should refresh your memory a bit. When this happened 20 years ago it was a career man who took the money. A former four company officer said that his father paid the money back so no charges would be pressed against him but that he lost his career job. Maybe no deal should have been made since that person continued to go on to cheat others later on in life. But that was a different time and generation of volunteers.

However, it is a shame that one person can tarnish an entire organization\’s good name, but the majority of men and women of the volunteers are upstanding citizens who are dedicated to helping their fellow man. They leave their warm beds at night, dinner tables, holiday celebrations etc. to give to their community. I think we should commend and praise them for taking the time out of their lives to volunteer for the City of Gloucester rather than bad mouth them and put them down.

As to closing the two volunteer stations and making another career station, Gloucester City is a blue collar community, if anything an incentive should be given to the volunteers for helping their community. Maybe more citizens would volunteer then thus saving the taxpayers any additional output of money.

Barbara Ann Birney

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Erin MacAdams of Brooklawn has been named to the Gloucester County Times Girls

Basketball All Stars- First Team.

The diminutive Lions sophomore point guard led the

team in every statistical category posting

13.3 points, 8 assists, six rebounds and 2.5 steals per

game…. She hit 53 three pointers this season and

Shot 82 percent from the foul line…..She recorded two

triple doubles this season.

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HAND
Mildred L., \”Mill\”
(nee Whitaker), on March 29, 2007, resident of Bellmawr for the past 30 years, formerly of Mt. Ephraim. Age 89. Mill
will be sadly missed by relatives and friends. Beloved wife of the late George M. Hand. Devoted mother of Linda Hand, Doris Hand and Shelly March. Dear sister of Stanley Whitaker. Loving Gram of Derrick Teti, Jennifer Jones, Jamie Teti and Joseph March and great grandmother of Jada Teti, Jared Teti and Logan Benson. There will be a viewing from 9 to 11am Saturday morning at GARDNER FUNERAL HOME, RUNNE-MEDE. Funeral Service 11am at the funeral home. Interment at Arlington Cemetery, Penn-sauken. Expressions of sympathy may be e-mailed [email protected].

SHEFSKI (POLUS), MELISSA ANN
(nee Klevenz) on March 28, 2007 of Bellmawr, formerly of Haddon Twp. Age 39.
Beloved daughter of George P., Sr. and Joan C. (Nee Urban). Fiancé of Paul Polus and former wife of Daniel Shefski. Devoted mother of Jason P. Klevenz and Misty N. Shefski. Step-mother of Paul M. and Michelle C. Polus. Dear sister of George P. Klevenz, Jr. (Angel). Loving grandmother of Makalay Polus. Also survived by aunts, nieces and cousins. Melissa was a graduate of Collingswood High School in 1985 and a graduate of the Camden County Technical School.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend the viewing Sunday evening from 6 to 9pm and Monday morning from 8 to 9am at GARDNER FUNERAL HOME, RUNNEMEDE. Funeral Mass Monday 10am St. John\’s RC Church, Collingswood. Interment Calvary Cemetery, Cherry Hill. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in Melissa\’s memory to the American Cancer Society, 1851 Old Cuthbert Rd., Cherry Hill, NJ 08034. Expressions of sympathy maybe e-mailed to [email protected]

Group Three, photos of other winners will follow.

The Gloucester City P.A.L. held it’s 11^th Annual 3 on 3 Tournament on March 24 and 25, 2007.

There were approximately 200 participants. It was a huge success.

The PAL would like to thank the following for their help: Gloucester City Board of Education for the use of Cold Springs School, the janitors who helped clean up the gym each day, Ken Eller, Doug Ziegler, Bob Lee, Bill Johnson, Bud Blackiston, Kathy Matkowski, Mike Niedzwiadek, Mike Matkowski, Louisa Llewellyn, BFR Awards. Congratulations to all of the winners. Thanks again to all, William James.

The winners are as follows:

8 to 10 Year Olds- Austin Darrow, Tyler Berglund, John Lindeborn

11 to 13 Year Olds- Tyler Witcraft, Zack Carey, Ed Gunning, Stefano Okoro

14 to 16 Year Olds- Kevin Matkowski, Sean Welsh, Sam Pierman, Tom Hopson

17 to 18 Year Olds-Mike Matkowski, Kyle Kramer, Shaun Roch

Do you remember when there were a ton of Girl Scout troops in Gloucester City? I do. When I was a kid, everyone seemed to be either in Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts.

Did you know this year there are only two registered troops in town this year? There is one Brownie Troop, which I lead with the help of three great co-leaders and a Junior Troop.

Girl Scouts is a wonderful activity for girls. It helps them to boost self-esteem, learn new things, meet friends, work as a team, learn about the environment and their community, and try activities that they might never have a chance to do otherwise.

