Community mourns loss of Megan Daddario - The Star …media.nj.com/cumberland_impact/other/Front...
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MSHS, Schalick graduations, Pages A-5,6. nj.com/bridgeton SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2011 50¢ 6 56525 11071 9 ■ Most Wanted Fugitives. Page A-4 . ■ Child flown out after DOG bite. Page A-8 . ■ Arrest nets 8 pounds of pot, ecstasy. Page A-8. Annie’s Mailbox ....... C-6 BEN Column. . . B-1 Classified...... C-7 Comics ........ C-5 Community .... A-8 Crossword ..... C-4 Dr. Gott ....... C-6 Horoscope ..... C-6 Obituaries ..... A-8 Religion ....... A-7 Sports ........ C-1 Television...... C-4 Viewpoint ..... B-3 Sunny, warm and humid, High 88 Details, Page A-2 WEATHER INSIDE TODAY INDEX Vol. 263, No. 119 Get local breaking news 24/7 at nj.com/cumberland Genuine, courageous, inspiring Staff Photo by Cindy Hepner The news spread quickly. Megan Daddario, bottom left, lost her battle with cancer Thursday eve- ning. Upon her arrival to a fundraiser held at Cumberland Regional School recently, Megan is greeted by her friends. Megan is a Cumberland Regional Class of 2010 graduate. MILLVILLE By Lauren T. Taniguchi [email protected] SHILOH — Having shown her community true courage and faith through her 19 years of life, Megan Daddario passed away unexpected- ly Thursday evening at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) after bravely battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma and a congenital heart condition. “She meant so much to so many people,” said Chris Bodine, Daddario’s Peer Mediation program adviser at Cumberland Regional High School (CRHS), on Friday as the CRHS community reeled from the heartbreaking news. The unified call to support Daddario and her family through her illnesses in recent months echoed this sentiment loudly, as hundreds attended events and con- tributed to collective expressions of encouragement throughout her hometown of Shiloh and the sur- rounding area. A former student of Stow Creek, Shiloh and Hopewell Crest schools, Daddario was involved in the Peer Leadership program and was the manager for the baseball team at CRHS before graduating last June. She also was a volunteer at South Jersey Healthcare Regional Medi- cal Center and an N.J.-certified EMT who worked with the Green- wich and Upper Deerfield rescue squads, in addition to serving as an aide at the Toy Box Preschool in Bridgeton. In addition, Daddario was a member of the Sharptown United Methodist Church who volunteered at Jersey Oaks, a Seventh Day Baptist Camp, and last fall, she enrolled at Eastern University to pursue a degree in nursing. Though Daddario had been receiving treatment for lymphoma since early this year, her health unexpectedly worsened on Monday, when she was admitted for emer- gency care with a tentative diagno- sis of sepsis, according to a post by her mother on her CHOP Patient CarePage to update supporters. Further daily updates through the week described Daddario’s courageous fight to heal, with her parents and brother requesting prayers and expressing their grati- Community mourns loss of Megan Daddario (See DADDARIO, Page A-4) Staff Photo by Cindy Hepner Millville High School seniors celebrate as they walk into the stadium for graduation ceremonies. By Lauren T. Taniguchi [email protected] MILLVILLE — The 129th com- mencement of Millville Senior High School (MSHS) celebrated the grad- uation of 494 students in a group MSHS Principal Dr. Christy Thomp- son described on Friday as “a class of action, and a class act from start to finish.” “They succeeded in meeting their respective individual and group goals and, in many instances, exceeded them beyond their own imagina- tion. In doing so, they made all of us proud to share their high school careers with them,” Thompson said. Class president James Anthony Johnson remarked that many of the graduates would be asked, “Do you think you’re ready for the real world?” “This is when we beg to differ, turn and ask, ‘Is the world ready for us?’” Johnson said. According to Thompson, 72 per- cent of the graduating students plan to pursue higher education, with “hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships, grants and financial aid assistance packages” backing the students’ post-MSHS education plans. Eight percent of the graduates plan to enter the armed services, 6 percent plan to enter the work force 494 graduate from MSHS (See MSHS, Page A-5) By Jason Laday [email protected] MILLVILLE — Almost exactly a year after a deal was struck to avoid lay- ing off eight city police officers, officials this week confirmed another