Mule Barn Tavern On Sandy Hook Donated $11,000 To Middletown Veterans Village

HIGHLANDS, NJ — Mule Barn Tavern, the popular bar/restaurant on Sandy Hook, donated $11,000 to the new veterans' housing complex that just opened in Middletown, the Middletown Veterans Village.

The complex, located at 45 Leonardville Road, has 12 affordable apartments for U.S. military veterans.

The town will use the $11,000 to build an outdoor gathering space in the back of the building, including grills, a fire pit and outdoor seating, Mayor Tony Perry said Wednesday.

No veterans have moved into the housing complex yet. That is because the selection of U.S. military veterans is done by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and their operation was halted by the federal government shutdown. The process to select the veterans just resumed, Perry said this week. It takes a long time to select and verify residents. Preference will be given first to veterans who live in Middletown, then in Monmouth County and then in New Jersey. The Township has not revealed rent prices.

Mule Barn Tavern owner Dan Ferrise promised in this Instagram post that on Veterans' Day this year (Nov. 11), the bar/restaurant would donate 100 percent of business proceeds from 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. that day.

Perry said he had no idea it would be an $11,000 donation for the town.

"When you have restaurants that don't need to make a name for themselves, because they've done it anyway, but say 'I'm willing to forgo my profit to help people who have served our nation,' all Middletown can say is thank you for your generosity," Perry said at the Monday night Township Committee meeting, where he honored Ferrise with a proclamation from the town.

Customers that day also wrote letters to veterans, which Ferrise said he laminated and put into a book, which will be on permanent display at the veterans' housing.

Perry said Monday night at the Township Committee meeting that he recommends the lemon wings at Mule Barn Tavern.

Middletown Opens Affordable Housing Complex For U.S. Military Veterans (Nov. 7)