Andover Park Bench Dedicated to Aberdeen Resident

Andover Park is a small pocket of green tucked away within the "A" section of Strathmore in Aberdeen Township, with a few swings, a jungle gym and a cozy patch of grass.

But for Aberdeen resident and Matawan Aberdeen Rotary Club president Roseanne Travean, the park is much more than that. It is packed full of memories of her mother, Lena Rettagliata, taking her and her sister there to do arts and crafts and memories of Rettagliata taking Travean's son Anthony to the park to play when he was a little boy.

When Rettagliata died at the age of 85 in January 2011, Trevean knew she wanted to honor her mother's memory with a bench at the park right down the street from her home.

On April 15, 2012, Mayor Fred Tagliarini and close friends and family of Rettagliata gathered at the park to officially dedicate the bench in her honor. The Matawan Aberdeen Rotary Club used a donation from Rettagliata's husband Joseph to purchase the bench, and then donated it to the township.

"It's like it all came full circle," Roseann Trevean said. "My mom would take me to the park when I was a child and when my son Anthony Trevean was born, she would take him to play."

"Now the memories of Andover Park will live forever in this bench," said Tagliarini during his proclamation. "On behalf of the Aberdeen Township Council and all the residents of Aberdeen, I accept this bench so others will also be able to collect memories for years to come."