Louis Mascolo: As one door closes, another open

I am sorry to say that this is the last issue of the Gazette for me. April marked the fourth year of publication, and I’ve gotten a lot of enjoyment out of publishing it, but a lot has changed in four years. The Great Recession for example. Like most businesses that has had a dramatic effect on us. When business cut back, the first thing they cut is advertising.

But…I’m not going away. Not yet. As one door closes, another opens. Several years ago I came out with a few editions of South Jersey Sporting Life, a tabloid that was all about sports and entertainment… baseball, football, boxing, wrestling, fishing, hunting, dirt biking, poker, beer, babes and more. Everything that guys and sports enthusiasts love. It was very well received, but at the time, I had no staff and couldn’t juggle two publications.

Our first edition will hit the streets the end of June with a new, sharp look, and I’ve changed the name to just Jersey Sporting Life.  Pick it up and check it out when you see it around town. I think you’ll get a kick out of it. If you’re an advertiser that wants the sports enthusiast market, get in touch and we’ll put you in front of a great readership in print and online. You can check the details out at www.sportinglifenj.com.

I thank all the great advertisers who continue to support The Gazette bringing you the news month after month, year after year, like Dr. John Marcucci, Rossi Honda, Eye Associates, Atco Fence, Orlandini Tile, C&M Greenhouses, Millville Family Dental, Villa Fazzolari, Newfield Bank, Wholesale Socks, Med Rehab and Spine Associates, Glasstown Arts District, Private Eye John Mazzeo, Bondy Oil as well as all the other companies that have supported us.

Of course, my personal thanks to all the writers: Nance Piazza, Jean Hecker, Cameron Wilson, Jimmie Hollis, Big Rick Cahall, Gail Benson, Dennis Hyer, and to our local politicos who regularly contributed to keep you informed like Mayor Chuck Chiarello, Congressman Frank Lobiondo, and State Senator Jeff Van Drew as well as the many others who have helped create The Gazette.

Thanks for being such a great readership, and I wish you all the best.  I will be using this blog for my own personal posts in the near future so we can keep in touch. Just click on the “Followers” icon to the right and you’ll be kept updated on posts. Don’t forget to visit and leave comments by all means.

Lynn Petrovich: Sufferin' Succotash

Sufferin’ Succotash

By Lynn Petrovich

Several snowy Sunday’s ago, I settled into a sticky seat in my local multiplex to watch the film, The Blind Side, a warm, fuzzy documentary about class rebellion and civil disobedience.

In one scene the main character, Leigh Anne Tuohy, played with sassy soccer mom appeal by Sandra Bullock, warns her adopted black teenage son: “If I find out you got a girl pregnant out of wedlock, I’ll cut off your penis.”

I should mention the most of the movie-goers were under age 10.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Here’s the movie’s premise:  A wealthy white family takes in a poor black teenager named Michael who’s been living on the streets because of his mother’s drug and incarceration problems.  The film explores the life “lessons” of the well to do…and, well, everybody else.

Truth be told, the Tuohys and Michael have more in common than they think.

Leigh Anne, her husband, Sean, and their two children live in a big house, a McMansion, in the grass-is-greener section of Memphis.  Michael lives in another part of Memphis, and coincidentally, many of the people in his neighborhood also end up in the big house.

After deciding to take Michael into her home, Leigh Anne fights against insufferable odds to gain the support of her peers who are horrified that a lily white wealthy woman from the upper echelon of Memphis could open her home to a hungry, homeless, dejected orphan from “the other side of the tracks”.  Leigh Anne is forced to confront her detractors at daily luncheons where, over wine, posh salads, Pellegrino, and an adoring wait staff, they bicker about her embrace of this young boy, which they imply borders on socialism.

Husband Sean Tuohy, a former college basketball star, owns somewhere between 85 and 100 Taco Bell Restaurants.  Sean doesn’t have much to do all day and the income from his restaurants allows him the freedom to give in to Leigh Anne’s impulses at every turn.  After adopted son Michael finds out how Sean makes a living, he asks what happens to the leftover food from his restaurants.  Sean replies they give it to local food pantries, but complains “I’d rather sell it and make money”.

