BULK SPORTS is POSTAGE PAID Eatontown 1 NJ 07724 Permit *66 I SERVING ABERDEEN,HAZLET, KEYPORT AND MAT MATAWAN FREE PUB LIBRARY 165 MAIN ST MATAWAN, NJ 0 7 747 FEBRUARY 2, 1994 25 C E N T S Dead man found in truck yard ________ BY LAUREN JAEGER________ Staff Writer ick M iele Jr., 34, was one of the few people aside from the - N Aberdeen Township Police Department to get a good look at the body found on his company’s property. “It looked like something was wrong,” Miele said, noting that the vic­ tim’s skin was gray. “His head was down, leaning for­ ward,” M iele said, adding that the body was sitting against a trailer in the far end of M iele’s Trucking on Cliffwood Avenue. A fte r the police arrived, the body was taken away. The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office identified the body as Salvatore Nunziato Jr., 49, of Bower Court in the Rossville section of Staten Island. Nun­ ziato was reported to have ties to orga­ _____ nized crime figures, the prosecutor said. At Lillian Drive School in Hazlet, first-graders Richard Krajunus and Megan Coppola add some information to one of L illy the Miele said that a truck driver, whom Bookworm’s body segments. Each circle represents a book read by a first-, second- or third-grader. he knows o nly as W alt, made the g ris ly (Photo by Rich Schultz) d isc o ve ry at about 10:30 a.m. Jan. 25 when he was about to move a trailer. After he discovered the body, Walt ran to the office and alerted M iele and his Reading worms into routine father, Nick M iele Sr., who owns the company. BY MARILYN DUFF already students have read “well over 5,000” — yes, 5,000 — The younger Miele said he went with books, Sherman said Friday. W alt to see the body. As he got closer, he Staff W riter Teachers began preparing the students at the beginning of the noticed that a blood trickle, which had school year, he said. frozen into an icicle, was hanging from hey call her L illy — L illy the Bookworm, that is. And Under the program, each grade level is assigned a color. Each she’s currently encircling Lillia n Drive School in Hazlet, the man’ s rig h t eye. time students read a book or have a book read to them, they are T growing steadily as she makes her way from the school “His chin was touching his chest, and given a colored disc or circle which is filled out with their name library all the way around the interior walls and back again. there was more blood frozen in the ice and the name of the book they read. Principal Austin Sherman came up with the idea of the color­ underneath him,” M ie le said. Each disc represents a body segment of the bookworm. ful bookworm to encourage his 330 students in kindergarten “I thought he had slipped on the ice Instead of body segments, kindergarten students get to add through third grade to read more. and h it his head and froze to death there,” legs for every 25 books they have read to them. he continued. “I thought that he was nib­ “The goal is to increase reading as a recreational activity,” he Already, L illy has traveled halfway around the school, said. bing his head (from the injury) and according to Sherman. In conjunction, students also are being rewarded for not passed out.” watching television or playing video games. The project also has lengthened Sherman’s school day. He The victim was wearing a green jacket spends about an hour after school each day moving the head for­ Students who avoid television and video games for seven with a hood, blue jeans and black work- ward and fillin g in additonal body segment. boots. He was wearing wire-rimmed consecutive days receive a $ 2 certificate to the school store and The response to the first-time program is “just tremendous,” have their picture displayed in the hallway. glasses, with the right lens missing. One he said, adding, “I can’t complain because the kids are reading.” That feature started shortly before the holidays, which glove was on one hand and the other Sherman said was not the best time, but so fa r 16 pupils have fu l­ One kindergarten class has already finished more than 1,000 glove was off. books. filled the requirements, one of them twice, which is permitted. The body was leaning against the The recreational reading program started in November and Before the program started, school art teacher Patricia Reagen tra ile r near the woods, M iele said. It is an Continued on page 6 Continued on page 9 For a perfect w edding day, see our enclosed special section, "W ith This Ring..." 2 FEBRUARY 2,1994, THE INDEPENDENT W INTER SALE TIME AT THE MART □ □ im m urn cs ffi)i \D S3 Ln —, PLUS TRUE 