DUI Lawyers in Sussex, NJ

WANTAGE — Richard Byma grew up on a small family dairy farm in northwestern Sussex County and didn't think of doing anything else in his life but running a dairy farm.

Sitting at the dining room table in his farmhouse along Route 519 on a cold February afternoon, he pointed out the window across windblown fields at a red barn a quarter-mile away.

"That's where I grew up. My father owned that farm," he said. As did many farm boys of that 1960s era, Byma went to the newly opened "Vo-Tech," what is now called Sussex County Technical School.

Today, he and his wife, Rosina, are the 2025 New Jersey Farmers of the Year, an honor bestowed at the 100th State Agricultural Convention earlier this month. Also recognized by the state Board of Agriculture were former state Agriculture Secretary Douglas Fisher and, posthumously, John Rigolizzo Jr. of Gloucester County.

At the meeting, current Agriculture Secretary Edward Wengryn said, “The dedication and service that each of these individuals have given to New Jersey agriculture make their recognition well deserved. Their common thread of using their roles and resources to educate and advance our industry provide a solid foundation for the future of agriculture here in the Garden State.”

Richard Byma was one of the movers behind the Sussex County Farm & Horse Show's purchase of the McDonald's farm on Augusta Plains Road. The site would become the home of the annual State Fair and Sussex County Farm & Horse Show. Before the purchase, the horse show was held on the grounds of what is now Selective Insurance.

It would be almost a decade before development of the McDonald's farm into the fairgrounds began with creation of the pond onsite and several access roads. The Farm & Horse Show formally moved to its new home in 1976.

In the meantime, Richard and Rosina got married and began renting a farm owned by the Ayres family. They bought the property in 1975, and Richard said, with a chuckle: "We probably paid way too much."

When they bought the farm, they were milking a herd of 75 cows. Today, they have 127 milking cows, three bulls and several calves in special pens.

"We built those pens on the sunny side," Richard said, pointing to the February sun that warmed the outdoor enclosures. His calves poked heads through the metal gate slats, and a small herd of barn cats gathered in the sunshine.

Between their ownership and renting, the Bymas now farm more than 600 acres and continue to educate the public, not only through support of the horse show but also through tours of their farm.

Reacting to the Bymas being named Farmers of the Year, state Sen. Parker Space, who is a township neighbor, said, "Sussex County has a rich agriculture heritage thanks to families like the Bymas who have farmed the county soil and tended to its livestock for generations. The Space family has known the Bymas for many decades, and it is especially fitting that they be recognized so prominently by the state for their impact in the community."

The senator said the Bymas have promoted local agriculture and the dairy industry by hosting events such as a venison dinner each March. They also run an on-farm greenhouse that sells plants throughout the summer.

State Assemblyman Michael Inganamort attended the awards dinner and presented the Bymas with a citation of commendation on behalf of the 24th Legislative District.

Rosina, he said, has organized, guided and managed the dairy show and the dairy barns at the fair for many years and is known for her generosity in helping youth in the 4-H Program. Richard, he noted, has served for decades as director of the fair's milking parlor, an interactive exhibit that shows the process of milking a dairy herd.

Richard Byma is also a longtime member of the Fair Foundation, which raises money for improvements to the fairgrounds.

Fellow 24th District Assembly member Dawn Fantasia said, "I am so pleased to see the Bymas honored for their lifetime of dedication to agriculture. Dairy farming, a hallmark of New Jersey’s agricultural industry, plays a vital role in supporting our local economy and ensuring food security. Families like theirs inspire us to champion strong agricultural policies in the Legislature."

Their son, Henry Byma, is also an owner of the farm and was New Jersey’s Outstanding Young Farmer Award winner a decade ago.

In 2007, the Bymas partnered with their son, his wife, Christine, and grandson Richard to form By-Acre Holsteins, making it a four-generation dairy farm.

The elder Richard said modern dairy farming requires a much broader knowledge today, with computers keeping track of not only how much milk an individual cow produces but also the animal's genetics — in connection with past and future generations — and the overall quality of the milk, such as butterfat content.

He said the computers also help in breeding new generations of calves, helping the farm decide when to buy semen and inseminate cows.

"With the computer, we can pick butterfat content, milk protein. The last 10 years we've done all that," he said. A cow is productive for only about seven to eight years.