One scene in particular demonstrates Michael’s ignorance of red-blooded American family values.  Thanksgiving arrives the week after Michael is taken in by the Tuohy’s, who spend the day in front of the their 85 foot television screen devouring a prepared feast and watching men in uniform brutally combating each other toward mutual – but opposing – goals.  After filling his plate with food, Michael moves to another part of the house, sits down, and eats.  This observation jolts Leigh Anne into making an unprecedented, radical family decision:  They will join Michael in their (finely decorated) “dining” room (without hi-def) at a table where they can all hold hands and say grace (and not in between tackles, sackings, penalties, and sudden death overtime).

For most of the movie, the Tuohys are at a loss to understand how people from impoverished, minority neighborhoods like Michael’s sustain their continued existence.    Thankfully the movie doesn’t torture us about the details of our economic system or the fact that most of Sean’s Taco Bells are concentrated predominantly in urban areas or that the average hourly wage of workers – excuse me - “crew members” - is $7.80 (less than $16,500 per year).  Of course, a Shift Manager can earn almost $8.51 and if an employee really works hard they can fulfill the American Dream by becoming Shift Leader at a whopping $9.10 per hour. 

But hey, if employees at Taco Bell made a “living” wage, Sean would not be able to enjoy the life of luxury, taking in poor orphan kids.  And if fast-food restaurants didn’t further cut costs by purchasing meat from industrial food factory farms/incarceration/torture complexes like Smithfield, Monsanto, and Tyson they wouldn’t be able to have $1 value meals that curtail hunger pangs of low-income wage earners (and increase sales and wealth of people like Sean).

I mean, sufferin’ succotash, what’s a person to do?  You either take in one abandoned kid, or you stand up to a system that rewards the very few at the expense of multitudes of kids like Michael.

What can a guy like Sean to do?  He can’t use a process called T-H-O-U-G-H-T because that might impede upon his W-E-A-L-T-H.

Several years ago one of my more liberal relatives, who’s been retired for almost a decade, had returned from one of his numerous international jaunts, either to Singapore or Australia or London or Paris or Bermuda or some cruise to Norway or some such vacation which he enjoys several times a year.  While showing me his pictures, I asked where he had them printed up.  “Wal-Mart” he replied.  And that sparked a conversation about Wal-Mart’s policies which often leave employees destitute, relying on Medicaid for health insurance. 

“Yes” he said “I agree with you, but at Wal-Mart, I can get photos printed for two cents a copy, and other stores charge two and a half cents.  So what are you gonna do?”

Exactly. 

Now that’s what I call The Blind Side.

Lynn Petrovich

Copyright 2010

Rick Cahall: Outlandos d’Amour

Outlandos d’Amour

By “Big Rick” Cahall

Ah , St Valentines Day . Hello old friend . How many holidays of yours have I endured and sometimes enjoyed greatly. Some VERY Greatly !! That waitress in Newport Beach … But I digress.

For you historians out there , early Christian martyrs were named Valentine. To an Agnostic this means SQUAT. Again I digress …

This holiday means as much to us men as to the ladies . But Rick how can you say this ??? Easy , I say a lot of stupid things but this isn’t one of them. Listen and learn kiddies.

Anything that is INCREDIBLY important to our women , BETTER be the same to us guys or we will be spending time with our PS3 or playing with our WII ! ( not that you silly people !! ) So this month I want to let you in on some of the best Films & Songs for this day of Amore. Some of these are my favorites and some ARE just a consensus. They are not ranked nor in any order .

FILMS: Forgetting Sarah Marshall , Titantic , P.S. I Love You , He’s Just Not That Into You , As Good As It Gets , Chasing Amy , Tin Cup , Love Actually , What Women Want , Ghost , Notting Hill , 50 First Dates , Groundhog Day , When Harry Met Sally , Juno , Knocked Up.

Maybe not your conventional TITLES mind you but a list none the less.

