Mattes's Musings by KC2GIK

Justin Mattes  surprised my "niece" Georgia!! He has been visiting at Fusco's Market today!! We miss you!! File this under a "Feel Good Post", where I'm not going to write aan opinion on current events nor insight some wisdom to the public.  Even t hough I LOVE Cape May with 90% of my heart, there's still 10% left in Woodcliff Lake, sorry living in a town for 38+ years can do that to anyone. Of course every  time we go up there it drops my "Cape May Cred" back a few points I hear my friends at the VFW jokingly say "Yeah, move back North ya Yankee". Truthfully parents still have doctors located in Northern NJ and so we need to go up there a few times a year for their check ups, especially my mom.  So we need to make the 168 mile trip up the Garden State Parkway! We did it once this summer when my  Uncle and Aunt visited from Te x as! Then we did another trip up in late October for my license plate meet in Elmwood Park, I used  up a...

You would think Cape May moving to Cape May would open  up; plenty of blog entries for me, it hasn't been that easy. Mostly because so much has happened since the end of June, from 4th of July fireworks to celebrate Congress Hall's 200 Th Anniversary, so many chances I have missed just to come on here to vent. It hasn't been that easy\ because I haven't set aside enough time to write, usually I'm wasting time on Facebook which leads to trouble. Especially now that the weather is getting colder so I  won't be able to go outside aS MUCH The latest was a double whammy. Out of all the political posts I have made, and even lost a few friends over I knew deep down something I would do would really get me into hot water. I commented about the riots and while I didn't use any foul language , I portrayed a whole group of people in a very negative light, or that's how it sounded.   Now I have a guy who I utterly respect trying to smooth things over. This is not...

Nothing is more upsetting than to come on this blog to try to comprehend another death of a friend. Dave Kuehn was one of the first members of ALPCA I actually met in person. when I first joined back in 1994 my first meet was in New York City the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Some how I got my dad to drive me into Manhattan to a community center in the middle of the city. We arrived to ind a group of collectors from the area and surrounding states and sign on sheet. I vaguely remember actually meeting Dave but I remember him showing off rare and valuable Connecticut plates for sale. When someone inspected them Dave gave a brief history lesson on the plate, where it came from and if it was for sale. Usually he notice the young collectors at the shows and give them a few pointers on how to build  up their collections. Dave knew where we were coming from because he started collecting as a teenager himself. Dave joined ALPCA when the club still held their yearly conventions in s...

Hosts Ed Bulter ALPCA# 6661and Justin Mattes ALPCA#6748 For the third  year in a row the American Legion Post 157 in Elmwood Park NJ played host to 62 ALPCAns and visitors. Collectors joined us  from as far away as Utah and South Carolina which made the meet all that more successful!!  Tables filled with plates made for quite of selection to buy and sell. Brothers Jon and Phil Leib once again brought an impressive collection of rare and odd New Jersey plates.  My hats off to my cohost Ed Butler who  manned the registration desk and kept the entire show running smoothly!!  Adam Garstka did another wonderful job as the official photographer for the meet . We have a great group of volunteers to keep these meets running smoothly!!   The party continued when we went over to Charlie Bloods for a late lunch and lively discussion. I again want to thank everyone who came ou t and am looking forward to doing it all again in 2017!! Submitted by Justin Mat...

Unlike my postings on Facebook, I have stayed away from the circus known as the 2016 US Presidential Election on my  blog. For the record I don't believe we're voting for the lesser of two evils, I believe we're voting for the lesser of two absolute psychopaths. I could spend the rest of the post outlining my thoughts on why neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton should be president. I could also lay into the sitting President of the United States for not taking a cue from the previous Commander-in-Chief and keep his mouth shut. We know who he's supporting in this race, there was never any question. It never ceases to amaze me how the first black president feels he always has to remind us he is the first black president and has to test every single boundary set forth by the men who proceeded him . Out of the many issues I had with Bill Clinton I need to give the man credit, he never went after George Bush when he and Al Gore were running. Sure he wanted his sitting VP...

ABC, the company behind hits like Rosanne, Home Improvement, Modern Family and Last Man Standing , my now second favorite show on the network, once again nailed it with Speechless. Speechless stars Micah Fowler, a teenager with CP who plays JJ  Dimeo, who has moved into a new neighborhood, going to a new high school. He uses a wheelchair and can't speak but uses a pointer and pictures to convey his thoughts and feelings. JJ's mother, Maya, played by Minnie Driver, is his protective, sometime overbearing mother is out to ensure he gets a decent education. This causes Maya and her husband, Jimmy, played by John Ross Bowie, to move JJ, their other son Ray, played by Mason Cook, and their daughter, Dylan, playeds by Kayla Kennedy As JJ enters his new high schoolne of the requirements Maya makes to the school is to provide JJ with a full-time aide, at first they choose a hyper-active woman, but she didn't work out. I thought the writers ripped this scene out of my own life! ...

When my folks put the Woodcliff Lake house on the market to move to Cape May, I made a promise to myself. I knew the Cape May had more opportunities for me for all kinds of reasons, but I needed to act quickly. The VFW next door provided a perfect n etworking tool. Unlike other bars where either my brothers and/or friends usually served as ice breakers, I marched into the VFW alone. It was again a struggle connect with folks who saw past the awkward body walking around, but I soon made friends without any external assistance. Over the course of my visits to the VFW I befriended the then police chief who immediately recognized both my skills, whit and fascination with politics. Being the radio geek and fire buff, I usually pester him with some police talk. He, seeing my genuine interest and perseverance was more than happy to comply. Of course during that time we formed a bond, hey I can't help it, and given my interest in both public safety and politics, saw me as a sounding boa...