2022 Holiday Issue

INFORMING, SERVING AND CELEBRATING THE LAKE REGION 

ake Hopatcong News 

HOLIDAY 2022 VOL. 14 NO. 7 

A Christmas Story 

Times Square Church in Mount Arlington hosts annual Live Nativity 

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4 

From the Editor 

The cover story for this issue is about a celebration of the season, a production of a live 

nativity, courtesy of the Times Square Church North Jersey Campus in Mount Arlington. 

It seems that when I was much younger, there were many opportunities to attend a live nativity. 

I can recall multiple churches offering a version of the event—inside, outside, with or without live 

animals. But today, as far as I know, Times Square Church is the only parish in the area currently 

offering an event like this. 

The production is well-planned, well-attended and professionally performed. Writer Ellen 

Wilkowe and I went to one of the performances last year in preparation for this story. (See page 

22.) We were both more than impressed with what we saw and heard. 

It was early December, and the night was clear and brisk. The chill, however, did not stop a few 

hundred people from showing up. Word is getting out about this production. If you plan to go 

this year, go early and dress warmly. 

We are wrapping up our yearlong salute to all things musical in this issue. Back in April, I 

wrote that we would be telling stories about people who participate in the area’s music scene— 

performers, writers and whoever else might be connected to making music. I thoroughly enjoyed 

getting to know the subjects of these stories and, of course, listening to their music. There are a lot 

of talented people among us. I hope you enjoyed these stories as much as I did, and I hope we’ve 

introduced you to some new ways to enjoy music. 

In keeping with the music theme and in the spirit of the season, one of the stories in this issue 

is about the Jefferson Township Community Chorus. Members are preparing for their annual 

Christmas concert in December. (See page 18.) Writer Maria Vogel-Short and I spent some 

time with them at a rehearsal in October. We got to see firsthand how this talented group of 

singers works through the nuances of some challenging musical arrangements presented by group 

director James Wynne. Not quite ready for a full performance, the group practiced snippets of 

songs, rehearsing in stops and starts instead of running through songs from beginning to end. To 

my untrained ear that didn’t matter. They sounded great already. 

Also in this issue is a story by writer Melissa Summers about Missile Silo Studios in Hopatcong 

and one man’s dream to make a go of his passion. In turn, it offers a path for others to fulfill their 

own dreams. (See page 28.) While shooting photos of owner Joe Egan for this story, I got to crash 

Ralph Chudley’s recording session. He’s one half of the hard rock duo Please Exist. With earplugs 

firmly stuffed into each ear, I snapped away as Chudley wailed and strummed, recording just bits 

and pieces of his songs. While the process was similar to the Jefferson Township Community 

Chorus rehearsals, the music itself sure was different. But the result was just the same—more 

enjoyable music. 

This being November means this is the last magazine for 2022. I’ve 

heard from many of you about how much you enjoy the stories in each 

issue. I appreciate the input. I will spend most of the winter hunting 

for a lineup of stories for the 2023 issues, which will begin publishing 

in April. Don’t be shy—if you have an idea for a story, please reach out 

to me. My contact information is to the right of this column. 

In the meantime, please visit the Lake Hopatcong News website 

where you’ll find updates on important issues. And don’t forget to look 

at our calendar of events for things to do. 

Wishing you all a healthy and joyful holiday season. —Karen 





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HOLIDAY 2022 VOL. 14 NO. 7 

LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2022 

ON THE COVER 

Bridgette Beach and husband Andrew Beach 

of Glen Gardner portray Mary and Joseph 

during the Live Nativity production at Times 

Square Church North Jersey Campus in 

Mount Arlington in 2021. 

-photo by Karen Fucito 

KAREN FUCITO 

Editor 

editor@lakehopatcongnews.com 

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 

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Melissa Summers 

Maria Vogel-Short 

Ellen Wilkowe 

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Heather Shirley 

Barbara Simmons 

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Branching Out Leads to Holiday Cheer 

6 

Duffy Gardner with his dog, 

Skipper at last year’s tree lot. 

Oliver Higgins carries his “Charlie Brown” tree from the 

lot, followed by his brother Emmett and mom Kara. 

Gardner examines a tree on the lot. 


The Higgins 

family begins 

the search 

for a perfect 

tree. 

Photos by Karen Fucito 

Each year as summer winds down and fall 

begins, the signs that Christmas is coming 

start to appear. As the holiday gets closer there 

is Black Friday, holiday music and the telltale 

dusting of green and red glitter. 

In Mount Arlington, a beloved Christmas 

tradition is the appearance along Howard 

Boulevard of the hand-painted 

signs for Duffy’s Vermont 

Christmas Trees. 

Duffy Gardner, who said he is 

“middle aged,” is the youngest 

of five sons of Dave and the late 

JoAnn Gardner. The Gardners, 

including sons Daniel, Donald, 

Doug, Dean and Duffy, are 

known locally for the family’s 

entrepreneurial spirit. 

In the 1970s, there was the 

Farmer in the Dell nursery 

school run by JoAnn Gardner. 

About the same time, the couple 

opened a summer camp for 

kids—located in their backyard 

and at local beaches around Lake 

Hopatcong—teaching kids how 

to swim and how to paddle a 

canoe. 

Later, the DG Driving School 

was added, which is now run by 

middle son Doug Gardner. It is 

not an exaggeration to say that 

generations of Mount Arlington 

kids learned something from 

the Gardners—the alphabet, 

how to swim, how to paddle a 

canoe or how to drive. 

In addition to water-based 

activities, a critical part of 

attending the Gardners’ 

summer day camp—and being 

a member of the family—was 

pitching in with the patriarch’s 

extensive gardens and helping 

with his brood of chickens. 

Gardner 

carries a tree 

for longtime 

customer 

Mary Tresca. 

Story by BONNIE-LYNN NADZEIKA 

Campers—and sons—planted seeds, picked 

vegetables and collected eggs. 

Duffy Gardner recalled gardening with his 

father at a young age. “I remember standing on a 

milk crate next to my dad seeding tomatoes with 

a Dolly Parton 8-track going. I was Daddy’s little 

helper. As an adolescent I rebelled, then at 18 or 

19 I came back to it,” he said. 

Deciding he wanted to be an organic vegetable 

farmer, Gardner did an apprenticeship in New 

Jersey. After graduating high school in 1990, he 

moved to Vermont where the land was cheaper. 

“I wanted to be out in the sticks,” he said. His 

dedication to organic farming even led him to 

use a mule team over a motorized tractor. 

Gardner said farming was an “obsession” for 

15 years. He specialized in salad greens, which 

were not as popular then as they are now, he said. 

But 20 years ago he opted for a change. 

He apprenticed with stonemasons, learning 

from and working with a restoration mason 

and a dry mason (using stacked stones without 

mortar), before going out on his own. “I found 

the seasonality mimicked what I was used to in 

farming,” Gardner said. 

Early on in his life in Vermont, he got involved 

with Christmas trees as a way to offset the slack in 

farming and then masonry. Those first few years 

were physically demanding, he said. Working at 

a tree farm, a typical day included a trek deep 

into the woods where he and his coworkers 

would cut trees, drag them back to the truck and 

bail them for transport. 

“It was hard work of cutting and schlepping,” 

said Gardner. 

He decided that maybe selling Christmas 

trees might be easier than cutting and hauling 

them. In the mid 1990s, he partnered with 

the owner of a Vermont tree farm. He took 

100 trees on speculation and headed back to 

Mount Arlington. He asked Davy Ferrara, who 

owns Davy’s Hot Dogs and Grill on Howard 

Boulevard, if he could sell the trees from his 

parking lot. Ferrara instead suggested he use his 

parents’ large property, located just up the hill. 

Beau and Silvia Ferrara hosted Duffy’s Vermont 

Christmas Trees for 15 years. 

“I couldn’t have done it without them,” 

Gardner said. 

He also gives credit to his family for keeping 

the tree sale tradition alive, setting up the 

scaffolding and lights just in time for the tree 

delivery. When the truck needs unloading, 

he said, whoever is around helps, including 

Gardner’s dad, now in his 80s. 

After nearly three decades of working the 

tree lot, nieces, nephews and neighborhood 

kids also play a role, said brother Dean 

Gardner. 

“We unbind the trees, set them up and 

Duffy prices them,” he said, adding, “Duffy is 

at the lot all the time, but the rest of us help

out when we can.” 

Duffy Gardner himself said, “the best part 

of selling Christmas trees is the opportunity to 

come back to Mount Arlington and spend time 

with family and reconnect with old friends.” 

Dean Gardner agreed and said it is a time for the 

brothers, who all live locally, to reconnect. 

“Originally, we had a barrel fire that we cooked 

dinner over. Now we grab a pizza or takeout 

and maybe a beverage or two,” Dean said with 

a laugh. 

In 2010, Gardner moved his operation across 

the street to the Lake Hopatcong Elks Lodge, 

due to issues caused be a high-water table on 

the Ferrara property. He now calls Elks members 

Mike Clark and Madelyn Walrod the godparents 

of the operation. 

“People don’t understand all of the hard work 

that Mike and Madelyn do behind the scenes,” 

said Gardner. The Elks receive a percentage 

of tree sales, which goes directly to support 

charitable initiatives that benefit local families 

during the holidays. 

“The element of giving back to the community 

is really important to me,” he said. 

Many of Gardner’s buyers are now secondgeneration 

local families, and for some longtime 

residents, buying trees from Duffy Gardner is 

just another Christmas tradition. 

Kara Wachtler grew up in Mount Arlington, 

and her parents bought trees from Gardner 

when she was a child. Now Wachtler brings her 

husband and four young children to the Elks 

parking lot to pick out trees. 

“He is just so nice,” she said of Gardner, 

adding, “he’s like a character from a Hallmark 

Christmas movie.” In 2021 the family bought 

two trees, letting their 5-year-old pick out his 

own small tree that he proudly carried over his 

shoulder. 

Denise (Crance) Stanford remembers her 

first connection to the Gardner family. She 

took swimming lessons from Daniel Gardner. 

Stanford, deciding to patronize the local 

Christmas tree lot in Mount Arlington, was 

excited to know her trees were coming from 

someone in the Gardner family. 

She recalled a year her family was planning a 

Christmas celebration on December 26 at the 

Mount Arlington Fire Department. Stanford 

asked Gardner if she could pick up a tree after 

Christmas for the event. Replying that the trees 

would all be gone by then, he gifted the Crance 

family their tree. Typically, the lot sells out well 

before Christmas, said Gardner. 

“I think he was touched by our family getting 

together to celebrate,” Stanford said. 

For Gardner, the tree lot is about family. 

“Connecting with my family. Seeing families, 

sometimes second-generation [families], come 

to buy trees is what drives what I do,” Gardner 

said. Told that he was regarded by some as a 

character right out of a Hallmark Christmas 

movie, he laughed and said, “maybe I do play 

the part up a bit.” 

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E. Louise Childs Library Gets By with 

a Little Help from Its ‘Friends’ 

Story by MELISSA SUMMERS 

Photo by KAREN FUCITO 

One of Sussex County’s most valuable 

and often overlooked public resources is 

expanding its offerings and looking for some new 

“friends.” 

Supporters of the E. Louise Childs Library 

in Stanhope want the community to know that 

the branch, which is part of the Sussex County 

Library System, is more than just a place for 

books, magazines, and CDs or DVDs. Visitors 

can also borrow a computer, a movie projector, an 

ice cream maker, a bocce ball set, or even a ukulele. 

All of those things and more were provided to 

the libraries in a combined effort by the Sussex 

County Library System and its volunteers and are 

available at any one of their six branches. 

The Friends of E. Louise Childs aren’t stopping 

there. Established four years ago, they are 

emerging from the shutdowns and restrictions of 

the pandemic to recruit members and bring even 

more programming and services to the library 

through sponsorship and donations. Mona 

Phillips, of Hopatcong, serves as president of the 

Board members 

Mona Phillips, 

Ida Brown, Carol 

Gingerelli and 

Beverly Dandurand- 

Richardson. 

Friends of E. Louise Childs Library. 

Constructed in 1981, E. Louise Childs serves 

the communities of Hopatcong, Stanhope, 

Byram and parts of Andover, according to Branch 

Librarian, Regina Bohn. 

“The Sussex Main Library provides a budget for 

each of their libraries,” explained Mona Phillips, 

president of Friends of E. Louise Childs Library. 

If the library system or one of the branches wants 

something that exceeds their budget, they are 

dependent on outside contributions. “We’re here 

to help provide those things through fundraising 

and membership,” Phillips said. 