If you haven’t seen any of these , do check them out . Great or cute , touching love stories in each one.

Some that didn’t make the cut : Fatal Attraction , My Bloody Valentine , Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer , Seven , Basic Instinct , Indecent Proposal , Natural Born Killers … Not all can make list…

SONGS:

Possession-Sarah McLachlin , Against All Odds-Phil Collins , Torn-Natalie Imbruglia , My Heart Will Go On-Celine Dion , Everything I Do-Bryan Adams , Purple Rain-Prince , Take My Breath Away-Berlin , Faithfully-Journey , Wicked Game-Chris Issac , Wonderful Tonight-Eric Clapton , And I Love Her - Beatles , First Time Ever I saw Your Face-Roberta Flack , A Woman’s Worth-Alicia Keys , Maybe I’m Amazed-Paul McCartney , Aint No Sunshine-Bill Withers , Nuthin Compares 2 U-Prince/Sinead O’Connor , I’ll Stand by You-Chrissy Hynde.

Once again a list , but not THE LIST. If you havent heard any of these , give them a try and you will appreciate them. Or not.

Some that didn’t make the cut : I Too Sexy - Right Said Fred , Darling Nikki-Prince , Before He Cheats-Carrie Underwood , She Hates Me-Puddle Of Mudd , Can I Get A - Jay Z , Lady Is A Tramp-Frank Sinatra , Justify My Love-Madonna , You Oughta Know-Alanis Morrisette , If I Didn’t Love-Squeeze , Blame It-Jamie Foxx , Love The One You’re With-Stephen Stills … Cant please everyone.

Its time for a new feature .

Big Rick’s Picks

New Band: Them Crooked Vultures. Sort of a SuperGroup if you will. Josh Hommes ( Queens of the Stone Age ) , Dave Grohl ( Foo Fighters , Nirvana ) & John Paul Jones ( Oh just a little band known as Led Zeppelin ). First single “ New Fang “ is screaming on your Modern / AOR Rock stations.

New Film : Sherlock Holmes , well worth the admission price in these economic times. Robert Downey Jr : a modern day master thespian. ( Thespian people , geez … ).

New DVD Rental: Inglourious Basterds by Quentin Tarrantino . Please , its Tarrantino .

New Tour: Soundgarden Reunites . Awesome grunge GODS …

New Series: Fringe ( FOX ) & Bored to Death ( HBO )

New Car: Dodge Challenger , HOLY …. !

New Comedy Star : Zach Galifianakis ( The Hangover )

Best Local Bar: The Rail ( Richland NJ ) and also The Watering Hole ( Mays Landing )

Best Local Blog: TheAngryReporter.Blogspot.com  (LousGazetteBlog.blogspot.com, of course)

Best New Independent Film: Sorrow Hill ( GrindHouse Pictures ) Makes you forget Paranormal Activity …

Biggest Jerk: Pat Robertson , Rush Limbaugh & his little sister Glenn Beck

Greatest Writer : Sarah Palin , best since Christopher Marlowe … ugh …She sounds even dumber in print …Its not a woman thing at all; she’s just an idiot.

Well , I’ll see you next month . Thanks for spending time with me.

Any thoughts , questions etc… ?

BigRickComedy@yahoo.com

P.S. I promised Lou I wouldn’t mention Brokeback Mountain and I won’t …

　

Gail Benson: Buena Historical Society: Early School of Buena Vista Twshp

BUENA HISTORICAL SOCIETY…….

EARLY SCHOOLS OF BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP

by Gail Benson

Several schools, referred to as School Districts, are listed in the first minute book of the Buena Vista Township Clerk.  Buena Vista was formed from Hamilton Township in 1867, and schools are mentioned as early as 1869.  That does not mean they did not exist before that time, but they were not mentioned in the Clerk’s minutes book.

In 1869, the School Districts listed were Amity, Downs, New Germany, Oak Road, Buena Vista, Vine Road, Newton Ville.  In an 1871 reference, Vine Road is no longer listed and Newtonville has become one word, but the others listed remain the same. 

