A Raritan Icon Passes Away

This week, one of the best and most varied of legal minds, and a person of great personal integrity left his family and friends behind.

Although I knew Dan Soriano only professionally while I served on the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education, it was there that I became acquainted not merely with his all-encompassing skills as one of the most expert of legal minds in the field of education law, but also the integrity with which he exhibited and practiced those skills.

May the Spirit of the Christmas Season be Always With You

'Twas the night before Christmas . . . (Credit/Bergeron Image.)

The celebration of Christmas which began as a practice by early Christians in memory of the birth of Jesus has become a tradition observed throughout most of the world, even in those nations where Christians are but a minority and still persecuted.

Yet nothing will dampen the magnificent spirit of this time, regardless of whether people stress its religious or secular aspects – or both.

It is an occasion where families and friends gather to demonstrate their love and concern for one another with the exchange of gifts and the breaking of bread.

Despite the endemic conflicts of this world, the American spirit remains steadfastly indomitable in its refusal to give in to nihilism, a way of thinking that can only contribute to a downward slope of despair. That concept has never taken firm root in the American Republic.

The religious festivals of Chanukah and Christmas observed this time of the year contain messages based upon spreading light throughout the world, not with dwelling upon the darkness of hopelessness.

 

If, over the millennia, the Judeo-Christian message of hope has spilled over and infused itself into the secular world to be enjoyed by all in the form of gift-giving, lights, joy, optimism, and hope, that’s just fine.

 

It’s a great result, isn’t it?

(Note:  The photograph above is from a Williams Sonoma window display at the Bridgewater Commons Mall.)

The many who never came home for Christmas.

A Cub Scout kneels reverently and in deep respect. 

A week ago today, early on a sunny, crisp Saturday morning, Pris and I found ourselves on the Washington D.C. metro with our hosts from Potomac, Maryland.  We were bound for the nation’s capital to participate in Wreaths Across America, a ceremony that has become an annual event to honor America’s fallen stalwarts at Arlington National Cemetery.

Under seemingly endless acres of cemetery plots, men and women from past and current wartime conflicts and from all branches of the United States Armed Forces quietly lie, buried below endless rows of ivory-white tombstones – boots once standing on the ground but now resting beneath the earth after perishing in the service of their country.

A Precious Holiday Tradition Returns to the Bridgewater Commons Mall

Santa greets all of his kids this season!  (Photo/Bergeron Image.)

It’s back!  Once more this year, the management of the Bridgewater Commons Mall is hosting the presence of two Salvation Army Angel Trees.  On each of these modestly decorated trees are removable tags bearing the wishes of area children, ages about 3 to 12.

I especially like what appears to be a policy change this time around:  No toys!  No electronic stuff!  That may sound like Bah, Humbug, but consider this:  The emphasis is on what these under-privileged kids really need – the basics:  articles of clothing.

Reading the tags, I came across names such as Marc, Shaniya, Meyah, Maria, Carter, Angelina, Jeramyah and dozens of other kids – all of them in need.  Those are just a few of the name tags that I spotted on November 20^th.

Committee’s Attempt to Impale Christie Fails

How many more times do we have to hear from the functionally neutered New Jersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigation that its job is not yet over?
   

Christie listens intently at Jan. 2014 press conference.(Bergeron Screen Shot.)

This group of head-hunting politicians directed by Assembly Deputy Speaker John Wisniewski and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, issued a press release yesterday which added nothing new to what already has been reported ad nauseam by the press in hundreds, if not thousands of newspaper columns, as well as in the digital media concerning the Bridgegate “scandal.”

The committee’s report, which will be officially released on Monday, reluctantly clears Governor Chris Christie of any premeditated actions, prior knowledge of, or complicity in those now infamous four-day lane closings leading to the George Washington Bridge.