We have 23 girls in our troop this year. This is an incredible number! The girls in our troop have had a chance to do a lot of great things. They have earned badges, learned the Girl Scout Promise, learned proper respect for the flag, attended the Nutcracker, attended the Veterans Day Ceremony, made Irish potatoes, sold cookies, and did so much more.

We still have a lot of things to do before this year is over. We will be going camping, attending the Memorial Day Ceremony, walking in the July Fourth parade, and going to the VFW Museum to just name a few.

Our girls are very proud to be in Girl Scouts and to wear their uniforms. We have had many requests to take on additional girls especially in other age brackets.

The Junior Troop will move up to Cadettes (7th-9th Grade) next year, two woman stepping up to the plate to have a Junior Troop (4th-6th Grade), and there is a possible Daisy Leader (K & 1st Grade). Brownies are (1st-3rd grade).

There are many scholarship opportunities for girls who stay in Girl Scouts through high school. It has been said that a Girl Scout who has completed her Gold Award and Eagle Scouts are the top picks for job opportunities because of the dedication it takes to complete these awards.

For information on volunteering as a leader, contact Kim Reed at the Camden County Girl Scout Council in Cherry Hill at 795-1560. Meetings for younger girls are typically held once a week or every other week for about an hour.

Older girls are usually more flexible due to their busy schedules. There is not a set time frame. Some troops meet all year long, some meet for the school year and some only meet 3-5 months of the year.

If there aren\’t enough troops or a troop in that age bracket, girls are put on waiting lists. Please give these girls a chance and volunteer to help.

You won\’t be sorry. It is a great program!

Theresa Ritchie, Leader, Girl Scout Troop 942

MCKANE, ROBERT A.
on March 25, 2007 of Bellmawr, NJ. Age 78.
Beloved husband of Joan (nee Craven). Devoted father of Robert J. (Sandra), Kathleen Geserick (Carl), and Joseph D. Dear brother of Shirl M. Newcomb, and the late Elizabeth Jester-Smith, Robert Hodges and Thomas McKane. Loving grandfather of Candice and Christopher. Also survived by many nieces and nephews.
Mr. McKane was a lifetime member of the No. 1 Fire Company in Bellmawr and he enjoyed the casinos. He was an Army veteran of WWII and the Korean Conflict.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend the viewing Wednesday evening from 7 to 9pm and Thursday morning from 10 to 11am at GARDNER FUNERAL HOME, RUNNEMEDE. Funeral Service Thursday 11am at the funeral home. Interment at Brig. Gen. Wm C. Doyle NJ Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Arneytown, NJ. In lieu of flowers the family request that donations be made in Robert\’s memory to the Camden County Hero Scholarship Fund, 191 W. White Horse Pike, Berlin, NJ 08009. Expressions of sympathy may be e-mailed to [email protected]

 As a resident and a proud Gloucester City Lion, I was chagrined to read that Cleary\’s Negative Notebook pointed its\’ accusing finger at the Lion Rest Stop flag.

I ordered a new flag on March 7 and I informed Bowie Johnson that we would replace the old flag on March 24, Clean Up Day, with volunteer Lion labor.

Due to the offensive report in your paper, the City replaced the flag with taxpayer\’s dollars.

We Lions endeavor to maintain the rest stop area including the three flags, but we, like the streets department are not perfect.

If any resident or business would like to aid us in our efforts, they could donate a flag. We would appreciate it very much.

I hereby invite the fault fining finger of William Cleary to attend a Lions Club meeting where we will \”point\” out the multitude of positive acts we perform for our City.

Call me to arrange to have dinner (free) on the first or third Tuesday evening, 6:15 p.m.

Jack Hughes, Sight Chairman 

Columnist Note:

Dear Mr. Hughes, If you knew the flag was torn then it should have been retired as soon as you were made aware of it. Why allow the flag to fly in that condition and get damaged further. If bringing public attention to the proper way to fly the American Flag offends you then too bad.

I suggest that you and anyone who feels the same way take a moment to read the following:

Section 8 of the United States Flag Code states, \”When a flag is old and ready to be retired the flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.\” We recommend that you contact your local VFW Chapter and ask them for help properly disposing of your flag.\”

The five torn Flags I found flying in our great City were in such a condition that they were no longer a fitting emblem for display. As for the flag flying at the Lions Club Rest Stop it is obvious from this photo Mr. Hughes the flag was no longer a fitting emblem for display. There is no telling how long the flag was in this condition.

While we are on the subject I like to commend the Post Office for removing its torn flag and replacing it with a new one. That flag was one of the five that were damaged.

As for the invite to dinner Mr. Hughes, I rather you take the money and use it towards the cost of the Flag.

Bill Cleary

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