An 1872 map that appears on the website of Rutgers University at http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/Atlantic/OldAtlanticCounty.html  shows only three school buildings.  One is shown on the west side of what is now Route 54, north of Route 40.  That would be the current Library V restaurant, and I assume that is the one they would call Buena Vista.  Another is on the southeast corner of what appears to be Lincoln Avenue and Vine Road.  One would think that is the school called Vine Road.  But there is also a school called Oak Road; legend says that school was at the corner of Lincoln and Oak.  It would appear unlikely that you would have two schools that close together.  The third school shown is on the northwest corner of Union and Post; although Post is called Park on that 1872 map. Even though a school is not shown on the map, we all know where Newtonville is.  New Germany is the old name for Folsom, which was part of Buena Vista Township until 1906.  We still have an area called Downstown. 

Since the book referred to “School Districts,” perhaps areas had the responsibility of providing for the education of their children.  That could have meant sending them to another district’s school.  Today, we have what are called non-operating school districts. They collect state aid and local taxes and pay tuition to have the local students attend the schools of another district.  They do not operate any school buildings of their own.  The State of New Jersey is currently in the process of trying to eliminate these districts with no schools.  In Atlantic County, we had Corbin City and Longport that fell into that category.  In Gloucester County, Newfield is also classified as a “non-op” since the Buena Regional Board of Education operates Newfield’s one school building.

So, we have accounted for all of the names with the exception of Amity.  The school that appears at Union and Post would not fit any of the names; so perhaps that was Amity. 

If you have any information or old stories about our schools, you can email BuenaHistorical@gmail.com or contact us by regular mail at P. O. Box 114, Buena, NJ 08310

Buena Historical Society meets on the third Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Buena Vista Township Municipal Building, Route 40, Buena.  Our next meeting is February 17, 2010. Please join us.  

Lynn Petrovich: NJ Citizens Donate Voting Equipment to Smithsonian Declare State a Monarchy

NJ Citizens Donate Voting Equipment to Smithsonian

Declare State a Monarchy

By Lynn Petrovich

Late Thursday night NJ residents, in a 7,561,234 to one vote, decided to surrender to its long-time captor, the political party boss.  The news came on the heels of a mass reading of the book, The Soprano State (which has already been blamed for the run on Paxil). 

This New York Times bestseller, by investigative reporters Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure, details the corruption that has permeated NJ politics for over 3 decades, plundering its citizens into a lifetime of debt, inequality, and involuntary servitude.

Marian Bloomers, Citizen Spokesperson said “The outrageous orgy both Republicans and Democrats have enjoyed – thanks to the party boss – has left NJ a hump dump of smoldering instability.

Reached for comment, Governor Chris Christie was heard to say “You mean I’m out? Whew!  I mean turning NJ around is like trying to tap dance with a Woolly Mammoth at a tea party.”

Long-time NJ resident Joseph Schmalgowitz said “It’s just easier if we give up now.  Why fight any longer? It’s clear we haven’t had any say in what goes on in NJ for over 30 years. What got me (from The Soprano State) was when I read John Bennett III (Republican Senator, Monmouth County) who gained fame for raking in salaries from eight separate government entities (over $200,000/year plus pension $100,000/year) in addition to billing over $5 million for work his law firm performed at the same time and in the same towns that he was municipal attorney (one being Marlboro).  As Senate co-president, Bennett issued a senate birthday proclamation to a developer in Marlboro who was described (p. 166) as part ‘of the scum at the bottom of most NJ political barrels’ and who was indicted for paying bribes in excess of $140,000!” 

An exhausted Pamela Klinesmithberg of Little Egg Harbor summed it up best “I’ve worked three jobs for the past 6 years so this comes as such a relief. No longer will I have to lie to my eight year old telling him hard work and honesty is the key to success.  I mean when I read (on page 141):

‘The NJ legal system is headed, of course, by the NJ Supreme Court, mostly composed of lawyers with political connections but little prior judicial experience [and] the court effectively makes it own laws and orders them carried out, thus acting as all three arms of government.  Seemingly few justices have read the state constitution and if they did, they didn’t understand it.  The result is seven unelected, largely unknown political appointees controlling housing and education and all manner of other elements of daily life [and] who have managed to restore ‘taxation without representation’

I said, let’s just hurry up and surrender”.

