Pictured are Matt McSherry of Milltown and Mat Chibbaro, formerly of Milltown. Currently, both serve as volunteers with the College Park Volunteer Fire Department in Prince Georges County, MD

Matt M. began with the CPVFD when he was a freshman at the University of MD last year. Currently he is a criminal justice major. In the photo, taken at CPVFD’s annual banquet, Matt is showing his award for probationary firefighter of the year. At the same banquet, Mat C. received his pin for 30 years of service to the department.

Currently, Matt M. lives in the fire station. This is a common concept in stations near Washington, DC, where students get housing in exchange for their service to a fire department. The CPVFD runs almost 4,000 calls per year – almost evenly split between fire and EMS calls. See us at www.cpvfd.org.

Before Matt M. came to MD, I was contacted by Brian Harto, former Milltown fire chief, to tell me about Matt, and I’m glad he did. I knew Brian’s father Ed while serving with him in the 1970’s when Rutgers had their own fire department.

"I always say, 'Get a shepherd and never go to the bathroom alone again,'" Thomsson jokes, noting that the German shepherd's loyalty and devotion is unsurpassed.

Last year, Thomsson helped find new homes for 35 German shepherd dogs through Garden State German Shepherd Rescue (GSGSR), which is based in Milltown. The organization currently has eight dogs in foster homes and three dogs that are still with their owners but need new homes, according to Thomsson, the group's secretary. There are other available German shepherds that must remain in shelters due to a lack of foster homes, she said.

With the economic crisis at hand, more dogs and cats are being surrendered to shelters like GSGSR due to foreclosures and job losses.

Thomsson was one of the original founders of GSGSR in 2003, and is the only founding member still on the board of directors. The others moved out of state or left the group, she said. All of the founders came from a now-defunct organization called New Jersey German Shepherd Rescue, she said.

What people love about the breed is also a double-edge sword, according to Thomsson. The dogs are very intelligent, easy to train, and love to work and have a job to do, she noted. But this means that if they are not kept mentally and physically stimulated, they will use their own mental and physical energy to stimulate themselves, she said.

"I know German shepherds who have figured out how to open up gates," she said. Because it is a dominant breed, the German shepherd needs to be socialized when it is young.

"If they are bred, raised and trained correctly, you can't beat them," she said.

According to the GSGSR Web site, the German shepherd excels in dog activities including schutzhund, tracking, obedience, agility, flyball and ring sport.

When asked who should and should not own a German shepherd, Thomsson said they are excellent dogs for active people who will give them things to do. They are not the breed for couch-potato types, she said. If trained properly, they make for wonderful family dogs, she said. Thomsson has had German shepherds all her life, and her childhood dog was one year older than she. Thomsson recalled as a small child being able to put her hand in the dog's mouth or pull on her tongue, and the dog never did anything.

"We were her family, her pack," she said. The dog was protective, however, and if a stranger was in the house, the dog was right by that person.

Although Thomsson does not have children, her young niece often spends the night at her house, and her current German shepherd is wonderful with her. Because they do not know the background of all the dogs up for adoption, GSGSR will not generally adopt out to families with children under 7 years old, she said.

Adoption fee are $350 for puppies to 1 year old; $300 for dogs 1 to 6 years old; and $150 for dogs 7 years old and up.

The dogs are rescued from shelters all over the state. Thomsson said she particularly likes working with the Monmouth County SPCA, Eatontown, because of the quality of the staff. GSGSR also pulls dogs from the Edison Animal Shelter, Ewing Animal Shelter, Old Bridge Animal Shelter, Sayrebrook Pet Adoption in Sayreville and others.

All dogs are temperament tested, and Thomsson does many of the evaluations herself. This includes checking to see if a dog is aggressive about food or high-value items, the latter of which is done with a bully stick to see if it can be taken away from the animal, she said. A stare test is done in which the evaluator gets down on the dog's level and stares into its eyes to gauge a reaction, she said. Other things Thomsson may do during an evaluation includes massage, handling the dog all over its body, lightly stepping on its paws, and soft pinches to see what the dog will do. If the dog passes the test, they may be placed for adoption on the GSGSR's Web site. GSGSR adopts out to New Jersey, Staten Island, eastern Pennsylvania and Rockland County, N.Y., residents.

