Merkler, Doherty butt heads over skate park design ..its about the kids Matt..

Matt Doherty watch this video, then give your speech about the skate park.

Municipal Directory
Click here to be alerted when this page is updated. Last Updated: 4/24/2008
Borough of Belmar
Telephone and Email Directory

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Department
Extension
Email Address

Mayor Pringle
225
mayor@belmar.com

Councilwoman Meredith Brennan
225
mbrennan@belmar.com

Councilman Claire Deicke
225
claire.deicke@belmar.com

Councilman Bill Merkler
225
wmerkler@belmar.com

Councilman Matt Doherty
225
matt.doherty@belmar.com


Effort is afoot for skate park to honor two teens
Concert at Eisenhower was held to support new skate park fund
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer


FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP - Community members have started to join an effort to raise money for the establishment of a second skate park in Freehold Township that would provide a safe, protected environment for youths to ride their skateboards.

The initiative comes in response to an incident that occurred on Feb. 27 on Bar Harbor Road in the Juniper Farms residential development.

Two youngsters, Graeme Preston, 12, and Kevin Clawson, 13, were struck by a minivan and died of injuries they sustained. Police have not said if the boys were riding skateboards at the time they were struck. No motor vehicle charges have been filed against the driver of the minivan.

Graeme and Kevin were avid skateboarders and the Clawson-Preston Memorial Skate Park Fund, a nonprofit fund, has been established to build a skate park.

Freehold Township presently operates a skateboard facility at Michael J. Tighe Park, Georgia Road.

Recently, administrators at the Eisenhower Middle School, Burlington Road, where both boys were students, held a concert to help raise funds for the skate park.

Jesse Ryan, the music teacher who planned the "Back in Black N' Gold Showcase," said the benefit was held at the school on April 9 and featured the music of his two performance classes, a group of seventh-graders and a group of former Eisenhower students.

According to Ryan, the performances featured a modern song selection with a blend of many types of rock, pop and hiphop music.

Ryan said his music performance classes are patterned after the movie "School of Rock" and enable pupils to play contemporary music with guitars, drums and keyboards, as opposed to traditional band instruments.

According to Ryan, about 750 people attended the concert. He said the concert provided the performers and the audience members with a venue in which they could express their feelings about the tragic loss of Graeme and Kevin. Many of the children had never had to cope with that type of tragedy, he said.

"There was a lot of inspiration for all of us there that night," Ryan said. "It was natural for this kind of concert to be a fundraiser and I am really proud of all of these kids for their talent and their strength."

Posters and T-shirts with the school logo, as well as T-shirts with "Freehold's Angels" printed on them in honor of the two boys dominated the scene.."Music fills a role," Ryan said. "This concert allowed the kids to give of themselves."

The concert raised about $2,300 to benefit the Graeme Preston Foundation and the Clawson-Preston Memorial Skate Park Fund.

According to the fund's Internet Web site, the ideal location for a second skate park in Freehold Township would be in the Wynnfield Park residential subdivision off Willowbrook Road. There is a municipal park within the development.

The Web site states that although there is a skate park at Michael J. Tighe Park, "a very large subset of our young people would need to cross Route 9 and travel other dangerous roads for several miles in order to reach it."

The goals of the project - which is still in its infancy, according to the Web site - include providing information about the status of the fund, offering a convenient way to make donations electronically and providing a forum for suggestions from the skate community.

The tragedy that took the lives of the Freehold Township boys has also deeply affected Freehold Borough, which is surrounded by the township.

Freehold Borough officials are also discussing the idea of finding a location for skateboarders to ride safely. Councilman Kevin Kane recently raised the issue of building a skateboard park in the borough. He said he had been in touch with members of the Preston family.

Kane said he wants to explore the idea for such a facility. He added that since Freehold Borough is centrally located, such a facility would serve the needs of many area youngsters.

The councilman said he contacted a company that sells playground equipment. Designers there came up with a plan for a 75-by-110-foot parcel of land that would cost about $120,000 to develop as a skate park.

Kane said paying for the project with borough funds is not an option. He said fundraisers would have to be explored and a site would have to be discussed.

At the same time the discussion was beginning, according to Kane, Justin Borkowski, 17, a student in the Freehold High School adult program, appeared at Borough Hall to present a petition to officials which contained almost 400 signatures from people asking for a skate park to be built in the borough.

In a letter accompanying his petition, Borkowski referred to the recent tragedy and said there is a "continuous battle between skateboarding and traffic."

"In a society in which children are no longer persuaded to play outside," he wrote, "skateboarders are often left in the dust of traffic, abandoned playgrounds and unused parking lots."