Word of the news spread quickly.  NJ State Senators beamed with excitement at the thought of not having to “misappropriate the truth about the misallocation of money”.  One Senator from the Jersey Shore remarked:  “Now when I go to Sunday services with my wife and kids, I can relax that I won’t (literally) be damned to hell.”

Political, excuse me, royal patronage flourished for no-bid contracts including velvet robes, diamond-studded scepters, moat construction, and, of course, signs.  We need new signs!  Those entering the state, renamed - We Under Royalty Serve Thee – will be greeted: “Welcome to the WURST state.” 

Camden, a favorite cash cow that’s been milked onto life support, is known as one of the top crime-laden cities in the nation.  It’s going from worst to WURST.

At the soon-to-be scheduled burning of the state constitution (which no one has paid attention to anyway), proclamations being considered include:

(1)  Putting Loyalists at Local Authorities on triple pay in order to submit layout and design plans for redecoration of their “palaces”.

(2)  Summoning all fair maidens for harem consideration (Note: girls from the reality show Jersey Shore need not apply).

(3)  Renaming of roadways:

(a)  Garden State will become Patronage Parkway;

(b)  NJ Turnpike will become WURST Roadway;

(c)  Atlantic City Expressway will become Loser Lane;

(d)  Any roads with the following numbers will become revenue producers:  1, 9, 15, 18, 21, 27, 30, 34, 35, 36, 38, 45, 50, 52, 55, 58, 72, 78, 80, 81, 90, 95, 195, 295, 520, 537, 547 and 601.

(e)  All roads will lead to nowhere (no change here).

Reached for comment, President Obama remarked “I will work hard to gain the support of the WURST people.”

There’s little clarity on how the monarchy – in the long term - will pay for its planned extravagances, and like most governments that are controlled by a few, that myopic vision will probably lead to its downfall.  Under both Republican and Democrat – that is essentially one party – one boss – the WURST state will undoubtedly crash into bankruptcy, especially as its “servants” exit and the “source” income diminishes down to those who are receiving it. 

And when that happens, all the king’s horses and all the king’s men won’t be able to put the hump-dump back together again.

Lynn Petrovich, Copyright 2010

Inhuman Relations: February 2010

Inhuman Relations by Dennis Hyer

Happy New Year! (We hope): Louis Mascolo

Happy New Year! (We hope)

By Louis Mascolo

Happy New Year! (We hope) I feel like a fighter coming out in the first round when the bell rings and see the opponent is 150 pounds heavier than him, with biceps like logs and fists the size of boulders and a face that would scare Satan. Good luck to us! 2009 was a year the oligarchs revealed their naked power in America. If anyone was entertaining the illusion that America’s capitalistic democracy is benign with the greater good in mind, they got a real slap in the face this year. The rich and super powerful having befouled the economy and lost their cash, reached out and snatched our paltry share. It’s like a fat pig at a dinner table who overeats to the point that he pukes on his massive plate of food and then reaches out and grabs our little bread plate of crumbs.

The super rich and powerful have always run the country, whether to make a profit on war manipulate the Congress with bribes and graft (read campaign contributions), or to steal our jobs and shop them overseas,  but they’ve always worked behind the scenes. To see them emerge in all their ugly nakedness to bash us is a shock none of us expected.

We of middle age and older have lived through a period of time that is unique in human history. Since the end of World War II, we’ve experienced the rise of the middle class. Never has that happened before. Before that social structure was based on inherited wealth and social position. We have come to think that this is the norm and an entitlement.  But it has only happened over the last sixty or seventy years. Before that America was a pretty nasty place. Either you were a rural farmer on your own or an Immigrant living in ghettos with no social safety net working for pennies, being exploited by the super rich. Are we now going backwards toward that economic and social model. Never say never.