The Friends of E. Louise Childs Library are 

the third such group to represent a local branch 

in Sussex County. Both the Dorothy E. Henry 

Library and the Sussex-Wantage Library also have 

support from Friends groups. 

“In 2018, the library system was putting 

together a strategic plan,” said Bohn. “They hired 

consultants who had a meeting at each branch.” 

According to Bohn, the Childs library had the 

biggest turnout. 

When Phillips heard during the meeting that 

her local branch did not have a Friends group, she 

volunteered on the spot. 

“I couldn’t understand. If 

they want to do it, why don’t 

they do it?” she recalled. 

“People wanted things for the 

library. I said, ‘Anyone got a 

piece of paper and a pen? Well, 

sign up. Put your name on it.’” 

“Will Porter, our director, 

was there that night,” Bohn 

recalled of the meeting. “I 

remember Will telling me he’s 

been in the library business a 

long time and never saw a Friends group come 

together so fast. I have to give all that credit to 

Mona.” 

Phillips sprang into action immediately, 

reaching out to community contacts. One of the 

first groups she honed in on was the Hopatcong 

Seniors, a group always looking for ways to help 

the community. 

“Mona started her research that night, and she 

called me up and said she needed to speak to 

the seniors at the next senior meeting,” said Ida 

Brown, current vice president of the Friends of E. 

Louise Childs Library. She made sure Phillips was 

on the agenda so she could share her plans. 

According to Phillips, writing is the most 

important part of establishing an organization. 

Brown was an important piece of the puzzle. “I 

can plan something, and I have a vision, but a 

wordsmith really knows how to use words and 

that’s Ida.” 

At the initial meeting that November at the 

Childs branch, interested supporters discussed 

what they could do for the library and the 

community, Brown said. They also elected Carol 

Gingerelli as treasurer and Beverly Dandurand- 

Richardson as secretary, positions they still hold. 

With officers and bylaws in place—and some 

pro bono help from local attorney Racquel 

Hiben—Friends of E. Louise Childs Library 

became a 501(c)(3) and began fundraising. 

“We had no money,” Brown said. “Little by little, 

with promotional materials about membership, 

we went out to our community, we went out to 

the schools and families and we put promotional 

materials in the library.” They promoted their 

quarterly meetings and offered information on 

everything available to library patrons. 

In the last few years, the Friends have gifted 

items to support the library and have sponsored 

a variety of programming. Thanks to the Friends, 

the library offers patrons free family passes to 

three local museums: the Morris Museum, the 

Newark Museum and the Montclair Art Museum. 

10 

Regina Bohn and 

Barbara Crosson 

prepare books for 

the library's first 

book fair in August. 


Left: Sompit Kumpoyai from Twist on Thai Cafe, 

helps James Farrell shape a dumpling. 

Above: From Twist on Thai Cafe, Patcharin "Ploy" 

Davis, Kumpoyai, Nube Ortiz and Norma Sudak. 

Photos courtesy of Mona Phillips

The group also purchased a Lego table for the 

children’s section, a mahjong set and dividers for 

the meeting room. 

The organization has presented a classic movie 

series at the library, according to Phillips, and also 

started a monthly discussion group, which last 

met in 2020. 

“A topic is chosen, and we sit around a table 

and discuss it. The last thing we discussed was 

COVID,” she noted with a chuckle. 

Like most other public services, the library was 

closed during the pandemic, putting many of the 

organization’s programs on hold. 

In October of this year, the group resumed its 

culinary series with Taste of Thai. 

Patcharin “Ploy” Davis, owner of Twist on Thai 

Café in Hopatcong, held a cooking demonstration 

at the library and distributed recipes and samples 

of her Thai steamed dumplings and Thai iced tea. 

Phillips and her family are regular customers 

at the restaurant and had invited Davis to 

participate. “I decided to challenge myself,” Davis 

said of the experience. “There were a total of 27 

guests, plus five more on Zoom, and we absorbed 

the cost.” 

Davis had hoped attendees would try Thai food 

and enjoy it, then spread the word to friends and 

family about her restaurant—and it worked. 

“On the day of the event, the restaurant door 

opened and the very first order was from someone 

[who had been] in the audience and that made 

me so happy,” said Davis. “We ended up with six 

more families who also came from the event.” 

It’s the long-term impact that will make a 

difference. “We got our name out there and it’s 

just a matter of word of mouth,” Davis added. 

Chefs specializing in Indian and Venezuelan 

cuisine were featured in previous presentations, 

according to Brown. She said they’d love to 

expand the series to include Mexican and Jewish 

cuisines. 

One of the organization’s most recent 

accomplishments includes the purchase of four 

additional pairs of EnChroma glasses, which can 

alleviate symptoms of color blindness. Phillips 

said the Sussex County Library System had a 

waiting list for the four (two adult and two youth) 

pairs of specially engineered glasses they originally 

offered. 

“The branch librarians saw a demo by the 

maker, and we were sort of unsure how popular 

they would be, but as soon as they came in, they 

started going out,” Bohn said. At one point there 

were 12 holds on the adult pairs. 

Phillips believes the addition of four more adult 

pairs of glasses, available to all patrons of the 

Sussex County Library system, will fulfill a vital 

need in the community. They include two pairs 

designed for indoor use and two for outdoor use. 

One in 12 men and one in 200 women are color 

blind, according to EnChroma. 

“Maybe they are going on vacation, maybe they 

are going bird watching or on a hike at this time 

of year with all the colors,” Bohn said. “Maybe 

they are going to the city to see the Metropolitan 

Museum of Art, and they want to see what this art 

really looks like.” 

“It’s a big investment. People get to put them 

on, see if they like what they are seeing and how 

they are seeing it and see if it’s something they’d 

like to do, before shelling out money for them,” 

Phillips said of the glasses, which can cost more 

than $300 a pair. 

Fundraising events at the library are ongoing, 

including the Friends’ first-ever book sale, held 

this year in August. “People come in and buy a 

used book, and we use the money to buy more,” 

said Phillips. 

“We estimated that we had about 3,000 books 

here and we raised $700,” Brown added. “The 

books were going for as little as 10 cents each.” 

Roxbury Public Library took many of the books 

that were left over for their own sale and promised 

to help with contributions when E. Louise Childs 

holds their next sale, Brown added. 

Friends board members are also welcoming 

young local artists to participate in a unique 

opportunity. To thank Hiben for her pro bono 

help, the Friends hold a yearly art contest in the 

local attorney’s name. “This was put on hold 

due to COVID, but now that we’re back, we 

are looking for a logo for our organization,” said 

Brown. 

The logo contest is open to any Sussex County 

student from kindergarten through high school. 

The board, with help from Bohn, will choose the 

winner and award a $100 prize. The school art 

department where the student attends will also 

receive $100, according to Brown. 

The Friends are also looking forward to a 

children’s holiday program they are planning for 

December. “We saved Christmas and Hannukah 

books from the book sale,” Brown said. “Each kid 

will be able to pick a book to go home with, as a 

gift from the Friends of the Library.” 

They’ll also have holiday story time, Phillips 

said. 

The Friends of E. Louise Childs Library has 

over 100 members, with a one-time membership 

fee starting at $1 for students, $5 for regular 

memberships or $10 for family memberships. 

Although the vast majority of members are 

seniors, the organization is constantly striving to 

expand. 

“We would like to attract the younger mothers 

and fathers. We are here to provide for them, but 

it’s hard to get them involved with their busy 

lives,” Phillips said. 

Brown said they are always looking for new 

members, business or corporate sponsors and 

always welcome monetary donations. “It’s the end 

of the year. If you’d like a tax deduction, this is the 

perfect place to do it,” she said. 

For more information about the 

Friends of E. Louise Childs Library email 

friendselouisechildslib@gmail.com. 


Racing Down the Runway to Raise Money 

Story by ELLEN WILKOWE 

Photos by KAREN FUCITO 

There was more foot traffic than air traffic 

as more than 200 runners took off on 

the runway at Aeroflex-Andover Airport in 

Andover, led by a bright yellow Piper Cub 

aircraft that soared into the air, providing racers 

an extra burst of adrenaline. 

This was by no means an ordinary race. The 

combination 5K and fundraiser—Fly Like 

Kylie—was held in honor of Kylie Murray, a 

21-year-old pilot from Illinois who died in a 

plane crash on July 31, 2021, while giving a 

lesson. 

The 5K was organized by Murray’s New 

Jersey-based aunt and uncle, Matt and 

Katherine Van Wolput of Oak Ridge, who 

wanted to do something in her memory. A race 

at the airport seemed like the ideal fit. 

Event proceeds will go towards the Kylie 

Murray Memorial Flight Training Scholarship. 

Established last year by Murray's parents, 

Geoff and Lisa Murray, the scholarship helps 

accelerate the flight training of a like-minded 

high school female. 

“This was her passion,” said Matt Van Wolput. 

The fundraiser’s other purpose was to shine 

a spotlight on women in aviation. The Van 

Wolputs did just that by constructing a fun 

facts poster for runners to peruse on their walk 

down from the parking lot to the starting line. 

Some of the facts listed are as follows: 

For every 100 male pilots, there are only six 

women. 

There are 713 female pilots in the U.S., or 

5.6 percent. 

The first woman to receive a pilot’s license 

was in France in 1910. 

A passion for flying has earned other members 

of the Van Wolput family their wings. 

Murray’s father, Geoff Murray, is a pilot for 

United Airlines as well as a flight instructor. 

Her brother, Ryan, is an engineer for United. 

And it has been almost 10 years since Matt 

Van Wolput decided to go airborne and earn 

his pilot’s license for Piper Cubs, as well. This 

was after hearing stories from his wife about her 

brother, Geoff Murray, flying them to Maine 

when they were young. 

“It sparked my interest,” he said. 

Much like her father, Kylie Murray took 

to the skies early, earning her pilot and flight 

instructor’s licenses when she was just 17, the 

minimum age allowed. 

Race participants sprint down 

the runway at Aeroflex-Andover 

Airport as a Piper Cup aircraft 

buzzes above. 

She started teaching in May 2021 at Cub Air 

Flight in Hartford, Wisconsin. Her favorite 

planes were Piper Cubs, which are tandem low 

power—between 65-85 horsepower—aircraft. 

Murray was scouted by United Airlines and 

Cirrus Aircraft for jobs, but she followed her 

heart, which led her to teaching instead. 

She was a licensed flight instructor and had 

just received a commercial pilot license for 

single-engine land and seaplanes at the time of 

her death. 

“She was a badass,” Matt Van Wolput said. 

“The whole thought of United chasing her 

down and she’s like, ‘I just want to teach.’” 

Murray was working toward her degree in 

aviation management at Auburn University and 

was set to graduate in December 2021. 

“She was an accomplished pilot, no doubt,” 

Van Wolput said. 

Accomplished yes, and humble about it, too, 

said his wife, and Murray’s aunt. “She could be 

the most accomplished person in the room and 

would not say a word about it,” she said. 

Personality-wise, Murray exuded a positive 

and bright energy, Katherine Van Wolput said. 

“She was very accepting, and people were drawn 

to this young woman. She was gorgeous and 

had this welcoming warm outgoing personality 

that made you want to hang out with her.” 

Despite the distance of several 

states, Murray and the Van 

Kylie Murray in 2021. 

Photo courtesy of the Murray family. 

Matt and Katherine Van Wolput 

on race day. 

12 


Damien DelGaizo pilots a Piper Cub that leads racers 

down the runway at Aeroflex-Andover Airport.

Wolputs’ middle daughter, Gracie, were each 

other’s “besties,” Katherine Van Wolput said. 

The last time the Van Wolputs saw their 

niece was in June 2021, about a month before 

her accident. The family came together for an 

engagement party for the Van Wolputs’ oldest 

daughter, Nina. 

With the different schedules that come with 

raising families, plus the long distance between 

them, the Murrays and the Van Wolputs were 

not afforded as much time together as they 

would have liked. 

That is why Katherine Van Wolput will 

always hold the last time she saw Murray close 

to her heart. 

“It was hands-down better than imagined,” 

she said. 

Murray was fresh off landing her seaplane 

license and flew in with her father from Alaska 

for the engagement party. 

“Kylie stayed for an extra day, and I am 

grateful for that,” Van Wolput said. 

She was equally grateful for the community 

that banded together in honor of Murray. 

Many race participants were students from the 

Van Wolputs’ business, the Oak Ridge Martial 

Arts Academy, which sponsored the race. 

She sang equal praises about Aeroflex- 

Andover Airport, which rose to the occasion in 

more ways than one. Owner Damien DelGaizo 

flew the yellow Piper Cub that led racers down 

the runway and into the first leg of their race. 

