HRT - Hormone Replacement Therapy in Port Colden, NJ

Roger Jinks

Roger Jinks, seen here in 2006, says he hopes his a 43-year career in education doesn't exactly end -- he says he wants to become a volunteer music teacher.

(Express-Times File Photo)

Washington Township, New Jersey, schools Superintendent Roger Jinks is retiring Aug. 31 after 43 in education, but it doesn't appear he's slowing down.

Jinks, 62, a Phillipsburg resident who began teaching in 1971 at St. Philip and St. James in town, was a music educator for many years in Warren and Hunterdon counties until he transitioned into administration, he said this morning.

He directed the instrumental and band programs at St. Philip and St. James and was band director at Philipsburg Catholic High School until 1980, when he left for Clinton Public School, he said. He taught fourth grade there, then special education, then he started the computer program before becoming director of special projects, he said.

His next stop in 1999 was as superintendent at Franklin Township School in Warren County, and he became superintendent in 2007 in Washington Township, he said.

His career as an administrator meant he had to give up teaching music, but now he's back performing -- three shows this past weekend, including a stop at Valenca on Easton's Centre Square. He'll perform at a block party Saturday on Easton's College Hill, he said.

"I had to focus on my career in education," he said about pushing music aside for a time.

While he was once a percussionist, the Milford native -- who said then-Delaware Valley Regional High School band director Pete Pettinelli was a major influence -- now plays piano and sings. He performs alternating sets with his brother Albert, a guitarist, he said.

"We have a ball," he said, adding that they also do four or five songs together, he said.

He also gives music lessons to his four grandchildren -- Dylan and Sam Carter, who are Moravian Academy students, and Aubrey and Adrian John Jinks, who study at Wantage, New Jersey, schools -- he said.

Two of Jinks' three children -- Roger Jinks Jr., an administrator in Sussex County, and Kathleen Carter, finalist of the 2013-14 New Jersey Presidential Math and Science Award -- followed the Jinkses into education. Jinks' wife, Kathleen, was a superintendent in Green Hills, Sussex County, when she retired in 2009, he said. She had been an assistant superintendent at Great Meadows before Green Hills, he said.

His older daughter, Maria, is a chiropractor who works with her husband at a medical practice, Jinks said, expressing great pride in all three of the children.

"We are quite blessed," he said.

Jinks joked it's a good day when he wakes up and finds his name not in the newspaper. The 2011-12 Warren County Superintendent of the Year said he was trying to keep his retirement on the "down-low."

"I try very much to manage things in such a way that everyone's needs are met," he said, adding that the students are always the priority.

He currently manages two schools -- Brass Castle and Port Colden -- and he hopes he is leaving them better off than when he arrived.

The district has implemented academic benchmarking for student process, the common core and has put smart boards in every classroom, he said.

In addition to performing music, Jinks hopes to teach music as a volunteer one day a week, getting back to his roots, he said.

"I would like to pay it forward," he said.

Becoming a volunteer teacher could be challenging -- because he'd have to be hired but not paid -- but he already has the certification, he said. It might be easier to do at a private school and he's already talking to a couple of them, he said.

"I have a lot of things to do and a lot of ideas in place," he said as he prepares to retire.

The school board is already seeking applications for Jinks' replacement, he said. The process will likely be completed in July and August and Jinks said he hopes to be out of a job on time at the end of August.

"It's time for someone else to steer the ship," he said.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

Kathy Halpin

WASHINGTON — While Kathy Halpin was not the first person to chair — or participate on — the Washington Celebrates America committee, she was certainly a key to its success for many, many years. For the past few years, since her "retirement" as chair, the current WCA committee has wanted to recognize her efforts publicly in the only way it is fitting for someone like her - by making her the grand marshal of the annual 4th of July parade.

Typically, the unassuming but truly dedicated and hard working Halpin has turned down the invitation. Until this year.

"We are very excited to announce that Kathy has agreed to be our Grand Marshall this year," said Rich Maguire, the WCA Committee chair. "If there was ever anyone from Washington who deserves this honor it is Kathy. Under her guidance the July 4th celebration grew enormously. No one ever worked harder than she did to make it a huge success."

