some original New Year’s resolutions from local, area people
Page 4 • Wednesday, January 9, 2019 • The Hammonton Gazette
resOLutiONs, from Page 1
Sticking with a New Year’s
Resolution can often be difficult,
but Sbarra said he is optimistic
that he will be able to do so by
keeping a positive mindset
throughout the year.
“I definitely feel there is some
truth to the old saying, ‘positive
thoughts bring positive changes.’
Hopefully, by staying positive and
helping others stay positive, they
will try to do the same and
everyone as a whole will be
healthier and happier,” Sbarra
said.
Like Sbarra, Medford resident
Martha Kinney is focusing on
adopting a holistic change in her
mental approach to life this year
rather than picking one specific
New Year’s Resolution.
“This year, I’m trying to learn
to stop being afraid of what people
think of me and to do more things
that I like to do without second
thought. This is a more general
resolution, rather than just one
thing, and I think this will help me
become more self-confident,”
Kinney said.
In addition to mental health,
physical health is also an area
frequently targeted by people
when choosing their New Year’s
Resolutions. After a holiday season full of indulging on
comfort food, many will use the
New Year as a time to focus on
shedding any extra pounds that
were gained over the past year.
Real estate agent Jerry
McManus, of Berlin, said he is
determined to get back to his
college weight of 185 pounds in
2019. It will be McManus’ first
true New Year’s Resolution in the
last 20 years, but he said is
optimistic of what the future will
bring, and believes he has a good
support system in place to meet
his goals.
“I have a number of friends
looking to do the same thing; we
vote for board president, and
Donio answered that there was a
change in the law in 2017 that per-
mitted it, so the Waterford Twp.
Representative had voted in last
year’s election as well.
At this time, Hammonton
School District Business Adminis-
trator Barbara Prettyman called for
presidential nominations for the
second time. Lyons and Mento
were once again nominated and it
was brought to a vote, which re-
sulted in a tie because no one
changed his or her vote. Vice pres- idential nominations were then
called for again, with Berenato and
Attanasi once again receiving
nominations. It was brought to a
vote and once again deadlocked in
a tie, as no one changed his or her
vote for vice president either.
Waterford Twp. board member
Al Pangia made a request for exec-
utive session, but his request was
not granted as Donio indicated it
may not have been appropriate.
The meeting then moved on to
No pres. or v.p. for school board
sCHOOL, from Page 1
of board president were requested.
Both John Lyons and Sam Mento
III, current board president, were
nominated for president, and the
nominations were put to a vote.
The vote was at a stalemate, with
five votes for Lyons (board mem-
bers Pullia, Polito, Kelli Fallon,
Barbara Berenato and Lyons vot-
ing in favor) and five for Mento
(board members Attanasi, Linda
Byrnes, Waterford Twp. board
member Al Pangia, Ray Scipione
and Mento voting in favor). Six
votes were needed to win the posi-
tion.
Folsom Representative John
Thomas was not permitted to vote
for either president or vice presi-
dent because the Folsom Board of
Education representative is pre-
cluded from voting as a member of
the Hammonton Board of Educa-
tion.
According to board solicitor
William Donio Esq., a majority
was necessary to elect board pres-
ident. Since there was no majority,
Donio warned the board what the
outcome could be if no decision
was made.
“I do caution the board, you may
be well aware already, if you are
going to elect a president and vice
president you have to do so at the
reorganization meeting. If you fail
to do so then the decision is then
sent to Executive County Superin-
tendent to make that determina-
tion,” Donio said.
Next a call for nominations for
board vice president was made,
and Attanasi and Barbara Berenato
were nominated. The matter was
brought to a vote, which resulted
in another five-to-five tie.
At this time, Thomas asked to
address the board and make a com-
ment.
“I think it’s important for you
guys as a board to come to an
agreement tonight. I don’t think
we’d like the outcome of it going
public in the papers that we as a
board could not agree on the very
first thing we’re supposed to agree
on this year, not only on the presi-
dency but now the vice presidency.
We cannot look foolish this year;
we need to go into this year with a
plan. We need to go into this year
with cooperation ... We cannot
leave this room and leave it up to
the county superintendent, and I’ll
be 100 percent honest with you;
I’m a little well-versed in under-
standing what the county superin-
tendent is going to do… He’s
going to send it right back to us be-
cause they’re going to want you to
decide who’s president. So my rec-
ommendation to everyone is that if
you cannot get behind Sam
[Mento] and you cannot get behind
John [Lyons] then find someone in
the room that you all can get be-
hind and get this resolved tonight.
We cannot start the new year off in
a deadlock,” Thomas said.
A question was then raised by
Berenato as to when the Waterford
Twp. representative became able to
see DistriCt, Page 13
plan on holding each other
accountable. We have to report
results frequently,” McManus
said.
For resident Jessica Indio, 2019
is an important year. In addition to
turning 25 this February, Indio
will also compete in this year’s
Miss New Jersey competition as
Miss South Shore 2019. Indio said
this year will set the tone for the
rest of her adult life, which she
intends to improve by building on
healthy habits and practicing
being more comfortable in her
own skin.
“I want to take the initiative to
invest in my health in the hopes
that this milestone sets the tone for
the rest of my life. A quarter of a
century is a pretty big deal, and I
only have up to go from here …
This year, I want to look to
improve myself for the long haul,”
Indio said.
This year will also be a
milestone year for Waterford Twp.
resident Kaitlyn Rybacki, who is
currently in her final year of
graduate school at the University
of the Sciences in Philadelphia,
where she is studying to become
an occupational therapist. With
her board exams fast approaching,
Rybacki said she is entering the
New Year by striving to achieve a
healthy balance between her
studies and personal life, and to
remain organized.
“I just think how I’ve been
studying and how I’ve been
organizing my time is a lot
different, and that’s like a hard
thing for me. So, it’s almost a New
Year’s Resolution just to be more
organized with how I divvy up my
free time, and just balancing work
and my effort. I need to study, but
I also need to do things that make
me feel good about my life,”
Rybacki said.
The past year was very eventful
for Runnemede resident Brianna
Kelly, who got married, graduated
nursing school and found out she
was going to be an aunt again in
2018. In her experiences over the
past year, Kelly said she has
learned patience, perseverance
and how to remain optimistic,
which are skills she will use to
make 2019 even better
“My New Year’s resolution is to
be the best version of myself in all
aspects of my life … I feel like
there have been certain things that
have happened in my life that are
pushing me more to do better for
myself … I think this year will be
different because I feel more
confident in myself as a person
and in my goals,” Kelly said.