He referred to the skate park at Michael J. Tighe Park in Freehold Township, but said it is too far away for Freehold Borough skaters to travel to. He also said that park closes at 5 p.m. and is closed during the winter. Many teens skateboard all year long, according to Borkowski.

He wrote, "We need to take action before more innocent lives are taken and lawsuits are filed" and asked for the support of the borough in regard to the skateboard park.

Kane said the idea for a skate park is in its earliest stages. He said members of the Freehold Borough Recreation Commission will discuss the idea and make recommendations on how to proceed.

"We are going to touch base with as many people as we can and try to make this happen," Kane said.




about Graeme
PASCO Soccer Club saddened by loss of Graeme Preston NJSA B13 Player
In the words of Coach Don Green of the NJSA 04 United U13 Boys Team: "It is with great sadness that I tell you all about the tragic passing of Graeme Preston. He succumbed, today, to the injuries from the accident, and true to his nature, did so first by helping others as his organs will be harvested in order to help those in need. I am certain that whomever gets his heart will be a lucky soul indeed, as I have never met a person with a bigger heart. No words can express how much he will be missed....God bless him and his family."

In the words of Adrian Bond, Team Manager of the NJSA 04 United U13 Boys Team:

As the famous song says.....life is truly like a "candle in the wind". Death, too often its unwelcome counterpart, yet inevitable partner. We know not when it will strike, or how, or even why. So often, when it seems most unjust. We question our faith and try to find the logic or an explanation for what we do not understand....for what we can not explain. It is easy to become angry....only one of the many steps through the grieving process. It is harder yet to accept the outcome. Yet, we spend so much of our lives facing it. Enduring its patient presence, waiting in the shadows, when a loved one or friend is terminally ill. We are hit by surprise when it rolls in with an unstoppable force, to sweep away those we love and know, in an instant.


On this day, that has brought endless sadness to so many, I find myself needing to address this terrible tragedy, that has taken two young lives and pierced the very hearts of all who loved and came to know Graeme Preston. Amid tears and heartfelt agony, I would like to pay tribute to Graeme, a young man who touched so many with his beautiful smile, unconditional love and willingness to embrace another under his wing, in order to ease whatever troubles they may have. His jovial nature, bountiful head of hair and unique style, with a willingness to work hard and effort to be the best that he could be, is the vision before my eyes each time I speak his name. His parents, with extreme courage and of unselfish heart have agreed to have his organs donated. It is his ultimate gift to mankind, a symbol of his immortality and true to his very nature. A beloved son, grandson, brother, nephew, cousin, true friend, talented athlete, teammate and simply down to earth lovable young boy. To be witness to his "candle burning out" wreaks havoc amongst so many and leaves us feeling the emptiness and loss. Yet, the trumpets are playing and angels are singing, welcoming him home, to a beautiful place, where he will rest peacefully in the arms of the Lord.

Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to the Preston family, loved ones and friends. May they find peace in their hearts and comfort through their faith. There are no words to express how much he will be missed. God Bless him and his family!

In honor and in tribute to his life, the NJSA 04 Academy and NJSA 04 United Team have instituted the "Graeme Preston Scholarship Award" Fund. This fund is being put in place in order to help those in need and who have a desire to learn, develop and excel, in the sport of soccer, for which Graeme had such a passion for. Those who wish to contribute to this, please contact the NJSA 04 Academy at Info@NJSA04.com or Adrian Bond at NJSA04United@aol.com Contributions can also be mailed to:

New Jersey Soccer Academy
NJSA 04
17 Blair Road
Aberdeen, NJ 07747

NJ Community: Freehold: Service is held for Graeme Preston & Kevin Clawson

NJ Community: Freehold: Service is held for Graeme Preston & Kevin Clawson

Graeme Preston, 12, and Kevin Clawson, 13, each died of injuries they suffered when a minivan driven by Frederick C. Eckhardt, 84, of Freehold struck them as they were skateboarding Wednesday along Bar Harbor Road.

Both boys were remembered by classmates and their families on Friday, many of whom did not want to give their names.

The Belmar skate park should be built now

Please support the skate park in Belmar. Even though money has already been
raised to fund it, seemingly some people in town are trying to push back the
idea of the skate park. Belmar needs a fun, safe environment for the youth
who enjoy the sport of skate boarding. One needs only need to look back just
a few months ago, to our neighbors in Freehold Township; who lost 2 young
teenagers. The two teens were just trying to have good clean fun, and were
tragically killed on a suburban street. If Belmar can afford all the police
calls related to the summer rentals, the bars the renters flock to and even
fight at every weekend in the summer; we can certainly handle the amount of
police calls generated by the skateboarders. A drive down Ocean Avenue will
allow anyone to easily see how much this area is needed; it is extremely
unsafe to be skating off the Belmar boardwalk into 25- 35 mph traffic.
Forcing skaters to the overly crammed side streets is not the answer either.
The safest place for skaters is a place designed especially for them, and
the funds are already available.

