The 1st graduating class of Barnegat High School deserves to be honored as "Timekeepers Of The Year" at Barnegat's Heritage Day, this Saturday June 7th. Sadly these great kids will not receive any public recognition at Barnegat's only day of true town pride. No, once again we will have no activities because Committeeman Thomas Hartman -- in collusion with the Barnegat Chamber of Commerce -- despicably pulled support for this annual celebration of Barnegat's heritage.

Heritage Day started with the dedication of the town clock in 2003. Just like the beautiful town clock, Heritage Day is funded by volunteers -- not the taxpayer. Amazingly, people love Barnegat so much, they spend their own time & money to celebrate their heritage and show town pride on the 1st Saturday of June each year. At our 1st Heritage Day, one of our volunteers had a great idea. She wanted to take a picture of the 1st graduating class of our new high school. All the children, who were at the time attending Brackman Middle School, posed for a group shot. The picture -- along with other items -- was placed in a time capsule, buried at the base of the clock. The time capsule will be opened on Heritage Day in 2046 -- when Barnegat celebrates its 200th anniversary.

Heritage Day celebrates Barnegat's past, present, & future. A big part of Heritage Day has always been focused on our future...Barnegat's children. Kids were always singing, dancing, doing art, and just being kids -- playing. By getting children involved and giving them a symbol of pride (the clock), we hoped to give them a strong connection to their town and good positive memories that would last forever. We proudly were able to do this until Committeeman Hartman stopped any organized activities.

With Committeeman Hartman standing in the gazebo at 2005's Heritage Day, we presented our town Historian, Mrs. Kennedy, with our Timekeeper of the Year award. Her work keeping our past alive, in the present, and teaching our future (the children) made her an excellent choice. She honored all of us by being our 1st "Timekeeper". Now, the obvious choice would be the 1st graduating class of Barnegat High School. All these wonderful kids will always be tied to our town clock by their inclusion in the time capsule. Now they will be our "Timekeepers of the Year" for 2008. Regrettably we can only honor them on this website for now. Hopefully future generations will be able to participate in future Heritage Days.

Although Committeeman Hartman signed an official resolution recognizing Heritage Day as an annual event (this year will be our 6th annunal), Hartman pulled support for the day because the Chamber of Commerce wanted to run a profit-making Merchant's Mart during Heritage Day. The organizers of Heritage Day did not want this commercial activity at this organized event because they felt it was not appropriate to charge people to partifipate in this celebration. When Hartman became aware of this, he and the Chamber of Commerce moved Police Appreciation Day downtown and added a Merchant's Mart to it calling it "Community Day". Although this day has nothing to do with OUR COMMUNITY, Hartman and the Chamber of Commerce tried to hold it as close as they can to the 1st Saturday in June (Heritage Day).

Hartman's attack on our town pride has been only one of a long string of embarrassments and controversies that have the people of Barnegat feeling that NJ monthly magazine is right. Barnegat is not the best place to live anymore. Right now Mr. Hartman, Barnegat doesn't need anymore embarrassment and controversy. What Barnegat needs is a little pride. When you look at the symbol of pride standing tall in the center of our downtown, think about the picture of our 1st graduating class buried under the clock. Think about those faces filled with hope and promise, and the town that is oh so proud of them. That's what Heritage Day is about. And even though you stopped a celebration again this year Mr. Hartman, you cannot stop our pride.

Happy Heritage Day, Mr. Hartman.

Happy Heritage Day, Barnegat.