The Hammonton Gazette 04/22/20 Hammonton Gazette Digital Edition | Page 2

Working on the
HHS yearbook
p. 37
Hammonton
Dua Lipa out of
through the
years p. 21-32 her comfort zone
p. 41
Chamber
news
p. 34-35
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Volume 24 • Issue 17
www.hammontongazette.com
WHAT’S NEXT FOR ST. JOE?
Diocese announces closing of high, elementary schools; local support strong
by Gabe Donio
G AZETTE S TAFF W RITER
HAMMONTON—An announcement
made April 17 by the Diocese of Camden
stated that St. Joseph High School and St.
Joseph Regional Elementary School would
be two of five schools in the diocese that
would be closing on June 30. Following the
announcement, strong support for the
Massarelli
remembered
schools was shown locally in the form of a
vehicle caravan through the town and organ-
izers say plans are advancing to attempt to
keep Catholic education in the community.
A group of individuals is working to keep
For Class of ‘20, a bright night
the school moving forward, one of the or-
ganizers told The Gazette.
“We’re Wildcats. We’re built for this.
We’re not going to go down easy. We’re
by Gabe Donio
G AZETTE S TAFF W RITER
HAMMONTON—Christine
Massarelli, the vice president of
prominent local business Mas-
sarelli’s and a former Hammonton
First member of council who
helped make a new downtown
See ST. JOE, Page 3
town hall at
Central Av-
enue and Vine
Street possi-
ble, died on
April 11, her
obituary said,
adding that
Christine Massarelli her death was
Blueberry growers
preparing for season
by Joseph F. Berenato
G AZETTE S TAFF W RITER
HAMMONTON—Each year,
the months leading up to the blue-
berry harvest bring with them new
challenges. For area growers, this
year is no exception.
See MASSARELLI, Page 10
Denny Doyle, Chairman of the
NJ Blueberry Growers Association
Advisory Council and a member of
both the North American Blueberry
Council and The United States
Highbush Blueberry Council,
noted that some of the issues facing
growers this year are unique but are
HPD reports theft Showing support for St. Joe schools
from cars locally
THG/Joseph F. Berenato. To purchase photos in The Gazette, call [phone].
Hammonton High School’s Robert Capoferri Football Field Scoreboard was lit up on April 20 as a way to honor the
Class of 2020. [See related article below].
by Gabe Donio
G AZETTE S TAFF W RITER
HAMMONTON—Police are
investigating several thefts from
cars that occurred last week, Ham-
monton Police Chief Kevin Friel
said.
• On April 14 at 10:47 a.m., on
the prime block of Lakeshore
See BLUEBERRY, Page 8
Drive, a theft from a vehicle oc-
curred, Friel said.
The complainant stated that
sometime after 12:30 a.m. on
April 12 and the morning hours,
he returned to his vehicle and ob-
served the contents disturbed and
items missing, Friel said.
A parking placard, spare
change, a phone charger and a
HHS Class of 2020
honored by district
G AZETTE S TAFF W RITER
HAMMONTON—The lights
and scoreboard at Robert Capo-
ferri football field at Hammonton
High School illuminated the night
sky on April 20 in a very special
gesture for the graduating class of
2020.
The Gazette spoke with several
school officials in advance of the
event.
Superintendent of schools
Robin Chieco said that the goal
was to numerically represent the
SUBSCRIBE TO The
See HHS, Page 12
Courtesy Photo
On April 19, a caravan of hundreds of cars paraded from the Mt. Carmel grounds to the two St. Joseph schools
in a show of support for the two educational facilities [See related article above]. St. Joseph Regional Elementary
School students Isabella (fourth grade), Bryan (third grade) and Sean Falciani (kindergarten) helped decorate
their family’s car. Together with their parents, Liz and Kevin Falciani, they participated in the procession of cars.
Gazette • SUBSCRIBE NOW! • CALL 609-704-1939
by Joseph F. Berenato
See POLICE, Page 2