Rotary Fair July 19-24

Big news this year for the Rotary Club of Hillsborough, NJ annual fair - every night is wristband night!

See you there.


Click the image to view and print the flyer.

He Wants to Ride His Bicycle

An indoor velodrome on the Belle Mead GSA Depot property? I'll admit, the idea - being promoted by Hillsborough resident and cycling enthusiast Michael Izzo - seemed a little crazy when I first read it in the Courier News.

Then I did a little research.

The Dunc Gray Velodrome in Bankstown, Australia

There are only 24 bicycling arenas in the U.S. - just one more than in the relatively tiny U.K. and many less than in Japan. Only a couple are in the northeast (New Hampshire and Queens, N.Y.), and only two are indoor tracks, (California and Colorado).

Having a velodrome - even a less expensive outdoor track - as part of the planned recreation facility at the Depot definitely falls under the category of Big Ideas. But it is an idea that would instantly put Hillsborough, and Somerset County, in the lead pack with the yellow jersey.

Something to consider.

Playground Fundraiser Swings on Sunday

An event to raise funds to build a universally accessible playground at Ann van Middlesworth Park will be held Sunday, June 27 at Body Shop Total Fitness in Hillsborough. The activities begin at noon and will feature fun physical fitness challenges for men and women.



Click on the images to view and print the flyer.



The playground - which has a price tag of $120,0000 - is an ongoing project of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Academy members and local volunteers construct the playgrounds in just one day. The playground is designed to be used together by disabled children and their typical peers.


Bringing the playground to Hillsborough was the idea of committeeman Anthony Ferrera who emphasizes that no taxpayer dollars will be used for the project.

Here is a video highlighting similar projects in Las Vegas, Orlando, and other locations.

Township Budget Still a Work in Progress

The Hillsborough Township Committee recently introduced their budget for fiscal year 2010.  Although taxes will rise $42 for a home assessed at the township average of $350,000, the $28 million budget is actually LESS that it was in 2009 by about $78,000.  The last time spending actually decreased was in 1990 - twenty years ago.

The modest tax increase, as well as salary freezes and reductions by various unions and department heads, was used to offset a staggering loss in state aid of $840,000 and cover $750,000 in state-mandated increases.

There is just one piece of the budget puzzle left.  Township officials are still negotiating with the PBA over how to cover reductions in the police budget.  If some type of wage freeze or other concession is not found, some positions will likely be eliminated.

Given the concessions already made by every other township union and association to save the jobs of their members, it would be wonderful to report that the PBA has found some way to do the same.

GoHillsborough (dot blogspot dot com)

Today's post marks the third anniversary of Gillette on Hillsborough.

Over the past three years the blog has received about 25,000 visits, and almost 40,000 page views.  Not bad for a blog that has never mentioned Miley Cyrus, Gossip Girl, or any of the Kardashians!

The vast majority of readers still arrive at the blog through a search engine, which is just fine.

Many find their way here through links on other sites, or have this blog bookmarked on their computers.

I am contemplating changing the web address of the blog from cnhillsborough.blogspot.com - a reference to the Courier News - to gohillsborough.blogspot.com - which can stand for Gillette on Hillsborough, or just "Go Hillsborough!".  There really is no good reason to keep the vestigial reference to the Courier News affixed firmly to the front of the web site.

I only hope readers will still be able to find the blog after the switch, as Blogger offers no good way to automatically redirect to the correct site.

Anyway, stay tuned for a switch around July 1, 2010.