batch of public safety layoffs are on the table this year. In all, 13 layoffs are being considered across Millville. They include five police officers, one dis- patcher, two revenue and finance staff members and five public works employ- ees. According to city Rev- enue and Finance Com- missioner Joe Derella, the layoff notices sent out this week had been held off until “the last possible moment” while officials met with every public employee union in the city. “We’ve been meeting with all of the city unions to work on a solution,” said Derella on Saturday. Speaking specifically regarding the five police officers: “The last thing the city wants to do — and I speak for the whole com- mission — the last thing we want to do is lay off police officers.” The layoffs are sched- uled to take effect on Aug. 1 unless a solution is reached. Millville faces a $1.2 mil- lion budget gap this year, according to Derella. The city lost approxi- mately $190,000 in public safety funds that had been provided by Urban Enter- prise Zone dollars. The city lost $2 million in tax appeals, with more still pending. The city will have to pay $187,000 more in pension Police layoffs a possibility (See LAYOFFS, Page A-4) By Lauren T. Taniguchi [email protected] STOW CREEK TWP. — In recent months at Bayshore Mobile Home Park off Route 49 in Stow Creek Township, the stray cat population reportedly has multiplied beyond resident manageabil- ity. “Apparently no one watched Bob Barker when he said to have your pets spayed or neu- tered,” said Bayshore resident Michelle Rush, estimating there to be at least 30 stray cats in the park. However, county animal control officials reported Fri- day that park management is working to resolve the prob- lem at Bayshore. Rush has resided in the park since February and said the problem has gotten expo- nentially worse since then, with dozens of cats spraying, digging through trash and getting killed by cars passing through the area. The township’s animal con- trol officer said he had heard nothing about the problem. “I don’t know anything about it,” said Ron Sutton, owner of Ron’s Animal Shelter and animal control officer for Stow Creek Township, refer- ring to the stray cats situation at Bayshore Mobile Home Park. “No one has ever con- CCSPCA to help trap Stow Creek strays (See STRAYS, Page A-4) By Stephen Smith [email protected] PITTSGROVE TWP. — Fore- casts had called for rain Friday that threatened to drive the 34th annual Arthur P. Schalick High School graduation indoors. But as the time for the ceremo- ny drew closer, it became clear that the occasion would not be marred by bad weather. By 6:30 p.m., proud parents, other relatives and friends of the graduates had packed the bleach- ers and field seating at the Cen- terton Road school. A recorded performance of “Pomp and Circumstance’’ by the school band started to blare over speakers as the students filed onto the field. Wearing green and gold robes, respectively, the boys and girls mounted the stage in pairs and stood until everybody was in place, then took their seats. Karly A. Trovarelli, president of the class of 2011, opened things up after the National Anthem. “I am so proud to be standing in front of the graduating class of 2011,’’ she said, then tried for a little humor, pointing out the graduating class’ diminutive size of 131 students. “Even though you may have known everything about every- body, it was just another part of going to a small school.’’ Victoria Lawton followed with a speech, saying she was hon- ored to be standing in front of the class as salutatorian. When asked, she said she had a 4.04 weighted grade point aver- age (GPA) and that her favorite class was AP psychology with Mr. McMann, though she offered her apologies to Ms. Jost and said her AP English class was a close second. She plans on going on to Rowan University to study health and fitness management, with the ultimate goal of opening her own health club. Valedictorian Andrew M. Wright was next. He had said before the speech that his GPA was a “4.5 some- thing,’’ and that he is moving on to Lycoming College in Pennsyl- vania to pursue his passion of archaeology, with a particular focus on ancient Egypt. He received a dizzying array of scholarships, from a best of class award from Channel 6 to a Pitts- grove Administrators Association scholarship. He kept his speech brief and focused on the development of character, which principal Donna Schalick grads whoop it up (See SCHALICK, Page A-6) List of MSHS graduates on Page A-3.
Transcript of Community mourns loss of Megan Daddario - The Star …media.nj.com/cumberland_impact/other/Front...
