Bernie Polatsheck, of Howell, director of curriculum and supervisor of instruction at Collier High School, an alternative education program in the Wickatunk section of Marlboro, received the President’s Award from the Assoc-iation of Schools and Agencies for the Handicapped (ASAH). ASAH is a statewide association of schools and agencies that serve the special education community. Polatsheck was honored for his outstanding contributions to ASAH, most notably for producing a model professional development plan and a mentoring plan for use by all ASAH schools.
Freehold Music Center, Freehold Township, has been chosen as one of the tour sites for Yamaha’s Elton John Signa-ture Series Red Piano. Freehold Music Center will be among only a handful of piano dealers nationwide to offer a “performance” by the piano. The high-tech piano’s keys and pedals recreate note-for-note performances recorded earlier by John. No more than 50 pianos will be made, all of which will be signed by the artist. The piano will be on display Nov. 16-30 at the store, 3681 Route 9 north. Store hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
Mon-Oc Federal Credit Union’s Howell branch, 4817 Route 9, (Lanes Mill Shopping Center), and Freehold branch, 3338 Route 9, is currently accepting donations of gifts for Blue Star Mothers, a charitable organization for children of deployed U.S. military personnel on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan whose residence is within Monmouth County. Gifts will be collected until Dec. 6. Individuals can choose an angel from the angel tree and donate a gift to benefit the organization.
Gary B. Garland and Ernest H. Ehling Jr., both of Freehold Township, announced the formation of a new law firm, Garland & Ehling LLC, Attorneys and Counselors at Law, in Freehold Borough.
Garland & Ehling is headquartered in downtown Freehold at 45 E. Main St., Suite 102, and has offices in New York City and in Manchester. The practice encompasses tax law, estate planning and administration, elder law, business and corporate law, real estate and land use law.
Ehling, a tax and trial attorney, focuses on tax, real estate, land use, business law and provides litigation services associated with those areas. He previously worked as a tax and corporate attorney with Marriott Cassagrande Callahan Blair & Greer P.C., Spring Lake Heights, as a senior tax consultant in the Multi-state Tax Services practice group of Deloitte & Touche, Philadelphia, and as a trial attorney in the Commercial Lines Division of Travelers Property and Casualty staff counsel office in Philadel-phia.
Garland, an attorney and litigator, focuses on complex litigation, estate planning and administration, elder law, Medicaid planning, business succession planning and related issues. Previously a solo practitioner, he has been serving clients in New Jersey and New York for nearly 15 years.
The firm can be reached at (732) 308-9888 or (212) 685-6629, or by e-mail at garland@gelaw.info or ehling@gelaw.info. The Web site is www.gelaw.info.
Barbara McCaffrey of Freehold has joined The Provident Bank as senior branch manager at the bank’s Hazlet office. She will be responsible for developing business among both personal and commercial customers.
McCaffrey began her banking career as a teller at Fleet Bank, now Bank of America, in 1988 and spent 17 years there, advancing to the position of senior branch manager. At Fleet, she was named a Top Performing Business Champion in 2001-02.
She is a graduate of Rockland Com-munity College, New York. She and her husband, John, have four children.
Central Jersey Business Profes-sionals, an independent networking group with one person per occupa-tion/category, will meet on Tuesday mornings at 8 a.m. at alternate locations in Freehold and Eatontown. The group invites people of all occupations to attend a meeting to learn more about the organization. To join, the business must not be a member of another networking group that is one person per category/occupation. For more information, call Aaron Niederman at (732) 922-6300, ext. 35, or send e-mail to cjbusinesspro
fessionals@yahoo.com.
Schwartz Chiropractic Center, Manalapan, is participating in a state-wide food drive sponsored by the Association of New Jersey Chiropractors, a nonprofit state organization. Chiro-practors’ offices throughout the state will serve as drop-off sites for anyone who would like to donate food for those in need. The food will be donated to local food banks in each office’s region. Schwartz Chiropractic Center is at 225 Gordons Corner Road, Suite 2F. For hours, call the center at (732) 446-7400.