The crisp autumn morning brought out 

racers ranging in age from small children to 

seniors. The children participated in their own 

shorter run prior to the adult 5K but still got 

to experience the rush of running on a runway. 

In addressing the runners prior to the race, 

Matt Van Wolput emphasized the importance 

of creating awareness regarding aviation 

possibilities for younger generations, like 

Murray’s. 

He also gave a shout-out to Experimental 

Aviation Association Chapter 891, The Sussex 

EAAgles, which provides flight experiences 

for children ages 8-17, as well as adults. The 

EAA also provides Angel Flights for financially 

challenged people who require medical 

transportation. The association also participates 

in the transport of animals from kill shelters to 

no-kill facilities. 

Katherine Van Wolput stressed that all 

proceeds, excluding race costs and materials, 

would go directly to funding the Kylie Murray 

Memorial Flight Training Scholarship. 

“Our business is not taking any stipend or 

pay from the proceeds,” she said. 

Still flying high from the race’s success, Van 

Wolput remained undecided about making it 

an annual event. 

“Nothing can top this,” she said. 

To date, the Van Wolputs have raised $23,300 

for the scholarship fund. 

To learn more or to donate to the Kylie Murray 

Memorial Flight Training Scholarship, go to 

www.eaa.org/KylieMurray. 

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16 


CHRISTINA ALESSI 

I AM I AM I AM 

LOCAL 

VOICES 

Christina Alessi said she was “painfully shy as a kid.” It came as quite a surprise to her family when 

she got involved in the music program at Roxbury High School and performed in front of an 

audience. Her first performance in the high school auditorium had her hooked though, and she 

credits former and longtime Choir Director Lori Lynch for encouraging her to take music seriously. 

“I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since,” said the 45-year-old. 

WHERE DO YOU LIVE AND WHO MAKES UP YOUR FAMILY? 

I moved to Mt. Tabor from Bloomfield with my son and two dogs a couple of years ago. My parents still live in Roxbury, as does my brother 

and his family, so we are in town often. Mt. Tabor is a magical little enclave hidden in Parsippany. I love it here. 

DO YOU MAKE A LIVING OUT OF PLAYING MUSIC? IF NOT, WHAT IS YOUR FULL-TIME PROFESSION? 

I play music part time. I also make art part time. My full-time job is with a small financial firm, 

where I’ve been for 16 years. I’m also a mom. I could do with an extra day each week. 

ARE YOU CURRENTLY PART OF A BAND OR HAVE YOU BEEN IN THE PAST? 

My current band is Christina Alessi and the Toll Collectors with Jonathan Andrew, Josh Bicknell, Sean- 

David Cunningham and Maribyrd. We’ve been together for about seven years. I get to make music 

with my close friends. We genuinely just enjoy playing together and being around one another. 

HOW OFTEN ARE YOU PERFORMING/RECORDING? 

The Toll Collectors typically perform as a band or trio twice a month in the spring, 

summer and early fall. We love an outdoor gig so that’s what we focus on. 

WHAT OR WHO MADE YOU WANT TO BECOME A MUSICIAN? DO YOU PLAY OR 

JUST SING? 

I remember being a kid and listening to Cyndi Lauper and imagining fronting a band 

and wearing tutus and thinking, “Wow, I’d love to do that.” Now, I’m mainly a singer, 

but I dabble in guitar, mandolin and piano. 

WHO HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST MUSICAL INFLUENCE IN LIFE AND WHY? 

Honestly, my music community. I know so many folks who are hustling day in 

and day out to get music out into the world. I am inspired time and time again 

by Maribyrd, Gerry Rosenthal, Sylvana Joyce and so many others. These folks are 

doing the thing. Every day. 

DESCRIBE THE TYPE OF MUSIC THAT YOU TYPICALLY PLAY IN PUBLIC. IS IT 

ORIGINAL? COVERS? COMBINATION OF BOTH? 

With the Toll Collectors, we curate a good mix of originals and covers. When we do 

a cover, we try to make it our own. We have a unique instrumentation with acoustic 

guitar, mandolin and violin so we like to crunch up some pop songs, revisit our ‘90s 

favorites and spend a lot of time in the ‘70s (my favorite). 

WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT PLAYING MUSIC? 

I like engaging with an audience. I love sharing songs with people and feeling that 

energy exchange. 

WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE ANYONE HAS EVER GIVEN YOU CONCERNING 

YOUR PURSUIT OF MUSIC? 

Be authentic. I’m not sure who or if anyone said it directly to me but it’s been 

reinforced throughout my musical odyssey. 

BESIDES MUSIC, DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER HOBBIES? 

If I’m not making music, I’m painting. I’ve stockpiled a bunch of pieces and 

am submitting to art shows in New Jersey. I mostly do abstract collage pieces. 

They’re often bright and colorful. I was very excited to have a dog statue in 

Boonton’s Dog Days of Summer installation this year. 

IS THERE SOMETHING MOST PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO LEARN 

ABOUT YOU? 

I’m kind of a weirdo so I’m not sure what would actually be surprising. How 

about… I don’t like coffee. I had half a cup once, and that was it. Not for me. 

home unique creative 


James Wynne leads rehearsal. 

The Jefferson Township Community 

Chorus during a recent rehearsal. 

Community Chorus Hits 

All the High Notes 

There’s no place like home for the holidays 

and what better way to celebrate the season 

than by listening to the Jefferson Township 

Community Chorus sing Christmas songs 

written by composers such as George Frideric 

Handel and Gustav Holst. 

The chorus will be one of the featured 

performers at the 16th annual Christmas in 

the Village celebration on Saturday, December 

3. The day-long event is co-hosted by the 

Jefferson Arts Committee and the Jefferson 

Township Historical Society and includes tours 

of the museum, a marketplace and live music at 

multiple locations in the Milton section of the 

township. The Jefferson Township Community 

Chorus will perform at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal 

Church on Milton Road at 1:20 p.m. 

Before the concert, however, ’tis the season 

for practice, practice, practice. Choral Director 

James Wynne, 71, who plays piano while 

rehearsing the passages, said a favorite part of 

his job is “the path to getting to the finished 

product.” 

The 2022 Christmas repertoire includes 

traditional numbers such as “Have Yourself a 

Merry Little Christmas,” “Christmastime” and 

“’Tis The Season.” 

For the choral members, it’s the preparation 

that counts. 

“Rome was not built in a day,” said Wynne, 

after listening to different parts of the chorus 

group labor through a complicated passage 

during an October practice. “We’ll get there.” 

Wynne’s confidence and his easygoing style 

helped chorus members get through two of 

the more difficult pieces: “I Saw Three Ships,” 

arranged by Craig Curry and “Maoz Tsur 

(Rock of Ages),” arranged by Ross Fishman. 

18 

Story by MARIA VOGEL-SHORT 



Admittedly, each are complicated compositions 

that are musically sophisticated and not standard 

fare. 

“It’s the arrangement that matters,” explained 

Wynne. 

Formed in April of 2001 by the Jefferson 

Arts Committee and with the help of Margaret 

Brandel and Janet Breckenridge (now deceased), 

the chorus has been a staple in the 

community ever since, performing 

its holiday concert and holding an 

annual spring concert at Our Lady 

Star of the Sea Roman Catholic 

Church in the Lake Hopatcong 

section of the township. 

The Jefferson Township 

Community Chorus currently has 

30 members, but recruitment is an 

important part of Wynne’s job, he 

said. Anyone can join, Wynne said, 

but there is one requirement—a 

love of singing. 

After a summer hiatus, the 

chorus began rehearsing in 

September, meeting every Tuesday night at 

Jefferson Township High School. Wynne has the 

group set up as expected: sopranos on his left, 

altos on the right and tenors, baritones and bass 

in the center. 

For Isabelle Brennan, a soprano, the love of 

singing brought her to the group. 

“I love learning about music, too,” said the 

Lake Hopatcong resident. “Each practice is a 

mini music theory class.” 

Bonnie Huebner, who sings soprano and hails 

from Lake Shawnee, said her church does not 

have a choir and this group gives her a chance 

to participate in something she loves. She said 

she also enjoys meeting other people who like 

to sing. 

At 21, Giselle Gonzales, a soprano, is one of 

the youngest members of the group. She was a 

Bonnie Huebner and Isabelle Brennan 

in the soprano section. 

Karen Schorling makes notes on the sheet music. 

A chorus member looks through the sheet music. 

singer in the Rutgers University choir while in 

college and is currently a cantor at Our Lady 

Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church. “I 

just want to sing,” she said. 

“We have a lot of dedicated members, and 

they come back every year,” said Toni Tarighi, 

64, the chorus librarian. Tarighi has been a

member since the beginning. Like Gonzales, 

she is also a cantor at Our Lady Star of the Sea 

Roman Catholic Church. 

Tarighi said her duties as chorus librarian 

include distributing sheet music each season and 

then cleaning and filing the returned music at 

the end of the year. She “cleans” the sheet music 

of any special notes or marks so that it can be 

reused in the future. 

Choral members prepared their sheet music in 

various ways for rehearsal. Some laminated the 

sheets, some used a computer notebook or tablet 

and some marked the sheet music with special 

erasable pens. 

Certain music required specific instruction 

and direction when preparing for rehearsal, 

noted Wynne. “Maoz Tsur,” which is in Hebrew, 

presented a pronunciation and language issue 

and needed translation. 

Another piece, “O Holy Night,” “is a standard 

piece but it becomes difficult because of the way 

it’s arranged,” explained Wynne. 

Choirs harken back to the time of Constantine 

circa A.D. 282, according to the Catholic 

Encyclopedia, which states there are references 

to choirs in the Old Testament. Historians found 

Italian manuscripts of choral singing from 1430, 

according to the Britannica website. The growth 

of secular choirs started around the time opera 

originated in Florence. According to Britannica, 

the Florentine Camerata sought to recreate 

Greek drama by singing stories. In the present 

day, choral singers can be found performing 

in large symphonies—such as Beethoven’s 9th 

Symphony, “Ode to Joy”—to enhance the sound 

of the instrumentation in a classic symphony, 

according to the book “History of Church Music 

in America” by Nathaniel Duren Gould, author 

of History of Church Music in America. 

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Home Sweet Homestead 



Local car club keeps the classics sics on display 

A visionary Jefferson couple turn their dream into reality for their ‘differently-abled’ adult daughter 


Independence 

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10 Years and Counting 

The Lake Hopatcong Foundation celebrates milestone anniversary 

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October is a bewitching good time for these ladies in Lake Rogerene 





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The Story of Christmas Comes to Life in Mo 

Story by ELLEN WILKOWE 


While shepherds tended to their animals, 

more than 800 people packed into the 

parking lot in Mount Arlington to witness the 

church’s annual live nativity celebration. 

The crisp December evening last year afforded 

a clear star-studded sky that was in sync with 

the star-studded stage. The waxing moon and 

inviting fire pits only added to the Christmas 

spirit emanating from the audience. 

Welcome to the annual Live Nativity 

celebration at Times Square Church North 

Jersey Campus in Mount Arlington. 

“The show will begin in 10 minutes. Please 

take your seats and remain in them as actors and 

live animals will come through,” Lisa Guice, the 

director, said through a microphone. 

Meanwhile, the Rev. Brad Guice, Lisa’s 

husband, checked the staging area in final 

preparation of a show that held all the hallmarks 

of a Broadway musical production, with a 

live band, multiple sets, professional lighting 

and elaborate costumes. And, as the audience 

continued to filter through, Bonnie Huebner, in 

the role of a shepherd, handed out programs to 

attendees. 

A resident of Lake Shawnee, Huebner and her 

husband, Stephen, joined the church in 2016, 

the same year the nativity celebration started. 

“We moved here from Bergen County and just 

drove by it (the church),” she said. A month 

later they were members and immediately began 

helping “behind the scenes” with the nativity 

production, said Huebner. 

Now entering its sixth year, the Live Nativity 

is the culmination of efforts put forth by the 

Guices, who were originally members of the 

flagship Times Square Church in New York 

City. The Mount Arlington location opened in 

2013 and is often referred to as the North Jersey 

satellite campus. 

The Guices credit the congregants of both 

churches for making the large-scale production 

come to life. And the live animals make the 

45-minute story of the birth of Jesus that 

much more real. The story ties the biblical 

past to the present as it is told through the 

eyes of a grandfather who is speaking to his 

granddaughters in a living room setting. 

The church hosts four shows over two days 

in early December. Admission is free and all 

shows are performed in the church parking lot, 

weather permitting. 

So, what goes into producing a Broadwaystyle 

musical of a live nativity? For one, a 

lengthy list of contacts. 

“We have a lot of talent at our campus,” said 

Guice. 

