Page 2 • Wednesday, August 8, 2018 • The Hammonton Gazette
TAB L E O F CO N T E N TS
The Hammonton Gazette
OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
BUSINESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
OUR TOWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
FAITH FOCUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
CIVIC NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
HAMMONTON’S HISTORY . . . . . . 33
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT . . . . . . 37
HAMMONTON
FAMILY EYECARE
WHAT’S HOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
MIND GAMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
HOROSCOPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
REAL ESTATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
SCORECARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Complete Eye Care For All Ages
www.hammontonfamilyeyecare.com
80 S. White Horse Pike • Hammonton • Tel: (609) 567-7479
www.hammontongazette.com
O bItuARIES
The Hammonton Gazette (USPS 018984) is published weekly. The Hammonton Gazette is located at 14 Tilton St., Hammonton, NJ 08037.
Periodicals Postage Paid at Hammonton, NJ. Subscriptions are available for $25.00 per year for New Jersey addresses & $30.00 per year for
residents for out-of-state addressess. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Hammonton Gazette, 14 Tilton St., P.O. Box 1228 Ham-
monton, NJ 08037. Call (609) 704-1940 for more information.
Mary A. DeMarco
Mary A. DeMarco (nee DiMatteo), 66, of Mullica Township died peace-
fully on Wednesday, August 1, 2018 at her daughter’s home.
Born in Camden, she was a lifelong resident of Mullica Township. She
worked for 15 years as a Registered Nurse at Kessler Memorial Hospital in
Hammonton. She also worked as an Assistant Director of Nursing at Ab-
secon Manor and Director of Nursing at Mainland Manor and Lincoln Care
Specialty Center and as a Home Health Nurse for Holy Redeemer. She was
a member of the American Nurses Association.
She was predeceased by her parents, Nicholas and Phyllis DiMatteo. She
is survived by three children, Josephine P. DeMarco, Nicolena J. Engelman
(Daniel), Dina M. DeMarco (John); one sister, Joan E. Brown; six grandchildren, John P. En-
gelman Jr., Cierra J. Fifer, Brianna N. Engelman, Nicholas J. Fifer, Annalise J. Engelman and
Arnold Engelman.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Saturday, August 4, 2018 at St. Mary of Mt.
Carmel Parish—St. Joseph Church in Hammonton. Burial followed at Holy Sepulchre Ceme-
tery in Hammonton. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the COPD Foun-
dation, 3300 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Coral Gables, FL 33134.
Arrangements made by the Carnesale Funeral Home.
A.C.-Phila. Rail service
suspended after Sept. 4
NJ Transit: Will resume in early 2019
by Gabe Donio
G AZETTE S TAFF W RITER
NEWARK—According to a
press release issued by New Jer-
sey Transit on August 3, there will
be a temporary suspension of the
Atlantic City Rail Line (ACRL)
beginning Tuesday, September 4.
NJ Transit said the reason for the
suspension of the rail line was the
installation of Positive Train Con-
trol (PTC), which is a “critical
safety upgrade.”
The release said the Atlantic
City Rail Line service is expected
to resume “in early 2019.”
Throughout this time period,
ACRL customers will have alter-
nate travel options with dis-
counted fares to and from
Philadelphia, the release said.
“This temporary suspension is
required for PTC installation to
continue on rail cars and on the
railroad right of way,” the release
said.
NJ Transit will also be suspend-
ing service on the Raritan Valley
Line (RVL) for PTC installation,
the release said.
The release included comments
from NJ Transit Executive Direc-
tor Kevin Corbett.
“We regret the inconvenience
this will cause our customers on
the RVL and ACRL. That’s why
we’ve maintained the same level
of RVL service to/from Penn Sta-
tion New York with connections at
Newark Penn, and are offering a
range of options with discounted
fares to and from Philadelphia to
continue meeting the travel needs
of our ACRL customers.
“We have made substantial
progress on our PTC project and
we’re continuing to ramp up in-
stallation—in fact, our PTC proj-
ect completion percentage has
increased from 13% to 52% in the
last three months alone. As we
push to complete PTC installation,
I ask for customers’ patience dur-
ing this process as the end result
is a safer railroad for everyone,”
Corbett said.
Detailed bus and rail schedules
will be available in the coming
days on www.njransit.com, the re-
lease said. For more information,
visit New Jersey Transit on Twit-
ter @NJTRANSIT; on Facebook
at www.facebook.com/NJTRAN-
SIT or on their YouTube Channel:
TheNewJerseyTransit
Jersey Shore
Heating • Air Conditioning • Refrigeration • Solar
Office ~ 10 N. White Horse Pike
(609) 561-7385 (t) • (609) 561-7386 (fax)
DON’T WAIT!
Call now to get your AC
serviced for the summer!
INTEREST FREE FINANCING IS
STILL AVAILABLE ON
NATURAL GAS CONVERSIONS!
