To the Editor:
On Fathers’ Day, I awoke early like usual and did my usual routine of reading holy books and saying my morning prayers. Then I turned emotional and started thinking of my dad, as well as my mom. I had lost both of them at a very young age. But after I calmed down and thought about all the things I had just done that weekend, I decided to call my crew members who work for me and the City of Bayonne to wish all of them a happy Fathers’ Day.
The first man I called was a man on my crew who is dying of pancreatic cancer. As I called all my men, spoke to them or left messages, I got emotional again. After a while, you feel like a family. Just two days earlier, our crew hosted the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life on June 17 into the 18. The site manager had told me that Veterans’ Stadium is one of their biggest fundraisers every year. Two years earlier, I had just gotten out of the hospital. One of my men picked me up so I could see some of the events. With tough economic times, Mayor Mark Smith paid for the cost to host the event at the Stadium because he cared enough to make sure the event could be run.
This takes me back to when I was ten years old again. It was the best city in the whole county and they and other family members were all moving to Bayonne. It was a great place to live and raise your kids.Even in my 50s now, I realize what and why my parents brought us here. In this great city, I am very proud to work, to raise my four children, and for having found the love of my life.
But Bayonne is more than just a great city. It is a proud community that goes the extra yard, where people get to know each other, and where the great mayor, council people, and city administration extend themselves for the betterment of the city. The events and fundraisers for worthy causes are run by people whom you know and who know you. It’s a community based on families and the community has become more diverse and better yet.
We still have great people running city government, where the police and firemen keep us safe, and where we have a great education system in place. There are youth and adult sports programs at the recreational level. There is development all around us. I would never give up on the peninsula city because of who we are and who the people that run our town are. Their values and involvement are evident in almost every event that takes place in our great city. My parents brought our family here to be a part of this city, and I plan to do the same as my dad.
KARL “CHUCKIE” SINGER JR.