MILMAY -- At Sunday's presentation of the new World War II memorial adjacent to Milmay Volunteer Fire Co., Bea Grossi Finnegan was sadly reminded of two uncles who perished while serving their country.

"It's gorgeous," said Finnegan, a retired hairstylist and lifelong Milmay resident, as she gazed carefully at the gleaming bronze, stone and granite edifice bearing the names of 33 area men who served in World War II.

"While two of my uncles on this memorial -- Angelo and Bruno Grossi -- didn't die (in combat), another of my uncles -- Albert Perugini -- did as well as his brother Paris, whose name is on the other war memorial in front of the Buena Regional School District administration building."

Albert died after Japanese planes attacked his Navy ship. Paris was killed in battle while serving in the Army.

Finnegan clearly remembers the time several of her uncles, particularly Albert and Paris, visited her when she was 10 years old to say goodbye.

"All of them came to see me while I was in school one day," she tearfully recalled. "They told me they were going off to serve in the war. It was the last time I ever saw two of them -- they never returned."

One veteran listed on the new memorial, William DeRosa, was the object of a special tribute by Mayor Chuck Chiarello and Richard Ferrant, a Vietnam veteran and commander of the Emilio Marindino Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 158 in Landisville.

"William DeRosa was my wife's uncle," Chiarello said. "He joined the Army at 18 in 1941, was reported missing in the Battle of Bataan on May 7, 1943, and perished the following year in Camp Tokyo, a Japanese prisoner of war camp. No one knew exactly what happened to him until the International Red Cross pressed for an inquiry. The Japanese were not very forthcoming with the information. Once the Red Cross found out, they notified the family."

Ferrant said DeRosa, like many young American men of the time, "set aside his concerns to fight for his country and paid the ultimate price -- his life -- for the freedom of his country."

Sunday's ceremony and the unveiling of the monument came on the eve of Memorial Day. At the close of the ceremony, those in attendance laid a red, white and blue wreath and four small American flags at the foot of the monument, which replaced an old, crumbling one that was dismantled and removed earlier this week.

Ferrant and fellow VFW members also paid tribute Sunday with a eulogy and prayers at a smaller Memorial Day ceremony outside the school administration building at the granite marker honoring war dead from World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

While Chiarello was pleased that a crowd of 60 people showed up for the new monument's unveiling, he was disappointed by the paltry turnout of just 13 at the other ceremony.

"It seems that every year, fewer and fewer people attend these ceremonies unless it's for a new monument," Chiarello said. "They forget Memorial Day and what it means. They'd rather go and have a barbecue than honor the men and women who gave their lives for their country and the freedom we enjoy today."

Today is Memorial Day.

It's a day for outdoor barbecues, for getting together with family and friends and for sharing a laugh with loved ones.

But while enjoying the good food and company, remember the reason for this break from the hustle and bustle of work: To remember those who sacrificed their lives defending democracy and our way of life.

Too many of us take our freedoms for granted. We shouldn't. Our liberties were paid for in blood and tears on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, on the frozen fields of Korea, in the sweltering jungles of Vietnam, and in the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq.

These young men and women gave their lives so we can live free. We mustn't forget them.

So, as we go about chatting by the barbecue and shopping for that new summer outfit, let's pay our respects to those who willingly surrendered their futures so we could go on enjoying ours. Attend a Memorial Day event in the area. If you can't, take a quiet moment to reflect on the sacrifices that have been made and continue to be made by our servicemen and women.

Today, and every day, remember them in your hearts and prayers.

New tennis courts are due to be constructed at this site in Michael Debbi Park in Buena Vista Township.

BUENA VISTA -- Come mid-June, Michael Debbi Park will be sporting new tennis courts.

Buena Vista Mayor Chuck Chiarello said the three old tennis courts had been closed since last year because of bad cracks in the surfacing, which finally proved beyond repair.

Financed by a $165,000 low-interest loan from the state Green Acres program, the project included tearing up and completely rebuilding the old courts, along with the addition of more modern lighting and new fences and benches, according to Chiarello.

At a recent Township Committee meeting, the governing body approved the expenditure of $4,870 to install a timer at the park to conserve electricity.

Another $3,300 was set aside to buy fertilizer for Michael Debbi Park and three others in the township, including Quigley Park in Collings Lakes, Hines Park in Newtonville, and Lake Ann Park off Unexpected Road.

