BUZZWORTHY
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Pompton Lakes
NUMBERS DON ’ TLIE
EMMA KEATING ’ s routine was this : Come back from the pole vault pit , jot a few numbers down inher notebook , wait a few minutes , drink somewater from her steel container , find her pole , adjust her grip , win a state title . The Pompton Lakes senior cleared 13 feet to win the pole vault at the NJSIAA Meet ofChampions mid-June at Franklin High School , repeating as the state champion in the event . Though exciting , the win is not surprising ; Keating has been the best pole vaulter in New Jersey , and had the attention of the entire pole vaultcommunity for almost 45 minutes at the Meet of Champions . She was the only competitor to clear 12-feet-6-inches , then 12-feet-9-inches on her third attempt and 13 feet on her third .“ She keepsarecordof her grip , her steps and the pole she ’ s usingsowe can kindof see how she ’ s jumping ,” says her father , Steve , who is also her coach . “ Thatalsohelps her confidence .” — DARREN COOPER
Clifton
RAISING AGLASS AND MAKING HISTORY
Reading COLONIAL TAVERNS OF NEW JERSEY : LIBATIONS , LIBERTY AND
REVOLUTION willlikely increase your appreciation of your local watering hole . In it , Clifton author Michael Gabriele writes about some of the Garden State ’ s oldest and most storied taverns that somehow survived centuries of growth all around them . The book describes how taverns were the original civic centers where forebears fostered friendships and business deals — and in Revolutionary Wartimes , sedition . GeorgeWashington routinely usedNew Jerseytaverns as headquarters , where he drafted his many letters and planned strategies with his generals . And it wasinaHaddonfield tavern , ayear after the Declaration of Independence , that NewJersey ’ s General Assembly met and unanimously voted to replace all references to “ colony ” with “ state ” in official documents . New Jersey had an estimated 400 taverns along well-traveled routes , due to the demand for carriage travel between New York and Philadelphia ; about50ofthese remain . “ The ghosts that linger on these byways sustain our state ’ scollective heritage ,” Gabriele says . — MATTFAGAN
KEATING : DANIELLE PARHIZKARAN ; BOOK : COURTESY OFMICHAEL GABRIELE
4 BACK TOSCHOOL 2023 WAYNE MAGAZINE