Fair Haven, NJ – Fair Haven residents Brian Olson and Melissa Lowry proudly announce their bid to run together for Fair Haven Borough Council. Two strong candidates in their own right, together, Brian and Melissa bring extraordinary professional, personal and community perspective to the ticket.

Brian Olson, a seasoned municipal bond underwriter, is dedicated to ensuring a prosperous and sustainable future for Fair Haven by leveraging his professional expertise in analyzing local government budgets. Born and raised in rural Minnesota, Brian holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Hamline University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Duke University. Brian is an active and engaged member of the Fair Haven community. He currently serves on Fair Haven’s Planning Board as well as the Environmental Commission, where he has contributed valuable insights and advocated for common sense, environmentally conscious practices. Brian’s involvement in these roles showcases his dedication to protecting the environment and preserving Fair Haven’s natural beauty for future generations.

Brian and his wife, Michelle, are proud parents of two children who attend Ranney School in Tinton Falls. Their family’s decision to settle in Fair Haven six years ago reflects their love for the community and their desire to contribute to its growth and well-being. Brian’s dedication to community service extends beyond Fair Haven. His volunteer work includes serving as a past board member of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts, where he collaborated with diverse groups nationwide to address critical issues impacting their communities. Additionally, Brian has actively contributed to Ranney School’s Development Committee, supporting the school’s growth and advancement initiatives.

As a Borough Council candidate, Brian’s platform is centered on fiscal prudence and protecting Fair Haven’s exceptional quality of life. He aims to leverage his professional skill set and passion for the environment to implement practical and sustainable solutions. Brian’s educational achievements, coupled with his professional expertise in analyzing local government budgets, make him uniquely qualified to navigate the intricacies of fiscal management and promote responsible financial decision-making on the Borough Council. Brian looks forward to working alongside his running mate, Melissa, to effectively serve the residents of Fair Haven.

Melissa Lowry is a former Oncology Nurse who spent the majority of her career at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. Her roles there included Nurse Liaison for the Director of Outpatient Hematology, Employee Health Nurse, and Nurse Recruiter. During that time, she also collaborated with the Social Work Department to develop and provide support groups for patient caregivers. Melissa holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing Science from the University of Florida and a Master’s Degree in Nursing Education from New York University, where she held a part-time faculty position.

Currently, Melissa volunteers at the local Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Monmouth County and is a part-time school nurse at Rumson-Fair Haven High School. She is an active member in the WeForum Group health advocacy organization where she collaborates with Monmouth Medical Center on partnership development and events. She is also a strong supporter of various other philanthropic organizations within the tri-state area and a member and champion of the Fair Haven PTA. Melissa is the proud mother of two children who are completing their 5th and 8th grade years at Knollwood School. Melissa and her family have lived in Fair Haven for nine years. She was born on the east end of Long Island and fondly refers to Fair Haven as her “North Fork of NJ.”

Melissa welcomes the opportunity to lend her experience and make a positive contribution to a community that she feels privileged to be part of. Gratitude, empathy and service to others are her driving forces and she looks forward to partnering with Brian in service to Fair Haven. Brian and Melissa humbly request the support and trust of the Fair Haven community in their bid for Borough Council. They are eager to engage with residents, listen to their concerns, and ensure that their voices are heard. Together, with the support of the community, Brian and Melissa are determined to make Fair Haven an even better place to live, work, and raise a family.

FAIR HAVEN - After Harvey Shooman lost his job with an airline back in 1973, his father told him he should work at his hardware store, Fair Haven Hardware, while he looked for another job.

"You could find a job wherever you like, but you're going to come to the store and work there until you find a job," Shooman said, recalling the conversation with his dad, Eli. "That was 50 years ago. I never left."

Fair Haven Hardware, a fixture on River Road in downtown Fair Haven, gets ready to celebrate its 70th year in business on Saturday. Now Shooman is in the middle of transitioning his store to a new owner, Stephen Hague, an employee for about 16 years. "We've been on the same page forever, since he started here," he said.

In 1953, Eli Shooman, a salesman for Union Paper Co. in Red Bank, found out a troubled hardware store in Fair Haven was for sale and bought it. His son Harvey, now of West Long Branch, started working at the store at age 23 and performed tasks such as waiting on customers and stocking the shelves. Over time, he started to build up the business.

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"I just kept doing it and I liked it," Shooman said. "And I ended up being pretty good at it."

By the mid 1980s, Shooman had purchased the business from his dad through a procedure where he bought it over time. In 1989, the store expanded, taking over a space next door formerly home to Fair Haven Pharmacy.

The store has been successful by emphasizing customer service and fulfilling the needs of the local community, Shooman said.