Washington Celebrates America is truly a tradition which includes a soap box derby for kids, an old-fashioned parade, musical entertainment, and of course, a dazzling fireworks display in the evening.

Halpin moved to Washington on July 2, 1984, with her husband Ray and two children, Matthew and Michael, having no idea of the July 4th tradition. But within two days, she found out. As their house is on Carlton Avenue, part of the parade route, she noticed that on July 4th as she was still unpacking kitchen utensils, that people were outside sitting on her lawn getting ready to watch the parade.

Three years later, in 1987, Washington's celebration ceased for a variety of reasons. But in 1988, several folks in town were committed to bringing it back. Halpin, who was already active as a volunteer with the Junior Women's Club and Play Center, answered the call for WCA volunteers. Little did she know at the time that it would be the start of a 22-year run on the committee, culminating in several years as the committee chair.

"It all kind of just happened," said Halpin, who moved here from Linden in Union County.

Throughout her volunteer "career", which has also included work with the Washington Business Improvement District, the Warren Hills Regional High School board, at her church, "The Chapel," and on the Shade Tree Commission, it is the July 4th celebration that has brought her the most attention to those in the community. It is also the volunteer work that she found most exciting — and challenging.

"I enjoy working with people," said Halpin, who has been an adjunct instructor in dental assisting and radiography at Warren County Community College for the past 10 years. "I like to see the community come together and on the 4th of July it is one big party in town. There is a lot of positive energy. Everybody is involved with all the activities and there are picnics all over town that day."

But it wasn't always so smooth.

"You always have to contend with the weather," Kathy said. "You've got to make sure the funding is there every year; thankfully the community has been very supportive financially. One year the stadium lights weren't working. And the year that the Middle School field was undergoing renovations we had the fireworks at Warren County Community College, which caused quite a stir on the roadways. I joke that my greatest accomplishment was that year because we had the biggest traffic jam in Warren County history, with traffic jammed up from Port Colden to Phillipsburg!"

Halpin is quick to add that putting on Washington Celebrates America involves many volunteers and is not something she could have done without all the help.

"I have worked with so many wonderful volunteers," she said. "I've had the privilege to work with a lot of great people over the years. One person cannot do this job."

Maybe so, but in many people's eyes, Halpin was clearly the one who made sure it happened. Indeed, no one would argue that Halpin is a "grand choice" as this year's grand marshal.

For further information about Washington Celebrates America and how you can get involved, or to make a donation, call 908-689-0119.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

Near the top of a rounded mountain in a remote part of western Warren County is the one of the most tranquil spots in New Jersey.

The place is called Montana, a part of Harmony Township, but the name of the mountain is Scott's. On a typical fall day, the only sound you can hear is the wind whispering a quiet prayer over the dead, brittle leaves on the acres of dried cornstalks lining the rarely-trafficked Montana Road.

It is fall in New Jersey -- our reliably best season -- and a time when many of us explore our rural backroads and marvel at God's palette on our foliage.

The long view south from Montana is of Pohatcong Mountain, and on the expansive vista, the hardwood forests blaze with maple reds and browns, and the oranges and yellows of the great oaks.

The view north is of Donald and Elsie Duckworth's farm. The double silos store the feed corn they sell, and there is a barn for the small dairy herd they keep. From the top of Scott's Mountain (elevation 1,180), one of the highest hills on the Jersey side of the Delaware Valley, the only buildings you can see are the Duckworths' farm and home, the nearby Millbrook farm, and the Montana Methodist Church and old school. The corn of the Duckworth farm abuts the church and old school, and its stalks tower over the tilted gravestones that mark the final resting places of generations of Beers and Burds and Fangboners, Montana's oldest families.

Montana Methodist dates back to 1891. The land was donated out of the farm that now belongs to the Duckworths. The first wedding there was of a Duckworth girl.

The small congregation these days includes Gabriel Kober Sr., 91, who went to the old school, which closed in 1930. "Till eighth grade, then I went to work on our farm," he said.

His son, William, married his wife Barbara in the church 45 years ago, and they remain congregants, as do Elsie and Donald Duckworth. Elsie's family, the Suttons, farmed the same piece of property in Tewksbury from 1791 until a few years ago when her father sold to developers. Donald's family were Warren County farmers nearly as long. The couple met at a 4H dance in Broadway.

The only regular church attendee who does not have generations-deep roots in a New Jersey farming community is the woman who cares for Elsie Duckworth's mother.

She has that in common with the lay preacher, who has been at the church just about a year. The preacher, whose name is Dura Fornah, also has rural roots. His father was a farmer on the outskirts of Freetown, the biggest city in the troubled African nation of Sierra Leone. It's a long way from Montana, in some ways, but in others it's not.

"In Sierra Leone, I too preached in 'the middle of nowhere,'" said Fornah, an ordained minister of the African Methodist Episcopal church, but not the United Methodist. "The people were very much the same. Very open and welcoming. With open arms and opens hearts. Very, very good people."

Fornah has been in America since 1992, when he enrolled in the Howard University School of Divinity, then became involved in the United Methodist Church. Since most small parishes can't support a full-time preacher, Fornah works as a computer room operator in Leonia. His church duties bring him 60 miles west every Sunday for services, and other odd days for Bible studies and prayer breakfasts in places like Montana and Broadway and Port Colden and Washington (Warren County).

How the Irvington resident got to rural western Jersey is no mystery: He was assigned. After he completed his course work to become certified as a lay preacher, the United Methodist hierarchy sent him to the consortium of small parishes that make up the Francis Asbury Cooperative Parish.

None is as small and remote as Montana, which draws about seven worshippers a week. The church itself is plain as can be, no bigger than the three-car garages you see in new housing developments in many parts of formerly rural New Jersey. Two rows of handmade pews, thick with semi-gloss white paint. Plain windows, and a plain cross above a wooden table that serves as an altar. The pulpit is a lectern, unadorned and simple.

In this setting, Fornah leads song, reads the Old Testament and Gospel, talks of God's love and embraces his small community, as they embrace him.

"He's pretty good," said Gabriel Kober, who uses a cane but whose handshake is still strong from years of hard work. "We like him up here a lot."

And from the top of a mountain in rural West Jersey, you can see the possibility of a wide world made more tranquil, of a big world made small.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

Chipotle Mexican Grill may be coming to Pohatcong Township, just east of Phillipsburg. The chain of more than 2,950 restaurants serving tacos, burritos and quesadillas has presented a plan for a new restaurant with a drive-through at Route 22 and New Brunswick Avenue, near the Raymour & Flanigan and Aldi stores. That proposal will be considered at a Pohatcong meeting Tuesday, though a final decision is not definite that night.

Wendy Borger is the Blue Bomber Notary of Palmerton. She is holding a grand opening Saturday with ribbon cutting and refreshments at 11 a.m. at her 210 Delaware Ave. office, site of the former Bed Rock Notary. She will take care of titles, transfers and any kind of notary work. Blue Bomber will be open 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday; 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Wiz Kids 2 at Madison Farms in Bethlehem Township is closed temporarily because of a small fire. The steak sandwich restaurant's original location at Elizabeth Avenue in Bethlehem remains open. No reopening date at Madison Farms has been set, but a reopening at Madison Farms will happen soon.

Chicken & Bliss is just 19 days away. Sports & Social has set an April 28 date for its Seventh and Hamilton streets, Allentown, bar and restaurant. The restaurant/bar/entertainment venue is at the site of the former Hamilton Kitchen in the City Center Investment Corp.'s Two City Center Building.

Sports & Social operates in and near major entertainment venues nationwide. It will feature live music and entertainment, lots of televised sports and an outdoor seating area on Center Square.

Chicken & Bliss, one of the menu's featured items, consists of fried chicken strips, a toasted waffle, syrup, strawberries, honey lemon butter and mint.

Stewartsville, New Jersey, is now home to Propagate Studio. The business's goal is to provide an event space, community studio and generally promote a creative environment. Sam Matthews of Propagate, who has taught art, said the studio is for everybody.

"I believe we are all artists and creatives, no matter our age or skill, but sometimes just need the time, space and materials to grow that creativity in whatever medium feels right," she says on Propagate's Facebook page. Propagate is at 2546 Route 57 in Stewartsville, near Cycle Stuff and H&K Auto Body Repairs.

Joe's Alpha Dogs at the Port Colden Mall in Washington, New Jersey, has closed after the death of co-owner Vin Russo in February. He operated the store with his wife Frances, who said on Facebook, "I can't do this on my own. I don't want to do it without Vin." Some of the equipment from the hot-dog shop is for sale, according to her post.

Jimena's Pizza & Restaurant has opened at 3502 Greenway St. in Palmer Township. The menu includes chicken, pasta, veal, seafood, appetizers including fried pickles, bruschetta and calamari; salads, panini, wraps, burgers. Jimena's is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday, and is closed on Mondays.

The Valley View Diner is back after a break for renovations. The restaurant at 570 Nazareth Pike in Lower Nazareth Township is open daily from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

La Trinidad de Dios restaurant at 559 S. Main St. in Phillipsburg will hold a grand opening at noon April 13 with the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. The Dominican restaurant serves empanadas, a fried stuffed potato, salads, mofongos, rice, plaintains and stewed or roasted chicken, stewed beef, pork shoulder, creole shrimp and more.

Paranormal Pizza is bringing its plant-based pizza to Bethlehem. The 554 N. New St. vegan restaurant has standard pies along with the likes of "Mulder" and "Scully," names that refer to the X-Files television show. The Alien Bounty Hunter, for example, has a garlic knot crust, cashew mozzarella, seitan pepperoni, Beyond sausage, green peppers, onions and mushroom. Gluten-free options are available too. The cashew "cheese" is made in-house, and Paranormal has options for diners with cash allergies.

Photo Provided | Preservation New Jersey

Preservation NJ this week released its latest list of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in the Garden State. The list highlights historic, architectural, cultural, and archaeological resources that the group feels are in imminent danger of being lost.

It was generated from nominations by the public with a goal of finding creative solutions.

"Several challenges face properties on this year’s endangered sites list, including neglect and deferred maintenance, threats incurred by redevelopment and new construction, difficulties raising adequate historic preservation funding, and the need for creative adaptive reuse proposals," the group said. "Half of the sites on this year’s list are owned by government, highlighting a recurring theme of neglect by entities entrusted by the public with the care of our historic resources."

Photo Provided | Preservation New Jersey

East Point Lighthouse

East Point Lighthouse, built in 1849, is the second oldest existing lighthouse in New Jersey. It underwent a full restoration two years ago but is still threatened, PNJ said. Located in an area where Maurice River enters the Delaware Bay in Cumberland County, the land near the lighthouse is rapidly eroding. The erosion has already washed out the protective dunes and the stewards of the lighthouse are left with sandbag brigades in an attempt to hold back tidal waters and storm surge.

"While the site owner, the State of New Jersey, is currently studying mitigation alternatives, they need to act more expediently to protect this National and State Register of Historic Places listed site before it is gone forever," Preservation NJ siad.

Photo Provided | Preservation New Jersey

Isaac Corwin House

In 1829, James Topping, a master cabinetmaker and owner of an iron mine, purchased the Isaac Corwin House, which was built in 1800, and surrounding 53 acres of land in Chester Borough, PNJ said. In 1945, the house and property were sold to Willis Larison and became Larison's Turkey Farm Inn. Chester Borough has agreed to demolish the Corwin house and another historic structure as part of an affordable housing lawsuit settlement, PNJ said.

"The plight of the Isaac Corwin House is reflective of a larger issue related to the State’s refusal to actively manage its obligation to ensure the creation of adequate affordable housing," the group said.

Photo Provided | Preservation New Jersey

Lackawanna Train Terminal

The Lackawanna Train Terminal opened in 1913 and was designed by William Hull Botsford, who was on the Titanic the year before, PNJ noted. It was a hub for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad between Hoboken and Montclair. A developer has proposed knocking down the terminal to double the size of a parking lot, the preservation group said.

"The Montclair Historic Preservation Commission has attempted to communicate the importance of maintaining the structures within the new site plan; but unfortunately, the Montclair Planning Board approved the site plan including the demolition of a significant portion of the train sheds," the group said.

