Community Building

The Franklin Reporter & Advocate recently asked readers of our Facebook page to share with us their most prominent memory of the terrorist attacks on Sept 11, 2001. We preset them here, in commemoration of the 16th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

https://www.facebook.com/franklinreporter/videos/1269749599803416/ Franklin Reporter & Advocate co-publisher PJ Parker interviews Kim Vannote, co-founder of the John Basilone Memorial Foundation, and Collette Reap, general manager of the Stage House Tavern, left to right, during the restaurant’s second annual fundraiser for the foundation.

Members of the late Naaman Williams’ family showed up from all corners of the country Aug. 26 for the re-dedication of the park that bears his name. Th event, commemorating the 35th anniversary of the renaming of Hamilton Park to Naaman Williams Memorial Park, was the kickoff for the annual Week of the People celebration.

https://www.facebook.com/franklinreporter/videos/1261544800623896/ Update: A delegation of representatives from Sierra Leone visited the township Aug. 25 to ask for help for the survivors of a deadly mudslide in their country, and to thank officials for hosting a donation drop-off point.

Township police officials are hoping to roll out their “Coffee With A Cop” program next month. Det. Sean Hebbon, who heads the department’s Community Policing effort, said Aug. 7 that plans are in the works for the program to be held throughout the township.

By Makinrola Orafidiya. Approximately $1,000 was raised Aug. 5 during the launch party for the Warrior for Life Foundation, held at Ovations in South Bound Brook.

BRIDGEWATER – Franklin Township residents’ success was celebrated July 27 at the Franklin Community Night held at TD Bank Ballpark. Sponsored by the Franklin Reporter & Advocate and the Business Alliance of Franklin Township, and presented by the Somerset Patriots, the evening was also a fundraiser for the township-based Sisters Network of Central New Jersey.

Update: The proposed township youth center on Lewis Street should be a multi-purpose building that can be modified to reflect changing tastes through the years, and be one where youth can go to learn, play and keep out of trouble. That seemed to be the consensus July 25 of about 50 residents who gathered in the Franklin Middle School library …

The township Police Department’s Neighborhood Police team held its second pizza and ice cream social at its Hamilton Street office June 16. As it did last year, the team held the event on the last day of school for district students.

If the number of cars parked at The Palace at Somerset June 12 was any indication, the 17th annual Elijah’s Promise Chef’s Night was a success. The event is the largest fundraiser held by Elijah’s Promise, and supplies the organization with about 25 percent of the culinary school’s budget, said Michelle Wilson, Elijah’s Promise’s associate director.