Center Partnership Reelects Board Members, Approves Budget

The Freehold Center Partnership, Freehold Borough's special improvement district organization, held their yearly Board of Directors meeting yesterday to elect members, vote on bylaws, and pass their budget.

The Freehold Center Partnership and its special-events division, Downtown Freehold, puts on annual s ummer festivals including concerts in the Hall of Records parking lot, above.

The partnership approved a yearly budget of $305,000, made up mostly of SID-taxes on properties within the district, along with sponsorships and barter-deals.
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New Italian Eatery in Old Steakhouse Spot

A new Italian restaurant has opened to the springtime crowds in Freehold, taking up the space where South Street Steakhouse had been before its closure in January.

Nuova Luna hung a banner outside the South Street Steakhouse awnings declaring itself open for business beginning March 2. The restaurant will feature the same chef from Trattoria Portobello, an Italian eatery which used to occupy the same space at 24 South.

A look at the new menu after the jump:

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Freehold Faces: Robby Mowla’s Hot Dog Truck

If you blink, you could miss it. It'll be parked behind the Freehold Tire Center on Center Street one second, and over at the Mr. Good Lube on Main Street the next, crowded out by swarms of mechanics, managers, and car salesman.

Glibert Rodriguez, left, helps owner Robby Mowla sell lunch to Goodyear employees on Wednesday afternoon.

It's Robby Mowla's Hot Dog Truck, a traveling restaurant dispatched from Mowla's home base-- Our House Restaurant in Farmingdale--to service auto dealers and repair shops around the Freehold area.
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Reader-Submitted: Park Avenue School PTO Offers Full Day Scrapbooking Event

Posted via APP.com:

The PTO of Park Avenue Elementary School, Freehold, is hosting an all day scrapbooking event on Saturday, April 17th.

The event will be held at the school, located at 280 Park Avenue (Rt. 33) from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. $35 fee includes light breakfast, lunch and snacks/beverages throughout the day.
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Borough Fire Department To Get New Gear

The Freehold Fire Department is getting an expense-paid makeover thanks to the Federal Emergency Management Association.

The federal agency awarded the Borough $62, 145 for 2010, money earmarked for 30 new sets of protective coats and pants for the volunteer firefighters.
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Spring Job Fair Planned

Freehold Borough will present another job fair for area residents this April, following the success of Spring and Fall job fairs last year.

Ed Pagliarini/MyCentralJersey

On April 7, up to 50 companies will set up informational recruiting stands at Freehold Intermediate School on Park Avenue.  Companies can still sign up to participate in the job fair for $75, and admission includes table and 2 chairs.
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Spring Projects Just Around the Bend for NPC

The Freehold Borough Neighborhood Pride Committee is currently accepting applications for their community garden plots and summer World Changers home restoration projects.

The Community Garden has plots available for amateur gardeners seeking to create and cultivate flowers, herbs or vegetables in the garden located on Ford Avenue and Lloyd, according to the release.
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Beyond Freehold: A Local Author’s Guide to Internet Networking

Pete Sprankle never imagined that setting out to be a film director would lead him to become an internet dating expert, but he’s happy he’s learned how the two might fit together.

Sprankle, a Freehold High School graduate and Borough native, has just published Getting Personal: Adventures in Online Dating, a novel focusing on the intertwining lives of six adults who meet on MySpace. The stories are based on his experience living in Los Angeles, networking online with aspiring filmmakers and actors while trying to make it big.

Sprankle took some time to chat with us about the book, his internet dating advice, and his dreams for stardom beyond Freehold.

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McMorrow’s Back In Town

Former Monmouth County Freeholder Barbara McMorrow will make her return to Freehold public life tonight, as the Council is set to appoint her to the Freehold Housing Authority.

Former Freeholder Barbara McMorrow listens during the Monmouth County Democratic Convention in April, 2009. Photo by BRADLEY J. PENNER/staff photographer.

McMorrow, a Township resident, finished serving on the Board of Freeholders in January. Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina explained that a Freehold Housing Authority member need not be a Borough resident to serve.

Among the other items on the agenda for tonight's meeting are appointments to the Planning Board and Health Board. Check out the full agenda after the jump.

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Bowne Problems To Continue Into 2011

The Freehold Borough Council acknowledge problematic potholes dotting Bowne Avenue at last night's meeting, but were told by Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina there will be no relief until 2011.

A screen capture of our Fixer Upper Map, where residents have complained about Bowne Avenue's potholes.

The problematic road, which has received five complaints on our Fixer Upper Map and which the Public Works department told us "were taken care of," will be getting new gas lines beneath the road this coming summer. Bellina says it would be problematic to repave the street before this happens.
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Council Supports Citizen Service Act

The Freehold Borough Council vetted questions and concerns about Councilman John Newman's proposed Citizen Service Act before agreeing to move forward with it last night.

Council President Jaye Sims voiced concerns on behalf of Councilman George Schnurr, who was absent for the discussion on the proposed Citizens Service Act last night.

Newman, the newest member to council, introduced a draft of the ordinance last month that proposed changes to how the Borough fills open committee positions and disciplines committee members with chronic absences.
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Freehold Blotter Feb. 5 – 12

BROAD STREET: Borough man Juan C. Alvarez-Peralta, 37 was charged Jan. 12 with aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose. The victim, a 28-year-old borough male, was treated at CentraState Medical Center for knife wounds. Alvarez-Peralta was transported to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in lieu of $75,000 bail. Patrolman Diego Flores made the arrest.

Helpers With A Hobby: Toy Train Show a Fundraiser for Open Door

Joe Mania likes having his cake and giving it away too. For three years, he has been able to use his longtime-hobby and now-profession, toy train collecting and reproductions, to help raise money for some of Freehold's neediest, killing two birds with one very helpful stone.

On Sunday, February 21, Mania, his wife, and a group of organizers will present the Toy Train Show for Open Door Food Pantry, an interactive show of about 10 operating train setups featuring trains dating back to the 1880s and 1890s, stations, tunnels, mountains, and more.

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Care About Freehold Schools? Time to Think About Running

Worried about overcrowding at Park Ave School? Want to ensure the Learning Center receives funding for its early-childhood programs?

If you want to have a say in how Freehold schools are run, it's time to think about running for the Freehold Board of Education. The deadline to hand in nominating petitions for membership is 4pm on March 1.
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A Friendly Face: Patsy Federici is Nice Neighbor, and More

Patsy Federici is in the middle of telling me the story of how she and her husband met—a charming wartime romance that played out in the hallowed walls of the then-new Federici’s Pizza—when a scruffy, middle-aged man opens the sidedoor of her house and walks into her kitchen.

She cocks her head in his direction and smiles as he wanders around the kitchen.
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