As for the performers? All are members of both 

congregations including the ushers, security and 

stage crew. 

“Nobody had to audition,” Guice said. “We 

would collaborate as to who would make a great 

angel and so forth. It’s amazing how God always 

provides and that all the slots that were open 

got filled.” 

Center stage aside, the show could not go on 

without the labor put forth by those working 

behind the scenes. 

Enter Jim Stopa, proprietor of Stopa General 

Contracting in Wharton. Guice refers to him 

as the “very gifted and talented contractor” 

because of his role in helping construct the set 

alongside her husband. The set consists of a view 

of a living room, the front of an inn, a barn and 

stage. A live band is set up to the left of the stage. 

“In the beginning we built [the set] in a 

few nights before the production and first 

performance,” Brad Guice said. “We took logs 

right out of the woods nearby and then got the 

rest of the supplies 

at Home Depot.” 

And after those first few performances, the set 

would be dismantled. The nativity was originally 

built with a one-and-done mindset, said Guice. 

“When he [Jim] originally built the first set, we 

were just going to do it that first year and weren’t 

going to do it annually,” said Guice. “But the 

community responded positively. 

“It became a tradition for our congregation, and 

it’s a really nice time of the year where we all come 

together. It’s fun and exhausting but a good kind of 

exhausting,” added Guice. 

Most of the props constructed from the first 

year are still being used. The costumes—they 

are authentic and elaborate—are handmade by 

the talents in the congregation, with a few of the 

costumes coming from the church in New York. 

This past October, the Guices were gearing up for 

recasting. Meanwhile, Rafael Ruppert, an elder and 

worship leader with the Mount Arlington church 

who assumes the role of musical director for this 

production, was thinking ahead to organizing the 

musical ensemble for November rehearsals. 

“Instead of the choir, we have an ensemble and 

a full band, when possible,” said the Hackettstown 

resident. 

On the musical front, Ruppert tweaked the songs 

from the very first performance so they would sync 

up with the current production’s dialogue. 

One such arrangement, “Be Born in Me,” is sung 

by Mary while she, Joseph and a donkey 

walk around the parking lot, through 

the audience and onto the set. Last year, 

Joseph and Mary were played by husband 

and wife Andrew and Bridgette Beach of 

Glen Gardner. This year, Andrew Beach 

is set to resume the role of Joseph and 

Anna Dilena from New York City will 

play Mary. 

Another song, “We Three Kings,” 

reinforced the gift of the Son of God to 

his people. “But we also give him our 

The set: the living room, the Bethlehem Inn, the barn. 

Thomas Jo 

in the 202 

Stage lights shine bright on the Bethlehem Inn, 

as actors play the part of shepherds. 

22 


unt Arlington 

gifts—our hearts and affection,” Ruppert said. 

Longtime members of the New York City 

location, Ruppert and his family had established 

a friendship with the Guices before opening the 

satellite church in Mount Arlington. 

“I believe that God led us to the north Jersey 

area,” said Ruppert, a former Hopatcong resident. 

The family atmosphere of the Mount Arlington 

location provided more opportunity for his thenyounger 

children to socialize with peers their age 

and enjoy the intimacy of a room full of 120 people 

rather than an auditorium of 1,200. The satellite 

church also bodes well for a live nativity, he said, 

something not possible at the New York City 

location. 

“The whole point of the presentation is really to 

communicate the main meaning of Christmas,” he 

said. “It’s not about the gifts except the greatest gift 

of all, that the Son of God came to rescue us from 

our sins.” 

Another purpose of the show is to bring the 

community together, Ruppert added. In staying 

true to the original presentation, the show has 

become a tradition for the attendees, he said. 

Putting a different kind of live in live nativity 

are the four-legged performers, particularly the 

sheep and donkey. The farm animals, which are 

provided by Hidden Pastures Luxury Fiber Farm 

in Branchville, have provided their own form of 

drama in the past, said Lisa Guice, especially the 

donkeys. “One year the donkey got very sick,” 

she said. “And another year, the donkey got 

agitated, and we had to use a mini horse to walk 

around with Mary and Joseph.” 

In reviewing past performances, Brad Guice 

marvels at how the production has grown 

throughout the years. 

“Word has gotten out about it and that warms 

our heart,” he said. “We’re not even that big of 

a church and for us to produce an event like 

this…it’s like God has brought all the right 

people to pull it off.” 

It helps to have professionals like the 

Monteleone family as members of the church. 

Andie Monteleone is a former cast member 

of Broadway’s “Cats” and “Chicago.” She 

helped direct the show for the first four years. 

Her husband, actor Chris Monteleone who 

performed in Broadway’s “Beauty and Beast,” 

played a starring role in the nativity as the 

original grandfather during the first year 

and will assume the role again this year. The 

Monteleones live in Mount Olive. 

The performances are always at the mercy of 

the weather and up until last year, nature has 

fully cooperated, Lisa Guice said. The threat of 

rain prior to the 8 p.m. production on Saturday 

last year forced a last-minute relocation from 

the parking lot into the sanctuary. According to 

Brad Guice, the production company hired to 

handle lighting and sound backed out due to 

concerns over equipment being exposed to the 

elements. 

However, the show must—and did—go on. 

“We had only a few hours to spare and did 

the production inside,” he said. “I had to turn 

people away, and it was standing room only 

with 300 people in the sanctuary for both 

performances.” 

The threat of rain aside, last year’s attendance 

for all four performances was somewhere 

between 1,200 to 1,800 people, said Lisa. 

In advertising the production, the Guices rely 

on social media, roadside signs and good oldfashioned 

word of mouth. 

What sets apart the Times Square’s production 

from other live nativities is the theatrical 

element, Brad Guice said. “It’s a performance. 

People come and sit down, and we tell the 

story of the birth of Jesus so that people really 

understand the foundation of Christmas and 

what it’s all about.” 

This year’s shows are scheduled for Saturday, 

December 10 and Sunday, December 11 at 5 

and 7 p.m. each day. 

nes, playing the part of the grandfather 

1 performance. 

Chris Garnet coaxes an alpaca through 

the parking lot before the show. 

Brad Guice, pastor at 

Times Square Church in 

Mount Arlington. 

Playing the three wise men in the 2021 production: 

Jim McLoughlin, Sunil Mathen and Gary Mescavage. 


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Aaron Sawicki at 

the piano during a 

recent service. 

Barbara McShane 

examines a cotton 

tablecloth displaying 

signatures of past 

members that her 

mother helped stitch. 

The Rev. Sue Jung Shin at the altar. 

Hurdtown United Methodist Church on Route 15. 

Hurdtown Church Reaches Milestone Anniversary 

On a recent fall Sunday, sunlight filled the 

interior of the small white Hurdtown 

United Methodist Church. High above the 

altar, a dove flew toward the sun against a blue 

sky in the only stained-glass window in this 

house of worship. Outside, cars flew by on 

Route 15 South, many drivers hardly noticing 

the 150-year-old white building and its bell 

tower. 

The church interior is unassuming. The 

walls are painted a spare white, with simple 

wainscoting, also white. The pews and floor 

are oak. 

The five Palladian windows could be featured 

in any home or office. The altar cross is plain 

and unadorned. While the church structure is 

simple, the 20 or so people of all ages attending 

that recent Sunday service are part of a rich and 

active community. 

The Rev. Sue Jung Shin leads the congregation, 

which has 191 registered members but typically 

sees about two dozen in the pews on Sundays. 

She began serving this church and the Lake 

Hopatcong United Methodist Church—both 

located in Jefferson—in June 2022. 

Shin earned a master’s degree in theology from 

Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington 

D.C. and a doctorate in biblical studies from 

Drew University. This marks her first pastoral 

assignment. “The people are very devoted, and 

this is a committed congregation,” Shin said. 

The service is filled with hymns familiar to 

many Christian congregations ranging from 

“Morning Has Broken” to “Here I Am, Lord.” 

Every Sunday features a children’s lesson asking 

questions of young participants. On a recent 

Sunday, the question was: “What does the 

Lord require of you?” This was followed by a 

26 

Story by BONNIE-LYNN NADZEIKA 



discussion about St. Francis of Assisi. 

As parishioner Grace Bordonaro asked the 

children about St. Francis, young Ling Chen 

asked, “B.C. or A.D.?” Not a typical child’s 

question, but well received. 

Indeed, Shin’s sermon that morning was 

about the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah whose 

image painted by Italian painter Giovanni 

Battista Tiepolo was featured on the cover of 

the church bulletin. Seeking to make the Old 

Testament relevant, Shin brought Isaiah to the 

present day with the message, “hope does not 

lie in politics.” 

On November 20, members will gather for 

the church’s 150th anniversary with a special 

service and a luncheon in the church basement. 

Member Bo Ferguson is coordinating the 

food. Members Lise Meisner, her mother Ann 

Meisner and Barbara McShane have been 

working on a new history pamphlet that will 

be published in time for the event. 

Ellen Fuchs has been working on the church 

history. A member for decades—she isn’t sure 

how many—Fuchs has been pulling together 

old photographs. Some show when Route 

15 was being built and others show standing 

room only at past Sunday worships. A lifelong 

Methodist, Fuchs said, “This is the friendliest 

church I’ve ever been to. You come and you are 

welcome.” 

Sue Rietzky was baptized and married at 

Hurdtown and her family has been part of the 

church for generations. Currently serving as 

secretary of the United Women of Faith, the 

church’s very active women’s group, Rietzky 

is one of several members to refer to the 

congregation as her “church family.” 

There are many members whose families 

have been part of the church for generations. 

The Boyd/Pascale family typically have three 

generations in attendance on any given Sunday. 

Grandmother Helen Boyd proudly showed 

off her daughter Becky, son-in-law Martino, 

and grandchildren Kira, Katrina and Matteo 

at a recent service. Twins Kira and Katrina 

are college sophomores who serve as Sunday 

school teachers for the youngest members of 

the congregation. 

Martino Pascale was raised in the Catholic 

faith but started coming to Hurdtown 

after marrying Becky at the church. He is 

enthusiastic about his adopted church, which 

he has attended for 30 years. “It’s nice to have 

a second family,” he said. 

While the place Hurdtown may be unfamiliar 

to many, particularly those outside of Jefferson 

Township, the name is even older than the 

church. At the beginning of the 19th century, 

Jefferson was full of small communities that 

were built around the local iron industry. The 

landscape was dotted with both mines and 

forges. 

The Hurd brothers, Daniel and Joseph, 

arrived in Jefferson from Randolph in 1800. 

By 1805 the brothers built the New Partners 

forge. According to W. W. Munsell’s book, 

“History of Morris County, New Jersey,” 

which was published in 1882: “Hurdtown was 

also at this time and before a lively place, and 

a considerable population was gathered about 

it.” 

The enterprising Joseph Hurd opened the 

first store in 1806. He also opened a distillery 

that was later owned by his son. The Seward 

Tavern served not only as a tavern but also 

as the courthouse. “Horse races were not 

infrequent,” wrote Munsell. 

The church was originally formed in 1827 

and was known as the Methodist Episcopal 

Church at New Partners (the same name of 

the Hurdtown forge). David and Eliza Hurd 

donated the land for the church building on

A collection of old photographs and 

other memorabilia on display in the 

church meeting room. 

what was then known as Union Turnpike. 

The original building suffered extensive water 

damage in 1868 and needed to be replaced. 

The church’s Ladies Aid Society started a 

building fund with $500, and the new church 

was dedicated on December 13, 1872. 

In 1939 the Episcopal was dropped, and it 

became The Hurdtown Methodist Church. 

In 1968 it took on its current name, The 

Hurdtown United Methodist Church. 

Hurdtown is not a church that only looks 

inward. Serving the local community is also 

important. As a member of the Association 

of Churches—an informal group of lake area 

churches that work together to provide and 

support social services—Hurdtown is home to 

Barbara McShane singing 

during a recent service. 

Becky and 

Martino 

Pascale 

hold hands 

during a 

service. 

The Lord’s Pantry, which began more than 40 

years ago. Members gather and donate most of 

the food themselves, making announcements 

on Sundays and putting out requests for 

specific items using the church's Facebook 

page. 

Partnering with Our Lady Star of the Sea 

Roman Catholic Church, Hurdtown ensures 

that all Jefferson residents have celebratory food 

for the holidays. Star of the Sea puts together 

and distributes baskets for Thanksgiving. 

Hurdtown church puts together the baskets for 

Christmas. Each basket has all the ingredients 

for a holiday meal. 

Behind much of the outreach and mission 

work of the church is the United Women 

of Faith. McShane, president of the group, 

spearheads its largest annual outreach, 

a school supply and backpack giveaway 

held each year for children going back to 

school. 

