HIRST MADELINE B. \”MADGE\”

On May 12, 2007, (nee Longo) Life long resident of Gloucester City, age 80 yrs. She was the beloved wife of the late Charles A. Hirst. She was the loving mother of Charles Hirst and his wife Judy, and Conrad Hirst and his wife Donna.. She is also survived by her dear grandchildren, Anthony Hirst, Tara Coyle, Nicole Daisey, Lourine Hirst, and Brad Hirst and Conrard Hirst. and 7 great grandchildren.

Madge was the former cook/ caretaker at both St. Mary\’s Church Rectory in Gloucester City and St. Joan of Arc Church Rectory in Fairview, Camden. Madge was also a member of several St. Mary\’s Church Prayer Groups and a former member of the St. Mary\’s Church Choir.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend her viewing Wednesday morning from 10:00 to 11:00am at St. Mary\’s Church 426 Monmouth Street, Gloucester City,NJ. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11:00am. Interment to be held at the convenience of the family. There is no evening viewing. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Alex\’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, 333 Lancaster Avenue #414, Wynnewood, PA 19096 or donations may be made online at www. Alexslemonade.org.

Funeral arrangements entrusted to the ETHERINGTON-CRERAN FUNERAL HOME, 700 Powell St., Gloucester City, NJ.

By Bill Bates 

NEWS Correspondent 

Residents in Mount Ephraim no longer have to wait for a mutual aid ambulance if they call 911 during the daytime hours. Monday, September 4th marked the first day of the first full week of having daytime Emergency Medical Services personnel provided by Virtua Health. Mount Ephraim\’s EMS has signed a contract with Virtua that gives them staffing from Monday thru Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. including all applicable holidays. The Virtua Health employees are all NJ State certified Emergency Medical Technicians that go through continuous training throughout the year. These EMT\’s will be staffing Mount Ephraim\’s ambulances and will be stationed at the MEPRI Ambulance garage to the rear of the MEPRI building on Kings Highway.  

PHOTO BY BILL BATES 

DUTY CREW RESPONDS – Virtua Health EMT Laurie Bernstein (left) and EMT Walt Woodward (right) respond to a Cardiac Emergency call that came in as I visited the crew at the MEPRI Ambulance building on Friday afternoon. This was one of eight calls that the duty crew had during their 12 hour day shift in Mount Ephraim.

The Mount Ephraim Police Reserves Incorporated Emergency Medical Services, also known as the MEPRI EMS, has been serving the borough of Mount Ephraim and its neighboring communities since 1945. They have seen many changes over the years and by far this is one of the best decisions the organization has ever made. 

\”This is an exciting change that the officers of our organization have worked very hard to bring for the residents of the Borough of Mount Ephraim\” said MEPRI EMS Chief Joe Lutz. \”I want to personally thank each and every member for their effort that they have put forth since we have become licensed\” he also added. Members have done everything from replaced light bulbs to mounting fire extinguishers in both rigs, which is one of the many requirements by the state. The members did an awesome job in making the trucks look great for the recent inspection.  

Both of MEPRI Ambulances recently met the requirements for the state to issue a state license to the organization. One of the main requirements is that the ambulance must have a minimal of two EMT\’s on board in order to respond to any emergency call. This license also allows the organization to \”soft bill\” the patients\’ insurance company for services rendered. If the patients insurance company only pays a percentage of that bill and not the entire amount, the patient nor the insurance company are responsible for that outstanding balance. In essence, MEPRI EMS only receives the amount that the insurance company is willing to pay. If a patient does not have insurance, the patient is not responsible for the expenses incurred. The money that is paid to Mount Ephraim EMS from the insurance companies will be more than enough to pay for the services that are provided by Virtua Health. This means that there will be no tax burden on any resident to have these services in place. 

The last time Mount Ephraim had daytime EMS coverage was almost 15 years ago when at that time only one adult had to work to support the household. Many members were homemakers and those who worked the second shift. As time passed, more and more families were starting to rely on that second spouse for additional income to cover the basic costs of living. \”At one time we had approximately 12 to 15 members that were available to turn the wheels during the daytime hours. We never even had any trouble getting a second ambulance during those hours as well\” said retired member Marietta Corson who ran with the MEPRI ambulance for over __ years. \”Frank & I lived right up the street and we always had a good response time to the ambulance garage because we were so close.\” \”As more of our members returned to work during the daytime hours, it was harder and harder, year after year, to get the ambulance to respond.\” \”Eventually we had to turn about 75 percent of the daytime calls over to mutual aid to handle\” she also explained. 