Story continues after video.

And while they are milking only 127, the farm also has 280 head of Holsteins, including three bulls, on the property with the non-milking cows either in the process of growing up or calving.

"We're growing our young calves to be better than their mothers," Richard said.

Herd health is important, so every calf is inoculated and given respiratory treatment, he added: "Viruses. You can't smell them, you can't see them, but they are all around."

While dairy genetics are moving forward, so is the process of farming.

"The pasture gets hot," Richard said, adding that hot, stressed cows give less milk.

In today's more modern, "big herd" farming operations, cows don't go outside, but are fed, milked and have down time in the same no-stall, open-air shelters, where they habitually line up at feed troughs, then walk into milking stalls on their own.

Watching for signs of bird flu

And on a new national worry, he said there's "no sign, yet," of avian flu crossing over into other animals, especially dairy herds, in the eastern U.S., but farmers are on the lookout. Bird flu cases have been confirmed in dairy cows in the west.

"Everyone's concerned," Richard said, explaining that the spring migration has yet to start. Of particular concern are black starlings, which have an affinity for the dairy feed supply.

He said he has seen many other changes in the state's dairy business over his career. In 1916, he said, there were 20,000 dairy cows in Sussex and 36 processing plants, or creameries. Today, his milk is trucked to a creamery in Connecticut.

The 2022 U.S. agricultural census shows 24 dairy farms in Sussex County with 1,112 cows. A farm, however, is defined in the census as any place that produces $1,000 or more of agricultural products during the year.

The dairy business "is so much better today, so much more," he said, "but it still takes men, workers, people to work a place."

Email: bscruton@njherald.com; Twitter/X: @brucescrutonNJH

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NEWS

1-minute read

Wantage's Land Use Board postponed a planned meeting on whether a hangar at the Sussex Airport can be used for uses other than airplanes, a dispute that the airstrip's owner said was putting the future of his facility in jeopardy.

The township announced this week that the special meeting originally scheduled for Tuesday had been put off. No new date was announced.

At issue is the use of a large hangar, adjacent to but not owned by Sussex Airport, where stalls that were built to house private aircraft are being leased out for storing automobiles and other non-aviation businesses.

The hangar's misuse has prevented Sussex Airport from obtaining grants from the Federal Aviation Administration that could have been used for maintenance, upgrades and new construction at the airstrip, which dates to the early 1950s, according to its owner, Alan Antaki.

The Land Use Board is considering a formal request from the hangar's owner, William Gennaro, to change the zoning for the property to allow for general storage, rather than the current allowed use for aircraft storage.

Antaki, who purchased Sussex Airport in 2015 and operates it under the name of Sussex Aviation, has criticized both Gennaro and the town. Wantage, according to Antaki, has fined Gennaro's When Pigs Fly LLC for the unauthorized use of the buildings. But it has never collected any money and refuses to take other legal action, the airport owner said.

The town has cited the hangar, but those citations have been appealed.

Efforts to reach Gennaro for comment were unsuccessful.

Among Gennaro's customers are those who work on motor vehicles, then use the runways as test tracks. Antaki also said that when the hangar's other customers allow the public in, those visitors may be unaware there could be airplanes possibly taxiing on adjacent pavement, creating an unsafe environment.

Antaki said if the zoning change is made, it could impede on the airport's operations and likely stand in the way of future FAA support for improvements.

"Without those FAA grants and revenue, the airport will no longer be commercially viable and may have to close or be developed for some other purpose," he wrote in a public appeal for residents to show up at the board meeting.

Email: bscruton@njherald.com Twitter/X: @brucescrutonNJH

These Morris and Sussex county basketball teams have advanced to NJSIAA Tournament sectional finals.

Groups 1 and 3 will play on Friday, with Groups 2 and 4 on Saturday, all at the better seed. Non-Public sectional finals, which are also NJSIAA semis, will be held at neutral sites on Monday.

North 1, Group 1 girls: Mountain Lakes at Park Ridge, 5 p.m. Friday

Ready for a rematch? These teams met in last year's sectional final. Park Ridge won its first sectional title, 43-28, at home. It was the first time Mountain Lakes had reached a girls basketball sectional final for more than a decade.