Support the skate park in Belmar , give the kids a safe place to play

The end of the Memorial Day weekend

 

It was 3 days of great weather, though it was very windy Monday afternoon

Belmar adds mobility mats to the beachfront

 

Multimedia message

Walleyed on the Harley

 

Belmar 9th ave beach Monday May 26th 2008 1:30pm photo

 

Belmar is bursting at the seams today with beachgoers Monday May 26

 

Sunday traffic in Belmar

 

another great day in Belmar

 

Belmar is busy today

 

1pm the beach is packed in Belmar

 

stop higher taxes in Trenton May 29th

 

Bar Anticipation (Lake Cuomo, NJ),

 

Open year round Lake Cuomo NJ nightclub offering live bands, dance music and open mic

Spiderman in Belmar

 

Belmar Saturday 3pm

 

Saturday 2pm photo of Belmar Beach 2008 may 24th

 

Last year Memorial da weekend FRIDAY ...there were more people here

 

this photo was taken last year on the FRIDAY of Memorial Day weekend...at 1pm .....looks like gas prices might be effecting the summer crowd

Saturday morning Memorial Day Weekend 2008

 

This photo was taken at 10:30am its a perfect day nice mild hardly any wind ...its a 10

Field Day Belmar NJ

 

Great video of last weekends Kite Festival in Belmar

The Foundation Room Atlantic City House of Blues

 

Heavy cell phone usage & brain cancer, Ted Kennedy malignant glioma

Public health: The hidden menace of mobile phones
Research into the link between regular handset use and disease reveals the risks rise significantly after 10 years, despite official assurances that they are safe. Geoffrey Lean reports

Sunday, 7 October 2007


Using a mobile phone for more than 10 years increases the risk of getting brain cancer, according to the most comprehensive study of the risks yet published.


The study – which contradicts official pronouncements that there is no danger of getting the disease – found that people who have had the phones for a decade or more are twice as likely to get a malignant tumour on the side of the brain where they hold the handset.

The scientists who conducted the research say using a mobile for just an hour every working day during that period is enough to increase the risk – and that the international standard used to protect users from the radiation emitted is "not safe" and "needs to be revised".

They conclude that "caution is needed in the use of mobile phones" and believe children, who are especially vulnerable, should be discouraged from using them at all.

The study, published in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal Occupational Environmental Medicine, is important because it pulls together research on people who have used the phones for long enough to contract the disease.

Cancers take at least 10 years – and normally much longer – to develop but, as mobile phones have spread so recently and rapidly, relatively few people have been using them that long.

Official assurances that the phones are safe have been based on research that has, at best, included only a few people who have been exposed to the radiation for long enough to get the disease, and are therefore of little or no value in assessing the real risk.

Last month, Britain's largest investigation into the health risks of the technology, the £8.8m Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) programme – funded by "government and industry sources" – reported that "mobile phones have not been found to be associated with any biological or adverse health effects".

But its chairman, Professor Lawrie Challis, admitted that only a small proportion of the research had covered people who had used the phones for more than a decade. He warned: "We cannot rule out the possibility at this stage that cancer could appear in a few years' time."

He said the investigation had discovered "a very slight hint" of increased numbers of brain tumours among those exposed for more than 10 years, and called for more research.

The new study – headed by two Swedes, Professor Lennart Hardell of the University Hospital in Orebro and Professor Kjell Hansson Mild of Umea University, who also serves on the MTHR programme's management committee – goes some way to meeting the deficiency.

The scientists pulled together the results of the 11 studies that have so far investigated the occurrence of tumours in people who have used phones for more than a decade, drawing on research in Sweden, Denmark Finland, Japan, Germany, the United States and Britain. They found almost all had discovered an increased risk, especially on the side of the head where people listened to their handsets.

Five of the six studies of malignant gliomas, cancers of the glial cells that support and protect the nerve cells, found an increased risk. The only one that did not still found an increase in benign gliomas. Four of the five studies that looked at acoustic neuromas – benign but often disabling tumours on the auditory nerve, which usually cause deafness – found them. The exception was based on only two cases of the disease, but still found that long-term users had larger tumours than other people.

The scientists assembled the findings of all the studies to analyse them collectively. This revealed that people who have used their phones for a decade or more are 20 per cent more likely to contract acoustic neuromas, and 30 per cent more likely to get malignant gliomas.

The risk is even greater on the side of the head the handset is used: long-term users were twice as likely to get the gliomas, and two and a half times more likely to get the acoustic neuromas there than other people.

The scientists conclude: "Results from present studies on use of mobile phones for more than 10 years give a consistent pattern of an increased risk for acoustic neuroma and glioma." They add that "an increased risk for other types of brain tumours cannot be ruled out".

