MANVILLE: Mayor Zuza, teacher among Somerset’s outstanding women

   Manville Mayor Lillian Zuza and Jennifer Scuderi Balucha of Manville will be honored as “outstanding women” in Somerset County at an awards dinner sponsored by the county Commission on the Status of Women.
   Tickets are on sale for the program on Friday, March 25, at The Imperia at 1714 Easton Ave., Somerset. A cash bar at 6 p.m. will be followed by dinner at 7. Tickets are $45 per person. Advance reservations are required by March 11; no reservations will be taken at the door.
   Mayor Zuza is one of three who will be honored in the government category. A Manville resident for nearly 30 years, she was elected mayor in November 2007. In addition to various cost-saving measures, including shared health and engineering services contracted with the county, she spearheaded the formation of the Raritan & Millstone River Flood Control Commission.
   Ms. Balucha was chosen in the athletics category. She has been a physical education teacher at the JFK and Milltown schools in the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional school system for 11 years. Described as “a teacher’s teacher,” she is dedicated to her students and to teaching a healthy lifestyle. She also is involved in community outreach programs for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society in memory of her mother.
   For a reservation form or more information, call Commission Chairwoman Paula Marasco at 908-953-0791 or go to “What’s New” at www.co.somerset.nj.us to print the form.
   The Commission on the Status of Women presents these awards annually in celebration of Women’s History Month in March. This year there are 17 winners in 15 categories.
   Other recipients by category are:
   Arts/Entertainment — Normarie McLean of Franklin; Education — Raritan Valley Community College President Casey Crabill of Montgomery; Entrepreneur — Barbara Long of Bernardsville; Environmental Initiatives — Thuy Anh Le of Hillsborough; Government — Warren Township Deputy Mayor Carolann Garafola and Raritan Borough Councilwoman Denise Carra; Hometown Hero — Michelle Woolf of Montgomery; Law — Katherine Esposito Howes of Peapack-Gladstone; Media — Bernice B. Wicks of Bernards; Medicine — Kate Lincoln of Bernardsville; Public Service — Pat Reilly of Franklin; Research/Management — Patricia E. Cataruozolo, Ph.D., R.N., FN-CSA, of Warren; Social Services — Sarah Murchison of Franklin; Volunteerism — Christine A. Retz of Franklin; and the Shirley Noble Award — Charlotte Frances Fischer of Bernardsville.