Chiropractor in Keyport, NJ

By Cathy Padilla

KEYPORT, NJ: Rose Araneo is serving her first term as the Mayor of the Borough of Keyport. With a career in business operations and finance, she has worked for companies such as Paul Sebastian, Au’some, and currently she is Sr. Vice President of Operations for 3rd Party Logistics Group.

She lives with her fiancé and best friend, Jim Bishop, and their two Pekinese fur babies, Nico and Bella.

Meet your mayor – Rose P. Araneo.

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TAPinto: Were you raised in Keyport?

Mayor Araneo: I grew up in Irvington, NJ and moved to Keyport the last month of my freshman year of high school. We lived on Broad Street. At 27, I purchased a home in Cliffwood Beach on Beach Drive. My backyard overlooked Keyport and the Raritan Bay until I sold 15 years later. I then moved to Long Branch for about 10 years before coming back to Keyport five years ago. During my years in Cliffwood Beach, I was in Keyport just about every day. My parents and most of my siblings were still in Keyport then.

TAPinto: Have you and Mr. Bishop added any more fur babies besides Nico and Bella:

Mayor Araneo: We have not added any additional fur babies as Nico and Bella are enough to handle. They are both Pekinese and from the same litter. They came into my life two weeks before Hurricane Sandy. During Hurricane Sandy, Nico & Bella kept all the residents of the Sea Verge Apartments in Long Branch entertained. I believe that is the reason both of them are so friendly with everyone they meet.

Meet Nico:

Meet Bella:

TAPinto: You also have family history in Keyport that goes back before your parent's move to Keyport when you were in High School, right?

Mayor Araneo: My grandpa, Leonard Araneo Sr. (nickname Bingo), lived with my Aunt Tootsie in Union Beach which is where it started. My Uncle Frank Araneo was a roofer and purchased a house on Main Street, and my father Leonard Araneo decided it was time to move from Irvington to Keyport and join my Uncle Frankie to become a roofer. With that being said, my parents sold the house and packed up the family (all 8 children and our grandmother Rose). It was a big adjustment for our family, coming from Irvington to a small historic shore town not knowing anyone but our relatives from Union Beach and Keyport.

Keyport has held my family’s heart for many years and will continue to do so. My younger brothers Anthony and Stanley were about the ages of six and eight when we moved here, and I remember them walking with a shopping cart at the ages of nine and ten down to the waterfront throughout the summer months together to go crabbing. They had a shopping cart with their crab cages and a Kelly Pot to catch their bait. They would catch as many crabs as they could and sell them to people on the way home. I guess you can say they were young entrepreneurs.

TAPinto: Why did you choose to run for Mayor of Keyport?

Mayor Araneo: When asked if I would run for Mayor, I had to think about it for a little while. I am not a politician, knew very little about politics, but I know how to run companies. After careful consideration I decided to run for Mayor. I said if the town is run like a business, keeping the integrity of the town but the heart of the residents, then I feel as Mayor I can lead our team. I am passionate about keeping our council as a united front. I am passionate about the heart that our residents have for Keyport. We will not make all residents happy, but if they see that you have the same passion and feelings for the aesthetics of Keyport as they do, then they will know they have the right person in the position.

TAPinto: You've had a very successful career in operations, what led you to politics?

Mayor Araneo: I am not a politician; I am a businesswoman who happens to love her hometown. I am navigating my way around politics; operations & finance is what I do every day. I am however enjoying a new learning experience.

TAPinto: What sets you apart from others doing what you do?

Mayor Araneo: My parents could not afford to send me to college, so I had to find my niche working after high school. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. My mother (Dolores) worked in factories for a good portion of her life, sewing factories in Newark, Charles of the Ritz in Hazlet, Lily Tulip in Hazlet, and then Paul Sebastian Fragrances in Keyport. I started out with Paul Sebastian Fragrances, working in their factory, which was founded and started in Keyport. I worked for one month in the factory packing cologne for men. After one month, I requested to work in the office knowing I could make a difference. We then moved Paul Sebastian to Ocean. At that time, Alan Greco asked for me to work in the executive office. I thought it was great but was hungry for more. I asked Alan if I could sit in on some of his meetings. He embraced that and that was where I got my marketing and operations background from. Alan Greco taught me everything I needed to know about sales, marketing, purchasing, and finance. I worked for him for 15 years continuing to advance my career. When the company was sold, I left as Sr. Vice President of Operations.

