This blog will be a short one but my message is one with the utmost significance. Many of us who celebrate Memorial Day Weekend treat it as the unofficial "summer kickoff weekend," and the temps were in the upper 80s from Friday thru Monday so it certainly felt like summer in New Jersey.

But there's thousands of brave individuals around the globe protecting our lives here at home who aren't simply hoping for good weather on the boardwalk, they are just hoping to return home to be able to walk their neighborhoods with their families.

Whether it's attending barbecues, going down the shore, or just backyard relaxing, we all can be guilty of forgetting to remember. I made it a point to hang my American flag and take notice at least for a moment of what this extended holiday weekend is supposed to represent. Freedom isn't free, and Memorial Day signifies the day to remember all of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom as Americans. We aren't as patriotic as we all should be these days, but we should at the very least make it a point to take that moment of silence, say a prayer, or at least think about how lucky we are to be able to go to barbecues and the beach and even to be alive in our own backyard.

This coming Sunday I will be in Fort Lee at the Arts & Music Festival on Main Street. This HUGE event will feature lots of crafters, various vendors and rides for kids including an interactive Fort Lee Fire Dept. display. There will also be a Harley Davidson Motorcycle show, a juried art show featuring work by the Fort Lee Artist Guild, two stages of free musical entertainment with such bands as Sammy Gnasso's DOUBLE TAP, local girl group THE PEDAL PUSHERS and a 4pm performance by the ever popular PARTY DOLLS. Come have a meatball sandwich!