"We gave a terrific home base," he said. "We have … what the customer wants, what they need."

He has never worried about the influx of big box competitors like Home Depot or Lowe's. "I'm just going to run my store the way I always do," Shooman said.

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Now he leaves much of the store's operations to Stephan Hague, 35, of Atlantic Highlands, who is in the process of buying Fair Haven Hardware. With no family interested in carrying on the business, Shooman has worked out an arrangement to sell Hague the store over 10 years.

Hague, who now owns 40%, started at Fair Haven Hardware in 2007, two years after he graduated Middletown High School North. He joined his mother, who has worked at the store for years.

He has done it all: Mixing paint, building grills, filling shelves and helping customers. For the past 10 years or so, Hague has handled the store's ordering, Shooman said.

Shooman said Hague always was interested in all aspects of the store. "He took an interest in paint. He took an interest in hardware. He took an interest in garden supplies," Shooman said. "He wanted to learn. He wanted to learn about the business."

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Hague said he enjoys the whole business, buying and selling merchandise and helping customers. Now he'll keep Fair Haven Hardware going for future anniversaries.

"I've just over the years found joy in helping people and helping customers figure out what they want to do," he said. "There's always a different challenge throughout the day."

David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for nearly 25 years. He writes APP.com's What's Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Join his What's Going There page on Facebook for updates.

Three-minute read

Asbury Park Press

The bad news came right before Christmas, making a tough situation even harder. That’s when Fair Haven resident Pia Kappy found out her 6-year-old daughter Freja had leukemia.

So Freja entered Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and spent Christmas 2019 undergoing treatment there. Then something unexpected happened.

“Despite what seemed like our lives falling apart, our experience in the hospital was very special to us,” Kappy said.

The child-life program, MSK Kids, made the days as entertaining as possible for Freja through games and donated toys.

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Later, as Freja recovered, she and her family sought to pay that kindness forward, organizing their own toy drive and selling beaded bracelets on the beach to benefit the child-life program. So touched were the folks at MSK Kids that they nominated Freja to be one of two ambassadors for Stop & Shop’s annual Help Cure Childhood Cancer Campaign.

Through April 2, Freja's photo appears at the checkout counter and elsewhere in 200 Stop & Shop stores throughout the tri-state area, encouraging shoppers to round up their change to donate a buck or two for childhood cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering.

“It makes me feel good because maybe people can be inspired,” said Freja, who is now 9. “And I love to help other kids, too.”

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'We understand what you're going through'

As Kappy put it, “For a child, spending hours and hours in the hospital is boring.”

To alleviate the tedium for those who came after her, Freja and her family rounded up several hundred toys during the 2021 and 2022 holiday seasons.

“From a mother’s perspective, just to have a half-hour experience of playing with the toy is so valuable while you’re sitting there at the hospital,” Kappy said. "We thought this would be a really nice way for us to give back, especially to the kids at the hospital and say, ‘We understand what you’re going through.’”

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In the summer of 2022, Freja got hooked on making beaded bracelets. One day she decided to set up a stand on the beach in Bay Head, where her grandparents live, and sell them for MSK Kids. She raised $300.

Just as significantly, she told beachgoing donors the story behind the fundraiser.

“A lot people didn’t know what it meant, so we explained,” Freja said.

An ambassador was born.

“I am so proud of her,” Kappy said. “When I see how much she’s gone through and how far she’s come, despite all that, she wants to be part of this. She wants to continue this fight for other kids. She wants to make sure the kids in that position are taken care of, just as she has been.

“That just makes my heart glow."

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A life lesson

Today Freja is in second grade and feeling good. She finished treatment for leukemia in 2022 and is in remission. She wants to become a nurse one day.

For now, she’s amazed at the responses from people who have spotted her image in the stores. This is the 22nd year of the Stop & Shop campaign, which has raised $28 million for MSK Kids.

“We just did $300 selling bracelets — and thought that was huge,” Kappy said.

Every little bit helps. Next summer, Freja plans to expand her beaded-bracelet sale.

“To see her realize a 9-year-old kid can actually make an impact was amazing,” Kappy said. “That’s a life lesson for her, to know every person can help. I think this is not the end of Freja’s philanthropic activities.

“I think she’ll have a lifelong passion for it.”

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Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

New Jersey American Water investing $15.2M in water line improvements in Fair Haven, as well as in Middletown and Union Beach.

|Updated Wed, Aug 2, 2023 at 7:02 pm ET

FAIR HAVEN, NJ — New Jersey American Water will replace over five miles of aging water main in Fair Haven, Middletown Township, and Union Beach, starting this summer.

