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WEATHERINSIDE TODAYINDEX

Vol. 264, No. 110

Get local breaking news 24/7 at nj.com/cumberland

‘Bunky’ Higbee remembered

$1.6 million added to Levoy project

CLARENCE A. HIGBEE JR.

Holiday season kicks off in Shiloh

Staff Photo by Greg Adomaitis

The family of the late William Lupton, whom the tree was in memory of, stand before it at Sunday night’s lighting ceremony in Shiloh.

Millville goes wild over wings!

Staff Photo by Cindy Hepner

Shawn Richards spent the night in line at the new Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar located in Millville. He got in line after working Sunday at Bottinos ShopRite. Shawn was the very first customer through the doors. More photos on Page A-2.

Order up! Chenille Thomas works toward her dreams

CHENILLE THOMAS

By Dave HitchnerSpecial to The News

Employers usually prioritize character and work ethic when considering new hires.

Six years ago, Hopewell Sub & Pizza must have realized they had a diamond in the rough when the ownership hired Chenille Thomas.

She greets potential customers and takes orders in person or on the phone in a very kind, yet business-like man-ner. One will usually find her waiting on customers at the counter or delivering an order inside on Fridays and Sundays, and possibly another evening or two during the week.

Born in Vineland but raised and edu-cated in the Bridgeton area, the 2006 BHS graduate is pursuing a nursing

(See THOMAS, Page A-3)

By Greg Adomaitisgadomaitis@sjnewsco.com

SHILOH — A deteriorating dusk sky was suddenly illuminated Sunday eve-ning with a simple flick of the switch.

The over two-decades old tradition of lighting the Christmas tree in front of Shiloh Market continued with a new tree in memory of a former borough resident.

“This ceremony is in honor of Wil-liam Lupton, who passed away at 21,” said Shiloh Seventh Day Baptist Church Pastor Don Chroniger.

Lupton was a young borough resi-dent who was in failing health but attended the first tree lighting. His family and friends attended Sunday’s lighting, as did well over 40 local resi-dents.

“The first year we (the church) moved here, we had a town tree,” said Chroniger. “The first two came from a guy’s yard around the corner.”

The lights they strung up were bor-rowed and turning on the power back then was a real Christmas miracle. Council members Carman Daddario

(See TREE, Page A-10)

Seeley Lake Bridge to be repairedR.E. Pierson Construction wins bid

By Greg Adomaitisgadomaitis@sjnewsco.com

BRIDGETON — The cost of rebuilding the bridge on Finley Road at Seeley Lake might be com-pletely covered by Federal High-way Administration (FHWA) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds.

The Cumberland County free-holder board approved Monday a $1,089,889 bid from R.E. Pierson Construction for the project in Upper Deerfield — a total Free-holder Tom Sheppard remarked was well below the highest bid of about $1.9 million.

A special freeholder meeting was called Monday to address the time-

sensitive funding deadline for the Finley Road project. The county Department of Public Works hopes to open the road by mid-February 2012.

“There’s no good detours around that road,” county Engineer Dan Orr said of the location that suf-fered damages during the Aug. 14

(See BID, Page A-3)

By Lauren T. Taniguchiltaniguchi@sjnewsco.com

DOWNE TWP. — Clarence A. “Bunky” Higbee Jr. will be remembered as a “bigger than life” member of the Fortescue commu-nity who made an impressive impact on his town and neighbors as a dedicated resident there, on the same piece of ground, for all of his 74 years.

“We lost a good friend,” said Frank Green, a lifelong friend of Higbee and fellow former Fortescue Fire Company chief. “He had an intution to the future, always looking for-ward to making things better. He had an outlook for the future of Fortescue — that was his home, where he wanted to stay, and where he lived and died.”

Higbee passed away on Saturday after suffering a stroke and being in failing health

for the past 12 years, and Green said “he’ll be a missed face” for the many people with whom he loved to socialize at Higbee’s Mari-na and Bait Shop, even after he fell ill.

Higbee had owned and operated the Mari-na, Bait Shop, Luncheonette and Miss For-tescue Party Boat for the past 45 years, after working for prior marina owner Cliff Finley, and Green pointed out his hard-working friend forged well-earned professional suc-cess as a Bridgeton High School class of ‘55 graduate with no college education and no reliance on technology like cell phones or computers.

Over the years, Higbee developed a respectable reputation as a “shrewd, very good business man,” Green said, who had an exceptional knack for making repairs.

“He always had a motto, ‘If I can’t fix it, it ain’t broke,’” said son Cliff Higbee Sr, adding

his father would never miss a day of work, even if sick.

“Around the Marina, he had tools for everything, and if he didn’t have it he’d get it and could do just about anything there was to do. If something broke around the Marina — wood, metal, anything — you knew you weren’t going to be down for long; he’d get you through the day until he could get you fixed up for good.”

Bucky Higbee used his handy skills to build his own vehicle for stock car racing, number 85, and enjoyed racing at the speed-ways in Vineland, Pleasantville and Bridge-port in addition to watching the sport and fixing other drivers’ cars in his Fortescue garage. He was even inducted into the All Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey’s

(See HIGBEE, Page A-10)

$315K to bring back officers

By Jim Cook Jr.jcook@sjnewsco.com

MILLVILLE — The city commissioners approved a $1.6 million increase to the UEZ portion of the funding for the Levoy Theater construction project Monday evening.

The funding comes as good news to the Levoy officials, who experienced a loss of the $1.6 million loan from Sun National Bank in Vineland.

“We’re asking the city to protect the investment it has already made in the Levoy,” said Lauren Van Embden, chairwoman of the project. “Any delay this late would cause irreparable harm. We as a theater and as a city have come so close to the completion.”

The city voted 4-1, with Dave Vanaman, commissioner of public safety, dissenting.

Sun Bank was paying about 18 percent of the project, now which is being covered by Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) funds.

“The purpose of the UEZ is being fulfilled by this proj-ect,” Van Embden said at the Monday evening meeting.

Don Ayres, of the Millville Urban Redevelopment Cor-poration, handles business with the Millville portion of UEZ monies, and spoke at the meeting.

“We reduce sales tax to participating businesses,” Ayressaid.

Normally, a sales tax in New Jersey is 7 percent, but, under UEZ zones, the sales tax is 3.5 percent. The Levoy Theater is one of the participating businesses in the UEZ.

“Millville and Vineland joined together in the UEZ pro-gram in the mid-1980s, and has reduced sales tax by $40 million since the beginning,” Ayres said.

According to Ayres, the city is also using $315,000 for the purpose of bringing back three police officers who were initially laid off earlier in the year.

(See LEVOY, Page A-10)