Gail Szeluga Manalapan, Marlboro & Monmouth County

It's that time again: time to renew your Dog Licenses. The Manalapan Township Board of Health has mandated that all 2008 Dog Licenses expire January 31, 2009. All dogs over 6 months of age are required to be licensed annually in Manalapan Township.

Failure to renew the license before February 28, 2009 will subject you to a $5.00 late fee for each dog.

You will need proof from your Vet if your dog has been neutered since obtaining your 2008 license or if your rabies vaccine has expired.

State regulations require that all rabies immunizations must be valid through November 2009. If your dog's vaccination expires before November 2009 you must get a booster prior to licensing.

Fee Information

1^st and 2^nd Non-Spayed Dog: $15.00 each - 3^rd Dog etc., $7.00 each

1^st and 2^nd Spayed Dog: $12.00 each - 3^rd dog, etc., $4.00 each

Late Fee: $5.00 each after 2/28/09

If you no longer own your dog you need to notify the Manalapan Township Board of Health so you will no longer be held responsible for licensing the dog.

Congratulations to Freehold High School for being named by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best high schools in the nation for the second straight year. According to the magazine, evaluation criteria was based on the ideas that a great high school must serve all students well, not just college bound students and that it must produce measurable academic outcomes that show the school is successfully educating its entire student body.

"This is a true measurement and tribute to the teachers and students of Freehold High School and the hard work they all do," said Linda Jewell, Freehold High School Principal.

U.S. News & World Report evaluated over 21,000 public high schools and awarded Freehold High School with a silver ranking. It is the only comprehensive high school in Monmouth County to receive recognition.

Just a quick note to let you know that all Manalapan Township after school and recreation sponsored programs are cancelled for this evening 12/19/2008 due to the inclement weather. This does not affect Saturday 12/20/2008.

MERS Restructuring Plan Approved

As many of you know the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School System was working on a plan to restructure the elementary schools. Last night, the Board of Education approved the Restructuring Plan for the 2009-2010 school year.

The grade levels and school times are indicated below.

2009-2010 SCHOOL TIMES

Please click on this link for more information.

http://www.mers.k12.nj.us/education/district/district.php?sectionid=1

Gail Szeluga

Weichert Realtors

Manalapan, NJ

www.soldbygail.com

We don't realize how lucky we are.

I was in the post office Wednesday morning. It was 9:50 am and the post office does not open until 10:00 am. (A change that has been in effect since July...but none of us in line were aware of it) I was chatted to two women to pass the time. One of the women and I completed are transactions and were walking out together and she mentioned that she was heading over to Wegman's for her last minute Thanksgiving items. I also was headed there next. We actually parked near each other and walked into the store together. She told me that she just moved to Manalapan 3 years ago from Brooklyn and said, "You don't know how lucky you are living here." She mentioned that it is a 3 minute ride from the post office to shopping, there is no traffic and there are parking lots in both places. You can go anywhere you want, anytime you want and it's all close. In Brooklyn, there is no place to park and you can drive around for a long time to find a spot to put your car. Then you have to sit in traffic to go to the next destination. She said that she is in an active adult community and she just loves the country club lifestyle. She has never been happier in her life.

It got me to thinking. I guess we should be thankful for living where we do. We have every store, restaurant and amenity we could ever want and then some. We rarely have traffic and when we do it is a major pain in the neck because we are not used to it. Manalapan is centrally located and you have quick access to all the major highways and NYC and Philadelphia are only an hour away. We don't get too much snow. Our children cross the street to see a friend and we don't think twice about it. We never have to parallel park! Our school system is fantastic and the parks and recreation department is always expanding. We are suburbia at its best.

I guess that is why our slogan is Manalapan Township, A Great Place to Live!!