The program, which is supported by 

other churches, local Girl Scout troops 

and local businesses, has been in place 

since 1998 and continued during the 

pandemic with a drive-thru pickup. In 

2022, the church gave away more than 

150 backpacks. 

“The best thing is seeing the children 

pick out their own backpack,” said 

McShane. 

The church supports its missions, 

including the backpack program, through 

fundraisers. Recently it established an annual 

mini golf event and bake sale. “It’s not as 

time-consuming as some of the fundraisers 

we have had in the past, and people are very 

supportive,” said McShane. 

Following the recent fall service, church 

members gathered in the lobby to catch up 

with each other. A group of women discussed 

a place to go and have lunch. Others discussed 

the upcoming anniversary celebration. All 

were friendly and comfortable in each other’s 

company. 

“It’s a great group of people,” said Meisner. 

“I don’t know what else to say but there is 

something about this church.” 

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Multi-Talented Recording Engineer Takes 

Off with Home-Based Missile Silo Studios 

Story by MELISSA SUMMERS 


Just about every young boy who has picked 

up a guitar at 13 years old has been 

convinced he’d make a living playing it. Most 

will mess around for a few months or years, with 

dreams of stardom and dollar signs in their eyes 

and pockets full of guitar picks. 

And then when their parents persuade them 

to pursue other more “practical” means of 

income, the guitar fades away into a closet, only 

to be brought out for the occasional jam session 

with friends or a talent show. 

Not the case for Joe Egan, 39, of Hopatcong, 

who was fortunate enough to have had a father 

who played guitar and encouraged him during 

his early teenage years to try his hand at music. 

While attending Lenape Valley Regional High 

School in Stanhope, he and some friends formed 

a band they called Outlet. 

Egan’s influences were varied. 

“I grew up listening to heavier music,” he said. 

“Metallica was one of my favorite bands but also 

‘90s grunge bands like Pearl Jam and Alice In 

Chains. I also wrote some original music and 

played at local parties and talent shows.” 

He explored metal, rock, jazz and other genres 

as an artist, but also found he had another 

talent, something else that might actually give 

him a career to build on. 

“When I had my own band, I was trying to 

find a way to record our music,” Egan said. “So, 

I got some computer software. I was trying to 

figure things out on my own and recorded some 

friends’ bands with a very modest setup. The 

quality wasn’t the best, but I was learning.” 

He graduated from Lenape in 2001, attended 

County College of Morris for a year and then 

went to William Paterson University to study 

sound engineering. Egan took advantage of a 

new recording studio on the university’s campus, 

learning everything he could about the industry. 

He graduated with a Bachelor of Music in 

2006, earning a degree in sound engineering 

arts with a concentration in classical guitar. 

“Laptops started getting really powerful, so I 

Joe Egan in the sound room at a recent recording session. 

started with a mobile setup, and I used to go to 

people’s rehearsal studios or homes and record 

them where they were because I didn’t have a 

space set up,” he said of his first few years in the 

business. “I was recording as much as I could, 

and that was the way I could do it at the time.” 

When Joe and his wife, Michele, purchased 

a house in 2010, he brought the studio to his 

home. “I stopped the mobile thing and started 

having people come to me. It’s a cool setup 

because I can control my own environment 

rather than showing up at someone’s house 

where their brother is watching a movie or 

something, which doesn’t help,” he said with a 

chuckle. 

The name of his home-based business is a 

throwback to a childhood memory. 

“At my dad’s house, my brother and I shared 

a room. It was an older house and had a little 

storage cubby with a door in the wall. There was 

an old little toy rocket that was sitting in there. 

We used to joke around when people would 

ask what was in that door over there. We’d say, 

‘Oh that’s just the missile silo.’” And from there 

launched Missile Silo Studios, which takes up 

the entirety of the Egans’ basement. 

Most of his first clients were friends and 

friends of friends. At the time, he was in a band 

called Human Era with his younger brother, 

Jake Egan, of Denville. “Some of the people 

we played with needed a way to record on the 

cheap, so we hooked them up—had a little fun,” 

Joe Egan recalled. 

Jake Egan, who played drums in the band, 

would help if his brother needed another set 

of ears. He would listen to tracks and suggest 

changes or give his seal of approval. 

“Every once in a while, I’ll still send him a 

mix of a song and ask for his input on it,” said 

Joe Egan. “So, he’s a member of the team but 

unofficially.” 

Joe Egan now teaches guitar and bass lessons 

both at the Music Den in Randolph and his 

home studio. With regular recording clients, he 

hasn’t needed to advertise much. Plus, he said, 

his work at the music store brings in even more 

leads. 

“I have students who are in bands, and 

eventually they’ll want to record,” he said. 

He’s thrilled to be able to work from home, 

with convenience, flexibility and cost all in his 

favor, despite the initial risk. “I choose to have it 

there, and it was a wacky idea to some extent,” 

he pointed out. “But, when people come in and 

they record in my studio, they’re more relaxed 

because the setting is more casual, and I can still 

give them the results they like.” 

The duo Please Exist is a longtime client of 

Missile Silo Studios. “We’ve known Joe for 

about as long as we’ve been a band,” said Ralph 

Chudley of Rockaway, who partnered with 

Dover-based musician John T. Fisher in 2009. 

They are working on their third album entitled 

“Storytellers in Straitjackets.” 

“It’s a collection of original songs written 

in our post-hardcore style about one patient’s 

journey through a psychiatric hospital,” 

Chudley said of the work. 

They enjoy the intimate setting at Missile Silo 

Studios. “In a big, over-the-top recording studio 

you tend to feel a bit anxious,” said Chudley. 

“You might be afraid to take risks when 

recording vocals for fear of sounding bad or 

wrong. I think some of my best work has been 

done there simply because I wasn’t afraid to try 

different approaches.” 

The new album represents a similar goal as 

that of their previous albums. “We want to 

Ralph 

Chudley 

at a recent 

recording 

session. 

Egan sets 

up a mic 

stand for 

Chudley 

before 

a recent 

recording 

session. 

28 


Michele and Joe Egan at Missile Silo Studios.

challenge ourselves as artists and put something 

out into the world that people might connect 

with and enjoy,” Chudley said. 

Egan fills his repertoire with a variety of artists 

and musicians and caters his services to their 

needs. “Most of the time I charge by the hour. 

Once in a while, someone will want to do a full 

album, with a specific number of songs and 

instrumentation, so I might charge a flat rate 

for the project. Someone might come in with 

two or three songs they want to do, have never 

recorded before and want to see how it’s going 

to come out in my studio.” 

Some of Egan’s customers need more than just 

recordings—arriving only with ideas in their 

heads or scribbled down notes. “I have a couple 

of clients who come in and I end up playing the 

drums or the guitars or the bass or sometimes 

even singing. They’ve shown me their songs, 

and I’ve made them into full band versions,” he 

added. “One guy, it’s just strictly the pleasure 

of having his work recorded. Another guy, his 

goal is to record demos to use to try and find 

someone more famous to sing them. He wants 

to be a real songwriter.” 

Missile Silo Studios is truly a full-service 

studio. Egan said he has occasionally relied on 

his music theory background to compose music 

to go with lyrics written by a client. 

Over the years he’s recorded many styles of 

music. Hip-hop artists will come in with their 

own beats and want to add vocals. 

Sometimes, he gets a real challenge that puts 

him outside his comfort zone. 

“For a couple of years, I had a woman who 

plays meditation music on crystal bowls. She sits 

on the floor and scrapes the edge of the bowls, 

and it makes this nice sound. It’s an adventure 

every time. A big key to recording is finding the 

right spot to put a microphone; that’s part of the 

trick. It’s also a learning process. It doesn’t hurt 

to do a quick Google search and get some ideas 

to try out,” said Egan. 

Recording technology has improved so much 

over the years that high-quality recordings can 

be made on a laptop, and lots of people are 

trying to do just that, according to Egan. But 

you still need the expertise. “Instead of a band 

coming to me right away, they might buy an 

interface for $200 that comes with the software 

and try it on their own first. Sometimes there’s a 

little bit of a delay when they try it on their own, 

realize they can’t do it, and then come to me. In 

the past, they would come to me first without 

even trying it.” 

Egan said he learned the technical side of the 

industry at William Paterson University but 

believes recording is also an art form. There are 

standard methods, but they don’t always have to 

be followed. “You shouldn’t be afraid to try new 

ideas to keep things interesting. Fresh is the key. 

I think that’s where the creative process comes 

in. Sometimes you can get some cool sounds 

that you never heard before.” 

One popular tool, Auto-Tune, was 

traditionally used as an effect, but more recently 

has been used to match beats or tune a vocal. 

“I use it to try and make someone sound like 

they should have, but the trick is to try and do 

it where it’s subtle—where you don’t hear it. If 

you do it right, no one should ever know that it’s 

even on there.” 

Egan still sees value in recording entire bands 

live, for a whole different vibe. Mistakes can 

make the recording more interesting. The idea 

of being “raw” is more common, he said. Every 

engineer wants to be perfect, but not too perfect. 

“Joe is extremely knowledgeable and helpful 

when it comes to getting the sound and direction 

in your head onto a track,” said Chudley of his 

work with the studio. “I often joke that he’s our 

third band member.” 

Individual artists with electronically generated 

music have been trending over bands. “But the 

guitar is making a comeback, so the whole idea 

of a band is slowly starting to creep back into 

it,” Egan said. 

He’s been lucky enough to consistently work 

in music since he graduated. “I always joke, I 

never really got a full-time job, I just play guitar 

all day.” 

And that’s true inspiration for every wannabe 

rockstar out there. 

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Margaret Hipwell, Chrisanne Manz, Anne Pravs, 

Heather Tomaselli and Kim Hipwell. 

Jim Hill and Manny Silva 

Chet Sieka, Lori Bostedo, 

Adrienne and Paul Fiorellino 

Community Comes Together 

for One of Their Own 

Story and photos by KAREN FUCITO 

Friends, family and motorcycle enthusiasts showed up in force to support 

Georgette Silva, a Mount Arlington resident who was seriously injured after 

being struck by a vehicle in June 2020. 

The first annual Silva Ride or Drive Motorcycle Ride, held October 22, drew about 

150 participants and included a tricky tray, 15 vendors, an onsite chef, the local band 

Say Uncle and 30 bikers who participated in a 25-mile ride around Lake Hopatcong, 

said friend and event organizer Janet Higgins. The ride was led by Silva's husband, 

Manny Silva. 

Beginning and ending at the Lake Hopatcong Elks Lodge in Mount 

Arlington, the event raised over $7,000, which will go towards Silva’s medical 

bills. 

As a result of the accident, Silva, 55, lost her right leg just below the hip 

and has required extensive surgeries. Her left leg was severely injured but is 

healing. 

New technology, she said, is helping her move forward with her recovery. 

The October event drew friends and family from as far away as Delaware, 

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“I’m in awe,” Silva said as she was greeted by friends. “A lot of good things 

came out of something really bad.” 

The feeling among Silva’s friends is mutual. Many of them said they are in 

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HISTORY 

Replica of a longhouse at Waterloo Village, created to 

demonstrate how the Lenape of this area lived. 

Lenape at Lake Hopatcong 

Situated in the 

mountains of 

northwestern New Jersey, Lake Hopatcong lies 

in what was once known as Lenapehoking—the 

land of the Lenape—which extended along both 

sides of the Delaware River, encompassing what 

is now northern Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania 

and New Jersey. The name Lenape has several 

interpretations, among which are “ordinary 

people” and “original people.” 

Many European settlers referred to the Lenape 

as “Lenni Lenape,” which has a redundant 

meaning, as if to say “first, original people” 

or “ordinary, common people.” Europeans 

also described the original inhabitants of 

New Jersey as “Delaware Indians” after the 

English nobleman Lord De La Warr, for whom 

Delaware and the Delaware River were named. 

The people we call Lenape today consisted 

of many groups who differed in dialects and 

customs. The tribe that lived in the northern 

region of Lenapehoking, including what is now 

northwestern New Jersey, were known as Minsi 

or Munsee, which translates to “people of the 

stony country.” 

The Unami, or “people down river,” lived 

in the northeastern and central region of New 

Jersey. Lake Hopatcong was home to bands or 

groups of Lenape believed to have been called 

the Nariticong. 

No historic basis exists for the image of warlike 

Delaware Indians written about in earlier days. 

In fact, the absence of stockades around villages 

in Lenapehoking indicates relatively peaceful 

34 

by MARTY KANE 

Photos courtesy of the 

LAKE HOPATCONG 

HISTORICAL MUSEUM 

ARCHIVES 


relations with the neighboring Susquehannocks, 

Mohawks and Mohicans. 

