Community Building

More than 500 people – including a contingent from the township – gathered at a Metuchen church Jan. 28 for a rally in support of the two Indonesian men arrested last week by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One of the men, Gunawan Liem, 54, lives with his family in Franklin Park.

The proposed gazebo for the municipal complex on DeMott Lane is 70 percent funded, organizers told the Township Council on Jan. 23. Fundraisers have collected $35,000 of the $50,000 target, the council was told.

It’s a sign of the times that an event honoring the late civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would of necessity include thinly veiled references to the current president of the United States. That was the case Jan. 15 during the 21st annual Franklin Township Community Breakfast honoring King.

Some people move into a new town and are happy to fade into the background and live their lives in relative anonymity. Others choose to become a little more involved, joining a civic organization or two, but nothing that will raise their public profile too much.

Nearly a dozen members of a local women’s group brought some Christmas Eve cheer to residents at the Willow Creek Rehab & Care Center on Easton Avenue, even though the women don’t celebrate Christmas. The visitors were from the Somerset-Highland Park chapter of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, a national organization comprised of Jewish and Muslim women.

Nearly 170 boxes of food were donated by Stop & Shop in Rutgers Plaza to the Franklin Food Bank Dec. 22, courtesy of the store’s customers. The food was donated through Stop & Shop’s “Food for Friends” program, through which customers donated $10 for each box, which was in turn donated to the food bank.

The Franklin Reporter & Advocate hit the streets again on Dec. 20 to live stream the final installment of our 2017 Holiday Homes of Light Tour. We hope you enjoyed watching it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you.

The East Franklin Fire Department is looking to the public to help one of their own. Fire fighter Jhon Lopez, a Highland Avenue resident, lost all of the tools he uses in his contracting business during a Dec. 12 fire at his home.

We took our live stream camera out and about the township on Dec. 16. Our first stop was at Tompson Park in Middlebush, across from the Middlebush Reformed Church. There, we met up with members of the Middlebush Volunteer Fire Company, who presented Santa Claus to village families.

Organizers of the effort to raise money for a proposed township gazebo took some time Dec. 14 to thank their donors, including one who got the ball rolling in a big way. It was also announced at the event that the group’s goal is to have the gazebo ready for next year’s July 4th celebration.