The school district’s retirees and volunteers were honored by the Board of Education at their June 20 meeting. The Board had special callouts for Franklin Middle School Sampson G. Smith campus principal Evelyn Rutledge, Early Childhood Education supervisor Kathleen Damore, Franklin High School Booster Club leader Marisa Gallagher and outgoing district Parents Organization Presidents’ Council president Nicolas DiMeglio.

KILLED IN CRASH – Former Franklin High School track standout Mario Heslop, seen here competing in the 2019 Tournament of Champions meet at the high school, was killed June 19 in a car accident that is still under investigation. Mario Heslop, a 2019 Franklin High School graduate and track star, was killed June 19 in a three-car accident on Hamilton …

Mrs. Rosemary Genovese passed away on June 17 at her home in Somerset. She was 79 years old. Mrs. Genovese was born in New Brunswick and was raised in Mount Holly for a time before moving to Edison. She graduated from Edison High School and then attended Eastern School For Physicians Aides in New York City. Soon after, Mrs. Genovese …

The second annual Juneteenth Parade and Festival – organized this year by the SC Juneteenth Committee Inc. – kicked off from Pine Grove Manor elementary school on June 17. The parade made its way up Highland Avenue, then down a stretch of Hamilton Street before turning off at Matilda Avenue and into Naaman Williams Park for the festival.

POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE – CJCP seniors queue up during the June 15 graduation ceremony. The Central Jersey College Prep Charter School’s Class of 2023 was told to create the communities they want to live in and meet whatever success means to them at their June 15 graduation. The 41 members of the graduating class a;so heard from state Sen. Vin …

The Franklin High School Class of 2023 held one last party as a class on June 15 during their Senior Prom at the Princeton Weston Hotel. The students, dressed in their finery, sipped mocktails in the Forrestal Ballroom as attendants circulated with trays of hors d’oeuvres and a DJ exhorted them to hit the dance floor.

KELLER WILLIAMS MANAGEMENT TEAM – Greg Tibok, Michelle Smith and Kristen Lunden at the Keller Williams Greater Brunswick Grand Opening. When Greg Tibok was looking for a town in which to base his new real estate business, the choice was obvious. The Franklin Warrior (FHS Class of 2001) decided to enlarge office space at 220 Davidson Avenue that he’d held …

SUPPORTIVE WORDS – Attorney Howard Cohen, representing the Canal Walk Homeowners’ Association, speaks to the Township Council at its June 13 meeting. Amendments to the Township’s Noise Ordinance which restrict the time that industrial-related loading and unloading operations, as well as the use of vehicles with backup beepers, can be used on properties that abut Scenic Corridors which are adjacent …

Author Wheeler Antabanez will appear at the Franklin Township Library’s main branch on DeMott Lane to present a video tour of the old Boonton railway line, and sign his book on the same topic. The talk, entitled “Walking the Old Boonton Line: A Photographic Journey on the Abandoned Rails of New Jersey,” is scheduled for 1-2:30 p.m. June 24.

John Norbert Blum of Somerset passed away peacefully at home on June 12. He was 61. Born in New Haven, Connecticut and raised in Latham, New York, John lived in various towns throughout upstate New York and Ohio before moving to Somerset in 2000. A graduate of Shaker High School in Latham, New York, he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in …