Collincini served Manalapan very well

We would like to wish Jerry Collincini well on his announced retirement and hope he has plans to continue using his skills to benefit families for many more years.

His 25 years of service provided Manalapan with the best community park and recreation facility in New Jersey. Manalapan offers more activities to a wider range of ages and interests than most park systems in the state.

From sports to crafts to arts, the township's award-winning success can be directly attributed to the professional teamwork of Collincini, assistant director Mona Cholowinski and a dedicated staff of park supervisors.

With the support of an engaged committee of commissioners, they helped create many opportunities for residents to make lasting friendships while participating in a wide variety of choices. Far from being just groundskeepers, our parks de-partment is a full-service center.

Every volunteer who ap-proached the parks department with a reasonable idea was given an opportunity to make it work.

The "Be A Sport" and "Referee Mentor" programs gained national recognition and helped teens become responsible, disciplined young adults, many of whom achieved high levels of success in their college and professional lives - my own family included.

A great deal of my time has been around the soccer fields, basketball courts and hockey rinks in town and many memories are shared with the life-long friends made on ice-cold or sweltering-hot weekends. It is difficult to remember those years without including Jerry in my thoughts.

I hope anyone who has ever scored a goal or watched their kids get a hit or displayed the newest masterpiece of refrigerator art will let Jerry know how important those memories are in our lives and thank him for helping them happen.

The Finkelstein Family

Morgan, Adam,

Susan and David

Manalapan