I was surprised to learn of the retirement of Dick Metzgar from the News Transcript. In Freehold Borough political circles, Dick has been a highly controversial figure for many years. My fellow Republicans viewed him as a hopelessly biased reporter and stealth ally of the Freehold Borough Democrats.
However, as a Republican member of the Borough Council, I never fully shared their views. Dick has been highly opinionated as a municipal reporter, but I truly believe he has always expressed a sincere interest in Freehold Borough, above all. He lives here.
My memory of Dick Metzgar will always be fond. Aside from our newspaper backgrounds, we shared a mutual respect as two people interested in our community.
Dick had to be especially careful expressing his personal views, publicly, but it has never been very difficult to understand his thinking on issues. If you happened to run into Dick during the week, he might share a thought or two about the town that ended up in the very next issue of the News Transcript.
As a councilman, I would often watch Dick from the council table nodding his head in agreement or disagreement (sometimes in disgust) with the direction council members were taking. I often joked with Dick, referring to him as the eighth council member.
But you know what? Dick was very well versed in the workings of Freehold Borough and often made sense in his views. After all, he suffered through many long nights listening to a host of debate over pothole repairs and purchasing of office supplies.
In an earlier letter to the News Transcript, I wrote of the changing face of Freehold Borough. So many people have come and gone. In his writings, Dick Metzgar shared the flavor of Freehold Borough in the 1980s, the 1990s and into the 21st century.
When I think of Dick, the first few lines of the John Lennon song, "In My Life" plays in my head – "There are places I’ll remember, all my life, though some have changed. Some forever, not for better. Some have gone and some remain. All these places have their moments, with lovers and friends I still can recall. Some are dead and some are living. In my life, I’ve loved them all."
Dick’s retirement is another major change for Freehold Borough. Perhaps, though, another former Beatles tune puts it in proper perspective; the late George Harrison’s "All Things Must Pass."
Marc Le Vine
Freehold Borough