Some Lenape lived in groups of 50 to 100 

people, others in larger groups of several 

hundred. They often settled in villages along 

the banks of rivers and lakes with rich soil. 

They hunted, fished, farmed and gathered wild 

plants, seeds and nuts according to the seasons. 

The Lenape lived together in sturdy 

longhouses built from saplings and bark. A 

recreation of one of these structures can be 

visited at Waterloo Village in Stanhope. 

Early accounts written by European explorers 

and colonists indicate Lenape men cleared land 

for gardens, built houses and canoes, hunted, 

fished and traded with other groups. Women 

planted and harvested, collected firewood, 

tanned animal hides and made clothes. They 

also gathered greens, berries and nuts, and cared 

for children. 

Strong ties existed between parents and 

children, who received love and attention, but 

were expected to do their share of the work. 

While new innovations such as horticulture 

changed their lives over time, a respect for 

nature was always a central theme of Lenape 

civilization. 

Lenape clothing was simple. Men typically 

wore only a breechcloth, adding a fur cloak 

with leggings and soft-soled moccasins in colder 

weather. Women wore rectangular skirts and 

added poncho-like garments for warmth. 

Beautiful, warm mantles and robes were 

made from goose or turkey feathers carefully 

sewn to a kind of netting. Clothes may have 

been painted, fringed or decorated with shell 

beads or porcupine quills. Ornaments were 

made from natural substances like stone, bone 

or antler, shell or animal claws. 

The Lenape believed in a single powerful 

Top Left: Stone projectile points found at Lake 

Hopatcong, which are now part of the collection 

at the Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum. Above 

Right: Effigy face found on Bertrand Island and 

now housed at Seton Hall University. Above 

Left: Decorated pottery fragment found at Lake 

Hopatcong, which is now part of the collection 

at the Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum. Above 

Center: Effigy face found by the Lawrey family in 

Mount Arlington. 

creator known as Kishelemukong or “he who 

creates with his thoughts.” Kishelemukong 

created all good things including the 

Manetuwak, spirit helpers who lived in and 

controlled the forces of nature, plants and 

animals. 

Mahtantu, an evil spirit, made the tormenting 

insects, useless plants and put thorns on berry 

bushes. 

Because the Lenape believed that all things, 

including animals, insects, trees and rocks, had 

a spirit and deserved respect, they endeavored to 

live in harmony with the environment. 

The Lenape had an excellent understanding 

of the medicinal value of native plants to cure 

ordinary sickness or injuries. Death was a great 

calamity. Friends and relatives gathered, and the 

body was prepared for burial, dressed in new 

clothes and interred in a shallow grave. The 

souls of the good made a journey to the afterlife 

where Kishelemukong dwelled. 

As a deep, spring-fed lake formed by glaciers 

over 900 feet above sea level, the waters of Lake 

Hopatcong provided an ideal home when the 

Delaware Indians discovered it over 10,000 

years ago. Its shores supported ample game 

while the water furnished abundant fish. 

The written accounts of early European 

settlers and artifacts found in the area indicate 

the largest Lenape settlement was in the vicinity 

of Halsey and Raccoon Islands, in a part of the 

lake that is largely underwater today. During 

the Lenape era, these islands were all part of the 

mainland, connected to the area we know today

Depiction of Lenape life at Lake Hopatcong, painting by Norm Volz. 

as Prospect Point. 

Explorers charting this region around 1650 

recorded that a village located at the lake was 

called Pechquakock by its inhabitants. Later 

maps list the name as Araughcun. Evidence of 

a Lenape presence has been found in most areas 

of the lake, in addition to the village in the area 

of Halsey and Raccoon Islands. 

The body of water the Lenape knew was 

approximately 12 feet lower than the lake we 

know today and ran roughly from what is today 

Point Pleasant to just north of Nolan’s Point. 

(This body of water was known as Great Pond 

or Brookland Pond to early colonists.) 

A stream connected this lake to a smaller 

body of water, located in the area known today 

as Woodport or Lake Forest (known to early 

settlers as Little Pond). 

Over the ensuing years, dams built for an 

18th-century forge and later for the Morris 

Canal raised the lake to its current level and size. 

Although the exact fate of the Lenape 

settlements at Lake Hopatcong is unknown, the 

result was the same as in all of Lenapehoking. 

The start of the fur trade signaled the end of life 

as it had been for thousands of years for Native 

Americans. 

Natural resources rapidly dwindled as a 

result of the overhunting necessary to supply 

European traders. Competition for trade 

opportunities caused conflict between the 

Lenape and neighboring groups. Diseases such 

as measles, smallpox and tuberculosis—carried 

inadvertently by the Europeans and to which 

the Lenape had no immunity—drastically 

reduced the indigenous population. 

Due to their inland location, the Lenape 

living near the lake may have been able to retain 

their way of life longer than those in coastal 

regions who made first contact with European 

explorers. Nevertheless, encroaching European 

settlements eventually forced virtually all the 

remaining Lenape from their homeland. 

By the 1750s, the 

Lenape began a long 

odyssey searching for 

a new home. Some 

headed to Ontario, 

Canada, where 

descendants still 

reside today. Others 

attempted to settle in 

areas including Ohio, 

Kansas and Texas, but 

were eventually driven 

away. 

Finally, in the mid- 

1800s, they were 

allowed to settle in 

“Indian Territory,” 

present day Oklahoma. 

In addition to the 

many Native American 

artifacts which have been found over the years 

at the lake, the Lenape left us with many words 

still in use today. 

Place names such as Espanong, Nariticong 

and Hopatcong are European recollections of 

Lenape words. 

It is believed the name Hopatcong comes 

from the Lenape word “hapakonoesson,” 

meaning pipestone. While it is impossible to 

know the exact context in which the Lenape 

may have used this term in regard to the lake, 

Est. 1991 

www.bagelsonthehill.com 

it may have been a reference to soapstone and 

other soft stone found in the area that was used 

to make pipes. The word may also have referred 

to the jagged shape of the lake’s shoreline. 

One thing that is certain is the name 

Hopatcong does not translate to “honey waters 

of many coves” or “honey waters from many 

streams.” These explanations were invented 

in the early 20th century to evoke a romantic 

image of the lake to promote the developing 

tourist trade. 

So, as we enjoy the magnificent resource we 

know today as Lake Hopatcong, we celebrate 

and remember what was originally the 

homeland of the Lenape people. 

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COOKING 

WITH SCRATCH © 

Christmas is Coming 

For the magazine’s 

holiday issue, 

I usually share a 

Christmas cookie 

recipe. This year, though, I thought I’d share a 

different kind of recipe and a story that tugs at 

my heartstrings. 

Many of you may be familiar with Christmas 

stollen, a German yeasted cake studded with 

raisins and almonds that is baked especially for 

the holiday season. This oblong cake, sprinkled 

with a thick coating of powdered sugar, is 

supposed to resemble the baby Jesus wrapped 

in swaddling cloth. 

My mother, Gertrude, and I never made 

stollen at home, but we always received one in 

the beginning of December during the 1960s 

and 1970s from relatives in what was then East 

Germany. 

Thinking back on how difficult it must have 

been to gather all of the ingredients, bake it and 

mail it to us in time for Christmas, I am sorry I 

never got to hear about the process. 

I wish I would have asked my Tante Ilse to 

share the recipe with me, but she’s been gone 

for several years now. 

More important than the recipe, though, is 

the backstory, which I’ve pieced together from 

my sister-in-law, Emily Kertscher, and from my 

own memories. 

In the 1960s, East Germany, and most of 

the countries behind the Iron Curtain, suffered 

shortages of all types of vital foodstuffs. 

Production of food was disrupted because 

of the destruction of farmland, livestock and 

machinery during World War II. 

Fats, like butter, were rationed by availability. 

36 

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Anything exotic, like pineapples, bananas 

or oranges, were outrageously expensive and 

would only be available on rare occasions. 

You would have to wait in line to be able to 

purchase your rationed amount. And, if you 

were to purchase three oranges, for example, 

one or two of them were probably rotten. 

My half-brother, Harry, who grew up in East 

Germany, told me that if there was a line in 

front of a grocery store, you got on it, even if 

you didn’t know what exotic food was going to 

be available that day. 

When we lived in Montclair and after we 

moved up to the lake, we would send our East 

German relatives care packages over the course 

of the year. Nylon stockings, chewing gum, 

Levi’s blue jeans, chocolate, coffee and often 

$10 or $20 in cash (for them to spend on black 

market items) were just some of the things we 

included. 

Every year during the first week of December, 

we’d get a notice in our mailbox to come to the 

post office to pick up a package from our East 

German relatives. It was wrapped in brown 

paper, addressed in my Onkel Walter’s neat 

script and tied with white cotton twine. Once 

we got it home, my mother would cut the 

twine and tear off the paper. The stollen would 

be packed inside a cardboard box printed with 

small Christmas designs of pine boughs and 

candles. 

Gertrude would put the stollen on a cutting 

board, melt half a stick of butter and pour it all 

over the loaf. She would then give it a liberal 

sprinkling of powdered sugar and we would 

enjoy it after school with coffee or for breakfast 

with butter, for as long as we could make it last. 

Getting this stollen to America must have 

been a tremendous undertaking for Tante 

Ilse and her family. She must have started 

getting everything ready by the middle of 

November. Flour and eggs were not hard to 

come by (they always had chickens), but she 

must have worked on procuring the rest of the 

ingredients well ahead of time. Sugar, raisins, 

butter, almonds, citron were luxury items that 

she probably stockpiled whenever they became 

available. 

After gathering the ingredients, the stollen 

would take the better part of a day to mix, 

rise and bake. I imagine that she and her 

sister would spend the day baking together, 

preparing several loaves to share with their 

families in town. 

Knowing Onkel Walter, I’m sure he was in 

charge of boxing up and wrapping our package 

for the post office and that postage from the 

DDR (the Deutsche Demokratische Republik 

or East Germany) to the United States was 

costly. I imagine the package would have been 

underway for at least 10 days. 

It’s heartbreaking that when I was younger 

I didn’t appreciate the effort that went into 

sending those Christmas stollens. Now, upon 

remembering my family’s stories and having 

tried my hand at recreating the recipe, I see 

what love, care and sacrifice those relatives 

made for us. 

Some things to keep in mind: 

-You’ll need to set aside a good chunk of time 

for making Christmas stollen. 

-This recipe is similar to Dresdner stollen that 

I adapted from several recipes after researching 

online. After my last recipe testing session, 

it smelled just like Christmas in my kitchen. 

The mace, nutmeg, vanilla and cardamom are 

essential to reproducing just the right flavor 

and aroma. 

-A basic stollen, like the ones we received 

from East Germany, would have included just 

raisins and citron. The almonds, dried cherries, 

orange peel and marzipan are enrichments that 

my relatives would have considered decadent 

and would have been unobtainable for them. 

My recipe here is similar to what you would 

find in a fancy German bakery today.

CHRISTMAS STOLLEN 

Ingredients 

Fruits & nuts 

2 cups golden raisins 

½ cup (one 4-ounce bag) dried morello cherries 

½ cup orange juice 

⅔ cup chopped almonds 

2 tablespoons candied orange peel (store bought or *homemade) 

½ cup citron 

Sponge 

⅔ cup milk at 110 F 

2 teaspoons sugar 

1 packet fast-acting yeast (check the expiration date) 

Cake 

3 cups bread flour 

6 tablespoons sugar 

10 tablespoons butter (1 stick + 2 tablespoons) 

1 egg 

2 teaspoons vanilla 

A pinch of salt 

2 teaspoons cardamom 

A pinch of ground nutmeg 

½ teaspoon mace 

Zest of 1 navel orange 

Zest of ½ lemon 

Filling 

7 ounces (1 box) marzipan or almond paste 

Stollen coating 

5 tablespoons melted butter 

3 tablespoons powdered (confectioners’) sugar 

*For homemade candied orange peel: 

Ingredients 

1 navel orange 

⅓ cup sugar 

⅓ cup water 

Procedure 

Peel the orange and cut away the bitter white pith. Slice peel into narrow 

strips. Bring half a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add the orange peel and 

boil for 10 minutes. Drain and discard water. Add the sugar and ⅓ cup water 

to the same saucepan and bring to a boil. Put the blanched orange peels 

into the saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool on parchment paper. 

Procedure 

Prepare the fruits and nuts: 

1 Soak the raisins and dried cherries in the orange juice overnight or microwave, covered for 1 minute. Drain and discard liquid. 

2 Wake up the flavor of the almonds by toasting them in a frying pan on the stovetop until just browned or microwave on a large plate, 

uncovered for 30 seconds to 1 minute. 