MSHS, Schalick graduations, Pages A-5,6.
nj.com/bridgeton SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2011 50¢
6 56525 11071 9
■ Most Wanted Fugitives. Page A-4 .■ Child flown out after DOG bite. Page A-8 .■ Arrest nets 8 pounds of pot, ecstasy. Page A-8.
Annie’s Mailbox . . . . . . . C-6BEN Column. . . B-1 Classified. . . . . . C-7 Comics . . . . . . . . C-5
Community . . . . A-8 Crossword . . . . . C-4 Dr. Gott . . . . . . . C-6 Horoscope . . . . . C-6 Obituaries . . . . . A-8
Religion . . . . . . . A-7
Sports . . . . . . . . C-1
Television. . . . . . C-4
Viewpoint . . . . . B-3
Sunny, warm and humid, High 88Details, Page A-2
WEATHERINSIDE TODAYINDEX
Vol. 263, No. 119
Get local breaking news 24/7 at nj.com/cumberland
Genuine, courageous, inspiring
Staff Photo by Cindy Hepner
The news spread quickly. Megan Daddario, bottom left, lost her battle with cancer Thursday eve-ning. Upon her arrival to a fundraiser held at Cumberland Regional School recently, Megan is greeted by her friends. Megan is a Cumberland Regional Class of 2010 graduate.
Millville
By Lauren T. [email protected]
SHILOH — Having shown her community true courage and faith through her 19 years of life, Megan Daddario passed away unexpected-ly Thursday evening at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) after bravely battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma and a congenital heart condition.
“She meant so much to so many people,” said Chris Bodine, Daddario’s Peer Mediation program adviser at Cumberland Regional High School (CRHS), on Friday as the CRHS community reeled from the heartbreaking news.
The unified call to support Daddario and her family through her illnesses in recent months echoed this sentiment loudly, as hundreds attended events and con-tributed to collective expressions of encouragement throughout her hometown of Shiloh and the sur-rounding area.
A former student of Stow Creek, Shiloh and Hopewell Crest schools, Daddario was involved in the Peer Leadership program and was the
manager for the baseball team at CRHS before graduating last June.
She also was a volunteer at South Jersey Healthcare Regional Medi-cal Center and an N.J.-certified EMT who worked with the Green-wich and Upper Deerfield rescue squads, in addition to serving as an aide at the Toy Box Preschool in Bridgeton.
In addition, Daddario was a member of the Sharptown United Methodist Church who volunteered at Jersey Oaks, a Seventh Day Baptist Camp, and last fall, she enrolled at Eastern University to pursue a degree in nursing.
Though Daddario had been receiving treatment for lymphoma since early this year, her health unexpectedly worsened on Monday, when she was admitted for emer-gency care with a tentative diagno-sis of sepsis, according to a post by her mother on her CHOP Patient CarePage to update supporters.
Further daily updates through the week described Daddario’s courageous fight to heal, with her parents and brother requesting prayers and expressing their grati-
Community mourns loss of Megan Daddario
(See DADDARIO, Page A-4)
Staff Photo by Cindy Hepner
Millville High School seniors celebrate as they walk into the stadium for graduation ceremonies.
By Lauren T. [email protected]
MILLVILLE — The 129th com-mencement of Millville Senior High School (MSHS) celebrated the grad-uation of 494 students in a group MSHS Principal Dr. Christy Thomp-son described on Friday as “a class of action, and a class act from start to finish.”
“They succeeded in meeting their respective individual and group goals and, in many instances, exceeded them beyond their own imagina-
tion. In doing so, they made all of us proud to share their high school careers with them,” Thompson said.
Class president James Anthony Johnson remarked that many of the graduates would be asked, “Do you think you’re ready for the real world?”
“This is when we beg to differ, turn and ask, ‘Is the world ready for us?’” Johnson said.
According to Thompson, 72 per-cent of the graduating students plan
to pursue higher education, with “hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships, grants and financial aid assistance packages” backing the students’ post-MSHS education
plans.Eight percent of the graduates
plan to enter the armed services, 6 percent plan to enter the work force
494 graduate from MSHS
(See MSHS, Page A-5)
By Jason [email protected]
MILLVILLE — Almost exactly a year after a deal was struck to avoid lay-ing off eight city police officers, officials this week confirmed another batch of public safety layoffs are on the table this year.