It was with deep sadness that we learned of the passing of our dear friend, David Crabiel. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time. By his passing, "The Greatest Little Town in All the Land" has lost its favorite son and biggest fan. A living, breathing fixture within our town has now become a part of our Borough's proud history.

While unquestionably revered and respected as a community leader, for those of us fortunate enough to have known him personally, and to have called him friend, Dave was so much more. He gave us strength in time of trouble, wisdom in time of uncertainty, and sharing in time of happiness. He will always be by our side, spurring us on to do more and challenging us to be better.

Loyalty, trust and strength of character are qualities never easily described, but for those of us who served with Dave, and who now struggle with the raw emotion raised by his passing, he was all of those things. He loved life completely and he lived it intensely. His was a meaningful life devoted to the service of others. In defining and carrying on his legacy, he leaves to all of us what he said, what he did, and what he stood for.

Today we mourn him, and from this time forward we will miss him. A devoted and beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, leader, mentor, colleague and friend, we have suffered a loss that only time will ease, but never erase.

Respectfully,

Craig L. Corson

Chairman - Milltown Democratic Organization

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Crabiel, 78, Devoted Life to Public Service
Longtime freeholder director dies weeks after re-election

Middlesex County has lost a long-standing and perhaps its most prominent public servant.

 
Freeholder Director David B. Crabiel died Monday after being rushed to the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick that morning. He was 78 years old.
 

"He was one of my best friends," said Freeholder Deputy Director Stephen "Pete" Dalina. "He was a good man, a good person. He always worked for the people in Middlesex County."

 
Crabiel, a 27-year veteran of the freeholder board who was re-elected to a new term last month, was hospitalized for several days last month, but had returned home in time to spend Thanksgiving at home with his family. Dalina said he was shocked to receive the news, since he had spoken to Crabiel only a few days prior.

 
The longtime freeholder and funeral home owner was a lifelong resident of Milltown, where his family of public servants first settled in 1852.

 
Crabiel's career of service began with his country, as he served with the U.S. Army, stationed in Alaska during the Korean War. His service to the community began in the town over half a century ago, when at age 16 he became the youngest member of the Milltown Rescue Squad. He won a seat on the Borough Council in 1960 and took the mayoral post seven years later, serving in that role for the next 11 years.

 
"He never took a penny as the mayor of Milltown," said Old Bridge Mayor and Middlesex County Treasurer Jim Phillips, who spent time as a freeholder with Crabiel. "He did it for the love of the people."

 
From there, Crabiel went on to be appointed to the Board of Chosen Freeholders. He served from 1978 to 1991, when he lost a re-election bid, then took a seat again two years later. Crabiel served as freeholder director for 13 years and finance chairman for 16 years.

 
"He was the last hurrah," Phillips said. "There will never be another one like him. He is the last in a great line of public servants."

 
Dalina agreed, saying Crabiel cared greatly for county residents. One of his major ongoing goals was to continually cut the budget and lower taxes for the people of Middlesex County, Dalina said.

 
Another of his passions was open space preservation. Dalina said he worked alongside Crabiel and Phillips to create the county's Open Space Preservation Committee. He often touted the county's preservation of 7,000 acres, and said it was his goal to get that number to 10,000.

 
Of the many projects on which Dalina and Crabiel worked together, Dalina said the creation of 15 parks throughout the county was a notable one.

 
Phillips recalled working with Crabiel over the years, saying the county figurehead often raised his voice during conversations to get his point across, and that he was strong in his convictions. One could always count on him saying what he meant, according to Phillips.

 
"A handshake with David Crabiel was stronger than any piece of paper," Phillips said. "When he gave you his word on something, you could count on it. That's the way he conducted government, and that's the way he was as an individual."

 
Phillips said Crabiel was not only an admired colleague, but also a good friend.
Gov. Jon Corzine issued a statement Monday regarding Crabiel's passing and expressing his condolences to his family and friends.

 
"It is with great sadness today that I learned of the passing of David Crabiel. He was a good, decent man and first class public servant," Corzine said. "As a borough councilman, a mayor, and as a county freeholder, David exemplified the finest qualities of a public servant, working tirelessly for those he was elected to represent during his 27 years of service."