3 Chop the candied orange peel, set aside. 

Make the sponge: 

4 In a small saucepan, heat the milk to 110 F. Pour the warmed milk into a medium-sized bowl, stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Sprinkle in 

the packet of yeast, give it a gentle stir, cover with a damp cloth and set it aside in a warm spot for 10 or 15 minutes until it foams up. 

Make the cake: 

5 In the bowl of your electric mixer with the fitted dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, salt, cardamom, nutmeg, mace, 

orange zest, lemon zest and the sponge. Mix at a low speed until incorporated. 

6 Remove the dough and place in a greased bowl (use butter or Pam). Cover with a damp dish towel. Let rise for 60 to 90 minutes until puffy. 

7 Put the dough on a floured surface and work the raisins, cherries, citron, candied orange peel and almonds into it by hand until combined. 

Do not overwork the dough at this stage. 

8 On a lightly floured work surface, gently roll the stollen dough into an 8-by-12-inch rectangle. On the work surface, roll the marzipan out 

to a 6-by12-inch rectangle and place it on top of the stollen, leaving a 1-inch margin on the long sides. Fold the long sides of the dough to 

the middle of the loaf and bring them together forming a ridge in the middle. Seal the edges by lightly pressing them together. 

9 Let rise for another 30 to 60 minutes, until puffy. 

10 Set the oven to 350 F. When the oven comes to temperature, bake the stollen for 45 to 50 minutes until nicely browned (190 F internal 

temperature). Let cool on a rack. 

11 The stollen can be wrapped well in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and frozen at this point. Before serving, let it come to room temperature, 

then top with the melted butter and a thick layer of powdered sugar. 

Fröliche Weihnachten! (Merry Christmas!) 


WORDS OF 

A FEATHER 

Brush and debris in front of the author’s home. 

The Venice Theater, built around 1950, and the 

largest community theater in the US, devastated. 

The author next to an oak tree that 

was leveled during the hurricane. 

My initial thought upon waking up on 

Thursday, September 29 was that the 

darkness had lessened, and the howling had 

abated. Hurricane Ian had passed, and I was 

safe. 

Hurricane Ian was a Category 4 storm that hit 

southwest Florida, where I live, on September 

28. 

Category 4 storms are defined by sustained 

wind speeds in the range of 130 to 156 mph. In 

comparison, Superstorm Sandy hit New Jersey 

in 2012 as a Category 1 storm. Katrina, of New 

Orleans infamy, was a Category 5. 

Ian’s winds reached 155 mph, and I humbly 

submit to you that there is not a whole hell 

of a lot of difference in those 155 mph winds 

and the 157 mph winds that define Category 

5 storms. 

Ian is the deadliest storm to hit Florida since 

1935. Many Floridians lost their lives in the 

storm and many, many more lost homes. 

I was very lucky; I have plenty of damage, but 

relative to what others have endured, it is largely 

superficial. My friends, family and loved ones 

similarly made it through mostly whole. 

For those of you who may be reading this 

and who did not fare so well, I’m terribly sorry. 

Please know my thoughts in this column reflect 

only my own experience, and I cannot presume 

to speak for anyone else who weathered this 

storm. 

38 

Kind is the 

New Cool 

Column and photos by HEATHER SHIRLEY 


The hurricane was a purely terrifying event—a 

unique manifestation of nature’s power and 

potential. Nature, as we know, is a splendid, 

mysterious and magical phenomenon. While 

Ian was horrific, it also proved to generate just 

a bit of magic. The magic was the kindness that 

spread through communities both before and 

after the storm. 

The preparation was a remarkable occasion 

for my community to come together. When I 

bought my home, it came with storm shutters. 

They were bundled in the garage, neatly stacked 

and secured to the wall. I had absolutely no idea 

how exactly to get them onto the windows. 

Turns out, I didn’t need to know. 

Neighbors turned out in droves to help 

each other. Once I learned, I of course paid it 

forward. I saw a neighbor working alone in the 

rain and went to him, asking simply: “Okay if 

I start on the next window for you?” As I was 

finishing my last shutter, a different neighbor 

didn’t say a word to me, just pulled up a ladder 

and got to work beside me. 

Before the storm hit, hundreds of text 

messages zoomed through my network of 

friends and neighbors. Our texts reminded 

each other of all the prep details to follow: fill 

your bathtubs, turn your freezer to the coldest 

setting, don’t forget food and water for your pet. 

We checked to make sure everyone had enough 

supplies, batteries, emergency lights. 

I saw neighbors trotting across the street, 

delivering a case of water to someone who found 

store shelves sold out. People with generators 

offered to store neighbors’ insulin and other 

prescriptions. Pure thoughtfulness. Kindness. 

And the kindness continued post-storm. A lot 

of trees came down on my property and blocked 

my garage. No matter, neighbors arrived with 

chainsaws and made quick work of them. The 

National Guard passed out water and food 

rations. Local roads flooded, and the threat of 

more flooding and storm surge continued for 

weeks. 

Trees were down everywhere, causing frequent 

turnarounds and traffic jams. The patience 

drivers showed as we experimented fording 

these tricky hazards was significant. We’d smile 

and urge each other on and get out to push if 

needed. 

Relief workers came from everywhere to help. 

I wound up in the emergency room a couple 

days after the storm (ugh, don’t ask, I’m fine 

now). The hospital was overflowing, and even 

with a huge triage tent set up, I was lucky to get 

a bed in a busy hallway. I watched EMTs who 

had come to help from all over the state and 

even from Georgia. 

Similarly, we saw power trucks here from 

across the nation—North Dakota, New 

Hampshire, Texas—helping. Downed trees 

were everywhere, blocking roads and dragging 

power lines with them. Tree cutting crews 

from Virginia, New England and the Carolinas 

descended on Florida in droves. As locals, we’d 

honk and wave our thanks, and the helpers 

would grin and wave back. 

Thanks, folks. I simply cannot imagine trying 

to recover without your aid. 

I’m humbled. By the generosity of others. By 

the power of community. By the strength of 

nature. By the mercy of the storm on my home 

and family. By the kindness shown by so many 

to so many others. 

How grand that there is something so positive 

resulting from such a horrific event. It calls 

to mind the words of the Dalai Lama, who 

said, “Be kind whenever possible. It is always 

possible.” 

Quite a mantra to keep in mind this holiday 

season. Why not make it your New Year’s 

resolution this year? I know I will. 

Wishing you all peace, joy, abounding 

kindness and hurricane-free days ahead. 

SEPTIC, SEWER, WATER 

& ELECTRICAL NEEDS 

WilsonServices.com 

973-383-2112 

NJ EL LIC 13396B

...because as soon as you look away, I’ll be making my daring escape. 

Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 10 - 6 

Wednesday 10-7 

Saturday 10-5 

Sunday 12-4 

orange-carpet.com 

succasunna@abbeycarpet.com 

One of the few predictable things in life is that real life is 

® 

unpredictable. That’s why we created our patented COREtec 

waterproof flooring. It’s the perfect fit for real life. 

••• 

• 

100% Waterproof 

• 

• 

•• 

•••••• Kidproof 

Petproof 

WHAT’S IN YOUR 

WELL WATER? 

Recent water tests indicate widespread failures for 

PFAS chemicals in the Hopatcong area for both well and 

municipal water supplies. 

The good news is that The New Jersey Spillfund pays 

for the installation, monitoring, and maintenance of water 

treatment systems, required to remove these dangerous 

chemicals from well 

water. 

While the Spillfund does not cover the cost of municipal 

water remediation, there are economical treatment options 

available. If you have a municipal (city) water supply, 

contact Portasoft of Morris County, the leading PFAS 

treatment company in northern NJ for over five years. 

973-584-1549 

For more information regarding well water contamination, 

call McGowan Compliance Management Co., the leading 

Spillfund management company in the state with over 25 

years of Spillfund experience. Your only expense is the 

cost of your 1st water test. 

To get your initial test at a discounted price, 

contact us. If the test fails, we will guide you 

through the Spillfund process, schedule 

your installation with Portasoft of Morris 

County, and manage the program following installation. 

578 U.S. 46, Kenvil, NJ 07847 

973-962-4432 NJ Licensed Home Improvement Contractor 13VH0148830 

Lake’s end Marina 

91 Mt. Arlington Blvd., Landing, NJ 07850 

Pontoon Boat Rentals 

 

Fishing Boat Rentals 

Bait & tackle 

 

seRvice & RePaiRs • Boat sales 

 

Bennington Pontoon Boats 

973-398-5707 • lakesendmarina.net 


DEP announces compromise 

Page 6 

Peter Salmon and his very unusual car 

Page 16 

Vol. 8, No. 5 

Vol. 1, No. 3 

Vol. 10, No. 2 

Vacationing close to home 

Page 20 

Labor Day 2016 

Hopatcong couple dedicated to rescue 

Page 30 

Memorial Day 2018 

Vol. 8, No. 7 

Page 6 

Page 14 

Page 2 

Pages 28 

Holiday 2016 

Looking skyward 

Local DAR honor soldiers 

Charity on wheels 

1 

Vol. 1, No. 6 

Fa l 2019 

LH refi ling after drawdown 

Page 4 

Princeton Hydro: Stewards of LH 

Page 16 

Page 20 

Ice boating on area lakes 

Page 24 

Vol. 10, No. 5 

Vol. 10, No. 6 

1 


Community garden turns 5 

Page 6 

Hiking the Appalachian Trail 

Page 16 

Not your average summer camp 

Page 24 

Family reunion 

Page 30 

Vol. 9, No. 5 

farmer 


Vol. 7, No. 4 

Page 6 

Page 10 

Baitfish fishing 

Page 16 

Page 26 

Aug. 1, 2015 

Vol. 1, No. 2 

Memorial Day 2019 

Page 12 

Vol. 8, No. 4 

Beauty queen 

Page 18 

Vol. 1, No. 1 

Page 26 

Aug. 1, 2016 

Vol. 1, No. 5 

Vol. 1, No. 4 


Spring 2019 

Page 10 

Page 14 

Page 28 

Page 2 

Vol. 10, No. 3 

Fourth of July 2018 

• American picker 

• Olympic spirit 

• Passion for golf 

• LHC budgets for weeds 

Spring 2017 

directory 

CONSTRUCTION/ 

EXCAVATION 

Al Hutchins Excavating 

973-663-2142 

973-713-8020 

Lakeside Construction 

151 Sparta-Stanhope Rd. 

Hopatcong 

973-398-4517 

Northwest Explosives 

PO Box 806, Hopatcong 

973-398-6900 

info@northwestexplosives.com 

ENTERTAINMENT/ 

RECREATION 

Hopatcong Marketplace 

47 Hopatchung Rd. 

Investors Bank Theater 

72 Eyland Ave., Succasunna 

973-945-0284 

roxburyartsalliance.org 

Lake Hopatcong Adventure 

973-663-1944 

lhadventureco.com 

Lake Hopatcong Cruises 

Miss Lotta (Dinner Boat) 

37 Nolan’s Pt. Park Rd., LH 

973-663-5000 

lhcruises.com 

Lake Hopatcong Mini Golf Club 

37 Nolan's Pt. Park Rd., LH 

973-663-0451 

lhgolfclub.com 

HOME SERVICES 

Central Comfort 

100 Nolan’s Point Rd., LH 

973-361-2146 

Homestead Lawn Sprinkler 

5580 Berkshire Valley Rd., OR 

973-208-0967 

homesteadlawnsprinkler.com 

Happs Kitchen & Bath 

Sparta 

973-729-4787 

happskitchen.com 

Jefferson Recycling 

710 Route 15 N Jefferson 

973-361-1589 

www.jefferson-recycling.com 

Martin Design Group 

973-584-5111 

martinnurserynj.com 

The Polite Plumber 

973-398-0875 

thepoliteplumber.com 

Portasoft of Morris County 

578 US 46, Kenvil 

973-584-1549 

portasoftnj.com 

Wilson Services 

973-383-2112 

WilsonServices.com 

LAKE SERVICES 

AAA Dock & Marine 

27 Prospect Point Rd., LH 

973-663-4998 

docksmarina@hotmail.com 

Batten The Hatches 

70 Rt. 181, LH 

973-663-1910 

facebook.com/bthboatcovers 

Lake Management Sciences 

Branchville 

973-948-0107 

lakemgtsciences.com 

MARINAS, BOAT 

SALES & RENTALS 

Beebe Marina 

123 Brady Rd., LH 

973-663-1192 

Lake’s End Marina 

91 Mt. Arlington Blvd., Landing 

973-398-5707 

lakesendmarina.net 

Morris County Marine 

745 US 46W, Kenvil 

201-400-6031 

South Shore Marine 

862-254-2514 

southshoremarine180@gmail.com 

NONPROFIT 

ORGANIZATIONS 

Lake Hopatcong Commission 

260 Lakeside Blvd.,Landing 

973-601-7801 

commissioner@ 

lakehopatcongcommission.org 

Lake Hopatcong Elks Lodge 

201 Howard Blvd., MA 

973-398-9835 

lakehopatcongelks.com 

Lake Hopatcong Foundation 

125 Landing Rd., Landing 

973-663-2500 

lakehopatcongfoundation.org 

Lake Hopatcong Historical 

Museum at Hopatcong SP 

260 Lakeside Blvd., Landing 

973-398-2616 

lakehopatconghistory.com 

PROFESSIONAL 

SERVICES 

Barbara Anne Dillon,,O.D.,P.A. 

