The Hammonton Gazette 11/26/14 Edition | 页面 6

Page 6 • Wednesday, November 26, 2014 • The Hammonton Gazette The Hammonton Gazette “The Paper of Record” Gabriel J. Donio, Publisher Gina Rullo, Editor-in-Chief Dan Russoman, Sports Editor Benny Mendez, Staff Artist MarySusan Hoffman, Paul J. Macrie IV, Michael Hozik, Donna Brown, Joseph Bruno, Lauren Bucci, Lauren Crescenzo, Zack Brown, Staff The Hammonton Gazette is located at 233 Bellevue Ave. To reach a staff member, call 704—1940 or fax at 704—1938. The mailing address is P.O. Box 1228, Hammonton, NJ 08037. The Hammonton Gazette is published Wednesdays, by The Hammonton Gazette, Inc. Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved. ISSN 1093—6181 EDITORIALS PERSPECTIVE/VETERANS DAY Lake park revitalization Hammontonian Joseph Ingemi was the guest speaker at the Veterans Day ceremony on November 11. The Gazette is printing Ingemi’s speech in its entirety. In recent years, there has been a renaissance at Hammonton Lake Park, and it is only the beginning. Taking its cues from the successful revitalization efforts ongoing in downtown and uptown Hammonton, the lake park revitalization effort has been the recipient of hundreds of thousands of dollars in public money and private donations, coupled with hundreds, if not thousands, of volunteer hours. All of this funding and volunteerism has paid off huge dividends, and we are on the cusp of seeing a complete revitalization of the lake park during the next two years, as Hammonton moves toward its sesquicentennial in 2016. Projects like the beautiful senior/community center known as the Canoe Club on the lakeshore have been coupled with improvements or planned improvements to playground areas like Cpt. Gerard Palma Memorial Park, the beach area, the bandstand, the barbecue pavilion, charcoal barbecue pits, picnic tables, signage, bathrooms, as well as the fields, press boxes, concession stand, scoreboards, batting cages, stands and parking areas of the Hammonton Little League and Hammonton Hawks. Town council recently approved recommendations for the revitalization of Hammonton Lake Park. (To read the report on the lake park recommendations, go to www.hammontongazette.com.) Just as with the downtown and uptown areas, Hammonton Lake Park is being restored and renewed as a place of pride in the community. Soon, there may be more fields, a massive parking lot and another community center if the town purchases the former St. Martin de Porres Church with low-interest loan money from Green Acres. Park Avenue could be re-routed from the entrance of the park to Egg Harbor Road, and traffic would run through the parking area instead, allowing for more fields for an expanded, revitalized Hammonton Lake Park. Imagine if, by 2016, all of the large and small projects are completed. Imagine a park in the center of the town that starts with the Hammonton Branch of the Atlantic County Library, stretches through the former St. Martin’s property, moves through a revitalized existing Hammonton Lake Park with buildings freshly painted, fields filled with kids, families gathering for barbecues and a beach with sunbathers, swimmers and people renting canoes or kayaks; then ends with nature trails through the Smith Tract. It will be Hammonton’s natural beauty – another gleaming jewel in the town’s crown. We look forward to charting the progress of the revitalization effort. Veterans Day Ceremonies as well as Memorial Day Ceremonies are always a time of reflection. They are a time when we step aside from our busy lives and give thanks to those who served. The other day I read a cartoon that I thought summed this idea up well. The cartoon stated that Thanksgiving is when we give thanks for the things we have and Veterans Day is when we thank those who made those things possible. But the real question is how we give thanks. How do we go beyond the prayers, medleys and speeches of Veterans Day? How do we answer Lincoln’s challenge at Gettysburg to continue “the unfinished work which they who fought…so nobly advanced?” I think we only have to look around to see the answer to this question. Our culture, our politics and our economy are affected with vanity, selfishness, entitlement and greed. In all aspects of our society, we seek instant gratification and short-term gain rather than a sense of community and common good. Our admiration of people is more for the size of their credit card bills rather than the content of their hearts. We provide time and treasure towards dysfunctional professional athletes and celebrities but ignore the basic obligations of social justice. Small towns such as ours are not immune to any of this. Our challenge, our “unfinished work,” is to reverse this decay and begin rebuilding our society. And it is even more fitting to discuss this on Veterans Day because the very seeds of this cultural renewal are in the values