in brief

Insurance firm brings local resident on board

Marc V. Buro of Upper Freehold Township, a former official in the New Jersey State Department of Banking and Insurance, has been named vice president of product and program development for the National Atlantic Insurance Com-panies, parent corporation of the Profor-mance Insurance Co. in Freehold.

Buro will work to expand the scope of National Atlantic Companies product offerings by developing new business initiatives and insurance programs and by spearheading the company’s efforts to enter new states.

Buro also was director of legislative affairs for the State Department of Banking and Insurance for three years; served as a policy adviser for the New Jersey State Assembly Banking and Insurance Committee; and was an aide to former U.S. Congressman James Courter.

Millstone resident is 4-H Alumni of the Year

Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Monmouth County announced that Marilyn Kothe of Millstone Township has been awarded the Monmouth County 4-H Alumni of the Year Award.

Kothe has served as 4-H Foods and Nutrition Club leader, as well as a livestock leader. She was a 4-H member as a child and her three daughters have also participated in the program.

For the past nine years, she has served as chairman of the 4-H food booth at the Monmouth County Fair, which is the 4-H association’s major fund-raiser. Kothe is the transportation coordinator for the Millstone Township Board of Education.

Free workshop offers composting tips

Millstone Township Community Education will sponsor a free "Community Connection" composting workshop from 7-9 p.m. April 6 at the Millstone Township Elementary School cafeteria.

Local master composters Rich Hill and Patti Ferriola will discuss how to reduce waste and improve your soil while managing yard trimmings and organic food scraps in an environmentally beneficial way. Walk-ins are welcome to attend.

Group planning tennis at Rocky Brook Park

A group of local residents is organizing a just-for-fun tennis club for intermediate singles and doubles on Fridays from 9-11 a.m. at Rocky Brook Park, Sweetmans Lane, Millstone Township. For more information, call Donna at (732) 431-1354 or Jeanne at (732) 446-9755.

Farmland preservation workshop to be held

The State Agriculture Development Committee will host a special half-day workshop for farmland owners from 9 a.m. to noon April 11 to explain new developments in the Farmland Preserva-tion Program that greatly expand opportunities for participation, Agriculture Secretary Art Brown announced.

The workshop will be held at the National Conference Center at the Ramada Inn, East Windsor, in conjunction with American Farmland Trust’s annual national conference on the purchase of agricultural conservation easements.

The workshop will explain how the Farmland Preservation Program works, the traditional and new preservation options, how farms are evaluated and valued, the benefits of entering the program and how to get started in the preservation process.

The SADC administers New Jersey’s Farmland Preservation Program. To register for the free workshop, call the SADC at (609) 984-2504 by March 31.

Standardbred horse organization to meet

The Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization of New Jersey will meet at 7:30 p.m. April 5 at the Millstone Com-munity Center, Route 524, Clarksburg section of Millstone. For information or directions, call Tony Romano at (7342) 866-1848.

Art gallery to sponsor food drive, drawing

The Artful Deposit Gallery, with locations in Bordentown and Allentown, will sponsor a food drive for Womanspace of Mercer County. Nonperishable food items will be accepted at the Bordentown location only, 201 Farnsworth Ave., between 4-8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays during the first three weeks of April. Other drop-off times can be arranged.

All donors will be eligible to participate in a drawing for a signed, numbered, limited-edition print by impressionist Joseph Dawley. The piece, "Children’s Party," will be professionally framed and include a certificate of authenticity.

For more information or to arrange other delivery times, call (609) 298-6970.

Items for the In Brief column may be faxed to the Examiner at (732) 780-4192 or mailed to P.O. Box 5001, Freehold 07728.