John Lolli Jr., who lives diagonally across the street from Michael Debbi Park, said he and his wife, Sharon, were regulars on the old tennis courts.

"I used to play twice a week and Sharon three times a week," Lolli said. "She used to be the high school tennis coach and hold free tennis clinics in the park for kids from seventh grade through high school."

Lolli said he and his spouse could hardly wait to set foot on the new courts.

"We think it's great," he said. "We were very disappointed when the tennis courts fell into disrepair and could no longer be used."

BUENA -- Just shy of a year after the death of Ricky Wilcox, the popular Buena Regional High School student whose life was cut short by a car crash last June, those who knew and admired him are holding the second annual "Run4Ricky" fundraiser for a scholarship in his honor.

Valerie Gentile, the event's chairperson, said that a 5K Run and Walk and a community barbecue will be included in the June 11 event, in memory of the 18-year-old who was killed a day before his high school graduation.

A Kid's Fun Run has been planned for children 12 and under. Prizes will be given for all age groups.

Each runner or walker will receive a T-shirt and ticket to the All-You-Can-Eat barbecue to be held after the race at Michael Debbi Park on Cedar Avenue in Richland.

Two Buena Regional senior wrestlers will receive $5,000 scholarships, and an outstanding female athlete will receive a $1,000 scholarship.

The fundraiser is the second to be held in Wilcox's memory. The first, held last August, raised $15,000, according to Gentile.

A three-time all-conference wrestler, Wilcox qualified for the state championship three years in a row. Buena Regional, a perennial powerhouse, finished second in the state during his junior and senior years.

Considered by his peers to be a standout role model, Wilcox died June 14, 2004 -- a day before his high school graduation -- after his car hit a tree and caught fire along Mays Landing Road in Folsom.

The Wilcox family will select the scholarship recipients. The Ricky Wilcox Scholarship Fund is a non-profit organization and contributions to it are tax deductible.

BUENA VISTA -- Road crews from the State Department of Transportation aggravated some motorists as a major resurfacing project along Route 54 got under way this week.

The 4-mile stretch is getting a makeover because of an abnormally large number of potholes that formed this winter, department spokesman Brendan Gill said.

Lanes in both directions will continue to be closed periodically as the overnight construction continues on weekdays through 6 a.m. May 28, he said. Detours are being posted as the work progresses.

But some who use the road, a major route for people traveling between Vineland and Hammonton, bemoaned the delays and inadequate warnings about sharp drops in the roadway.

Lisa Hickerson, a barmaid at Country Palace Bar on Route 54, said she was glad the highway is being repaired. But she's unhappy about what happened to her car once she reached the traffic light at Weymouth-Malaga Road.

"They should have put up a sign warning you about the sharp drop in the road after they repaired it," she said. "Something happened to the bottom of my car when I went over that pothole like area. It really scared me, and I know my car sustained some damage."

Hickerson said many of those who bought a ticket to the bar's comedy show didn't make it because of unanticipated road closures in both directions.

"There were no signs to indicate detours or the road closures," Hickerson said. "Both lanes were closed for several hours and nobody was allowed through. It was as if the road crews had dropped from the sky and there they were, working furiously."

Ronny Fichetola, of Hanson Sand and Gravel on Unexpected Road, had no problem getting to work. But he said at least one of his co-workers, a truck driver from Millville, had considerable difficulty.

"He was very frustrated because he was late in getting to work and behind schedule in his deliveries due to the roadwork," Fichetola said.

Gill said work began near Carmichael Avenue and is progressing north to the Folsom border.

"Milling is being done to remove the old road material," he said. "It will be replaced with a 2- to 6-inch-thick layer of asphalt for smoother riding."

BUENA VISTA -- The community that temporarily named itself after an alcoholic drink in 2004 has gone totally batty.

For two weeks last May, the township's Richland section was renamed Mojito in honor of the popular rum-based summer drink whose key ingredient is mint. Rum maker Bacardi promotes mojitos and buys fresh mint from Dalponte Farms off Llewellyn Avenue in order to showcase the drink at different publicity events.

The renaming brought national attention to the often-overlooked community. But Laura Baddish, the New York-based advertising executive representing Bacardi, was looking for a new way this year to draw attention to Richland's mojito roots.

"So, we had a crop circle in the form of a bat done on the Dalponte farm," she said.

A bat has been Bacardi's logo since the company, now based in Miami, began in Cuba in 1862. "It represents prosperity and good fortune," Baddish explained.

