Liberty Mutual Presents Montclair With $10,000 Check

Liberty Mutual presented the Montclair Township with a check for $10,000 Friday morning during a brief ceremony marked by great praise for Montclair's community spirit.

"This really is a credit to your town and to your citizens," said Martha Groff of Liberty Mutual.

Montclair was one of only 10 towns to win in the insurance company's "Bring Back the 4th" contest. Liberty Mutual received 48,000 responses from 3,000 towns across the country since launching the contest on May 18th.

Groff wasn't sure how many Montclair residents had participated. All respondents had to visit a Web site and complete a history quiz on Responsible Moments in U.S. History. The quiz questions focused on people and events that helped shape our country. Each completed quiz counted as a credit to the site visitor's town. The 10 U.S. municipalities with the most quizzes completed on their behalf won one of the grants.

Montclair won a $10,000 grant in the Medium City/Town category.

"This was truly a wonderful feat for our town and a fantastic effort on the part of our community," said Montclair Township Mayor Jerry Fried. "We've always been truly proud of our citizens' commitment to helping make Montclair a great place to live. Everyone once again rallied for the town to help us win a grant that now allows us to fully restore all of our Independence Day celebrations."

Pat Brechka, Director Recreation and Cultural Affairs, said there was no way the Township could have gone ahead with the fireworks without this money. "You all have been like angels," she told Groff.

The Township's fireworks will be held on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to arrive at 7:30 p.m. The Township's Parade will be held on Monday at 11 a.m. For more information go here.