Joe Clark, Lou Costello, Frank Lautenberg, Samuel Colt, Hurricane Carter, Sal Barbagallo.

What do these fellow Americans have in common?  They were all born or lived in the City of Paterson home of the Great Falls.  The Great Falls is a great gush of force and power not unlike the famous people that are from that city,whether it’s a great leader, a funny guy, a Politician, an inventor, a boxer or a guy born Salvatore Barbagallo.  Not only do they have Paterson, NJ in common, they are all successful in their own right even if you believe Hurricane is guilty, don’t like Joe’s leadership style, don’t think Lou was funny, don’t approve of Sam’s invention and disagree with the Senator’s politics.

Sal is always smiling and a happy go lucky guy and in typical Italian style is very close with his family.

Born of Italalian immigrants, Sal’s Dad and Grandfather both worked in the silk mills Paterson became known for.  If you go there today, you will see a bigger than life statue of Abbott’s partner, a great photo opportunity.

Sal began work in the City as a young man at the age of 12 working in his Uncle’s grocery’s store.  Shortly thereafter, Sal went to Eastside High School in Paterson This is the same school that Joe Clark became a nationally known principal for his radical and controversial style.

After high school Sal attended Steven’s Institute in Hoboken to study engineering. After school Sal would work in his other Uncle’s grocery store near the Paterson border in Totowa.  This is where he met the love of his life Mary.  Mary started shopping at that store a little bit more than usual and a couple years later they were married. 

A year later Mary gave birth to their first child Anthony, another year after that, Joanne was born. 

Before long Sal and Mary bought their first house in West Paterson.  At this time Sal was working for the Department of Transportation for the Great State of New Jersey.  Sal did very well with his State job and his Mom was proud he had such a stable job.

But Sal knew in order to gain financial independence he had to take risks and with that philosophy he left his secure job and followed his life long dream of being in construction.  Sal opened Mountain Ridge Construction and prospered well enough that when a lot was being subdivided in West Paterson, Sal jumped on the opportunity to build another new home for his family.

Sal was active in town, in addition to being an Elk, Sal was a volunteer firefighter, and sat on the planning board in West Paterson. During this time he got his surveying license and managed to find time to obtain a pilot’s license.

In the late 70’s while Sal was doing site work for a project on Rt. 34 in Monmouth County, Aberdeen to be exact, he met the owner of a neighboring business, Colts Neck resident Bill Eyres.

This became the beginning of a lifelong friendship. Bill introduced Sal to Colts Neck and in 1980 when Sal’s daughter Joanne finished high school, Sal and Mary moved to Maplecrest Lane in Colts Neck where they still happily reside to this day.

With the move to the flatlands of New Jersey, Sal renamed his construction company to Monmouth Excavators and purchased a yard for his machinery on Rt 33 in Howell.

Sal soon became very active in the Lion’s Club in Middletown.  Sal joined the Colts Neck Fire Department as a Fire Policeman where he cheerfully still serves to this day.  Sal was also appointed to sit on the Township’s planning board which he has served faithfully for the last 12 years.

Sal was getting more and more involved in Community Service and became active in the Colts Neck Lions where he is an active member today.  Sal also serves on the Colts Neck’s Business Advisory Committee.

After building a commercial building known as the Colts Neck Commons on Rt. 34, Sal offered his services to build a new library in Colts Neck.  Sal teamed up with Art Goodwin and Tom McLintock and was the driving force in getting our town’s library at its current location.  This task was accomplished at a cost of about one third what it may have cost if a private contractor was hired.

In the tradition of his Father, Sal makes his own wine and cheese and makes over 700 bottles of wine each season in his home which is revered as White Pine Winery. Being a winemaker is the why Sal mostly eats at “bring your owns”.  You can see him at Perkins, Orlando’s or at the Lions Club with his own wine that was distilled late at night with the labor love at White Pine Winery

Not to let any grass grow under his feet, when there was a need for a place for the scouts to meet and for our town to have a nice place for different functions, it was the brainstorm of Sal and his good friend Sil Lutkewitte to build a community center in town.

Late in 2006, Sal and Sil completed the brand new 5,000 square feet facility at Bucks Mill Park where it is already being well used.   Sal is most proud of the fact and insisted that there will be no cost for the taxpayers to make the Community Center a reality.  Not only was it built with the donations from the generous people of our good town, Sal brought it in $15,000 under budget.

Sal has once again shared his time, skill and talents for the benefit of all and in return received no compensation and had no ulterior motive for doing so.  Sal has no private or secret agenda; he has no interest in running for any political position of any kind.  He simply enjoys being a guiding light for our community.

If you happen to bump into Sal one morning at Perkins or an afternoon at the Colts Neck Café, although he doesn’t expect it or ask for it, give this great man a big thank you for all he has done for our town.

When I ask Sal what he is going to do for an encore, he said “There will be no encore, I’m done.”

For some reason, I tend to doubt it. 

As proud as Sal is of the Community Center and the fact it came in under budget, he is most proud of his two children and his four grandchildren, which two of them are being raised in Colts Neck by Sal’s daughter and her husband Michael  Daffledecker.

My hat is off to Sal and Mary and although I did thank him for his contributions to our town, this man received no recognition for all of his accomplishments and I would like to say “Job well done” and of course a giant “THANK YOU TO SAL BARBAGALLO.”

Alexander Hamilton, the founder of Paterson would be proud of many of the great people from Paterson from Bernard Kerrick, John Holland to Sal Barbagallo.

 Article written by Timothy Schwartz, Broker Owner of Century 21 Showcase in Colts Neck.  You can visit his blog at ColtsNeckOpinion.blogspot.com