The crop circle isn't the work of extraterrestrials, although out-of-towners were called in to create the 180-foot-wide circle that encloses a 1.5-acre bat carving on the Dalponte family's 300-acre farm.

Harrison Jenkins, an environmental design artist from Bloomfield, Conn., and two helpers took three days to design it.

"It was amazing how they did it," said Dennis "Denny" Dalponte Jr., 31, a fourth-generation member of the mint-growing family. "They had lawn mowers, weed whackers, wooden stakes and string as tools. First, they used the mowers to chop down some of the mint plants, which are about 3 feet high to the root level, so they could make the circle and then the wings, ears, eyes, nose and body of the bat. Everything was perfectly circular and linear."

Dalponte said Bacardi paid the family an undisclosed sum to use a 6-acre mint patch on the property's outskirts. The crop circle should remain distinguishable from an airplane for at least a month before the vegetation grows back, he said.

Dalponte said the crop circle is the first of its kind to be cut into a mint field, and Bacardi plans to get it certified by Guinness World Records as the biggest mint crop circle in existence.

"Last year, 207 crop circles occurred in this country, and 195 of them just suddenly appeared without any explanation," Dalponte noted. "However, I can't say I saw any drunken extra-terrestrials with a few mojitos under their belts here working on our crop circle. We had the help of an earthly alien --- alien because he came from another state."

Dalponte said he didn't think the crop circle was very impressive while observing it from ground level. But once he took a plane flight over the farm with a pilot neighbor, he realized what a fine work of art it was.

Baddish said she and other Bacardi executives love the fresh mint grown by the Dalpontes.

"We order at least 500 boxes a year from them," she said.

Buena Vista Mayor Chuck Chiarello said he realizes Richland's renaming was a one-shot deal -- something he'll never forget.

"Naming Richland Mojito makes you realize that the mint used in the drink is grown locally by one of the largest mint farms in the country and that this local product is shipped worldwide," he said.

Chiarello said he heard about the crop circle earlier this week from Carlo Merighi, a service station owner in Richland and licensed pilot who had been making trips over the Dalponte farm in his two-seater Cessna aircraft to view the sight from the air.

Realizing that the crop circle was manmade shattered Chiarello's fantasy that such occurrences are the work of visitors from another planet, he said.

"For me, crop circles were one of those great mysteries of life," he said with a sigh. "Now we have one of our very own."

BUENA VISTA -- The Richland Village revitalization project is beginning to become visible, in small ways, as construction work gets into full swing along Route 40.

"There will be real substantial progress this summer on the project," Mayor Chuck Chiarello said.

Crews recently installed electrical conduits needed for the gooseneck-style lamp posts that eventually will light Route 40 between Greenbriar Avenue and the railroad tracks, helping to give it the feeling of an old-fashioned train station.

Within the next week, workers will begin pouring sections of sidewalk on both sides of the same three-block stretch, Chiarello said. "We expect for the sidewalk project to be done by late June or mid-July," he said.

Township officials proposed the Richland Village project to rejuvenate the community's small but once-thriving Route 40 business district. They hope it attracts tourists who pass through Richland on their way to shore destinations.

Right now, the railroad tracks are approved only for freight car transportation. However, township officials are negotiating with NJ Transit to allow for service that would transport passengers between Richland and Cape May.

"Things are going very positively with regards to the tourist train," Chiarello said.

Salvatore "Sam" Pustizzi, 92, of Buena Vista Township, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, passed away at his home, Thursday, May 12, 2005, after a brief illness.

Living in this area most of his life, Salvatore was a 1934 graduate of Vineland High School and recently attended his 70th class reunion.

He was a farmer and member of the New Jersey Farm Bureau, an officer of the Landisville Fruit Growers Association and Atlantic County Board of Agriculture. Salvatore was a field representative for Glassboro Service Association for 27 years and groundskeeper for Buena Vista Township parks for 12 years. He was the recipient of several awards, including, the Atlantic County Division of Intergenerational Services for Outstanding Senior Citizen Volunteer.

In 1999, he was honored as Outstanding Senior Citizen of the Year for his accomplishments in Buena Vista Township, including service to the Recreation Committee for more than 40 years as member, chairman and secretary; his instrumental role in the planning and improvements to the recreation parks in the township; his service as an officer of the Buena Little League; and his role in organizing and managing both the Babe Ruth Team and Connie Mack Team. In 2003, he was inducted into the Greater Vineland Baseball League Hall of Fame. Salvatore was a member of the Sicilian American Club and Saint Padre Pio Parish, St. Mary's Church.