Well…isn’t that cheery. Sorry! There are glimmers of hope, let’s make a human sacrifice to the gods that it will turn into a ray. I can think of a few people to use.

On a positive note, I want to welcome “Big Rick” Cahall to the list of guest columnists. He’s a very funny and entertaining guy, and for the purposes of this paper will concentrate on entertainment in general. Movies, music, comedy, et. al. Welcome Rick.

And honestly, the best to all of you for 2020. Live well & prosper.

Got Democracy? :Lynn Petrovic

Got Democracy?

By Lynn Petrovich

“In the future:

A utopian society ruled by women will emerge,

and there will be peace and plenty for all.”

George Carlin

Late last year, while cleaning out my desk in preparation for tax season, I found one of my father-in-law’s “business” cards: 

Got Democracy?

Democracy means Power to the People.

What Happened?

Walter Petrovich died just before midnight on April 15^th 2009.  In the weeks and months after his death, we packed up his files, books, and personal belongings, including his extensive library of personal essays, and placed them in storage.  Most of his documents and writings were on the subject of capitalism, which he believed adversely affects the majority of Americans.

Wally was an untiring advocate for an Economic Democracy which would “codify the rights of all people to have a direct vote in all matters which affect our lives.”   He fought for truth, justice, and the (non-corporate) American way of life: 

Until we begin to appreciate and respect the devastating impact the economic system of capitalism makes upon our society, how its ‘profit or perish’ dictum compels corporate policy makers to employ the politicians-in-power to produce and execute policies which extend and protect capital investment throughout our world, we will erroneously continue to single our ‘individual’ politicians and ‘presidents’ as being solely responsible for our societal travails, while the faceless, underlying causes continue to generate all the societal abuses [war, poverty, hunger, racism, unemployment, pollution, inequality]

Interestingly enough, the 2008 movie, Wall-E, pays enormous tribute what Wall-Y was talking about:  Wall-E is the sole survivor of an Earth that has decayed into a grossly uninhabitable planet, the result of centuries of insatiable appetites, corporate mergers, and capitalist exploitation.

Wherever Wall-Y went, so did his cards, which he handed out in conjunction with sincere conversation about our economic system.  Some people got it.  Others didn’t.  And it wasn’t until I read Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, that I discovered a venue to articulate Wall-Y’s position.  Eating Animals explosively details how the capitalists’ pursuit of profit in our animal factory farming system institutionalizes pain and torture in the daily production of 99% of the meat we consume:

“Undercover investigations by dedicated nonprofit organizations are one of the only meaningful windows the public has into the imperfect day-to-day running of factory farms and industrial slaughterhouses.”

p. 181

On chickens:

“What the [food] industry figured out – and this was the real revolution – is that you don’t need healthy animals to make a profit. Sick animals are more profitable.”

p. 111

“Jamming deformed, drugged, overstressed birds together in a filthy, waste-coated room is not very healthy. Beyond slipped vertebrae, paralysis, internal bleeding, anemia, slipped tendons, twisted lower legs and necks, respiratory diseases, and weakened immune systems are frequent and long-standing problems on factory farms.  E. coli is common between 39 to 75 percent of chickens [that are purchased at the supermarket].”

p. 131

“[This] is the rule. More than 99 percent of all chickens sold for meat in America live and die like this.”

p. 136

On Sows in confinement crates:

“National Hog Farmer reported that 7% of breeding sows typically die prematurely from the stress of confinement and intensive breeding – in some operations the mortality rate exceeds 15%.  Many pigs go insane…or obsessively chew on their cage bars, incessantly press their water bottles, or drink urine.  Many piglets are born with deformities…including cleft palate, hermaphroditism, inverted nipples, no anus, splayed legs, tremors, and hernias”

p. 186

“For corporations like Smithfield (sales $12 billion 2007], it is a cost-benefit analysis: paying fines for polluting [from pig excrement that has already polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states] is cheaper than giving up the entire factory farm system, which is what it would take to finally end the devastation.”

