APP.COM $1.

00

Asbury Park Press

OBAMA, GOP DRAW BATTLE LINES ON IMMIGRATION PAGE 1B

MONDAY 11.10.14

JETS FINALLY
ON TRACK
But changes in teams game
plan came way too late.
SPORTS, D1

STAFF PHOTO/THOMAS P. COSTELLO

Elementary school students wave flags during the annual

Veterans Day parade in Toms River last year. Many schools will
be open on Tuesday, a fact that rankles some retired
servicemembers.

WHAT A
FEELING!

Few schools
will close
to observe
Veterans Day
RUSS ZIMMER @RUSSZIMMER
HOLMDEL Retired soldier John Conti cant understand why area schools dont honor the military by closing on Veterans Day but choose to cancel classes on other, nonfederal holidays instead.
Commander at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in
Hazlet, Conti called it a disgrace that schools are open
on a sacred holiday and has set his sights on changing
the policy in Holmdel, where his grandchildren go to
school.
Conti, who served in the Army from 1958 to 1961, and
other veterans protested at a Hazlet school board meeting in March, bringing in American flags and speaking
during the public portion of the meeting. The tactic
worked: Hazlet schools will be closed Tuesday.
He sent letters to Holmdel Superintendent of
Schools Barbara Duncan and to the Board of Education
asking how the district can have 21 days off (its actually 24) including one on Feb. 19, Chinese New Year
during this school year but not be closed on a day set
aside to honor those who served honorably in the military.
Holmdel can celebrate all the holidays they want,
but if they feel that the Chinese New Year is justifiable
to be closed on, then they should really look in the mirror and ask themselves why they have school on Veterans Day, Conti said. Im Italian; I would rather they be
open on Columbus Day than on Veterans Day.
There is no legal requirement that schools or any
state, county or local government offices, for that matter close on Veterans Day. The state of New Jersey,
however, observes the holiday, as do the Monmouth and
Ocean county governments.
While the total number of days off is something that
labor and management can haggle over, what specific
days to close school is the school boards decision alone,
according to Christin Williamson, president of the
Holmdel Township Education Association.
The law simply says schools must simply ensure
they provide at least 180 days of instruction. There are
183 days of class scheduled for Holmdel.
Boards may take into account suggestions from the
union or cultural aspects of the community when making those decisions, said a spokeswoman for the New
Jersey School Boards Association.
About 10 percent of Holmdels residents are of Chinese descent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And
the district needs a day in that late-January through

See SCHOOLS, Page A6

BOB BIELK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Led by organizer Terese Rolke (center), several hundred people gathered on Broad Street in Red Bank yesterday for a flash mob
dance to celebrate World Kindness Day, which is Nov. 13.

Watch the World Kindness Day dancers at APP.com.

READ MORE: See our full story on Page A3.

In search of the historic Molly Pitcher

JERRY CARINO CARINOS CORNER

DOUG HOOD/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A small marker can be found on Wemrock Road near the

intersection of Route 33 that says Molly Pitchers Spring. But
the true location of the water source Molly Pitcher used to
bring water to Continental Army troops is elusive.

MANALAPAN This must be the

place where Molly Pitcher earned lasting fame, bringing water to the Continental Armys artillery crews during
the Battle of Monmouth in 1778.
A crumbling, pillow-sized slab of
stone along the side of Wemrock Road
reads Molly Pitchers Spring. Lo and
behold, a small stream runs alongside.
Dont be fooled.
It was put up by a farmer in 1938, said David
Martin, president of the Friends of Monmouth Battlefield. There were no American cannons in that position. He may have been selling water from the spring
there.
Well then, this looks more like it. A quarter-mile

See MOLLY, Page A4

PROTEST: NO ROAD OVER RAIL TRAIL

More than 30 people demonstrate Sunday to oppose Lacey project. PAGE A7

GIANTS CANT HOLD ON IN SEATTLE

Seahawks, weak in the first half, come back to wallop Big Blue. PAGE D1

@PLAY
ADVICE
BUSINESS
CLASSIFIED
COMICS

C1
C4
A8
C6
C5

LOCAL
LOTTERIES
OBITUARIES
OPINION
SPORTS

A3
A2
A9
A11
D1

VOLUME 135
NUMBER 269

"6<;<3
 

"6<;<3


"TCVSZ
1BSL
1SFTT
EBJMZ

SINCE 1879

0DFBO
$PVOUZ
0CTFSWFS
4VOEBZ