Our community has always held our U.S. military veterans at the highest level of esteem.
In order to pay further tribute and to display our heartfelt appreciation to both veterans and active duty-members, it is my privilege to announce the launching of Mantua’s Hometown Heroes Veterans Banner Program. The goal is for the township to publicly honor and recognize the service and sacrifice of its military and fallen heroes with personalized signs hung around town.
At our Feb. 9 township committee meeting, we passed township resolutions to authorize Hometown Heroes as the official banner program for Mantua and to formalize dedicated banking principles for the handling of donations to fund the initiative.
The first phase of the program will be to recognize military veterans from Mantua who were either killed in action or died on active duty. That may also include other fallen heroes from emergency services and other responders. The banners will be paid for through donations of $1,000 minimum; each sign will display the name of its contributor.
The initial phase of the program is slated to be implemented by Veterans Day on Nov. 11. Once it’s completed, we will then announce the process for recognizing other veterans in our community who honorably served in the military. Banners will eventually be hung at the Veterans Memorial Plaza and will expand to other areas such as Main Street and the entrance to Chestnut Branch Park.
At this time, we are only accepting corporate and personal sponsorships consisting of $1,000 donations. Checks can be made payable to the township of Mantua, Hometown Heroes Veterans Banner Program, and delivered to the administration building at 401 Main St. Banner space is limited.
We are grateful for those who are serving on the Hometown Heroes Veterans Banner Program working group to help bring this program to fruition. I want to personally thank Joe Heitman, Charles Thorp, Jeff Gellenthin, Rob Anderson, Jack Campbell, John Legge and Jennica Bileci for their willingness to help ensure that the service and sacrifice of our veterans and local heroes is not forgotten.
Deputy Mayor Eileen Lukens and I recently met with some of the Clearview High School students who are team members of Smiles4Cures. The group is participating in Blood Cancer United’s South Jersey student visionaries of 2026 campaign.
Now through the end of February, the Smiles4Cures team and other young leaders from across the U.S. will take part in a leadership program that encourages high-school students to imagine a better future, challenge the status quo and take meaningful action for people affected by blood cancer.
Team Smiles4Cures is also holding a clothing drive to support those affected by blood cancers. Please consider donating your items to help the team reach its fundraising goal of $50,000. For questions or more information, email smiles4cures2026@gmail.com or text (856) 357-6044.
- Congratulations to senior Juliette “Jules” Mirigliani for becoming only the 14th basketball player in Clearview High’s history to score 1,000 points during her scholastic career. A point guard and four-year varsity letter winner, she is one of only four Mantua females to attain that milestone. She also hit more than 100 three-pointers during her storied career as a lady Pioneer, and is committed to Montclair State University.
W.O.L.F. Fitness in Sewell had its grand opening on Feb. 7 at a new location in the Timberline Shopping Center. Committeemen John Legge, Jay Snyder, Jack Steen and I welcomed franchise owners Ed and Crystal Romasko to our community. We presented them with a proclamation and joined in a ribbon-cutting.
For more information, check out the W.O.L.F. website at wolfsewell.com.
