What it meant to grow up in Manalapan

Growing up in Manalapan I have never seen so many people, myself included, have such a love/hate relationship with their town. Over my fifteen years living here I have seen drug busts and arrests, the community band together against the banning of a crematorium, the area torn apart by hurricane Sandy, and local businesses flourish and close. In Manalapan, there is never a dull moment. Between high school drama, community drama, the power always going out every time someone hits the power lines with their car, there is always a story circulating around town. If by any chance you miss out on this week’s gossip, you can always find the latest news on Manalapanpatch.com! Living in Manalapan, I feel like I have seen and heard it all, of course until it tops itself, which it does, often. Hate it or love it, Manalapan is home, and no one can ever say that it’s boring.

Location: it’s in Central Jersey 

Manalapan is located in Central New Jersey. Yes, I know, some of you don’t believe it exists, but you really cannot get anymore central than Manalapan. Look at a map, you’ll see. But, don’t get confused if you notice some people referring to Manalapan as Englishtown, for most people use the names interchangeably, since our full name is Manalapan-Englishtown, NJ. However, if you are a true member of Manalapan, you know the difference between Manalapan and Englishtown and where each one ends and begins. If you encounter someone who lives here and says they live in Manalapan, DON’T call it Englishtown. If you can, also try to pronounce it correctly.

Grade School and Middle School

Growing up in Manalapan didn’t always mean you went to the same grade schools. This town is vast, so depending on what “section” you grew up in, you could have ended up in any of the six grade schools: Clark Mills, Taylor Mills, Lafayette Mills, Milford Brook, Wemrock Brook, or Pine Brook. Of course that is, until the school district decided to confuse us all by switching everything around and converting Pine Brook to an all sixth grade school to prepare students for what middle school would be like. No matter what system you were in though, you can’t help but remember the excitement you felt knowing that upon entering sixth grade, you finally got a locker.

No matter what “section” of Manalapan you lived in, however, and what grade school you were sent to, once middle school rolled around, everyone who grew up here remembers that we all got clumped together like one big Manalapan grade school melting pot. This is where we entered MEMS (Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School). The best parts of MEMS consisted of the better cafeteria food, PBL (problem based learning), or what we referred to as the free hour, and the new gym room. All of the new and high quality work out equipment was cool, but you really wanted to go in there for the Dance Dance Revolution machine. Oh, the good old days.

Manalapan High School – Let’s Go Braves!

Of course, after that was Manalapan High School, which is considered one of the best academic schools in New Jersey (hell yeah)! If you went to MHS, you pretty much had the same love/hate relationship here as you did with the town itself. But, again, never boring. Over my four years at MHS, our 2,000 plus students encountered countless drug busts, some by students and, unfortunately, some by teachers. You all remember walking into school the next day after that article made its way to Manalapan Patch. There was the unfortunate “paint fumes” day where we were all forced to go home early because they decided to paint in the boiler room during the day. The fumes were released into the vents of the school and that was not exactly healthy. Then there was the day we all waked into school to find everything turned on its head. We had an entirely new higher administration after our principal was fired and arrested for embezzling. Yes, that actually happened. Then there were the power outages. Every time a senior couldn’t figure out how to not drive into the telephone poles on the street of MHS, the power went out; something that became a laugh and a common occurrence.

Despite all the drama however, there were certain aspects of MHS that made high school for all of us.

There was senior for hire, where seniors were “bought” and the money was donated, and the buyers got to dress them up however they liked for a day (an early Halloween?).

There were our famous football games (GO BRAVES!) that were the main social hangouts of the Fall, especially the Homecoming game. You could always count on waiting at Applebee’s for an hour after every game, with more than half the school, to get a table for some half-priced appetizers.

There was the Battle of the Classes – basically a grade-relay-color war that almost the entire school attended. The best part of all: the grade dance. You always had to watch out and make sure another grade didn’t sneak up and steal your ideas! Such outrage would break out any year the seniors didn’t win the ultimate BOTC trophy.

Then, of course, if you were a junior or a senior it was always fun to look forward to the Prom Askings – who was going to go out on a whim and whip up the most outlandish asking that year? Between getting teachers and principals, entire school assemblies, your closest friends, or the entire cafeteria, involved, Prom Askings were the highlight of the second half of the school year, as was prom, of course.

Places you’ll never forget

Whether you are still smack dab in the middle of Manalapan, commuting to college/working hard at a job, or far, far away from this infamous town, there are some places you’ll never forget:

Applebee’s 

The place you spent most of your nights after ten o’clock where you would gather with your friends for half-priced apps, just like you did after every football game. This social outing never really got old, did it?

 

Yorktowne Bagels 

If you come to Manalapan and you want the best breakfast bagel ever, this is where you go. It’s actually not called Yorktowne Bagels; the sign outside reads Hot Bagels, but nonetheless, being located in the Yorktowne Center is how it earned its name. Most of us risked being late to school in order to get one of these in before the homeroom bell. Around fifteen different types of bagels and countless types of cream cheese, along with a variety of drinks, muffins, danishes, etc. It basically had all the breakfast you could eat available. But, you always had to be prepared because it was cash only, something you had to commit to memory or you’d be SOL.

Locals

Whether you’ve been 21 for almost a whole year now or are just joining the 21 fun, everyone from the class of 2013 has been dying to flash their new licenses to see what the new bar in the Yorktowne Center is all about. It just opened up in the summer of 2015, at first only serving drinks. Now that I’ve turned 21, I heard that they finally added food to their menu due to their increasing popularity. It’s now the new “place to be”!

Love it or hate it…

At the end of the day, however you feel about Manalapan, if you live here it’s home. You’ll bash it to your fellow “Pans”, but if anyone tries to come in and bad-mouth your town, you’ll defend it to the end. It has lots of crazy and lots of drama with its uppity suburban white-picket fenced atmosphere, but at the end of the day this is where we became who we are. This is where we started the rest of our lives. This is where we made our dreams. This is where we, not only grew up, but where we grew. This is where we realized what home and community really is. This is Manalapan, New Jersey.