Swearing on the Town Bible, First Meeting of Year Rife With Tradition

The annual reorganization meeting of the Toms River Township Council celebrates the New Year, as well the new terms of elected and appointed officials. However, within the ceremony of this meeting lies the history and tradition of Toms River.

At last night’s meeting, before officials were sworn in and resolutions decided, those in attendance picked up a copy of the agenda, printed on stationary reminiscent of parchment, with the handwritten words, “Township of Toms River, Swearing in Ceremony of the Mayor and Council” sweeping across the front cover.

“I thought it would be a nice touch,” said J. Mark Mutter, town clerk and historian, on the choice to use handwriting on the programs, rather than type.

This calligraphy is done by Shirley Broome, former secretary to the Council, as well as one of the staff members in the Clerk’s office. She has been writing these programs since 2005, as a tribute to the tradition of Toms River and Dover Township. Mutter said that Broome never studied calligraphy, but she picked up her penchant for penmanship in her spare time.

Broome’s calligraphy is also recognizable on the historical resolution that changed the name of Dover Township into Toms River, which is on display at Town Hall.

“I thought the record result of election was one of the most historical things, the change of the name, since 1767,” said Mutter.  “The original charter of the township, was drafted in 1767, before typewriters, and it was a handwritten document, creating a town. So I thought it would be appropriate to use calligraphy in the document that is on file with the secretary of state, county clerk, and municipal clerk, as the operative document to change the name.”

The annual reorganizational meeting includes the swearing in ceremony of the Mayor and Council members for new terms. Last night, Maurice Hill, John Sevatakis, and George Wittmann were sworn in for their new terms as councilmen, and Mayor Thomas Kelaher took oath for his second term of office.

As part of the ceremony, these men and the other elected and appointed officials, place their right hand of a leather bound, worn Bible as they swear to represent their township in accordance with the Constitution of the United States.

This Bible has been in use since 1969, and hundreds of elected and appointed officials sworn in on it. It is kept on regular basis in clerk’s office, because beginning today, officials will be coming down to Mutter’s office to be sworn into their new positions after being appointed. Some officials, like Mutter himself, will bring their own personal Bible to be sworn in on, depending on their preference.

“We will be swearing in dozens and dozens of people of the course of the next couple of days,” Mutter said.

Mutter has been the town historian since 2006, serving as the clerk since 2005. Because of his involvement in the Ocean County Historical Society, New Jersey Historical Society, as well the Historic Preservation Society, Mutter was appointed historian by former Mayor Paul Brush in 2006.  While as clerk, he is the official custodian of records and secretary to the governing body, as historian, his main obligation is to preserve the township’s history and traditions.