Mayor David Cheifetz receives a round of applause after thanking the Strauss Foundation for the new library space.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Ron Hayes
When the cellist Yehuda Hanani fills Manalapan’s J. Turner Moore Memorial Library with the beautiful melodies of Schumann and Saint-Saëns at his Feb. 11 lecture, the audience will no longer suffer the sour note of hearing lovely music in a very cramped space.
What was once a stretch of front porch is now part of a larger community room. What was once the back porch is now an enclosed storage room. Carpeting is now wooden flooring, and a new sound system is on the way.
On Feb. 18, the community room will be dedicated as the Robert & Eugenia Strauss Lecture Hall.
“All these improvements are thanks to the generosity of the Strauss Foundation,” Mayor David Cheifetz told about 60 residents and library members who dropped by last month for an open-house preview of the renovations. “Their daughter, Kimberly Strauss, spearheaded the efforts to create this wonderful new lecture hall in honor of her parents.”
Cheifetz praised the contractor, Jeffrey Lewis, for completing the job on time and on budget. He declined to reveal the exact amount of the foundation’s gift, but the couple’s affection for the town was boundless.
Robert Strauss was the son of Maurice “Moe” Strauss, a founder of the Pep Boys chain of auto supply stores. Eugenia Strauss, who died in 2010, was a former dancer and actress. They moved to the town in 1987 and soon became two of its most enthusiastic supporters.
“My father truly loved being in Manalapan,” Kimberly Strauss told The Coastal Star at his death in March 2014. “He and my mother took a lot of pride in being there, knew all about the town, knew their neighbors. He took a lot of personal pride in helping out any way he could.”
The guests praised the expansion as they enjoyed hors d’oeuvres from Thaikyo restaurant and were entertained by an acoustic duo dubbed Counseled and Composed.
“Now we’ll be able to set up the chairs in the new alcove,” said Lisa Petersen, who serves as both library director and town clerk. “I think we got the most bang for the buck we could possibly get, and I’m thrilled to be part of the community.”
Sophia Isaac, who directs about 10 volunteers as the “library liaison,” was equally impressed.
“I’m absolutely thrilled,” she said. “Before, there was a clash of people and bottleneck at the lecture series. Now it just sweeps right through.
“The Strausses have given us a whole new energy that will make a huge difference, not just as a library, but as a community center.
“We’re so appreciative.”
If You Go
What: Dedication of community room
When: 6-8 p.m. Feb. 18
Information: For a schedule of the library’s 2016 lecture series, visit www.manalapan.org or call 585-9477. Lectures are free to library members.
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