Looking back: 2006 in review

By: Scott Morgan, Managing Editor, and Kyle Moylan, Sports Editor
   Every other Monday, a trio of men I’ve never met roar up my street in a lime green truck and collect small piles of recyclable refuse deemed too valuable to throw directly into the trash. Most of it is water bottles and cat food cans, but inside the brown paper shopping bags, there are the old magazines, fliers and newspapers.

   On any given Monday, the last thing on my mind is the irony that what at some point in the recent past was current, vital — even breaking — news is now no more important than the containers that once held my cats’ dinners. Most of the stories we come across within any calendar year quickly fade, replaced with a never-ending flow of newer, bigger or more entertaining stories that come and go just as quickly.

   There are, however, a few stories that hang on. Stories that go beyond news events to survive as genuine issues. Or, sometimes, genuine milestones. What follows is the first of two articles looking back at the year that was. This one will chronicle the biggest news and local sports stories of the year, while next week, we will look back at the biggest feature and school stories, and remember some of the noteworthy local people who passed away in 2006.




   

— Scott Morgan



   
News
   In March, a massive fire ripped through the stables of Perretti Farms on Route 526 in Upper Freehold. When the flames finally went out, two dozen standardbred horses were the disaster’s ultimate victims. Today, life (and the business of raising racehorses) is going strong at Perretti Farms.
   A month after the Perretti fire, a set of agricultural farms gave officials in Washington a long-awaited cause to celebrate. After a year of working to save 148 acres of working farmland from a developer’s bulldozer, Mercer County, along with the township, formally preserved the Herman and Updike farms in the Village of Windsor. The $11 million move secures the future of the historic farms as working farms, immune to development.
   Things were less gleeful in Millstone, where vandals struck township parks so regularly that township officials called for increased state police coverage and banned skateboarding, roller-skating and scooters on township-owned land. Despite protests, officials, tracing acts of vandalism to a small group of skaters, outlawed the activity on July 19.
   Next door in Roosevelt, things were also touchy concerning the presence of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school. The Yeshiva Me on Hatorah , which houses 11 young men who study the Torah, has caused major strife between those who want the school to expand and those who want it completely gone. While little more than heated words were fired for most of the year, a paintball attack on Nov. 20 splattered 50-plus shots on the school on North Rochdale Avenue. Two area men, who police say acted out of boredom, were charged in connection with the vandalism. Though not ascribed to religious bigotry, the incident capped November with elevated concerns that such sentiment could become increasingly bitter in the borough.
   Heated words (and a lawsuit or two) were also exchanged in Washington over the fate of the township Fire Department. Allegations of mismanagement and arguments over the changing nature of the times led to bitter fighting between township officials who said the independent Board of Fire Commissioners was no longer able to handle the $3 million-a-year operation, and those who claimed that putting the department in the hands of municipal officials was a dangerous move.
   Ultimately, and with the approval of the state Local Finance Board, the township will formally take control of the district on Jan. 1.
   Arguably the biggest news story to hit the area this year was the debate over — and ultimate abandonment of — plans to develop three warehouses on Breza Road in Upper Freehold.
   A New York-based development firm, The Rockefeller Group, entered the year with hopes of building an $82 million, 1.8 million square-foot complex there. Most of the ensuing months were marked by protests from Allentown residents who, armed with signs, T-shirts and threats to sue, railed against the warehouses. Despite support by many in Upper Freehold (a number of residents and officials claimed the development would be a boon to the township’s ratable base), Rockefeller pulled out of the deal on Nov. 28.
   The future of the site, which still operates as a farm, is anyone’s guess, though the Upper Freehold Regional School District has mentioned the tract as a backup choice on which to build a new middle school and some in Upper Freehold have asked that it be left undeveloped.
Sports
   Highlighting the winter sports season, the New Egypt High School boys basketball team qualified for the playoffs for the first time in its history. New Egypt went on to win a 49-37 playoff game against Henry Hudson before being eliminated.
   New Egypt grappler Craig Morton started the season 34-0 and won the District 25 Wrestling Tournament. Morton, wrestling at 103 pounds, finished the year 36-3.
   Robbinsville High School’s Billy Bonnette repeated as the champion in the Mercer County Tournament. Even though Robbinsville wasn’t officially a team yet, Bonnette defeated Lawrence High School’s Mike Scott, 16-7, to win the title at 145 pounds.
   The Allentown High wrestling team won the championship in the Patriot Division.
   The spring season was defined by what was the greatest sports day in local high school history. On June 10, both the New Egypt and Allentown High School softball teams won the state championship.
   In what is the only undisputed state championship in the school’s history, Allentown defeated Pascack Valley, 11-1, to win the Group II state title.
   With 14 girls that had helped New Egypt win the state title in field hockey seven months earlier, the Warriors won the Group I title in softball with an 8-0 win over Belvidere in the title game.
   New Egypt’s Brian Whitely reached the Meet of Champions in the 800-meter race. On the way there, Whiteley won the Central Jersey Group I title in the 800 and 1600. Matt Van Norman won the pole vault.
   Allentown’s Chelsey Quaglietta won the pole vault at the Central Jersey Group II meet for girls.
   In the summer, Coach Chuck Petty of Washington guided the Hightstown-East Windsor Babe Ruth team to the World Series for 13-year-olds. The Western Monmouth Babe Ruth team placed second in the state.
   It was a stellar summer for Little League — the Washington 12-year-olds, boys and girls, advanced far in the District 12 Tournament. The softball team placed second. The baseball team third.
   Washington did even better in softball in the other age brackets. The junior team (for 14-year-olds) and the 10-year-olds both won the state championship.
   Allentown won the District 12 baseball title for 11-year-olds.
   Clarksburg’s Ron Pierce drove Passionate Glide to a win in the Hambletonian Oaks, the top horse race for 3-year-old fillies in the world.
   Allentown resident Cathy Falconio capped off a great summer by being inducted into the National Powerlifting Federation Hall of Fame.
   In the fall, the Robbinsville High School football team managed a pair of wins in its first varsity season. The Robbinsville High girls soccer team did even better by becoming the first squad at the school to qualify for the state playoffs.
   The Allentown High School field hockey team made the state playoffs and also placed second in the Mercer County Tournament.
   Other playoff teams included Allentown boys soccer and New Egypt field hockey.
   Robbinsville’s Gina Norato qualified for the Meet of Champions in cross country.