The company will upgrade the aging water lines that were installed as far back as the 1920s with new ductile iron main, it said.

Here are the locations of lines to be replaced in Fair Haven:

Leonardo in Middletown and Union Beach streets will also see replacements, the utility said.

In Fair Haven, the current Third Street project is unrelated to the water company main replacement, a borough official said.

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Third Street is a borough project with offsetting funding from the state Department of Transportation, said Borough Administrator Theresa S. Casagrande.

The company said the project also includes replacing fire hydrants and utility-owned service lines along the pipeline route.

Additionally, New Jersey American Water will replace any customer-owned service line that has been identified as lead or galvanized as part of a statewide initiative to remove all lead and galvanized service lines by 2031.

The projects are meant to advance water service reliability and increase water flows for household consumption and fire protection in these communities, the company said.

These improvements are part of New Jersey American Water’s multimillion-dollar initiative to accelerate the renewal of water infrastructure that has reached the end of its useful life in more than 100 communities across the state, the utility said.

New Jersey American Water’s local contractors began work mid-July and expect to be completed within approximately three months, weather permitting.

Work hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Work outside of these hoursis not expected unless required to maintain project schedule.

Final street restorations will be completed in spring 2024, the company said.

New Jersey American Water encourages customers to sign up for alerts through their MyWater account and follow the company on Facebook and Twitter to receive project updates.

For the public’s and workers’ safety, traffic restrictions and/or alternating traffic patternsare likely to occur during work hours. All emergency vehicles and local traffic will beallowed access during construction.

New Jersey American Water provides water and wastewater services to approximately 2.8 million people.

For more information, visit www.newjerseyamwater.com.

Two-minute read

Asbury Park Press

Emmy Freund is a 15-year-old freshman at Rumson-Fair Haven High School who sings in a youth band and likes volleyball and dancing.

“She’s a calm, tender, sweet girl and a hard worker,” family friend Sally Trezza said.

Right now she’s fighting for her life, and members of the public can help her.

In December Emmy was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, which starts in the bone marrow and often moves quickly into the bloodstream — and sometimes to other parts of the body. She’s in Hackensack University Medical Center undergoing intensive chemotherapy, and after that comes a bone-marrow transplant.

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The problem is: Doctors have not found a good bone-marrow match for Emmy in the national donor registry so Trezza — whose daughter Jolie is friends with Emmy — is issuing a broad appeal for help.

“We’ve been trying to get as many people as possible to register, to see if we can find a match for her,” Trezza said.

Each year roughly 18,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses requiring a bone-marrow transplant. Yet only about 5,000 such transplants are performed annually. It’s difficult to find a match that forecasts a high probability of success; only 30% of those in need find a high-quality match from a family member.

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'Time is of the essence'

Trezza is leading the community effort to help Emmy in partnership with DKMS, a national nonprofit that specializes in donor drives and advocacy in the fight against blood cancer and blood disorders. It’s an all-out push because Emmy’s treatment is entering crunch time as she endures a third round of chemotherapy.

“Emmy is entered into a clinical trial and the chemotherapy is extensive,” Trezza explained. “It depletes her system and she has to recover, which takes quite a bit of time. She’s in her third round. She is scheduled for a transplant after the round of chemo she’s in right now, so time is of the essence.”

In addition to the physical challenges of Emmy’s condition, there is a morale factor.

“Since December, she’s been in the hospital many more days than at home,” Trezza said.

Just five minutes to check

Her parents are commuting there daily from their Fair Haven home, and one of them always stays the night, but for an immunocompromised 15-year-old, isolation from friends is hard. Emmy would love to get back to singing with her band, which is part of Brookdale Community College's “Rockit Academy” focused on live music education. On Thursday, Rumson-Fair Haven teachers and students took part in a “March Madness” evening of games as part of a donor registry drive sponsored by DKMS and the Fair Haven Booster Club.

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Sporting “Emmy Strong” T-shirts and bracelets, friends sent her photos and posted on social media to raise awareness and remind Emmy that she’s not alone in the fight. The registry drive continues virtually. Anyone ages 18 to 55 who is interested can get a kit mailed home.

“It literally takes about five minutes; swab inside the cheek and send it to the lab,” Trezza said.

Those found to be a potential match for someone on the bone-marrow transplant list will be screened and, if green-lighted, have marrow extracted through a surgical procedure that takes a day or two to recover from.

“You’re potentially saving a life,” Trezza said, “whether it’s Emmy’s or someone else’s.”

For more about the virtual bone-marrow donor drive for Emmy, visit www.dkms.org/emmystrongnj. For more information about becoming a bone marrow donor in general, or to request a swab kit online through DKMS, visit dkms.org.

Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.