An average call, from the time the pager goes off to the time you return to the ambulance building, can be anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the nature of the call. It is not easy to find many people who are willing to give up that time, not to mention all of the state mandated training that is required to keep your Emergency Medical Certification up-to-date from year to year. Thankfully, this expense is provided to each member by the NJ State Volunteer Training Fund. This allows members to complete the required training for free. 

\”We have been very fortunate, Mount Ephraim has a great group of young adults that are able to volunteer their time\” said EMS Captain Dan Walker who is a career EMT in a neighboring town that works a rotating schedule like most other professionals in his field. Several of the current volunteer members are from neighboring towns, but when they are on call, they are required to be in town and at the ambulance building. Mount Ephraim\’s current volunteers provide coverage to its town and surrounding communities when called upon from the hours of 6 p.m. to 6 a .m. on Monday thru Friday. Members have an option from covering a 6 hour shift or if they wish they may cover the entire 12 hours. 

Mt. Ephraim still continuous its rotation \”Duty Weekend\” with Haddon Heights and Audubon Borough. One town covers an entire weekend from 6 a .m. on Saturday morning thru 6 a .m. on Monday morning. Each squad covers a weekend which responds to calls in all three towns and has the next two weekends off, until their rotation comes up again. The average number of calls on a \”Duty Weekend\” averages from about 13 to 18. These three ambulance organizations have been sharing this coverage for almost two years now and have had much success and praise from its members, local officials, and residents as well.  

\”We have been waiting for this day to come and it has finally here\” Said MEPRI President Frank Corson. Frank has been serving with the Mount Ephraim Police Reserves Incorporated organization for more than 25 years and has been president of the organization for the past __ years. The members of MEPRI EMS are looking forward to the many changes as the organization continues to blossom to new levels. 

By Bill Cleary

Rumors have been circulating for several weeks about the housing project planned for the old GAF property at Charles and Water Streets being cancelled. The plans for the development, which was called Meadowbrook II, were announced in October 2004. The builder was Beazer Homes who is currently building 64 single family homes on the old Starlite Drive In movie property at Route 130 and Klemm Avenue.

Wanting to clear up the rumor a reporter from the NEWS contacted Beazer Homes last week and asked if Meadowbrook II was still a go? The following statement was received from a spokesman for Beazer, Hope McHenry, who is the New Homes Information Manager for Central Jersey and South Jersey.

She writes, \”First, I believe you must really be referring to what has been known as \”Gloucester Point\”, which is located along the Delaware River in Gloucester City. Beazer Homes is no longer under contract to purchase the property and all of the parties involved, including Beazer Homes, are considering the best way to develop the property given the current housing market.\”

Demolition of the old GAF plant was completed earlier this year.

Butch Berglund, one of the principals of Gloucester Point Inc., said that the project will continue forward without Beazer. \”Gloucester Point owns the property. We have most of the permits needed to begin construction of single family homes and condos on the site. We are talking to several builders who are interested in the site. The site will be redeveloped. We have too much time and money invested in it to withdraw now. \”

Gloucester City has been trying to develop its riverfront for the past 25 years. The first announcement of a grandeur style proposal was made in 1984 when a group of developers approached the city with a plan to build \”Hollywood East\” on the riverfront. The project called for condos, a marina, restaurants, housing and movie studios. After the \”City Fathers\” authorized several costly studies the idea was scrapped because the developer would not released their source of funding.

That was followed by the King Street Corridor Plan, which was similar to Hollywood East proposal without the movie studios. After spending another $100,000 or so to do one more study it never got beyond the talking stage.

Over the next several years different groups of individuals came forward with an idea of just building a restaurant on the waterfront at the old Coast Guard Base, King Street and the river, surrounded by a marina. The restaurant was thrown out the window when former Mayor Chuck Billingham and council agreed to lease the former Coast Guard office building to Holt Cargo for 99 years.

A small version of the marina (only 25 slips) was built for several million dollars in the late 1990\’s. All the studies that the City paid to have done recommended at the minimum the marina should have at least 100 slips to make a profit. Whoever designed the City\’s marina forgot to include fresh water and fuel for the boats. As such the marina has continued to cost the City more money to operate then what it is making.

It didn\’t help either that the marina was closed for a year or more because of an oil spill. And then there was the lawsuit brought by the dredging company building the marina that cost taxpayers $260,000 to settle along with attorney fees of $300,000 plus.

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Very cute, enjoy!!!

Oh for goodness sake… laugh, or at least groan.
Life\’s too short not to enjoy even these silly little
cute and clean jokes

Sounds to me like she\’s been
\”sweeping\” around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!