I am currently with 3rd Party Logistics, Upper Saddle River as Sr. Vice President of Operations. I was brought on as a consultant and that lasted a very short time, until Lorraine Nardi, the President, requested me to come on as SRVP of Operations.

TAPinto: What is the most rewarding part of your career?

Mayor Araneo: I enjoy accomplishing goals. I have never felt like I am working, I love what I do. Operations digs into the trenches of all areas of business: HR, budgets, finance, marketing, sales, and purchasing. I find it satisfying when I set a goal and accomplish what I set out to do.

TAPinto: What is the most challenging part of what you do?

Mayor Araneo: You may set out to do something but an obstacle may prevent the day from happening the way you wanted or planned in business, so you adjust and adapt to it. I would not say it is a challenge, but I would say that it is what comes with operations.

TAPinto: Do you have a favorite quote or mantra?

Mayor Araneo: Work should not be work if you enjoy what you are doing. Make time always for family though, this is as important as work. This is something that I have always done. I have never worked in a company or a job that I did not love.

TAPinto: Who has most influenced your career or life?

Mayor Araneo: Alan Greco. He took me under his wing and not only guided me in my career but treated me as a daughter. He has passed away, but I will never forget him.

TAPinto: What do you do when you're not working?

Mayor Araneo: I am always working (laughs). I spend time with my family - my sister Dolores, my nieces, and nephews - keeping traditions alive for my nieces and nephews, cooking with them, baking, and passing down family recipes. It is more about teaching them what my grandparents taught me and what my parents taught before they passed away. I do not want our traditions to go by the wayside, plus I enjoy doing anything with them so that we spend time together.

I enjoy writing poetry. I have been writing since I am 14. Maybe one day I can publish them all. I have received a Silver Poet Award for “Sandcastle Dreams,” which happened to be my first poem ever written (no clue where it is published). I submitted it when I was in high school and continued to just write for myself.

I also enjoy my Sundays with Jimmy; we try to take a trip on Sundays. We have no set destination, just get in Rubie, my Jeep, and take a long ride. We make stops throughout the ride, small downtowns, shops, scenic roads. NJ/NY/CT/PA/DE, wherever it takes us! We meet many people on our stops and we talk and just get to know the town we are visiting.

TAPinto: Is there anything about you specifically you would like our readers to know?

Mayor Araneo: I care very much about Keyport and our residents of Keyport. I may not know how to navigate around the politics yet, being a mayor, but you can be sure that I will always do what is right for our historic town of Keyport!

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Zombies will take over Keyport this Sunday for the first-ever "Wake the Dead Zombie Stroll."

|Updated Fri, Oct 13, 2023 at 9:37 am ET

KEYPORT, NJ — This weekend, the Keyport Bayfront Business Cooperative will hold its first-ever "Wake the Dead Zombie Stroll."

This Sunday, Oct. 15 people dressed like zombies will stroll though the town of Keyport. There will be a zombie dance party at 2 p.m., zombie judging at 3 p.m. and a zombie stroll through town at 4 p.m. The public is welcome to either dress like a zombie and participate, or simply watch as a spectator.

All activities will be held at the Keyport mini park at 55 West Front Street.

If you want to dress like a zombie, these local salons are offering $10-$20 zombie make-up: Salon 29, Lash Therapy Keyport and Butterfly Basket Boutique Celebrations & Events. Here's more info. on the Visit Keyport Facebook page.

This is the first year the Keyport Bayfront Business Cooperative has done such a stroll. But they say they are planning more events in October, with spooky decorated houses, an upcoming event called Be-Witched, ghost tours and more.

Find out what's happening in Matawan-Aberdeenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Zombie Stroll is meant to kick off the Halloween season in Keyport and bring people into town to walk the waterfront, stroll past shops and try local dining.

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KEYPORT, NJ - The Keyport Borough Council has a busy agenda teed up for December 5 at 7 PM at the Municipal Complex Council Chambers at 70 W. Front St.

Citizens can listen in for two presentations. First is a Neighborhood Preservation Program presentation as well as a PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) presentation.

PILOT's, also known as Payments in Lieu of Taxes are often used during redevelopment discussions in towns.

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New Jersey's program called Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), is designed to encourage development in areas that need improvement. This program benefits both developers and municipalities. The aim is to help local areas by updating underused or run-down properties, boosting the taxable value in those places.