DON MASCIOLI
(609) 685-9371 (cell)
JOHN CONNAHAN
(609) 602-8111 (cell)
Master HVACR Licenses 19HC00196900, 19HC00487200
THG/Stephen Pistone. To purchase photos in The Gazette, call (609) 704-1940.
Maribeth Capelli (right), of local event planning company Grandaire Booking, stands before the live music stage
in the beer garden on South Second Street during New Jersey Fringe Fest., where Corey James Presner (left)
performed. Saturday, August 4, 3:54 p.m.
Maplewood continues to grow
MAPLEWOOD, from Page 1
remodeling project.
During the past two years, the
Maplewood has been gradually
working on various aesthetic
changes to its decor, color scheme
and overall interior design, and it
has also grown significantly in size
with the addition of a 900-square-
foot wing that has been constructed
on the left side of the restaurant
that has increased its maximum
occupancy by more than 30.
According to James Italiano,
owner of Joe Italiano’s Maplewood
Inn, the recent wave of key
changes throughout the restaurant
was spurred by the need to make
sure the establishment was
spacious and well-designed for
every guest to feel comfortable and
accommodated, and for every staff
member to be able to work
efficiently and happily. This notion
was discovered suddenly after
Italiano went to the kitchen one
night during a busy dinner shift to
assist the Maplewood’s line cooks,
who were scrambling to keep up
with the high volume of freshly-
made entrée orders that were
flooding in from the dining rooms.
“I had to step in, and I realized
how hard it was to cook the
amount of spaghetti we cook
because we cook it fresh. All the
pasta is fresh and we try to take
care for every individual order.
And I realize, ‘This is too hard for
three cooks on the line. We need to
kind of expand the kitchen a little
so we can do a better job,’” Italiano
said.
Italiano said he also noticed a
lack of space for Maplewood’s
guests to wait when the restaurant
was at capacity. At that point, he
decided to solicit the advice of
local builder Joseph Continisio and
began planning the restaurant
expansion and remodeling, which
Italiano said is now about 95
percent finished with the exception
of a few lighting fixtures, tiles and
kitchen equipment that still need to
be installed.
The changes are the most
widespread
and
significant
improvements the Maplewood has
ever undergone, according to
Italiano, and while he admitted
there were some “growing pains”
throughout the process and in the
weeks after its completion, he said
it’s gratifying to see the finished
product come to fruition.
“It has been a long road, but I’m
happy with it. I’m excited; I like
the way it came o ut,” Italiano said.
The wave of change at the
Maplewood also included some
additions to the restaurant’s staff,
which includes several members of
the Italiano’s immediate and
extended family, such as his wife,
Robin, who has been by his side in
operating the business for years. As
the staff grew and become less
homogeneous, Italiano said it was
sometimes difficult to keep
everyone in sync.
“It’s always a little hard because
it was always Robin and I and we
were just in-house; it was like one
big family. It was easy. All of us
knew what we were doing. We
didn’t need to hire too many
people,” Italiano said.
In an attempt to streamline the
front-of-the-house coordination at
the rapidly growing Maplewood,
Italiano brought in a new manager
in James Coover, who has logged
many years of experience in
Inferrera’s
Market
EVERYBODY’S STORE.
436 N. 3RD STREET - HAMMONTON 561-1061
SPECIALS FOR THE WEEK. . . .pg11
11 THE WEEK...
FEATURED PAGE
ITEM OF
PORK TENDERLOIN: $2 99 LB.
commercial
food
service
management,
including
widespread restaurant chains like
Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar and
Grill.
“I’ve learned a lot from him
[Coover]. He brings to the table
something that we didn’t have,
which is a lot of corporate training.
He has been in the restaurant
industry his whole life ... He has
brought a nice level of guest
experience. It was a great addition
to what we have, and the
customers love him,” Italiano said.
The continued success of Joe
Italiano’s Maplewood Inn is
partially attributable to the bold
and visionary ambition of Italiano,
who the residents of Hammonton
recently named as “Best
Restauranteur” in The Hammonton
Gazette’s 2018 Hammy Awards.
However, Italiano acknowledged
that sometimes his lofty aspirations
can be difficult to keep up with,
which is why he is surrounding
himself
with
experienced
individuals like Coover, and others
Criminal
mischief at
car lot
See EXPANSION, Page 14
by Gabe Donio
G AZETTE S TAFF W RITER
HAMMONTON—On July 25 at
8:37 a.m. on the 200 block of S.
White Horse Pike (Route 30), po-
lice responded to a call from a car
lot owner regarding three juveniles
allegedly observed in a parked car
on the lot when he arrived at the lot
at approximately 6 a.m. on July 25,
Friel said.
“There was damage to the steer-
ing column of the vehicle. It is un-
clear if they were attempting to
steal it,” Friel said.
The car was a blue 2005 Buick
Lacrosse, Friel said.
Friel said anyone with any infor-
mation about the incident should
contact the Hammonton Police De-
partment at (609) 561-4000.
Officer William Kurz was the in-
vestigating officer, Friel said.