180 Howard Blvd., Ste. 18 MA 

973-770-1380 

Morris County Dental Assoc. 

15 Commerce Blvd., Ste. 201 

Succasunna 

973-328-1225 

MorrisCountyDentist.com 

REAL ESTATE 

Kathleen Courter 

RE/MAX 

131 Landing Rd., Roxbury 

973-420-0022 Direct 

KathySellsNJHomes.com 

Christopher J. Edwards 

RE/MAX 

211 Rt. 10E, Succasunna 

973-598-1008 

MrLakeHopatcong.com 

Karen Foley 

Sotheby’s 

670 Main St., Towaco 

973-906-5021 

prominentproperties.com 

Jim Leffler 

RE/MAX 

131 Landing Rd., Roxbury 

201-919-5414 

RESTAURANTS & BARS 

Alice’s Restaurant 

24 Nolan’s Pt. Park Rd, LH 

973-663-9600 

alicesrestaurantnj.com 

Andre’s Lakeside Dining 

112 Tomahawk Tr., Sparta 

973-726-6000 

andreslakeside.com 

Bagels On The Hill 

175 Lakeside Blvd., Landing 

973-770-4800 

bagelsonthehill.com 

Big Fish Lounge At Alice’s 

24 Nolan’s Pt. Park Rd, LH 

973-663-9600 

alicesrestaurantnj.com 

The Windlass Restaurant 

45 Nolan’s Point Park Rd., LH 

973-663-3190 

thewindlass.com 

SENIOR CARE 

Preferred Care at Home 

George & Jill Malanga/Owners 

973-512-5131 

PreferHome.com/nwjersey 

SPECIALTY STORES 

AlphaZelle 

Toxin-free products 

973-288-1971 

alphazelle.com 

At The Lake Jewelry 

atthelakejewelry.com 

Best Cellars Wine & Spirits 

1001 Rt. 46, Ledgewood 

973-252-0559 

bestcellars.com 

Four Sisters Winery 

783 Rt 519W, Belvidere 

908-475-3671 

foursisterswinery.com 

Hawk Ridge Farm 

283 Espanong Rd, LH 

hawkridgefarmnj.com 

Hearth & Home 

1215 Rt. 46, Ledgewood 

973-252-0190 

hearthandhome.net 

Helrick’s Custom Framing 

158 W Clinton St., Dover 

973-361-1559 

helricks.com 

JF Wood Products 

973-590-4319 

J. Thomas Jewelers 

243 Sparta Ave., Sparta 

973-729-4969 

j.thomasjewelersnj.com 

Main Lake Market 

234 S. NJ Ave., LH 

973-663-0544 

mainlakemarket.com 

Nature’s Golden Miracle 

CBD Products 

973-288-1971 

NGM-oil.com 

Orange Carpet & Wood Gallery 

470 Rt. 10W, Ledgewood 

973-584-5300 

orange-carpet.com 

STORAGE 

Woodport Self Storage 

17 Rt. 181 & 20 Tierney Rd. 

Lake Hopatcong 

973-663-4000 

FOR A COMPLETE CALENDAR OF EVENTS AND FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT 

WWW.LAKEHOPATCONGNEWS.COM 

Informing, Serving and Celebrating The Lake Region 


Police Unity Tour 

Members of Hopatcong’s Police Department ride 

to honor those who have fa len in the line of duty 

Lake Hopatcong News 

Informing, Serving & Celebrating The Lake Community 

A tale of two coves 

Is i the best of times or the worst of times in Byram Cove? 





Skiing Sole 

with 

Barefoot sk ing on Lake Hopatcong with the "Jersey Boys" 



A 

Walk 

in the 

Woods 



• Young miner 

• LHF Block Party 

• Benefit for wounded vets 

• The lure of a fish tale 

Bottoms Up 

Ninth Annual Jersey Wakeo f at Lake Hopatcong 

Inside this issue: 

Local couple ties the knot, fina ly 

Page 4 

Running club dedicated to helping others 

Page 18 

Lake Hopatcong Foundation’s Gal and Auction 

Page 12 



Aug. 1, 2014 Vol. 6, No. 4 

Christmas 

in the village 

Annual holiday celebration in Je ferson 

The tradition of telling the stories of the lake community 

continues thanks to all the advertisers. 



• Algae Bloom Lingers 

• Northwood A sociation Turns 100 

• Mount Arlington Opens Community Garden 

• West Side Methodist Celebrates Milestone 

ICE JOB 

Volunteers, including two from Hopatcong, take part in a 

century-old tradition at Raque te Lake in the Adirondacks 

Vol. 9, No. 1 

Work begins on 40-plus mile trail 

around the Lake Hopatcong 



Windup toy co lection 

Hydro raking program begins 

‘Study Hull’ 

makes maiden 

voyage 

Teen program turns 2 

WW I vet records history 

Local students schooled on fresh water aboard the Lake Hopatcong Foundation’s floating cla sroom 



For the Birds 

Andrew Eppedio (and his mom’s) great avian adventure 

Fourth of July 2019 

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign 



Mid Summer 2018 

Swimming Around 

Bridgete Hobart-Janeczko becomes the firs to swim the 

perimeter of Lake Hopatcong 



NEW CAREER 

TAKES FLIGHT 

Mount Arlington’s P.J. Simonis 

is flying high with birds of prey 



Chicken 

crazy 



LOCALLY 

GROWN 

Je ferson farm comes alive 

thanks to third-generation 



Bee-lieving 

in bees 

Local beekeepers 

passionate about honeybees 



Answering 

The Call 

Firefighter honored for 70 years of service 

with Roxbury Engine Company No. 2 



•We lne s center opens in Hopatcong 

•Children’s author penning third book 

•Bridge to Liffy Island taking shape 

•DEP says no to carp in Lake Hopatcong 

Paying Tribute 

Local vets honored during boat ride around Lake Hopatcong 



Happy Campers 

Sixteen years in and Camp Je ferson is sti l a l about good ole’ fashioned outdoor fun 

40 

• Markets are open, bounty is fresh 

• Smithsonian exhibi to open 

• King House expands offerings 

• 4H standout leading the way 

Vol. 10, No. 4 

• Road bowlers 

• Marching to the beat 

• Hopatcong honors two 

• Confusion at BRC meeting 

• State Aid Comparison 

• University Opens New Campus 

• What’s It Rea ly Worth? 

• Looking for Solutions to Lake’s I sues 


Inside this issue: 

Hundreds ‘leap’ into icy water for good cause 

Plus: Food, LHC Meeting, In Brief, Busine s Directory, and Much More! 

Winter, 2014 Vol. 6, No. 1 

• Drawdown coming 

• Artist in residence 

• Bertrand Island revisited 

• Old-timers’ game days 

Je ferson's selfless citizens 

Hopatcong's super seniors 

Tuesday night jam session 

•Qua ry Silt S eps into Lake Hopatcong: DEP Slow to React 

•Working Sma l Proves Big for Local Artist •Girl Scouts Tackle Trail Maintenance 

•New Fireboat for Lake Hopatcong 

973-663-2800 • editor@lakehopatcongnews.com 

Four-legged fire prevention ambassador 

Ten years of super summer concerts 

• Algae Invades Lake Hopatcong 

Volunteers Drive 1th Hour Rescue 

• Wiffle Ba l Game Helps Raise Funds 

• Sharing Books One Li tle Fr e Library at a Time

15 Commerce Boulevard, Suite 201 • Roxbury Mall (Route 10 East) • Succasunna, NJ 07876 

(973) 328-1225 • www.MorrisCountyDentist.com 

• Dental Implants 

• Cosmetic Dentistry 

• Porcelain Veneers 

• Family Dentistry 

• Invisalign 

• Dentures 

• Teeth Whitening 

• Crowns and Bridges 

• Smile Makeovers 

• Sedation Dentistry 

New Patient Special 

Dental Implants 

$149 Cleaning, Exam, Full Set of Films 

Regularly $362 

•Cannot be combined with other discounts 

•Refer to New Patient Specials on our website for details 

•Coupon must be presented and mentioned at time of scheduling 

Expires 12/31/22 

Dr. Goldberg is a leading expert on dental implants. He is a Diplomate of the 

American Board of Oral Implantology/Implant Dentistry, which is a degree held 

by only 1% of dentists worldwide. Whether you require a single implant or 

complex full-mouth rehabilitation, a free consultation with Dr. Goldberg should be 

considered. 

General & Cosmetic Dentistry 

Dr. Goldberg treats entire families, from toddlers to seniors. Services include 

cleanings, check-ups, fillings, Invisalign, dentures, cosmetics, and more! He and 

his staff enjoy the long-term relationships they build with their patients. 

Dr. Goldberg is a general dentist with credentials in multiple organizations. Please visit his website for a complete listing. 

DENTAL DIGEST 

Ira Goldberg, DDS, FAGD, DICOI, FAAID 

Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Implantology / Implant Dentistry 

DENTAL DIGEST 

COSMETIC DENTISTRY: RESIN VENEERS 

New Patient Special 

FREE 

Implant, Cosmetic or General Dentistry Consultation 

Regularly $125.00 

•Cannot be combined with other discounts 

•Limited to 50 minutes 

Expires 12/31/22 

Have you been thinking about a straighter & whiter smile, but the large financial investment is holding you back? Resin veneers may be the solution to 

that question! 

To start, a veneer is a thin coating of material that is bonded to your own teeth. They can eliminate gaps, straighten 

crooked teeth, and brighten your smile. They are a great way to “freshen-up” aging teeth and rejuvenate them. 

While the traditional porcelain veneer is stronger, more durable, and more resistant to discoloration over time, the resin 

veneer is going to save you 50% to 60% of your dollars. This is the main advantage of the resin veneer. It also takes 

one appointment, rather than two, to perform. 

What is resin? Resin is also known as composite. When you have a white filling placed by your dentist, they are using 

resin. It is a pliable material that hardens when a blue light is applied and activates it. 

The transformations we see in people’s lives from the results provided by veneers is one reason why we love providing 

this service for our patients. Reasons abound why patients undergo the treatment: increase self-confidence, improve Ira Goldberg, DDS, FAGD, DICOI 

social relationships, or increase employment opportunities. 

Be careful to select a dentist who has had extensive training for veneers. It is easy to miss critical factors that can affect the long-term success of your 

investment. Dr. Goldberg has performed this service for many patients over his 27 years as a dentist, and is extremely experienced with cosmetic dentistry. 

About the author: Dr. Ira Goldberg has been a dentist for 27 years, and maintains an extremely well-respected practice in Succasunna, NJ. He performs 

general dentistry procedures, cosmetic procedures, as well as dental implant procedures. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Implantology / 

Implant Dentistry, a Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry, and a Scholar of the Dawson Academy for Complete Dentistry. He is also a lecturer in the 

field of implantology. To schedule a consultation, please call his office at (973) 328-1225 or visit his website at www.MorrisCountyDentist.com 


Lake Hopatcong... 

A fine food and family destination 

Nolan’s Point Park Rd., Lake Hopatcong •

973-663-2490 • Connect with us! @livethelakenj Live the Lake NJ

PLEASE JOIN US FOR OUR ANNUAL 

and 

AT 

DEC. 4TH 

2PM - 7PM 

DEC. 5TH 

5PM - 8PM 

CASH BAR AVAILABLE FOR GUESTS WHO WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE DRINKS WHILE SHOPPING 

SPIRIT JERSEYS, SIGNS, ORNAMENTS, GAMES AND TOYS, AND MORE AVAILABLE FROM MAIN LAKE MARKET 

GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE FROM THE WINDLASS, LAKE HOPATCONG GOLF CLUB, & LAKE HOPATCONG ADVENTURE CO. 

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24 NOLANS POINT PARK RD, LAKE HOPATCONG, NJ

2022 Holiday Issue

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