April 3: Week in Review

Below you'll find some of the top stories from Manchester last week. To stay updated with the latest news all week, be sure to follow Manchester Patch on Facebook and Twitter.

1. Manchester Police are after 11 more vehicles were damaged by thrown rocks in the Pine Lake Park section of town overnight Monday. The latest incidents come about two weeks after the first reports of damaged cars in the neighborhood.

According to Manchester Police Capt. Lisa Parker, police are now investigating at least 16 reports of criminal mischief to motor vehicles after 11 more automobiles were targeted between the evening of March 28 and the morning of March 29.

2. Bring up Manchester senior Jon Roszel’s name to any top baseball player on one of the Toms River teams, either Brick school or one of the Monmouth County powerhouses and .

The only group of players that may not have seen the West Virginia University recruit as Superman right away were his Hawks teammates one year his junior, who expected to enter a winning program in 2009 only to scuffle to a 5-15 mark.

Two years later, following a bounce-back 2010 season in which Manchester went 12-10, the junior class – arguably the most talented class in the Shore Conference Class B South – has emerged by following Roszel’s lead and with a top senior in the Conference and strong crop of juniors, the Hawks are hoping to take the division and conference by storm just two years after the nightmare 2009 season.

3. Two veteran Manchester Police Department officers were held before the March 28 town council meeting.

Friends, family, fellow officers and township officials were present to witness officers Lisa Parker and James Komsa take the oath for their new positions.

Parker was promoted from lieutenant to captain, the rank previously held by current Chief of Police Brian Klimakowski, who spoke briefly about the officers before township attorney Steven Secare swore each in. 

4. Manchester Mayor Michael Fressola was recently of the Navy Yard in Philadelphia as the recipient of its Legion of Honor service award. 

The award, presented on March 16 at the AMVETS New Jersey Post 2 in Jackson, was presented to the mayor in recognition of his years of community and national service. 

"I've been kind of an active guy all my life," Fressola said at his office in the township's municipal complex last week.

The award recognized Fressola for his service in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1947 through 1955, his volunteer work as a Cub Scout leader while living in Staten Island in the 1960s and his current commitment to Community Medical Center in Toms River as a trustee.

5. When Jeff Hanaway, general manager and food service director for Sodexo, learned that many of his friends, family and coworkers suffered from kidney disease, .

That, combined with a love for soup and cooking, led the man who manages meals for Manchester Township Schools to create the "Souper Bowl," a soup cook-off fundraiser, in 2008.

"Kidney disease is a silent killer and so many people are afflicted with it," he said. "Because I personally know so many people, I wanted to bring the issue to the forefront."

The idea for a best tasting soup challenge came from Hanaway's "love of soup."