and the lessons the military teaches us. You do not often find military values on social media….values such as selfless service and sacrifice, the priority of the team over the individual, the criticality of unit discipline, and the sense of responsibility for those we lead and to those who lead us, what St. Paul meant when he told the Ephesians to “Be Subject to One Another.” Fortunately for us here in Hammonton, in our local history, we have multiple examples, more than I can name, of these values in action: members of the greatest generation of WW II like Angelo Scaltrito, who helped liberate Europe from Nazi tyranny, Matt Campanella and Sam Curcio Sr. who flew missions over Burma. Matt was actually shot down and walked through the Burmese jungle to safety. There are our brave Vietnam vets who gave their last full measure of devotion: George DeLuca, Robert Dougherty, Donald Heggan, Rafael Melendez, Carl Merlino, Gerard Palma. The examples are not limited to any particular previous generation. There are those residents who have just recently helped write the new chapters of freedom: Jen Heist, Mickey Doto, Bob Gold and the Foy brothers. We must not forget the military family whose sacrifices often go unappreciated. During deployments, it is the spouse left behind who must be all things to all people: mother, father, housekeeper, gardener, birthday planner and Santa. Yet the values that these great and simple deeds represent are not the exclusive domain of a select few; they are our shared heritage. It is our responsibility to live them every day in our families, in our jobs, in our churches and associations, and in our politics. So tonight I am asking som ething of you. Let us commit ourselves to making what is great about our nation and our community not the luxuries we enjoy, but the values we espouse. Honor our veterans by following their example and help put their values into practice. Remembering Delaney Lawrence “Larry” Delaney passed away November 16 at the age of 82. Born in Pittston, Pa., he was a graduate of King’s College where he also received his master’s degree. He served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War and traveled throughout Europe. In 1964, he began teaching at Hammonton High School. He retired in 1991 after years of teaching English and Social Studies. He coached baseball and basketball at HHS. In retired life, he was a volunteer at St. Joseph Food Pantry, St. Martin de Porres Bingo and the Hammonton Soup Kitchen. He was also a member of the Canoe Club and Hammonton Senior Citizens. According to his obituary, he enjoyed gardening, cooking and riding his bicycle. It was his gardening and letter-writing ability that we will remember at The Gazette. Delaney would often stop by our offices and share a bag of some of the prized vegetables from his garden with Gazette Editor-in-Chief Gina Rullo, often dropping off a letter to the editor with them. Delaney was an avid government watchdog. For many years, he was a fixture at town council meetings and wrote letters to this newspaper expressing his concerns about government spending, government debt, public employee salaries and the toll those government expenditures were taking on current and future generations. He cared deeply about his country, state and town. We will miss our conversations about government with Delaney, who was always well-informed and passionate about government’s fiscal problems, while still maintaining a sense of humor about the world he observed. Delaney leaves behind a loving family, friends and admirers. While his burial was held in his hometown of Pittston, Pa., there will always be a large part of him in Hammonton, where he left an indelible mark through his teaching, coaching, volunteerism and those letters to the editor. In lieu of flowers, donations in Delaney’s memory may be made to Voorhees Animal Orphanage, 419 Cooper Rd. Voorhees, NJ 08043. Joseph Ingemi Hammonton Quote of the Week: “EDUCATION IS THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON WHICH YOU CAN USE TO CHANGE THE WORLD.” — Nelson Mandela The Hammonton Gazette welcomes letters to the editor that are no more than 800 words long. All letters must include the name of the author and an address and telephone number for verification. Letters should be mailed to The Hammonton Gazette, Editorial Page, P.O. Box 1228, Hammonton, NJ 08037. Letters also will be accepted via fax. The fax number is 704—1938.  Or by email to [email protected]. Deadline for all submissions is 2 p.m. Monday. The Hammonton Gazette reserves the right to edit any submissions. The opinions expressed in letters, perspectives or in guest columns do not necessarily reflect those of The Hammonton Gazette.  The Gazette is not responsible for factual errors in letters, perspectives or in guest columns. The Gazette retains the right to refuse any submission or advertisement.