Dear Community Friends,
Pretty much everyone knows former Mayor and current Deputy Mayor, Pete Scirrotto. Pete is my great friend and colleague, and is absolutely one of the best human beings that you will ever meet. He has always done for others and has never asked for a single thing in return. Respectful, generous, kind hearted and hard working are synonymous with Pete’s leadership style and very genuine personality. We should all strive to be more like Pete, and our world would be a much greater place.
Pete has served on the Mantua Township Committee for 33 years as both a Republican and Democrat. He was the mayor for 10 years from 2012 until 2022 and Deputy Mayor for many years, including the last two. Pete was a nine-time recipient of the Volunteer of the Year award for Mantua’s Little League, and was recognized as the 2022 Citizen of the Year by the Mantua VFW.
An interesting and amazing fact is that Pete has never missed a single township committee meeting in his 33 years of public service. That’s right – perfect attendance for 33 years. He will retire from the committee on Nov. 30 and was honored at a committee meeting on Monday.
We hosted our annual Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 11 at the township administration building. Deputy Mayor Pete Scirrotto, Committeeman John Legge, Committeewoman Eileen Lukens, Committeeman Shawn Layton and I were all privileged to be able to participate in this year’s ceremony honoring our military veterans.
Committeeman Legge presented local veteran Patrick Leary with a township proclamation recognizing his service to our country. The following is an excerpt from the proclamation. “Patrick was born and raised on a dairy farm in Chateaugay, New York, near the Canadian border. Growing up in a large family with nine siblings, Patrick learned the values of hard work and resilience early in life;
Patrick enlisted in the U.S. Army and began his basic training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, in 1968. After six weeks of training, Patrick was assigned to a missile base in Franklin Lakes. Driven by a strong sense of duty, Patrick volunteered for service in Vietnam and received his deployment orders shortly thereafter. He landed in Vietnam on July 23, 1968;
During his time in Vietnam, Patrick was stationed with the 1st 44th Artillery Regiment, B Battery, B Battalion, positioned at Dong Ha on the demilitarized zone. He served as a gunner on the M42A Duster, an armored anti-aircraft vehicle. Patrick’s group, known as the Forward Observers, played a crucial role in defensive operations;
After eight months and twenty-nine days of active service in Vietnam, Patrick was medically evacuated to Yokosuka, Japan, on April 14, 1969. Later, he was reassigned to a missile base in Clementon until his release from the Army.”
The township committee and I want to thank Patrick for his dedicated service and thank all those veterans who served our great country. We’d also like to congratulate the student poster contest winners from JMT School, and thank everyone who participated and attended. Finally, we’d like to commend our Veterans Commission Chairman Joe Heitman for organizing this year’s program.
Rowan University has announced this week that the Jean and Rick Edelman Fossil Park and Museum will officially open its doors in March. To get updates, visit www.efm.org. We look forward to the grand opening this coming spring.
Upcoming meetings and events:
- Thursday at 7 p.m.: Fire district meeting
- Saturday, 10 a.m to 2 p.m.: Convenience center dropoff
On behalf of Deputy Mayor Pete Scirrotto and myself, and the entire township committee, we look forward to continuing our service with honesty, integrity and trustful leadership!