Professors Hardell and Mild have also themselves carried out some of the most extensive original work into tumours among long-term mobile phone users and have come up with even more alarming results. Their research suggests they are more than three times more likely to get malignant gliomas than other people, and nearly five times more likely to get them on the side of the head where they held the phone. For acoustic neuromas they found a threefold and three-and-a-half-fold increased risk respectively.

They have also carried out the only study into the effects of the long-term use of cordless phones, and found this also increased both kinds of tumours. Their research suggests that using a mobile or cordless phone for just 2,000 hours – less than an hour every working day for 10 years – is enough to augment the risk.

Professor Mild told The Independent on Sunday: "I find it quite strange to see so many official presentations saying that there is no risk. There are strong indications that something happens after 10 years." He stressed that brain cancers are rare: they account for less than 2 per cent of primary tumours in Britain, though they are disproportionately deadly, causing 7 per cent of the years of life lost to the disease. "Every cancer is one too many," he said.

He said he uses a mobile phone as little as possible, and urges others to use hands-free equipment and make only short calls, reserving longer ones for landlines. He also said that mobiles should not be given to children, whose thinner skulls and developing nervous systems make them particularly vulnerable.

The danger may be even greater than the new study suggests for, as Professor Mild says, 10 years is the "minimum" period needed by cancers to develop. As they normally take much longer, very many more would be likely to strike long-term users after 15, 20 or 30 years – which leads some to fear that an epidemic of the disease could develop in the coming decades, particularly among today's young people.

On the other hand, the professor points out that the amount of radiation emitted by phones has decreased greatly since the first ones came on the market more than a decade ago, which suggests that exposures and risks should also be falling. But he still recommended choosing phones that give out as little radiation as possible (see below), and pointed out that people are now also exposed to many other sources of radiation, such as masts and Wi-Fi systems, though these emit much less than mobile handsets.

Britain's official Health Protection Agency – which has taken a cautious view of claims that radiation from mobile phones, their masts and Wi-Fi installations can damage health – admits that the study "may be indicative" of a risk, but says that "such analyses cannot be conclusive".

The Mobile Operators Association said: "This is not new data for the World Health Organisation and the many independent expert scientific committees who state that there are no established health risks from using mobile phones that comply with international guidelines."

Both sides agree that there is need for more research. Professor Mild said a possible link between mobile phones and Alzheimer's disease should also be examined, since "we have indications that it might be a problem" as well as a possible link with Parkinson's disease, "which can't be ruled out".

In the meantime, the scientists want a revision of the emission standard for mobiles and other sources of radiation, which they describe as "inappropriate" and "not safe". The international standard is designed merely to prevent harmful heating of living tissue or induced electrical currents in the body – and does not take the risk of getting cancer into account.

Professors Hansen and Mild serve on the international BioInitiative Working Group of leading scientists and public health experts, which this summer produced a report warning that the standard was "thousands of times too lenient".

The BioInitiative report added: "It has been established beyond reasonable doubt that some adverse health effects occur at far lower levels of exposure... some at several thousand times below the existing safety limits." It also warned that unless this is corrected there could be "public health problems of a global nature".

Case study: 'Mobiles are the smoking of the 21st century; they need health warnings'

Neil Whitfield, a 49-year-old father of six, developed an acoustic neuroma in 2001 after years of heavy mobile phone use, on the left side of the head, to which he had held his handset. He says he had no family history of the disease and that when he asked a specialist what had caused it, the doctor had asked him if he used a mobile.

"I was on it four hours a day, easily" he says. "When I held it to my head, I could feel my ear getting warm."

He adds that he completely lost his hearing in his left ear and was off work for 12 months. Unable to go back to his old job in marketing, he became a teacher, suffering a £20,000 drop in income.

"It has had a devastating effect on my family," he says. "Mobile phones are the smoking of the 21st century; they should have health warnings on them. You would never buy a child a pack of cigarettes, but we give them mobiles which could cause them harm."

Warning: your model might be dangerous

Exposure to radiation, shown as Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) levels, varies widely in different models. Manufacturers and the Government have ignored the Stewart report that urges they be clearly marked on phones and boxes. They are thus hard to find, though the Carphone Warehouse catalogue includes them. An easily accessible list of phones and radiation exposures is published in Germany, where low-radiation models, defined as having SAR of 0.6 or under, are encouraged.

Djais Belmar

 

Matisse gets ready for a big summer in Belmar

 

Sunday Eve May 18th 2008 Belmar NJ

 

Belmar Beach New Oceanfront homes for sale

 

Grand Opening The Tropical Pub South Belmar NJ

Patio Bar
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May 16th








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