 
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) described Crabiel as "a dedicated public servant whose effectiveness was matched only by his pride in Middlesex."

 
"For the past three decades, he worked day in and day out to improve the quality of life of his constituents and he had many achievements to show for it," Menendez said. "Indeed, the results of his work allowed him to make his trademark statement about Middlesex County being 'The greatest county in all of the land.'"

 
The political arena was not Crabiel's only area of service to others. He was honorary chairman of the Melvin H. Motolinsky Research Foundation; honorary co-chairman of the Middlesex County Human Relations Commission; member of the Cerebral Palsy Association board of directors; member of Keep Middlesex Moving Inc.; member of the North Jersey Transportation Planning Commission Inc.; and member of the Advisory Board of the Raritan Valley Workshop, among other associations.

 
Crabiel was also a past president of the Milltown Lions Club and an honorary member of the borough's fire department and the Milltown Jaycees. He belonged to St. Paul's Church, Milltown.

 
His legacy was ensured even before his death, with the creation of the David B. Crabiel Scholarship Foundation. Created by friends in 1992, the foundation awards an annual scholarship to a Middlesex County high school student pursuing higher education.

 
Aside from his public service, Crabiel was a successful businessman. He opened The Crabiel Home for Funerals in Milltown in 1956, and later founded Crabiel Inc., which operates six funeral homes in the state.

 
Crabiel is survived by his wife Mary; and his son and daughter-in-law, David. J. and Joan, of Belfast, Maine; his daughters Marybeth Sondergaard of Metuchen; Kathy Jo Thorne of Hightstown; Carolee Grocott of Milltown; and Paulette J. and her husband Mayor Brian C. Wahler of Piscataway. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Jessica Smith - Staff Reporter
The Sentinel

"I wrote the script around the location," Schaff said.

Filming has been ongoing for the past two weeks in the borough, incorporating local nonprofessional actors to bring Schaff 's characters to life.

The 21-year-old director, who lives in East Brunswick, said she decided to use nonprofessional actors to follow in the tradition of some French filmmakers, like Robert Bresson.

"He would take nonactors and put them in these intense roles to keep it as organic as possible," Schaff said.

In the case of Madeline, the main character of "The Yellow House Mystery," Schaff had the role cast before it was written.

Mara Burack, a 10-year-old East Brunswick girl for whom Schaff has baby-sat for five years, helped provide inspiration for writing the film, and seemed a natural for the lead.

"She's a character," Schaff said. "She is very, very intelligent for a 10-year-old. I tell her parents that I would hang out with her even if I wasn't baby-sitting her."

Mara acted in one of Schaff's shorter films at the age of 8, and though the youngster was nervous about "wasting film" during the shooting of "The Yellow House Mystery," she has a great grasp of the character and nothing to worry about, Schaff said.

Mara's parents, Michael Burack and Elizabeth Laufer, have also been helpful in Schaff's work, as in allowing her to shoot scenes in their home.

"They've been so supportive," Schaff said. "They've been amazing."

Like Mara, Madeline is 10 years old and smart for her age. Like Schaff as a child, Madeline is a voracious reader, particularly a fan of the Boxcar Children Series' "The Yellow House Mystery."

"I've always been a big reader, and I knew I wanted to make a childhood film," Schaff said.

In the film, Madeline gleans the adventures for which she longs by reading books. When Mrs. Hunter, her fifth-grade teacher, presents her with "The Yellow House Mystery" to read, it opens up a whole new world for the adventuresome girl. As the children in the book seek to uncover the truth about a hermit in their town, Madeline decides to do the same, searching for answers about the recluse in her own quiet hometown in the borough.

"I've always been fascinated about the idea of a hermit," Schaff said.

While the story of Sammy Lewis, a small-town hermit, and the secrets that surround him provide for a compelling plot, the film delves into a deeper theme that touches each of its main characters.

"In my films, I define tragedy by the loss of passion," Schaff said. "I'm really interested in that."

Schaff's favorite film "The Red Shoes" explores such a theme, and she calls upon an exchange between two of its main characters to explain her own passion for the art form.