He was an avid bowler. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, playing cards, playing bocci, gardening, the casino, and he especially enjoyed gatherings with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Lina (Patella) Pustizzi of Vineland; one daughter and her husband, Sylvia and Joseph Rigor of Newfield; three sons, Richard and his wife, Anna Marie (DiMezzo) Pustizzi of Pittsgrove, David and his wife, Janis (Maccri) Pustizzi of Vineland and Robert and his wife, Jane (Zucca) Pustizzi of Vineland; 13 grandchildren, Stephanie Berenato and her husband, John, Michele Rigor, Joelle Rigor, Ryan Pustizzi, Derrell Pustizzi and his wife, Jennifer, Dyann Tufts and her husband, John, David Pustizzi and his wife, Theresa, Lawrence Pustizzi and his wife, Jaime, Alana Blizzard and her husband, Frank, Elena Pustizzi, Tracy Asselta and her husband, Ronald, Salvatore Pustizzi and his wife, Jennifer and Robert Pustizzi and his wife, Stephanie; 24 great-grandchildren; one sister, Lena Buffa of Vineland; two brothers, Joseph Pustizzi of Newfield and John Pustizzi of Vineland.

Visitation will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday and from 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. Monday at Rone Funeral Service. A funeral Liturgy will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday in St. Padre Pio Parish, at Our Lady of Pompeii Church, 4680 Dante Ave., Vineland. Interment will follow in St Mary's Cemetery, Vineland.

Arrangements are under the supervision of Rone Funeral Service, 1110 E. Chestnut Ave., Vineland, NJ 08360.

Donations may be made to St. Mary's Regional School, 735 Union Road Vineland, NJ 08360.

Remember the "Richland Bump?" If all goes according to plan, the Richland Village -- including a park, restaurants, a model train display and a proposed rail line into Cape May County -- could become a future tourist attraction for those traveling through Buena Vista Township along Route 40.

This is a far cry from 25 years ago when Richland, or, at least the Route 40 railroad crossing there, was described as "one of South Jersey's major tourist detractions" by the Vineland Times Journal.

Nicknamed "Richland Bump," the west side of the crossing sat nearly two-feet higher than the east side. Between were four iron rails threatening to wreak havoc on the underside of any car not slowing to a crawl.

Drivers approaching from the west any faster than 15 mph literally left the ground after hitting the tracks. A "Dip" sign posted 100 feet away did little to slow the uninitiated who, for decades, had been leaving their exhaust pipes, and sometimes even transmissions, in Richland.

Next to one appliance store on the east side of the tracks, a collection of hubcaps and mufflers grew larger with each passing day.

The owner of the business had to keep reseeding his lawn, forever ravaged by out of control vehicles, which suffered the wrath of the sinister "Bump."

Long a sore spot with frustrated township officials, they were powerless to fix the "Bump" since the highway was owned by the state and the tracks by Conrail.

Some requested that the township's position be documented so it would not be held liable should a fatal accident occur.

Tragically, in 1981, the worst fears proved true.

At the time, the Richland crossing had been on a long list of Conrail crossings scheduled for repairs.

But little seemed to happen until a four--car accident one Friday claimed the life of a 19-year-old Northfield man.

The next morning, dozens of residents joined by township officials staged an angry protest at the scene.

Local firefighters used fire trucks to block the tracks. They were later ordered to remove them by the State Police, but the pickets had gotten their message across.

They wanted something done. And quick.

The following week, Department of Transportation officials inspected the site. Although upgrades on up to 300 of the state's crossings were performed each year on a "first come, first served" basis, Richland became classified as a top priority.

Flashing yellow lights were ordered installed and, that September, a front-page story headlined "Good Riddance!" announced that the infamous "Richland Bump" would soon be no more.

Among improvements planned were the removal of one set of tracks and the gradual sloping of the roadway.

In addition to the leveling, remaining tracks were embedded in a rubberized surface to permit vehicles to sail smoothly over the crossing.

A generally cool and wet season is good news for farmers of lettuce and greens, who are expecting a quality harvest this spring.

But it's not good news for growers who rely on bees for pollination. A shortage of bees is expected this season, according to the state Department of Agriculture.

Overall, the growing season is off to a slow start, with most crops at least a week to 10 days behind schedule around the state, officials report.

Here's an update from the Agriculture Department on the status of some popular crops: