Marlboro town council slates budget meeting

The Marlboro Township Council has made several changes to its upcoming meeting schedule.

The council has scheduled a special meeting for budget discussions on April 23 at 7 p.m. at the municipal complex, Township Drive, off Wyncrest Road.

The public portion of the special meeting will be limited to 15 minutes and no action is anticipated. The meeting will be continued, if necessary, at the council's regular meeting April 26.

The meeting time and location for the April 26 council meeting has been changed to 7:30 p.m., a half-hour earlier than normal, and the location has been moved from town hall to the Greenbriar North clubhouse at 21 Clubhouse Lane in the Greenbriar adult community off Robertsville Road.

The council meeting scheduled for Aug. 9 has been rescheduled for Aug. 2 at 7 p.m. at the municipal complex.

Durand Park will be

explored by walkers

The Freehold Township Shade Tree Commission with the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Monmouth County are offering a nature walk in Durand Park on April 21. The event is free.

Leaders will be Patrice McCoy and Nancy MacNeill. Walkers should meet at the central kiosk in the arboretum at 3 p.m. April 21. The park is off Randolph Road between Route 537 and Dutch Lane Road in Freehold Township.

The group will explore the woods, fields and pond areas of Durand Park. The Shade Tree Commission will have information about the arboretum available. Dress for comfortable walking and the weather. Heavy rain will move the date to April 28.

For more information or directions call the Shade Tree Commission at (732) 294-2073.

Middle school dance is

a successful fundraiser

On March 23 the Cedar Drive Middle School in Colts Neck hosted a Spring Fling dance to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). More than 200 students attended along with faculty members and parents. The school raised nearly $4,000 to benefit JDRF, according to a press release.

The dance was the brainchild of Lauren Reilly, a Cedar Drive eighth-grader. Lauren, along with her classmates Devon Green and Sarah Green-berg, obtained contributions, gifts and prizes from more than 50 local merchants. The gifts were raffled off at the dance to benefit JDRF. The gifts included a guitar, an autographed baseball, gift baskets and gift certificates for dinners at local restaurants, car washes, an insect extermination service and many other attractive prizes.

"We are very pleased with the community support we received," Lauren said. "I think a good time was had for a very good cause."

Beckie Burlew, special events coordinator for the JDRF, fully supported the students' effort. She explained that diabetes is "an enemy that invades more than 21 million men, women and children and kills one American every three minutes. For these unfortunate millions, the only real hope is research."