Developers get a break on property taxes for the improvements they make, but they still have to pay an annual PILOT charge. This charge is usually less than regular property taxes, helping developers make more money and motivating them to enhance the property. Municipalities benefit directly from these payments, and they don't have to share the funds with other local taxes (except for 5% going to county budgets). This aspect, cutting out the schools, is the subject of much controversy as this simply shifts the taxpayers' burden from the town to the school (which ends up subsidizing the town budget).

Municipalities also gain from fees during the development stage, like employment, permit, and construction fees.

To join this long-term tax program, a municipality must designate an area in need of redevelopment beforehand. These programs typically last 10 to 30 years after development completion, with the PILOT agreement outlining payment details. Payments can be a percentage of revenue or total construction costs, ranging from 10% to 15% of revenue or up to 2% of project costs annually. The agreement includes an allowable net profit calculation, restricting the profits a developer can make. This calculation is cumulative, allowing early losses to offset future income. Once the agreement ends, the property goes back to regular property taxes.

In addition to the regular business of the Council, action is expected on a shared services agreement with freehold for information technology services. Also, an amendment to the redevelopment agreement with developer Hudson Pointe is anticipated. Consideration for a five year tax abatement for 2 Raritan Cove in Keyport will be taken up by the Council as well.

You can view the AGENDA here.

BROWSE THE PHOTO GALLERY ABOVE TO SEE PICTURES FROM THE EVENT.

KEYPORT, NJ: Tulika Hijli, a Holmdel resident, and owner of SAV-ON-Drugs, a pharmacy located at 16 East Front Street in Keyport, is celebrating her 10-year anniversary of owning her business. Instead of a party, Hijli decided to commemorate the milestone by creatively giving back to local youth, at an event celebrating the art of entrepreneurship!

Hijli commented to TAPinto, "I am so thankful for my success with my business in Keyport for the last ten years and to commemorate that I want to give back to our youth by celebrating entrepreneurship with them, so they can learn the very basics of how to start a business. Our country is built on small businesses and I wanted to motivate the children to explore their ideas and enable them with an opportunity to get hands-on experience."

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After a little research into how to provide a program where children and their families could participate in hands-on small business learning,Hiji discovered an international program, based out of Texas, called Acton Children's Business Fair. She brought her initiative to Keyport community leaders and everyone was on board. With their blessing, Hijli moved full-steam-ahead, in planning the event, with help from her daughter Alia Hijli, and her two nieces, Manasi Haranhalli and Anjana Haranhalli.

A total of 28 children signed up to participate in the Acton program, and all were given the responsibility of creating a small business. Key components that they were responsible for were a business plan including marketing materials, a logo, and product creation. Then the big day came on Sunday, September 10, and the Keyport First Aid Squad's event room was turned into an exciting small business fair!

The children had a wide variety of businesses they were showcasing, from jewelry and accessories to home goods, and crocheted items, crafts, and artwork... There was a unique jewelry business that including coding, as in Morse code, using the sequencing of beads to spell out a message in code. A very unique attraction was a brother and sister team that featured their live bird business! The business called Onyx and Marshmallow. You could get a picture with a bird for $2. or a video for $10 with bird. One thing that all of the businesses had in common was that all of the children were so excited to tell you about their business and market their products and that made the event such a positive experience for everyone!

Keyport community leader, John Merla commented to TAPinto, "Tulika is a great example of small business success in our great town. She is all about community and giving back and today is a great example of how she shares her success with our youth. When you look around here today and see all the great ideas these children have and how they put so much time and care and creativity into their project, it is really inspiring. This is truly a great event."

Jay Graber is leaving one of the Shore Conference’s storied football programs to coach another one.

Graber, who has been Matawan High School’s head coach the last five seasons was approved as Brick Township’s High School head football coach Thursday night by the Brick Township Board of Education meeting. He was also hired as a special education/math teacher at the high school beginning April 8.

Brick has won seven NJSIAA sectional championships, as has Matawan.

"Brick is the most tradition-rich program in the Shore Conference, if not the state,'' Graber said. "The leadership in the district and in the building is fantastic, and it's a lot closer to home for me. This was a can't-miss opportunity.''

Brick Township High is about a 10-minute drive from Graber's home in Point Pleasant.