The Lakers have won four girls soccer sectional finals in a row, and three straight NJSIAA Group 1 titles. In girls lacrosse, Mountain Lakes is three-time defending Group 1 North champions.

Lakers senior guard/forward Abby Hawes (17.4 ppg., 4.6 rpg., 4.1 spg.), who scored her 1,000th career point two weeks ago, has been part of all of that success. Senior Allie Shenloogian (25.2 ppg., 8.6 rpg., 4.3 apg., 7.1 spg.) is Park Ridge's all-time leading scorer with more than 2,300 points. She got to 500 career steals in Tuesday's semifinal.

Top-seeded Park Ridge (19-6) is in the North 1, Group 1 final for the third year in a row. No. 2 Mountain Lakes (21-5) has won four sectional crowns: North 2 in 2001 and 2002 and North 1 in 2005 and 2006.

North 1, Group 2 boys: Vernon at Glen Rock, noon Saturday

Vernon upset top seed Pascack Valley, 65-59, in a semifinal on Wednesday. Sophomore forward Dan Decker led three Vernon players in double digits with 19 points, more than double his average. Senior forward Ryan Ajamian sank four 3-pointers, totaling a career-high 14 for fourth-seeded Vernon (18-10).

Vernon defeated Glen Rock, 60-55, a year ago to reach its first sectional final. Senior guard Alex Fessel leads Vernon with 22.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists.

Mason Mangione (20 ppg., 5.96 rpg.), a 6-foot-3 senior, leads second-seeded Glen Rock (22-6), which beat St. Mary's (Rutherford) to win the NJIC title on Feb. 12.

North 1, Group 3 girls: Morris Knolls at Demarest, 5 p.m. Friday

It is top seed Demarest's first trip to a sectional final. No. 2 Morris Knolls has won just once: North 2, Group 3 in 1994.

These teams have not faced off recently. However, Morris Knolls (23-5) knocked off two of Demarest's rivals – Old Tappan, 51-50 in overtime, and Teaneck – en route to the final. Battle-tested Demarest (23-5) outlasted West Essex, 67-62 in double overtime, on Tuesday night and also reached its first Bergen County Tournament final.

Seniors Charlee Perna (9.3 ppg., 3.6 rpg., 4.3 spg.) and Vanessa Russo (7.7 ppg., 6.2 rpg.) and junior Kenzie Comprelli (8.96 ppg., 2.7 rpg.) lead balanced Morris Knolls, which does not have any player averaging more than 10 points.

North 1, Group 4 girls: Morristown at West Orange, 2 p.m. Saturday

This is West Orange's first trip to a sectional final since winning N1G4 in 2018 – after beating Morristown, 46-45, in a quarterfinal. Second-seeded Morristown (20-8), the defending sectional champion, knocked West Orange out in a semi last winter en route to the Group 4 final.

However, sophomore guard Rhyan Watt (16.8 ppg., 3 rpg., 4.96 spg.) led three West Orange players in double figures in a 55-32 victory against Morristown on Jan. 24. Nawel Ibazatene Lefebvre, a 6-foot-1 Morristown freshman, averages 19.6 points 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 steals.

Morristown and top-seeded West Orange (24-7) have each won eight of its last 10.

North 2, Group 2 girls: Madison at Caldwell, 4 p.m. Saturday

Madison had a dream season last winter, reaching the Group 2 final for the first time. But second-seeded Madison has a longer tradition of success, advancing to four sectional finals in a row.

Madison won two of the last three North 2, Group 2 finals. Top seed Caldwell (26-3) hasn't won since 1996, when it reached the Group 2 final.

Senior forward Charlotte Tuhy (26.4 ppg., 8.6 rpg., 3.9 apg.) has led the way for four years, breaking Morris County's all-time scoring record and pulling down almost 1,100 rebounds along the way.

Caldwell comes into the sectional final having won eight of its last 10. Sophomore guard Addison Keenan (19 ppg., 3.6 rpg., 3.4 apg., 4.6 spg.) and 5-foot-7 junior guard Tea Fiore (15.4 ppg., 5.1 rpg., 4.2 apg.) are leading a balanced squad.