p. 178

On Cows:

“Virtually all cows come to the same end: the final trip to the kill floor. Cattle raised for beef are still adolescents when they meet their end. While early American ranchers kept cattle on the range for 4 or 5 years, today they are slaughtered at 12 to 14 months.”

p. 226

“The combination of line speeds that have increased as much as 800% in the past 100 years and poorly trained workers laboring under nightmarish conditions guarantees mistakes. (Slaughterhouse workers have the highest injury rate of any job – 27% annually – and receive low pay to kill as many as 2,050 cattle a shift.) According to the Washington Post, ‘more than 20 workers signed affidavits alleging the violations shown on the tape [live animals going down the line]. I’ve seen thousands and thousands of cows go through slaughter process alive…workers who complain are often fired.”

p. 231

How can America be a democracy when the weakest and most vulnerable are exploited?

This information is shocking, and I believe, if aware of it, most Americans would not advocate such a horrific food production system.  But remember, the corporations who operate these factory farms are powerful and proficient at keeping this information from us.  So next time you eat that drive-through $1 meal, think about what Wall-Y said:

Got Democracy?

Democracy means Power to the People.

What Happened?

Lynn Petrovich

Copyright 2010

Gail Benson: Christmas 1909

BUENA HISTORICAL SOCIETY…….

CHRISTMAS 1909

According to Page 1 of the Atlantic County Record

by Gail Benson

It is December 25, 1909. The Atlantic County Record was a weekly published in May’s Landing.  Front page did a year in review.   Highlights included new looms being installed in the cotton mill.  The next week they reported that several hands were laid off due to installation of machinery.  Lincoln’s centenary was celebrated in February.  In November, deer season opened after being closed for ten years.  Deaths and marriages were also listed as highlights of the year.

Teachers were to meet in Atlantic City between Christmas and New Year’s for their annual convention. A study informs us that the cost of living has increased 37 percent over the past 13 years since 1896.  There is fine skating on Lake Lenape where they have been harvesting five-inch blocks of ice.  Trapper George Smith captured a large otter last Saturday.  These animals are growing scarce in South Jersey and their fur sells for prices ranging from $15 to $25.

As for the Christmas season itself, there was a Christmas Cantata at the M. E. Church, Santa Claus was holding a reception at the Opera House on New Year’s Eve, ice cream was on sale at Bartha’s, and the Post Office would only be open for shortened hours on Christmas.  The schools would be closed and schedules for church services were listed.  The employees of the Water Power Co. cotton mills would have a full holiday on Christmas, but only a half-holiday next week on New Year’s Day.

The front page takes us back to “Christmas Thirty Years Ago,” so we are given a picture of 1879 when potatoes are selling for 75 cents; eggs, 25 cents; butter, 25 or 35 cents depending on quality; and the train fare to Philadelphia and back was one dollar.  The Methodists are planning on calling their new camp at Peck’s Beach “Ocean City.”  They have 2,600 acres.  As soon as the new railroad is completed, May’s Landing will be in close relation with Newfield; May’s Landing will no longer be a foreign land.  It will soon have two express trains each way in the morning and the afternoon, besides the locals on the West Jersey & Atlantic. There is also a plan to incorporate May’s Landing and change the name to Maysville.  Representing Buena Vista Township as petit jurors in January 1910 were Harry Brown, Jacob Haiger, Richard Benson, and Antonio Graziana.

The final paragraph of the article “Holiday Thoughts” reads “Peace on Earth, good will toward men,” is the spirit prevailing to-day.  Do you bear a grudge against your neighbor, are you at enmity with your brother? Make it up with him if it is possible and fulfill the spirit’s command.

If you have any information for us, you can email BuenaHistorical@gmail.com or contact us by regular mail at P. O. Box 114, Buena, NJ 08310

Buena Historical Society meets on the third Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Buena Vista Township Municipal Building, Route 40, Buena.  Please join us.  January 20, 2010 meeting is our annual business meeting and election of Trustees.