Graber, who was also Allentown High School’s head coach for nine seasons before he went to Matawan, succeeds Len Zdanowicz, who resigned in December after nine seasons as the Green Dragons head coach.

Graber, who was a standout quarterback scholastically at Notre Dame High in Lawrenceville, becomes the fifth head coach in Brick’s 66-season history after the late , legendary Warren Wolf (1958-2008), Pat Dowling (2009-2010), Rob Dahl (2011-2014) and Zdanowicz (2015-23).

"I grew up watching Shore Conference football and Coach Wolf was the mainstay. He was the main man. He's the guy me and my father always went to watch,'' Graber said. "His teams were so strong and disciplined. It's going to be an honor to be the coach there just for what he was able to do.''

"We had a good candidate pool. It wasn't an easy decision at all,'' Brick athletic director Jay Longo said. "He made quite an impression on everybody during the interview process.''

During his tenure at Allentown, Graber revived what had been a long-time struggling program and made it into a Central Jersey power.

"He has a track record of turning programs around,'' Longo said. "He's got great leadership qualities. We feel we're getting so much more than just a football coach, as far as a staff member and somebody who is going to be in our building, be around and do a lot for our kids.''

His tenure was culminated in 2016 when the Redbirds won the 2016 NJSIAA Central Group 4 championship with a 41-6 win over Brick. Allentown also advanced to the South Group 3 championship game in 2014.

Graber’s Matawan teams went 21-23 with playoff appearances the last two seasons. His career record is 82-57.

"Matawan was great to me. It was very tough to leave,'' Graber said. "The kids were great. The leadership was great.''

Brick went 49-40 under Zdanowicz with appearances in the Central Group 4 championship games in 2016 and 2018 and a tri-Shore Conference Class A South championship 2015 with Brick Memorial and Toms River North.

"Lenny's been great and a great advocate to our kids and loyal to our program.'' Longo said. "I would be remiss if I didn't thank him for his time and dedication. But, in Jay, we saw someone who can pick up where they left off and hopefully take it to the next level.

The Green Dragons went 30-14 in Zdanowicz’s first four seasons. Last season, when Brick went 6-5 and won the South Group 4 regional championship was its first winning season since 2018. Brick has not qualified for the NJSIAA playoffs since 2019

Six of Brick’s sectional championships came under Wolf, who is New Jersey’s second all-time winningest coach with 364 (361 at Brick).

The Green Dragons have won just one sectional title since 1994. That came in 2013.

Brick will be in Shore Conference Class B South this season with Central, Lacey, Southern, Toms River East and Toms River South.

They will also play nondivisional games against Brick Memorial, Jackson Liberty and Jackson Memorial.

Freehold Borough, Keyport hire new head coaches

Derek Reichenbecher was hired as head coach at Freehold Borough High School Thursday by the Freehold Regional Board of Education and Charlie Marsh was hired as head coach at Keyport High School by the Keyport Board of Education Wednesday.

Reichenbecher, who was Howell's head coach in in 2012 and 2013, replaces Dave Ellis, who resigned shortly after last season ended. Ellis was Freehold's coach for 13 seasons.

Howell went 5-15 in Reichenbecher's two seasons. Reichenbecher has also been a long-time assistant coach to current Freehold Township head coach Cory Davies at both Howell and Freehold Township.

The Colonials went 54-72 under Ellis, with the highlight coming in 2017, when a team led by standout quarterback Ashante Worthy advanced to the NJSIAA Central Group 4 championship game before they were defeated 43-42 by Long Branch in overtime.

Freehold was 2-7 last season and 2-15 over the last two seasons.

The Colonials will compete in Shore Conference Class B North with Freehold Township, Matawan, Middletown North, Ocean and Red Bank. They will play nondivisional games against Howell, Marlboro and Manalapan.

Marsh, a long-time assistant coach in the Shore Conference, replaces Jason Glezman, who resigned after five seasons.

Keyport went 25-18 with NJSIAA playoffs the last three seasons under Glezman. It was 8-2 last season, when the team was led by quarterback and Holy Cross recruit Jason Glezman.

Keyport will be in Shore Conference Class D North this season with Asbury Park, Keansburg, Neptune, New Egypt, Point Pleasant Beach and Shore. It will also play nondivisional games against JFK-Paterson and Jackson Liberty.

The Shore Conference openings remaining are Matawan, Middletown South and Shore Regional.