Submitted by Somerset County Park Commission. The Somerset County Park Commission Colonial Park Gardens staff will welcome family and friends of all ages to enjoy a goofy afternoon from 1-3 p.m. Oct. 22.

Contracts worth more than $450,000 were awarded Oct. 10 by the Township Council. The council approved a $400,000 contract with Total Lawn Care & Landscape Services of Somerset for 20 snow plowing routes for the 2017-2018 snow season.

The Board of Education at its Sept. 28 meeting approved a number of contracts for the current school year. The board approved:

More than a dozen dogs and cats were blessed Oct. 14 during the Second Chance for Animals Blessing of the Animals. The event, held outside the Franklin Township Animal Shelter in the Municipal Complex, was officiated by the Rev. Joanna Hollis of Christ Episcopal Church in New Brunswick and the Rev. Scott Russell, the Rutgers University Episcopal chaplain. The actual …

More than $5,300 was raised Oct. 14 for the Franklin Food bank during the seventh annual D&R River Canal Fest. That total included about $1,200 from Franklin High School students who donated the proceeds of their sales of ceramic items.

By Bill Connell, Somerset. Driving down Elizabeth Avenue I saw a Will Galtieri sign, he is running for council. It put me on a train of thought: The average age of a politician around here is probably 55. William is slightly younger. I got to wondering what it really means and I concluded nothing in the case of William.

A little luck and some tough late-game defense led to the second win of the season Oct. 13 for the Franklin High School Warrior football team, who beat a tough Union High School 14-13. The game boiled down to about the last 1:46, after Franklin’s Dalen Merricks scampered into the end zone from the 2 yard line to give the …

Part of the Rutgers Plaza parking lot on Easton Avenue was turned into a construction zone Oct. 12, as Habitat for Humanity volunteers started working on a new house. This was the second time that the Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity has paired with radio station WMGQ (Magic 98.3) for “The House Built With Magic” program, said Laura Rawlins, the …

With just over three weeks to go until the general election, township Democrats got a boost Oct. 12 by a visit from their gubernatorial candidate. Phil Murphy, the former ambassador and now the state Democrat’s hope to retake the governor’s office, showed up at a fundraiser for the Democrats’ 17th Legislative District candidates, state Sen. Bob Smith and state Assemblymen …

Angela Palmitessa Leccese passed away on Tuesday at Ashley River Plantation Nursing Home in Charleston, S.C. at the age of 108. She was born in Jersey City to James and Maria (Lacitignola) Palmitessa and lived in North Bergen as a child. Once she married she and her husband Frank moved to Milltown. The young couple also lived in New Brunswick …