In all, 13 layoffs are being considered across Millville. They include five police officers, one dis-patcher, two revenue and finance staff members and five public works employ-ees.
According to city Rev-enue and Finance Com-missioner Joe Derella, the layoff notices sent out this week had been held off until “the last possible moment” while officials met with every public employee union in the city.
“We’ve been meeting with all of the city unions to work on a solution,” said
Derella on Saturday.Speaking specifically
regarding the five police officers: “The last thing the city wants to do — and I speak for the whole com-mission — the last thing we want to do is lay off police officers.”
The layoffs are sched-uled to take effect on Aug. 1 unless a solution is reached.
Millville faces a $1.2 mil-lion budget gap this year, according to Derella.
The city lost approxi-mately $190,000 in public safety funds that had been provided by Urban Enter-prise Zone dollars.
The city lost $2 million in tax appeals, with more still pending.
The city will have to pay $187,000 more in pension
Police layoffs a possibility
(See LAYOFFS, Page A-4)
By Lauren T. [email protected]
STOW CREEK TWP. — In recent months at Bayshore Mobile Home Park off Route 49 in Stow Creek Township, the stray cat population reportedly has multiplied beyond resident manageabil-ity.
“Apparently no one watched Bob Barker when he said to have your pets spayed or neu-tered,” said Bayshore resident Michelle Rush, estimating there to be at least 30 stray cats in the park.
However, county animal control officials reported Fri-day that park management is working to resolve the prob-
lem at Bayshore.Rush has resided in the
park since February and said the problem has gotten expo-nentially worse since then, with dozens of cats spraying, digging through trash and getting killed by cars passing through the area.
The township’s animal con-trol officer said he had heard nothing about the problem.
“I don’t know anything about it,” said Ron Sutton, owner of Ron’s Animal Shelter and animal control officer for Stow Creek Township, refer-ring to the stray cats situation at Bayshore Mobile Home Park. “No one has ever con-
CCSPCA to help trap Stow Creek strays
(See STRAYS, Page A-4)
By Stephen [email protected]
PITTSGROVE TWP. — Fore-casts had called for rain Friday that threatened to drive the 34th annual Arthur P. Schalick High School graduation indoors.
But as the time for the ceremo-ny drew closer, it became clear that the occasion would not be marred by bad weather.
By 6:30 p.m., proud parents, other relatives and friends of the graduates had packed the bleach-ers and field seating at the Cen-terton Road school.
A recorded performance of “Pomp and Circumstance’’ by the school band started to blare over speakers as the students filed onto the field.
Wearing green and gold robes, respectively, the boys and girls mounted the stage in pairs and
stood until everybody was in place, then took their seats.
Karly A. Trovarelli, president of the class of 2011, opened things up after the National Anthem.
“I am so proud to be standing in front of the graduating class of 2011,’’ she said, then tried for a little humor, pointing out the graduating class’ diminutive size of 131 students.
“Even though you may have known everything about every-body, it was just another part of going to a small school.’’
Victoria Lawton followed with a speech, saying she was hon-ored to be standing in front of the class as salutatorian.
When asked, she said she had a 4.04 weighted grade point aver-age (GPA) and that her favorite class was AP psychology with Mr. McMann, though she offered her apologies to Ms. Jost and said
her AP English class was a close second.
She plans on going on to Rowan University to study health and fitness management, with the ultimate goal of opening her own health club.
Valedictorian Andrew M. Wright was next.
He had said before the speech that his GPA was a “4.5 some-thing,’’ and that he is moving on to Lycoming College in Pennsyl-vania to pursue his passion of archaeology, with a particular focus on ancient Egypt.
He received a dizzying array of scholarships, from a best of class award from Channel 6 to a Pitts-grove Administrators Association scholarship.
He kept his speech brief and focused on the development of character, which principal Donna
Schalick grads whoop it up
(See SCHALICK, Page A-6)
List of MSHS graduates on Page A-3.
