Jon Bon Jovi returns to Sayreville: This week in Central Jersey history, July 3-9

Brad Wadlow, MyCentralJersey.com
·6 min read
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Rock star Jon Bon Jovi returned to his hometown of Sayreville on Monday, July 7, 2013 to present a $1 million check from his band to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund Inc.

"I know that this million dollars sounds like a lot, but it is really just a drop in the bucket, and I know there are people still suffering. But what I like to call the power of we coming together ― that means you, me, us ― we are taking a step today to rebuild lives."

Here's a look at events that happened in Central Jersey from five, 10, 25, 50 and 100 years ago this week.

Jon Bon Jovi hugs Gov. Chris Christie prior to donating $1 million to superstorm Sandy relief during a ceremony in his hometown of Sayreville.
Jon Bon Jovi hugs Gov. Chris Christie prior to donating $1 million to superstorm Sandy relief during a ceremony in his hometown of Sayreville.

Five years ago

July 3, 2018: Gov. Phil Murphy signed bills into law giving greater rights to transgender people and allowing tax credits for filmmaking in NJ.

July 4: Milltown's highly anticipated annual July 4 fireworks display, estimated to attract tens of thousands of viewers each year, was canceled after the vendor, Fireworks Extravaganza, failed to deliver the merchandise.

July 4: It was reported Carli Lloyd, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA women's soccer World Player of the Year, headlined Rutgers University's 2018 Athletics Hall of Fame induction class.

July 5: Christopher Koller, 41, of Piscataway, was sentenced to 66 1/2 years in state prison for the murder of Beth Bezek, of Raritan Borough, who was found dead after being forced out of a third-floor window after an altercation in his home nearly two years prior.

July 6: Joao C. Torres, 27, of Monroe, was sentenced to 30 years in state prison for striking his stepfather, Christopher Ernst Sr., 46, three times in the head with an ax, killing him.

July 6: Joyce DeWitt, who starred in television's "Three's Company," would portray Mother Superior Sister May Regina in "Nunsense" at Hunterdon Hills Playhouse in Hampton, beginning Tuesday, July 10, 2018, it was reported.

10 years ago

A protest staged by Rutgers students and unions was held in solidarity with action around the world, including the workers and community members affected by the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed 1,127 workers.
A protest staged by Rutgers students and unions was held in solidarity with action around the world, including the workers and community members affected by the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed 1,127 workers.

July 3, 2013: Nearly three dozen people became U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony held by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials at the Plainfield Public Library.

July 4: It was reported Rutgers students participating in an international action protested at the Gap store in Bridgewater on Saturday, June 29, 2013 to demand that the company sign onto the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.

July 5: "The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream," featuring multimedia effects and actors in addition to the original band members, was presented at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel.

July 5: Five members of the Somerset Patriots would suit up for the Freedom Division against the Liberty Division in the Atlantic League All-Star Game on Wednesday, July 10, 2013 at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Md., it was reported.

July 9: It was reported Raritan Valley Community College and Johnson & Wales University had entered into a new agreement that would provide for the seamless transfer of graduates of RVCC's food and beverage management program to the Providence, R.I.-based university.

1998

July 4, 1998: A 10-year-old boy and his aunt, whose names were not released, were injured in a drive-by shooting on Remsen Avenue in New Brunswick. Police said neither was thought to have been an intended target.

July 6: In Somerville, Superior Court Judge Leonard Arnold denied the motion for a post-conviction relief hearing that was filed the previous year by John DeMarco, of Manville, who received a life sentence for killing his girlfriend, Karen DeStefanis, in 1990.

More: Police save boy in Montgomery: This week in Central Jersey history, June 26-July 2

July 8: A state appeals court struck down a provision of NJ welfare law that said newcomers could receive only as much welfare as they would have gotten in their previous state.

July 9: The Lilith Fair, featuring Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, Jabber and more, would be held on Monday, July 13, 1998, at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, it was reported.

New Jersey’s Shawn Mayer of Hillsborough, left, tackles New York’s Sean Ryan.
New Jersey’s Shawn Mayer of Hillsborough, left, tackles New York’s Sean Ryan.

July 9: In high school football, New Providence guard Vincent Gabriele, Franklin wideout Nick Solomon and Hillsborough safety Shawn Mayer were part of the supporting cast for Red Bank star tailback Eric McCoo as New Jersey beat New York, 36-20, in the inaugural Governor's Bowl at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway.

1973

July 3, 1973: Somerset County Judge Robert E. Gaynor made public his order that Green Brook's newly-opened Adult Gift Shop stop selling "sexually-oriented literature, films, tapes and devices."

July 3: Defending Senior Women's champion Ruth Rowe established a new world record in the International Round and another standard in Wednesday, July 4, 1973's Hereford Round as she held the lead after the first two days of the Eastern Archery Association's 94th annual tournament in New Brunswick.

More: Edison's Wuss sets pogo record: This week in Central Jersey history, June 19-25

July 5: It was reported a $1 million judgment, believed to be one of the largest in NJ's history, had been awarded to Martha E. Webster, of Westfield, whose husband, Franklin F. Webster, was killed due to a traffic accident two years prior.

July 6: Superior Court Judge David D. Furman ruled the NJ Supreme Court erred in 1971 by setting limits on fees lawyers could charge clients in negligence cases.

Among the 12-member cast of “Under Milk Wood” at Foothill Playhouse were, left to right, Arlene Szabo, Liz Dunnell, Nina Plescia and Dorothea Digrius.
Among the 12-member cast of “Under Milk Wood” at Foothill Playhouse were, left to right, Arlene Szabo, Liz Dunnell, Nina Plescia and Dorothea Digrius.

July 4: "Under Milk Wood," featuring a 12-member cast in 65 different roles, opened at the Foothill Playhouse in Middlesex.

July 9: Lena Horne opened at the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, where she would perform through Saturday, July 14, on a double-billing with composer-arranger-conductor Henry Mancini.

1923

July 3, 1923: Eleven persons were injured and taken to Muhlenberg Hospital in Plainfield following an accident in which an automobile crashed head on into a standing trolley car on Bound Brook Road in Dunellen.

July 4: Thomas W. Darling was rendered unconscious by a bolt of lightning which struck his house on Forster Avenue in Plainfield during a heavy thunderstorm. The house was completely destroyed by fire.

July 4: The Ball-Kirch, American Legion, baseball team of North Plainfield shut the Westfield Legion out 7-0 in seven innings at Westfield before the game was stopped due to rain.

July 5: One of the biggest stills ever operated by bootleggers in NJ was wrecked by Federal agents on a 100-acre farm between North Branch and Lamington in Somerset County.

Milton Sills and Walter Long in “The Isle of Lost Ships.”
Milton Sills and Walter Long in “The Isle of Lost Ships.”

July 6-7: The movie, "The Isle of Lost Ships," starring Milton Sills, Anna Q. Nilsson, Frank Campeau and Walter Long, was shown at Reade's Strand Theatre in Perth Amboy.

Brad Wadlow is a staff writer for MyCentralJersey.com

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: This week in NJ history, July 3-9