Just Plane Cops

In the photo are members of the Perth Amboy Police Department, pulling on a rope attached to a Boeing 737 at Newark Airport. For what possible reason are these officers trying to move a jetliner by hand? For the Special Olympics.

For their efforts the Perth Amboy Police Department won first place in the 13th annual Continental Airlines Plane Pull, held in September. They were the best of more than 40 teams from around the state in an event that this raised more than $87,000, according to a representative from Special Olympics New Jersey. Most of the funds were donated by community businesses supporting the teams.

While the sum raised is impressive, so is the feat. The aircraft weighed 93,000 pounds, and the Perth Amboy team moved it 12 feet – the proscribed distance – in 5.32 seconds. We sometimes have trouble moving ourselves 12 feet in 5.32 seconds.

The 20-man Perth Amboy team was not the only winning team. While they claimed honors for the fastest pull, the team from Marlboro Township won the "lowest weight" category, for the team with the lightest combined weight. The six-member Marlboro team, weighing less than 970 pound in total, nonetheless hauled the 46-ton place twelve feet.

See the complete results at http://www.sonj.org/LawEnforcement/PlanePull/Home.php

HI

A significant 50th anniversary took place this past summer: The 50th anniversary of Statehood for Hawaii. But, unlike Alaska’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of its Statehood some months earlier, in Hawaii there were no gala parties or grand commemorations. Instead, the anniversary passed with little more than a sober conference on Hawaii’s place in the modern world.

The reason for the low-key approach is that there exists lingering discomfort with the U.S. takeover of the islands in 1893 and with the commercial exploitation of Hawaiian culture that followed Statehood in 1959.

Still, there is no question that this is a milestone worthy of consideration. We have now been a union of 50 states for 50 years.

Statehood for both Alaska and Hawaii in an eight-month period in 1959 occurred while we were a child, just learning how the United States grew from 13 colonies. As a result, we got the false impression that adding states was something that was done regularly. Only as years passed with no more new states did we begin to gain the appropriate perspective.

Fan of the Flying Fuzz

In November 2008 we blogged about the late Larry Michaels, the law enforcement professional whose avocation was building and racing single-seat race cars. We noted the respect and admiration that Michaels engendered both on the job and at the race track.

Recently, we received a note concerning Michaels and our blog entry:

I read the blog entry regarding Larry Michaels. It was a touching tribute to this wonderful gentleman. I am proud to say that I was the first to call him the "Flying Fuzz." It was my "bed sheet banners" that flew from the balcony at the old Atlantic City race track, and pictures of them made the racing programs on several occasions. Larry and his best friend Doug Craig left us way too early, they were two of the greatest men I ever had the pleasure to call my friends. Thank you for sharing this, it really means so much to know other people respected him like I did, and always will.

--Captain Stan Bandura, Parsippany, NJ, Police (Ret.)

Thank you, Captain Bandura, for remembering Larry Michaels as we do.

The Fall Classic

The baseball World Series, about to begin as we write, pits the American League New York Yankees against the National League Philadelphia Phillies, and New Jersey is abuzz.

Yankee fans populate the northern portion of the state, and Phillies fans populate the southern portion. During political season we have become accustomed to "red states" and "blue states," but as the accompanying map shows, New Jersey is blending into purple this week.

The map is from the Sporting News’ blog, where Dan Levy, writing on that blog, does a good job of explaining the geography and the loyalties. He does suffer from the unfortunate tendency for journalists to feel obligated to include a little Jersey-bashing ("New Jersey is an odd place to be"), but he does understand the fan base.

Here at The Badge Company, we are not fanatical about either team. As natives of northern New Jersey, we feel a connection to the Yankees. Having worked a promotional event with Mike Schmidt some years ago, we feel a connection to the Phillies. As residents of Hunterdon County, we are in that broad purple swath. We can’t lose.

Play ball! (weather permitting)

Local Pundit

In our hometown – not the town in which we live today but the town we think of as our hometown – there is a little weekly newspaper that reports on such matters as building code violations and school soccer scores.

There appears in this newspaper each week a column by a writer who likely aspires to the Op-Ed page of a major daily, but who will just as likely never rise beyond his current position. Generally we find his writings to be tedious. But recently a line in his column struck a nerve.

"The export of our industrial base is rapidly turning us into an upscale Third World country."

We think that this writer has never been more correct.

But it is a pessimistic line, and who wants to be a pessimist? We don’t, and it is one of the reasons that the overwhelming majority of the products offered by The Badge Company of New Jersey are US-made.

A Fitting Final Honor

In today’s difficult economy, innovation is a key to success, and we have come upon an innovator who found inspiration in the midst of sorrow.

Nancie Hamilton, a firefighter’s widow from Essex County, New Jersey, was disappointed to find that there were no funeral urns available that were suitable for paying tribute to her late husband’s 32 years of service. After receiving her husband’s cremains in an ordinary box, and finding only the commonly-available generic urns, she decided to develop a product that would do justice to the men and women who, like her husband, served with dedication and tenacity.

The result is the Final Honor firefighter urns, which are touching in their concept and beautiful in their execution. Constructed of copper and brass, the urns resemble the classic fire extinguishers of the early 20th century. Each urn is 13.5 inches high and weighs a substantial 9.6 pounds. The urns are fitted with a blank faceplate that can be engraved with a suitable memorial, and there is a provision for the firefighter’s badge.

Nancie took her inspiration and made a business of it. In addition to the picture shown here, you can see more pictures and learn more about the product at www.thefinalhonor.com. And we at the Badge Company of New Jersey are pleased to be able to provide custom firefighter badges for display on Final Honor urns.

Not That Rambo

This guy’s name is Rambo. But he is not John Rambo, the central figure in fictional action movies. No, he is Roy Rambo, the central figure in very real ongoing court proceedings.

Seven years ago, he shot his wife in the back during an argument. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

In recent years he has made repeated trips to civil court, seeking a share of proceeds from his late wife's estate.

We are not lawyers. We cannot profess to understand the intricacies of the court process. We cannot say that we know the details of this case. But on the surface – the guy kills his wife, then seeks a share of her estate – the particulars appear to indicate nothing nice about this guy.

So far, all his requests have been rebuffed. May it continue to be so.