North 2, Group 2 boys: Hoboken at Madison, 3 p.m. Saturday

Madison outlasted upset-minded Newark Collegiate, 56-50, in a late semifinal on Wednesday night. The No. 3 seed's reward is a date with Hoboken, which held off No. 8 West Morris, 68-51 in the other N2G2 semi.

It's Hoboken's third straight trip to the sectional final. It is believed to be Madison's first.

Fifth-seeded Hoboken (21-8) slipped by Hillside and No. 13 Ridgefield Park, each time by five points. The key against West Morris was a 23-point third quarter. Senior guard Lamir Boxley (14 ppg.) scored a team-high 19 points on Wednesday, leading four Hoboken players in double figures. Junior guard Nico Esposito adds 11.4 points and four boards per game.

Madison has won seven of its last 10 games, dating back to a Morris County Tournament quarterfinal against Delbarton. Junior Gavin Randall (20.2 ppg., 7.4 rpg.) and senior Michael Liddy (11.4 ppg.) lead the way.

North 2, Group 3 girls: Cranford at Chatham, 6 p.m. Friday

Top-seeded Chatham (29-2) is very accustomed to this position, having played in five of the last six sectional finals – winning three. The defending sectional champs have already played Cranford (15-11) this year: a 66-31 victory during Winter Break.

Sixth seed Cranford topped Millburn, third-seeded Summit and No. 2 Somerville, winning its last two games by a total of eight points. This is Cranford's first time in a sectional final since 2013.

Senior guard Ella Kreuzer (16.6 ppg., 3.5 rpg., ) had a game-high 22 points in Chatham's earlier win against Cranford. Mia Semioli (11.7 ppg., 4.1 rpg., 2.8 apg.) another Chatham senior guard who reached 1,000 points this winter, added 13 points and five assists. Chatham senior guard Arden Alvarez (10.4 ppg., 3.8 rpg.) also averages more than 10 points per game.

For Cranford, 5-foot-8 senior Bella Curanovic averages 16.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. She had 24 points and 16 boards – both game highs – in the sectional semifinal upset. Cranford has averaged 45 points as a team, but allows opponents almost the same total. After starting the season with four straight losses, Cranford has won eight of its last 10.

North 2, Group 3 boys: Mendham at Colonia, 6 p.m. Friday

Mendham slipped into the sectional final, 57-56, after three buzzer-beating Payne Tech shots rimmed out. Top seed Colonia, meanwhile, held off a late run by Chatham, 57-54, in its Tuesday-night semifinal.

Colonia (26-4) crushed Mendham in a quarterfinal last winter, a 2022 semifinal, and had a 10-point win in the first round in 2020. Mendham's last victory against Colonia came in a 2011 quarterfinal, en route to a loss to visiting Plainfield in the North 2, Group 3 final.

No. 2 Mendham (24-5) is no stranger to close games, with eight decided by five points or fewer – including a two-point overtime victory against Morristown Beard in a Morris County Tournament quarterfinal and a two-point loss to Chatham in a MCT semi.

Senior guard Kevin King, who reached 1,000 career points in the semifinal loss, leads Mendham with almost 19 points per game. Colonia, which averages 14.6 points more than opponents, is 19-2 at home.

Non-Public A North girls: Morris Catholic vs. Pope John, Monday at Franklin

Can Morris Catholic bring home its third straight NJSIAA title? The Crusaders stepped up to Non-Public A this winter, after winning Non-Public B twice. They'll take on Pope John, which reached the Non-Public A final a year ago in Monday's sectional final.

The second-seeded Lions (21-6) needed a late buzzer-beater from junior Mia Washington to outlast Immaculate Heart, 45-43, in overtime in a semifinal on Thursday. Washington leads Pope John with 19.2 points and 5.1 boards per game. Natalija Novkovic, a 5-foot-10 Lions freshman, adds 7.6 points and four rebounds.

Morris Catholic (26-0) has few secrets. The Twin Back Court of Mia and Mya Pauldo are now seniors, signed with the University of Tennessee. Mia Pauldo, who hit 2,000 career points in a MCT semifinal, averages 19.4 points, 5.3 assists and three steals. Mya Pauldo adds 15.6 ppg. and 5.1 apg.

The top-seeded Crusaders are working on a perfect season, including their fourth MCT title. They haven't lost since Feb. 17, 2024. The current seniors have gone 105-6.