Clinton Township Newsletter

2 j u l y 2 0 2 0 W W W . C L I N T O N T W P N E W S L E T T E R . C O M NOW is a GREAT TIME to put your house on the market! Considering Buying, Listing, or Selling? the Right Realtor Really Makes the Difference! Call Sherry, Your Clinton Township Specialist & Neighbor. Shirley (Sherry) Havens Sales Associate cell: 908.507.4927 office: 908.735.8080 shirleyhavens@gmail.com www.SherryHavens.com Locally Owned and Operated by Phil & Diane Koury 185 Center Street, Clinton 908.735.4499 – from 1996 – Eric Kafarski, Emma Landis Gabriel Murjani, Gerard Murjani, Jill Paciga and Jake Rae! Clinton Township NHHS from the Clinton Township Council In 1971 we moved to Clinton Township in Hunterdon County because we wanted to live in the "COUNTRY." Our 1.25 acre plot of land was located on a cul-de-sac and, although there was a house on one side, we were otherwise surrounded by woods. In the back a stream trickled by and across the street tall pines rose majestically. We loved the serenity, the privacy, even the mild inconvenience of having to drive four miles for a loaf of bread or a quart of milk. For many years we were infatuated with being country folk. And then one day a "For Sale" sign appeared on the land next door. Soon after, another one was stuck on a pine tree across the street. I was more than a little unhappy, and confess to pulling the signs down after dark in hopes that no one would know there was available land and should therefore not intrude on our revered territory. Well, if a sign is there, they will come! And they did. And they bought the land next door and across the street. And they built homes and they moved in and spoiled everything. I planted a row of fast growing evergreens on one side so I would one day be unable to see the house next door. And I resolved to be less than cordial to the newcomers. But it wasn't easy. Amazingly, the family next door was NICE. And the couple across the street was NICE. And there were kids who were NICE. Reluctantly, I conceded that maybe it wasn't the end of the world after all and, as the evergreens that I planted grew taller and wider, the more I wanted to look around and over them to observe our neighbor's activities. I started to worry when they weren't home on time on a snowy night, or if the dog barked uncharacteristically long. We exchanged sugar and eggs, and picked up each other's mail and newspapers during vacation times. We weren't just neighbors anymore. We were friends. The Blizzard of 1996 brought into sharper focus our dependence on these neighbors. For one thing, we are now 25 years older than when we moved in – not so agile – not so sturdy anymore. They phoned. "How are you?" "Do you need help?" "Do you have enough food?" The teenager next door (whom I assumed, in error, would only be successful as a player of loud music) came over and shoveled a path to our outside office through four feet drifts. His dad shoveled the front steps so we could open the door and at least make it to the driveway where we were hopeful someone with a plow would enable us to emerge before April. How comforting and reassuring that we were not living in this house surrounded only by woods and a stream. Instead, we were surrounded only by caring, concerned neighbors without whom I think we'd have headed for a nearby condo years ago. They enhance life at 29 Charlotte Drive in more ways than they will ever know. So I guess this is a confession of sorts. Was I ever wrong. Was my thinking ever distorted – my assumptions off the wall. You really can teach an old dog new tricks. Of course, I'm not jumping with glee over that new development of 30 homes behind us now. But it's possible they're NICE people – maybe with NICE kids. As I pass their homes on my daily walk around, I figure they'll be here lots longer than I will... and living in the country will always be pretty good!

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