Here is a look back at some of the people and events that made the news in 2012. Check back tomorrow for some more of what caught our attention.
By SHANNON CAULFIELD
The Tabernacle Sun
As we say goodbye to 2012, we look back on the moments that made news in Tabernacle this year.
Municipal government
Tabernacle began the year with an announcement to prepare to change and to prepare for emergencies.
The Township Office of Emergency Management, the Tand the township committee adopted the theme “Resolve to be Ready” to encourage individuals and families in the community to plan a family communications plan, and to take the time to create an emergency plan.
Tabernacle OEM Coordinator William Lowe has been at the post for six years.
He said every municipality in the state has to have an emergency operations plan — and his job is to coordinate the response and recovery.
The initiative was in response to the threat faced after Sept. 11, 2001.
“Tabernacle is very safe,” Lowe said. He noted there are no major industries or large public gathering areas in Tabernacle except for schools and churches.
Tabernacle Mayor Richard Franzen resumed his post as mayor for the ninth year on the township’s committee.
“I think we need to continue the good work that I believe we’re doing with keeping taxes low (and) providing quality services for our residents,” Franzen said.
The speed limits around town have been worked on to begin better regulation.
Modifications have been made to roads connecting to county and state highways.
Speed limits controlled within the township and the way residents can park their cars and other details of driving conduct within Tabernacle was improved following the passing of an ordinance in October.
The ordinance regulates parking, street closures, towing, no passing zones, crosswalks and construction. Additionally, the ordinance covers vehicle weight restrictions, one-way street regulations, stop intersections and yield intersections.
Various roadways will have their speed limits changed. Of those roads, Medford Lakes Road, New Road, Powell Place and a portion of Carranza Road will be changed to 45 mph. The remaining section of Carranza road, portions of Patty Bowker Road and Zimmerman Road will be changed to 40 mph. Oakshade Road, Pricketts Mills Road, a portion of Sooy Place Road and Old Indian Mills Road will be changed to 35 mph, and the remaining residential streets will be established at 25 mph.
According to township solicitor Peter Lange, the township requested the engineer to be as conservative as possible in respect to the speed limits.
“We asked him to keep them the way they are, or as low as possible. He thinks this is what we can support for the NJDOT,” Lange said.
Local residents
Most children stand and begin walking at an early age. David Mauchly wasn’t able to take his first steps until the age of 12.
David was born with Osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bones disease.
“From birth, David has had 52 fractures, typically they were in one of his femurs or both at the same time,” said Tracee Mauchly, David’s mother. “I personally didn’t do well for the first two years. Watching my baby break, and then in so much pain. It has been heartbreaking to say the least.”
David is the youngest of six kids. He celebrated his 12th birthday in November.
Recently, David underwent surgery at NeMours DuPont Hospital in Delaware to straighten his bowed legs.
David’s road to recovery and rehabilitation inspired his parents Tracee and Tom to purchase a spa.
After realizing the project wasn’t financially feasible, they were heartbroken.
The Mauchlys went to Pool Designs in Boardentown Township, owned by Michael Burke and his wife Gail.
When the Burkes learned of the project, they were determined to get a discount from Viking Pools. Viking agreed to donate the entire spa to the family.
“The [Mauchlys] came to the store to buy the spa for David, and we thought it was a really good thing to be able to donate,” said Burke.
The project cost $30,000 for a new patio and 12 by eight foot-wide spa that is able to be open year-round.
“I can exercise in it, I can walk and stand,” said David. “It’s a blessing to have.”
Six Tabernacle teens achieved the Eagle Scout honor. All six were from Troop №439 in Tabernacle and have been in Scouts together since sixth-grade.
Jack Cutts, restored a one-room schoolhouse on Carranza Road for his Eagle Scout project.
“It’s one of the better things in life I can do,” Cutts said about Scouting. “You get experiences you’ll never get anywhere else. It’s the most fun thing I’ve ever done.”
He is a student at Burlington County College, and wants to study construction management.
Nick Molnar, at Seneca High School at the time, built bat boxes for the YMCA camp in Medford for his project.
“I think it’s a great honor,” Molnar said.
Nicholas Rubino, is studying finance at the College of New Jersey, and restriped the parking lot at Tabernacle town hall as his project.
“I think it’s a great activity,” Rubino said of Scouting. “It teaches morals, it teaches teamwork, it teaches leadership.”
Ian Grant painted walls in the Stafford Township School District to create more organization in the hallways
Jeff Horner, and Dalton Fowler, also received their Eagle Scout honors.
“We’ve been through so much together,” Fowler said of the six Scouts.
A local artist showed her work displaying her love of New Jersey nature.
Watercolorist Joyce Gagen displayed her work at the 28th-Annual Ocean County YMCA Art and Decoy Show. Gagen has been exhibiting at the show for about 20 years and has a collection of decoys.
Gagen paints for 16 hours a week. She has been showing her watercolors in various art festivals for the past 20 years.
Her achievements include a one-woman exhibition at the National Wildlife Center, Laurel, Md., for the U.S. Dept. of the Interior Fish & Wildlife Service in April 2002 and again in March 2004.
She also exhibited at the National Agricultural Center Hall of Fame, Bonner Springs, Kansas City in April 2001 and is in its permanent collection.
In September 2000, she was the first recipient of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary Excellence Award for Artistic Impression, and represented the state at the White House Easter egg hunt in 2000.
Gagen said her most gratifying accomplishments included showing at the Waterfowl Festival Invitational, Easton, Md., and exhibiting at the National Zoological Park, Washington, D.C., from 1995 to 1999. She’s also exhibited at the Rotunda of the Cannon Office Building at the U.S. House of epresentatives, Washington, D.C., in January 1994 and again in January 1996.
Local authors showed their pride to be a resident in the Pine Barrens in annual festival.
Linda Stanton started the “Lines on the Pines” seven years ago, as a celebration of writing about the Pine Barrens. Her curiosity about the area sparked the annual event.
More than 50 participants, whom Stanton calls “celebrities of the Pine Barrens,” attended this years’ event in Hammonton.
Stanton, an eight-year resident of the area, fell in love with the Pine Barrens while kayaking in the Mullica River. She later bought a house along the river.
“The area that we’re in is just filled with history and lore and tales of the Pine Barrens,” Stanton said. “I’ve met some of the most incredibly talented people I could have hoped to meet.”