"Why do you want to dance?" Boris Lermontov asks Vicky Page in the movie.

"Why do you want to live?" she asks him, in the form of an answer.

That inherent need to express one's innermost dreams by bringing them to fruition has been a theme in Schaff's life.

"I always wanted to be a storyteller," she said.

As early as second grade, Schaff was writing short stories, which she would then craft into books. By fifth grade, in response to the question of what she wanted to be when she grew up, Schaff wrote "writer/director." Though she wasn't quite sure at the time exactly what a director did, Schaff said, she somehow knew it would be her calling. 

After graduating from NYU, Schaff plans to attend Columbia University's graduate program, for either film theory or English, she said. She also has big plans for the film.

"My highest goal for the film is to get it into festivals [like] Sundance, Cannes — especially Cannes," Schaff said.

According to Schaff, such films can also serve as a "calling card" for fledgling filmmakers, sometimes getting picked up to be made into feature films.

Using various techniques she has picked up during her education, Schaff is working to create her vision in a way that will capture audiences in the way she has been captivated by the work of other filmmakers.

"I love epic films that use experimental technique," Schaff said. "I love watching things that work to expand and improve on the medium."

Schaff's own area of expertise is French New Wave, an experimental movement that bucked established norms in filmmaking. In "The Yellow House Mystery," Schaff uses Technicolor during flashback sequences, and a black-andwhite New Wave Hollywood cinematic style to represent the present time.

Reminiscent of 1950s films by Douglas Sirk, "The Yellow House Mystery" falls into the melodrama category, much in the way American Movie Channel's (AMC) popular series "Mad Men" does, Schaff said.

"Melodrama has become such a negative term of recent date that I try to stay away from using it," Schaff said.

Casting for the film came easy to Schaff for the most part, and the actors are as enthusiastic as she is about the project.

"I'm really into working with actors — that's my thing," Schaff said. "They're really excited to do it, they're willing to take direction, they want to know more about the characters ... they're amazing."

Like her casting of Mara in the role of Madeline, Schaff knew exactly whom she would use for the role of Mrs. Hunter. Mary Ann Cochran, an Advanced Placement English and drama teacher at Spotswood High School, taught Schaff during her high school years. Schaff told Cochran at the time that she would one day write a role for her, and made good on her promise, revamping a character she had created in high school, she said.

Finding someone to play Sammy Lewis was not quite as simple. At first, Schaff searched for a violinist for the role, as the character plays the violin extensively in the film. When that did not pan out, Schaff used her resources to search elsewhere.

Her father, Michael Schaff, is an attorney with Woodbridge based Wilentz, Goldman and Spitzer. Schaff trolled the firm's Web site for possible candidates for the part, and came upon Richard Lert, who was happy to take on the role, she said.

"He's really great," Schaff said, adding, "I think he was kind of confused about why I wanted a lawyer [for the part]."

Along with the glowing appraisals of her cast, Schaff could not say enough about the help she is receiving from a number of other sources.

"Film is such a collaborative process," Schaff said. "I wouldn't be able to do this on my own."

She lauded Milltown Superintendent of Schools Linda Madison, with whom she said was close while growing up, and Mayor Gloria Bradford for their support and help with the project. She was also grateful to Michael Taubenslag, who runs a theater camp each summer at Middlesex County College, and helped her to find extras for various scenes throughout the film, she said.

Schaff's boyfriend, Noah Fessler, portrays a groomsman in the film's wedding scene, and is providing a wealth of help with production work. A number of her friends have also volunteered their time to participate in the project, she said.

Shooting began at the home of her friend Jody Carr's parents on Riva Avenue. Schaff expressed thanks to the Carr family, as well as to the Methodist Church, where the wedding scene was shot last week. Other filming was taking place elsewhere in Milltown, as well as in Metuchen and Princeton.

Schaff's parents are doing their part by housing and feeding those involved in the project, which is a great help, she said. Maria's Pizza and Subs on North Main Street, along with other area restaurants, donated food for the cast and crew, and Schaff is seeking donations of any kind from those willing to help with the project, she said.

For more information on the film or to donate, visit yellowhousefilm. com.

Jessica Smith - Staff Reporter
The Sentinel