Boro faces winter
with vigor of youth
FAIR HAVEN — Shoveling snow from walkways and driveways has long been the bane of homeowners, but for seniors it can be particularly troublesome — and potentially dangerous.
So, after the mid-January snowstorm, members of Concerned Citizens for Fair Haven worked with area students to assist borough senior on a snowy Sunday.
According to Joseph Szostak, with Concerned Citizens, 16 students from the borough’s Knollwood School, Hance Road, and about a half-dozen students from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School removed snow from 29 properties.
"They were very enthusiastic," Szostak said. "They were so responsible."
Szostak said he, along with Brian Croak and Marti Egger, other members of the organization, contacted Eileen Kubaites, who teaches sixth, seventh and eighth grades at Knollwood, to obtain names and addresses of borough seniors from local churches and senior citizens groups.
"Then it was just matching kids with the people," he said.
The high school students who participated were members of the school’s Key Club, a civic group, according to Szostak.
The younger students were mostly eighth-graders, Kubaites said. Their efforts were also part of volunteer work required for their health class, the teacher said.
Jimmy Armstrong, 14, one of the students who participated, said he enjoyed the experience. He spent about an hour shoveling and cleaning off the snow for a resident.
"It really helps the community," Jimmy said. "It’s good exercise, too."
It may have been a rather mild and dry winter so far, but it is only February, and there is still plenty of winter left. But Kubaites said she believes the kids will be ready to do it again should the weather conditions make it necessary.
"I think the kids will continue with it," she said.
Kubaites also commended members of the concerned citizens group for following through and helping orchestrate the service.
"My part was really easy," she said. "But the guys were really great."
Szostak, a retired music professor at Brookdale Community College, Middletown, has lived in the borough for 25 years.
He explained that Concerned Citizens for Fair Haven is a loosely knit civics organization that has a core membership of approximately 25 people. It is also nonpolitical, with no dues, organization officers or official membership, he said.
The group keeps abreast of local issues and events, and Szostak said he has not missed a Borough Council meeting in three years.
"We’re as democratic as you can get," he said. "We’re mainly out there making noise and shaking the bushes."