The Central New Jersey Home News from New Brunswick, New Jersey • 1

NORTH Home News Tribune NEIGHBORS B5 MIDDLESEX COUNTY: Group lobbies to open or extend bus routes in Old Bridge, Jamesburg, Monroe, East Brunswick, South Amboy and Perth Amboy. B3 SOUTH PLAINFIELD: Florist puts a bloom in the cheeks of some volunteers. B3 METUCHEN: Board member questions need for Advanced Placement classes. B4 Local OBITUARIES B6 DATEBOOK B7 BUSINESS B8 Thursday December 24, 1998 i wMw, uj Whatever the religion, be at peace called new hirings illegal Former officers In April, the state Division of Pensions, Police and Fire Retirement System cleared the way for the borough to return the officers to their former positions. Borough officials contend, however, that they are ineligible for reinstatement because they exceed age requirements set by state statute, Borough Attorney Craig Coughlin Citing state administrative codes, Allen said the reinstatement of for-; mer officers takes priority over any new appointments.

Coughlin said the borough was within its rights to hire the new officers. He said state statutes on police eligibility supersede administrative codes on reinstatement. But if a judge rules in favor of the two veteran officers, Coughlin said, See Case, Page B2 OUT A FAMILY TRADITION Both took disability retirement in 1997. Both men now say they have been deemed medically fit for active service. According to the attorney representing both men, John C.

Allen, the borough passed over the two when recently hiring six new officers. rr ff ft II 6r i 9 I rrrJ 4.5 said. According to the borough's interpretation of state law, the men would have had to return by age 45. Terebetsky was on the force for 12 years when he was injured on the job. He was a detective when he left.

Hundemann was on the force for 11 years when he was injured in a car accident off the job. He was a detective sergeant. If If Ml 4 It" i i I iH, Ail'1, 9A 1 much lately. His hectic schedule hasn't allowed it, and that bothers him. He fears once he stops playing there will be nobody to take his place.

"I'm it. When I'm not around, they don't get played," Harding said. "I tried to get (my two brothers) to Neighbors i OFFICE IN ACTION Workers' gift swap yields to aid effort By DIANE HERBST STAFF WRITER About a decade ago, the faculty and staff at Rutgers' Cen-' ter for Government Services tired of spending money on Christmas gifts for office mates. They wanted to put their dollars to- RUTGERS UNIVERSITY a a So each year since then, when talk of the an-n a 1 party arises, a notice is passed around, asking for donations to ANNIVERSARY Needy Cases Donors to the Needy Cases Fund: Tax-deductible contributions may be sent to The Needy Cases Fund, do Home News Tribune, 35 Kennedy East Brunswick, NJ 08816. the Needy Cases Fund of the Home News Tribune, in lieu of office gifts.

This year's donation, from the staff of 26, was $245. "It makes more sense than to buy somebody something they don't need; it's a better use of our money," said Linda Guardabascio, departmental administrator of the Center, a part of the Edward J. Blous-tein School of Planning and Public Policy in New Brunswick. The center provides continuing education classes for; local government officials. Almost every year, a differ--ent staffer takes over the du-.

ties of collecting the money. This year, it was the turn of Jackie Zelinka, Program Development Administrator. Guardabascio noted that the Center staff doesn't designate a specific case when mailing in their check. "We just do it," she said. MARCOS PAGAN STAFF WRITER Two former police officers want to be reinstated, but borough officials say they're too old to return.

On Jan. 4, a CARTERET state Superior Court judge will decide the case of Wayne Hundemann, 46, and Robert Terebetsky, 49, who left the police force in 1997 on disability retirement. RINGING By BRENDA BARBOSA STAFF WRITER orris Harding is the modern-day man in the bell tower. True, the New Brunswick man doesn't have the crooked gait or meager existence of Victor Hugo's tragic hero. He isn't trapped in isolation or madly in love with a gypsy woman.

No, Harding has a funky red sports car, a bright smile and a hobby not too many people have. For 15 years, Harding, 32, has climbed the rickety steps leading to the dusty bell tower at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church on Somerset Street to make sweet music. "They say all surgeons are in some way artistic," said Harding, a second-year resident at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and a former choirboy. "I guess this is my way of 64 I'm it.

When I'm not around, they don't get played." Norris Harding BELL RINGER showing it." High in the church's steeple hang nine copper bells. Yards of frazzled rope stream down the middle of the tower connecting the clappers to a "keyboard" some 50 feet below. Dangling from thick wooden beams, the bells look old and tired, not exactly the mighty instruments cast in New York and hoisted into place in the late 1800s. But with the yank of a lever, Harding summons the bells alive. Pushing down hard on the wooden keys, eyes fixed on a yellowing piece of sheet music, Harding cranks out the notes to "Come All Ye Faithful." Down below on the street, curious' passers-by gaze up at the tower, almost startled by the powerful sounds that cut through the chilly air.