Photo Provided | Preservation New Jersey

Lee Brothers Park Pavilion

The Lee Brothers Park Pavilion, located on Lake Hopatcong, is a "unique surviving example of lake-style recreational architecture in New Jersey," PNJ said. Brothers, Clarence J. Lee and Edwin Lee, purchased the 10-acre property in 1919, when Mount Arlington was a major tourist destination. When Clarence Lee's son decided to retire in 1995, he donated the property to Morris County so that the pavilion the family built and surrounding park land would be preserved and not be subdivided into a lakefront development. But the structure has steadily deteriorated since, the preservation group said.

"The County has demonstrated its support of this site by including funding for its stabilization over several budget cycles totaling more than $1 million dollars to date; yet, the County has not taken any other steps to ensure the preservation of the building," the group said.

Historic fires station in Milltown is on this year's most endangered historic site top-10 list. (Photo Provided | Preservation New Jersey)

Historic firehouses

Today’s fire engines, ladder trucks, and ambulances are much larger and heavier than their predecessors, and as a result, many historic firehouses cannot fit modern emergency equipment. This has created a preservation crisis in some of these buildings, PNJ said.

"We know that these structures can be adaptively reused for a number of functional and interesting purposes, such as libraries, offices, restaurants, bars, and even homes," the group said, noting a situation in Milltown Borough, where they are undergoing a $12 million project to construct a new firehouse and public works facility "with no commitment as to the future of the community’s two historic firehouses."

Photo Provided | Preservation New Jersey

Port Colden Manor

The 1835 Port Colden Manor is a" provincial example of Greek Revival architecture built by William Dusenberry in 1835," the preservation group said. The building became a boarding school for girls in the mid-18th century, was used for local school district offices for much of the 20th century, and then was converted into professional offices in the 1980s.

"The current owner has made some minimal repairs while they negotiate with the township for approval to convert the structure into apartments; which at this time, seems to be at an impasse," Preservation NJ said.

Photo Provided | Preservation New Jersey

United States Animal Quarantine Station

The United States Animal Quarantine Station in Clifton, also known as the Ellis Island for animals, was developed between 1900 and 1907 to "temporarily isolate foreign animals along the East Coast in order to safeguard the nation's livestock and poultry against diseases of foreign origin," PNJ said. It was used until air travel in the 1950s made a new facility near Stewart Air Force Base more practical. Clifton acquired the property in 1966. "While several buildings are being actively used by the city, local citizens are rallying to save the remaining unused and underutilized buildings on the site but has a long road of fundraising and rehabilitation ahead of them to ensure the site's preservation before the buildings fall victim to demolition by neglect," PNJ said.

Photo Provided | Preservation New Jersey

Park Theater

The Park Theater opened in 1932 as The Passion Play Theatre. It included classrooms, a state-of-the-art stage with a wide screen, an organ, and "an orchestra pit worthy of any grand movie palace of its day," PNJ said. Largely vacant now it is owned by the Archdiocese of Newark, the preservation group said. "The diocese is open to leasing the building to an outside organization willing to take on the project and make it a destination," the group said. "Someone is needed to champion the cause before this architectural and cultural treasure is lost forever."

Photo Provided | Preservation New Jersey

The Wildwoods

The Wildwoods — four municipalities on a barrier island comprising a popular Jersey Shore resort popular for more than a century — are threatened by typical development pressures , PNJ said. In the past two decades, buyers discovered the Wildwoods' lower prices and a building boom has begun to transform the island from Doo Wop motels and older single-family homes into condos and large single-family homes.

The group is urging residents to have their towns establish Historic Preservation Commissions "to prevent the Wildwoods from falling victim to the ever-growing homogeneity of the Jersey shore region, where one municipality is indistinguishable from the rest."

Photo Provided | Preservation New Jersey

Van Ness House

The Van Ness House was built by one of the earliest Dutch families to settle in western Essex County, Simon Van Ness, who brought his family to Fairfield in 1701 and was one of the founders of the Reformed Church of Fairfield in 1720, PNJ said. The house was likely built around 1760 and is a typical 18th century farmhouse in the Dutch brownstone tradition of northern NJ, which predates the Revolutionary War. Currently owned by the Township of Fairfield, the building has now sat vacant for a number of years and the town has said it doesn't have the money to stabilize or maintain it, the preservationist group said.

Bill Duhart may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com's newsletters. 'Ask Alexa for New Jersey news'

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022).

© 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.

Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.