Beloved Berkeley Heights Children’s Librarian Laura Fahro retires after 49 years

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ - Beloved long time children’s librarian Laura Fuhro is retiring after 49 years, and was honored and had a proclamation read by Mayor Angie Devanney at the July 23 council meeting for her decades of service to the community. Fuhro was hired to work as a children's librarian in Berkeley Heights Public Library on July 1, 1975.

The proclamation recognizes that Fuhro has provided children, parents, and caregivers with a welcoming and friendly space to enjoy, and participate in the Public Library's many services and programs. She has helped the library move three times during her tenure. Plainfield Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue and finally to the current location at the new municipal building on Park Avenue. Over all of this time and each location, Fuhro was able to maintain a consistent level of service while dealing with the hurricane and flooding on Plainfield Avenue, an extremely reduced space at Roosevelt Avenue and construction issues at the new municipal building.

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Fuhro helped to successfully navigate the challenges of providing library services to children during a global pandemic, and always welcomed the children who come to the library with a smile, providing guidance and selecting books and entertaining many of them with her story times. Fuhro holds the distinction of being the longest ever serving township employee (49 years), and she will be sorely missed by generations of residents and co-workers when she retires, effective August 1, 2024. “Therefore, be it resolved that the Mayor and the Township Council the Township of Berkeley Heights, on behalf of all citizens do hereby extend the expression of thanks for Laura's 49 years of service and wish her much much health and happiness during her retirement.”

Recent Accident Pushing New Pedestrian Safety Task Force

This past March, a vehicle struck an adult and a 14-year-old child walking on the sidewalk on Park Avenue. The child was seriously injured, and was transported to Morristown Medical Center via ambulance in critical but stable condition. The adult was also transported to Morristown Medical Center with minor injuries.

The adult was the boy’s mother, local resident Barbara Wanasek, who addressed the council, urging them to approve two resolutions that had been pulled from that evening’s agenda, to create a Berkeley Heights Pedestrian Safety Task Force. “My son and I were involved in an accident. We were walking our dog on a Sunday afternoon, and were hit by a car that came up on the sidewalk. … I really urge you to pass this statue and start this safety task force.”

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Wanasek encouraged the council to also educate the public about pedestrian safety, speeding, distracted driving, and expressed her disappointment at it not being put to a vote at that meeting. “Mountain Park [school] is right there. And it's such a scary thing.” Wanasek pointed out that it happened in a 40 mph zone, and the driver was only doing 46 mph.

Since the incident, a safety petition was circulated by Park Avenue resident Dana Nigro, who also spoke, among Berkeley Heights residents, to push for more traffic safety measures. Nigro said the petition had gotten 1,000 signatures. But she was disappointed that the council had removed the traffic safety resolutions from the agenda.

Mayor Devanney explained that the council only has one meeting in July and only one in August. “There's a few things that need to be addressed. We just didn't have enough time to address those concerns and get it on for tonight. But we'll get it on along with the conference session explaining it to people because there are some residents that had some questions about it, as well.” The Mayor said that they will get it tied up for the next Council meeting on August 13.

Miss New Jersey

The upcoming Miss America pageant will feature Jabili Kandula, Miss New Jersey USA 2024, Berkeley Heights native, and Governor Livingston High School 2018 graduate. The pageant will be held on August 4 in Los Angeles, and will be streamed on the CW.

Mayor Devanney recently got to introduce Kandula on stage in front of a cheering crowd at the Feast of Mt. Carmel. “I had the honor of giving her a proclamation. Another young woman who is shattering glass ceilings. She is a pilot. She is journalist for an aviation magazine, on top of competing for Miss America and representing Berkeley Heights. … Go make Berkeley Heights proud!”

See more about Jabili and her story. Click here.

Road Paving

The milling and then paving of roads in town is in full swing. Township Administrator Liza Viana announced that the following roads are being done in the near future: Hamilton from Roosevelt to Snyder,  Evergreen Drive, Timber from Locust to Mountain, Old Cannon Road, Coachman, Orion, Hamilton Avenue at the dead end near Columbia, Arden Court, Hillcrest Ave, and Swenson Circle. “More roads are going to be announced soon along with capital that the council approved in this year's budget. We have been scraping together every dollar of old capital, going back to 2014, to re-use for paving money that was leftover and just not used for years before. using that method. We came up with another $750,000.” The list of additional roads and a schedule will be announced on the township website and social media.

Viana cautioned residents that if they need their car to be out of their driveway or to go somewhere on the day their road is being paved, she suggested moving out of the driveway or off the street the night before. The road can be driven on when it's being milled but not when it's just been paved. Residents will need to wait a little bit to get out of their driveway, in that case. Please plan accordingly.

Girls become Eagle Scouts

Mayor Devanney honored two township girls, Maria Di Pasquale and Sofia Maciejewski, for becoming the first young women in Berkeley Heights to become Eagle Scouts. Devanney read a proclamation to Maciejewski (Di Pasquale was not in attendance), and told her, “You broke a [glass] ceiling and I want you to keep breaking ceilings every day of your life because this is amazing. I don't know if you know how amazing this is. But one day you're going to look back and realize that you broke a ceiling for another woman, and that's really important.”

Mt Carmel Fireworks

During his report, Councilman Manny Couto reviewed the recently completed, over 100-year-old tradition of the 2024 Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Feast. Regarding the amazing fireworks on the final night, provided by Berkeley Heights’ own Garden State Fireworks, excitement was expressed about the display, highlighting its importance for the community. Couto pointed out that the $15 ticket price helps pay for the fireworks and it helps keep the club open. “They do great stuff.”

To watch a video of the entire meeting, click here.

The next Township Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 13, at 7 p.m. at Town Hall at 29 Park Avenue.

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