1 EXTRA in*/ OFF EVERYTHING! I I 1 /* EVERV COLLECTION! H I EVERVMflMUFOCTOREB! I U EVERV CUSTOM DRDERI Sofas, Bedrooms Loveseats | & & Chairs Bedding 2OWOFFPLUS 2tTt»4r Off PLUS Take An Extra 10 OFFI |Take An Extra 10 OFF Dining Sleepers, Rooms & Sectionals SAVE $426 Dinettes &Modularsl Contemporaiy Sleeper By Rowe W ith Fold Down Center Dray ttW O ffP L U S MWOFFPU* Queen size sleeper with ultra premium* extra thick innerspring mattress. Outstandins comfort that works night and day. Choice of designer fabrics. Reg. $1125. Take An Extra 10 OFFI I Take An Extra 10 OFF Winter Sale Prices778 90 DAYS SAVE $751 NO INTEREST With Extra 10% Off * 6 9 9 Wall Units, Swivel Traditional Sofa & Loveseat By Rowe NO PAYMENTS Matching Loveseat Available Rockers, SAME AS CASH Curios & Features 8-way hand-tied coil Wing Chairs construction, shaped back Desks & Recliners and arms, throw pillows, designer skirt J fiW O ffP U B 20^40* Off PLUS treatment. Choice of Take An Extra 10 OFF I I Take An Extra 10 OFF fabrics. Reg. $2050. Winter Sale Price *1444 Bars, TV Boys & Girls | With Extra 10% Off Units & $1 2 9 9 * pcs Entertainment Correlated Centers Bedrooms 20VMT Off PLUS 20\4T Off PLUS SAVE $1026 Take An Extra 10 OFFI I Take An Extra 10 OFF 6 Pc. Sectional Sofa By Rowe Pillowback sectional sofa includes full size sleeper with This Sale Does ultra premium extra thick The Mart Credit Plan Not Include innerspring mattress. Two Or Floor Samples comers, two ends, one sleep­ Or Carpeting. er, one armless unit. Choice of designer fabrics. Reg. $3025. Winter Sale Price *2223 With Extra 10% Off □ Exclusive 3 Year Written Limited Warranty $1 9 9 9 tf pcs. The Iw M urt F u rn itu re G a lle rie s Open Daily 9:30 to 9PM MIDDLETOW N, RT. 35, North MARLBORO, RT. 9, South Saturday 9:30 to 6PM The Mart Furniture Galleries 908-671-0400 The Mart Furniture Galleries 908-536-5200 The Drexel Heritage Store 908-671-6900 The Drexel Heritage Gallery 908-536-5200 Sunday Noon to 6PM All reductions from list prices. Interim price reduction may have been taken. • All items subj. to prior sale THE INDEPENDENT, FEBRUARY 2,1994 3 THIS ISSUE: CENTER OF DISPUTE — Gertrude Neidlinger is shown here in a photo taken last fall outside the historic Spy House Museum in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown. Neidlinger, who was locked out of the museum in October, hopes to resume her volunteer position as curator soon. Bettyann Murray, a teacher at (File photo) River Plaza School in Middletown, recently received the Golden Apple Teacher Award from CTN. Neidlinger m ay return She is featured In the Spotlight. Page 12 to m useum curator post REGULAR FEATURES poration. If the committee chooses to do The corporation was formed around • Calendar Page 28 Supporters the latter, Neidlinger “w ill be gone,” said 1983, Neidlinger said later when asked Comer, because “too many bridges have about its pre-1991 status. • Classifieds Page 43 been burned.” The township — which acquired the • Editorials Page 26 want her back Comer also said Neidlinger would take Spy House building in 1969 — form ally • Letters Page 26 w ith her many of the museum artifacts leased it to the corporation in 1991 for a • Milestones Page 34 at Spy House which belong to her personally and not to five-year period. the town, and might even create some­ An earlier 1976 ordinance recognized • Obituaries Page 36 ___________BY MARILYN DUFF__________ • Sports Page 39 thing sim ilar to the Spy House at another Neidlinger as curator, originally under the Staff Writer location, which he said would be sad. auspices of the Recreation Department • Police Beat Page 35 After the Jan. 24 meeting, however, and later the Public Works Department, • Property Lines Page 38 MIDDLETOW N — If a compromise some of Neidlinger’s supporters, a ll mem­ Comer told the committee in recounting • Dining Page 32 can be worked out, Gertrude Neidlinger bers of the Friends of the Spy House, an the museum’s history. w ill resume her volunteer position as cu­ unofficial fund-raising group, indicated Dowd disputed that, saying that an rator of the Spy House Museum in Port they might be w illin g to compromise. ordinance would not appoint an individual Phone Numbers: Monm outh. Friends of the Spy House evolved since “any one of us is replaceable.” Neidlinger held the post for approxi­ from the Preservationists, the original Doranne Brown of Leonardo, a Nei­ Editorial 254-7000 Ext, 237 mately 25 years until she was locked out group formed to raise money to preserve dlinger supporter, said the fact that the Circulation 254-1755 o f the museum Oct.