"It sounds lovely," chirped one woman. Tired and out of breath yet clearly enjoying the attention Harding turns to a reporter who had schlepped up the skinny stairs to watch him play one afternoon, and with a slight smile asks, "Any more requests?" Without waiting for a response, he rings out another tune. Indeed, playing the bells is something Harding loves to do. It's a tradition that has lived in his family for several generations. His grandfather used to tug on the heavy ropes with his bare hands before Harding was born, and his older cousin played during midnight mass.

"I used to sit on the steps and watch my cousin play," Harding said. "I just thought it was the cool-est thing." Over the years the tower's graying walls have been carved with initials, some belonging to members of the Harding clan. On one wall, a worn- TomLo-pardo, left, and Michael Marchese build a wheelchair ramp for disabled neighbor Kay KozmainEast Brunswick yesterday. RICH SCHULTZ Special to the Home News Tribune The question to the -mayor was a fat soft-ball, lobbed by me of all people. This week, the North Brunswick police Department held a 10th birthday party for Justin Maldonado, the victim of unspeakable horror.

Maldonado and his mother were walking along the shoulder of Route 1 when a drunken hit-and-run driver struck and killed the mother. The boy, an orily child now living with grandparents in Perth Amboy, saw the whole thing. y. The police took up a collection and came up with more than $1,800. Local businesses donated toys and restaurants donated food, and the boy and his grandparents appreci- I atedthekind- ness.

The soft-ball question to Mayor went something RICK MALWITZ like this: What does this party tell you about your township? It said people are kind, and cops have a heart, he said. He was proud to be mayor. It also was an appropriate gesture, considering this is the Christmas season. There are bad things to say about the Christmas season about the mall-to-mall hustle and bustle. I can handle hustle.

Bustle is another story. There is hypocrisy about feeling compelled to give Uncle Hank and Aunt Marilyn a toaster oven, which they don't need and you don't want to buy. Many of us fear the true meaning of Christmas is lost, though we're the one's who are lost, since biblical historians say the best evidence indicates Jesus was born in February. Still, anytime we can get pagans to sing "God and sinners reconciled," we consider it a small victory. Modern Christmas was invented in the 1800s by Charles Dickens and R.H.

Macy. In the 1950s, according to historian Daniel Boorstin, Jews figured It was futile to fight the Christmas spirit, so they elevated an obscure holiday called Hahukkah. Over the last few decades increasing numbers of African-Americans have observed Kwanzaa, a holiday aimed at fostering awareness of African roots. In 1997 it even mer-' ited a stamp. This year, many Of us learned about Ramadan, when President Clinton said lie hoped he could get the bombing out of the way before the Islamic holiday began.

How thoughtful. Yet to be heard from are gay orthodox Celtics, who I suppose have something to celebrate in December. Several cops in North Brunswick mentioned The Season at the party for Justin Maldonado. After all the kid had gone through, he deserved a lift. It was rich to see him so happy, and rich for the men and women at the Municipal Building to give the boy a present or some money for a trust fundorjustahug.

What Matacera said about the good people of North Brunswick he could have said about any town. Most people want to do good; the rotten ones just get more press. This time of year, kids sing carols in nursing homes, the president serves lasagne at a soup kitchen, newspapers tend to needy families with holiday funds and a pizza chain donates pies to Salva- tion Army shelters in 14 cities. Its theme: "Pizza on Earth, Good Will to Men." "Christmas. Hanukkah.

Kwanzaa. Ramadan. Pizza all around. Tis the season to be jolly. The more the merrier.

1 Rick Malwitz's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Call us: Fran Kosa, 1 -tm 'J Iff vTl ll JASON TOWLENStaff photographer Norris Harding practices playing the bells in the bell tower of St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church in New Brunswick recently, top and above right. Harding, shown with the bells, is the third generation of his family to play the bells. an's face, sketched in black chalk, watches over the keys.

"Who put her there?" asked the reporter. "It was there even before I got here," responded Harding. "But I wouldn't put that in the article." i Harding hasn't been able to play do it, but they have other interests." There's another problem he's worried about, too. The bells and their carriage are old and haven't been repaired since they were installed more than 100 years ago. The ropes See Bells, Page B2 unite to aid woman, 81 By GEORGE FRANCY STAFF WRITER Even today, Christmas Eve, Kay Kozma will be going for her dialysis treatment.

But the trip will be a lot smoother this time. EAST Kozma's neighbors yesterday BRUNSWICK built a wooden ramp sloping down MMMiMn from the front door of Kozma's Highview Road home. Instead of a treacherous struggle down the steps, Kozma can now glide in her wheelchair to the car that her husband, Ernie, uses three times a week to drive her to treatments. The ramp has lifted the neighbors' spirits, helping to beat the frigid 20-degree or lower temperatures as they worked yesterday. "Happy to do it," said Michael Marchese, the head ramp builder, who had no hesitation in taking on the project for his neighbors of 30 years.

"What more could you do?" "It's the right time of year," said his brother, Rob Marchese, who helped yesterday, along with Tom Lo-pardo and Kevin McCann, who are both New Brunswick firefighters. See Ramp, Page B2 Woodbridge bureau manager, (732) 602-0700 Fax: (732) 726-0801 E-mail: woodbrdgthnt.com On the Internet: www.injersey.comthnt.