by Phil Stilton

JACKSON-Over 1,200 readers voted in November in the inaugural JTOWN Magazine “People’s Choice Awards”.

Over 40 individuals, businesses and charities were nominated by the public in our online Facebook page, Jackson,NJ (Over 5,400 members). Of those 40, four were chosen by our readers.
After Maureen Olsen lost her son Chase Ryan to cancer, she become devoted to supporting childhood cancer charities and awareness around Jackson. She started the Chase Ryan Olsen Foundation in memory of her son.

She was the driving force behind Jackson’s “Paint the Town Gold” initiative that has raised awareness of childhood cancer in the township exponentially. Sports teams across Jackson wear gold ribbons, shoe laces, socks to raise money for cancer based charities and to keep the memory of those children the township has lost alive.
Mayor Michael Reina has served as Jackson’s mayor for 8 years and has been one of the town’s most liked mayors in recent history. Reina has been open in his support of everything that is Jackson from veterans to childhood illness awareness to youth sports programs. Reina is a fixture at many community events and has been a hands on mayor when it comes to being part of the community since before he took office.

Reina and his wife Laura take the efforts of charities such as the Chase Ryan Olsen Foundation personally as their own granddaughter Angelina has been battling childhood cancer for several years.

Farley’s Ice Cream was chosen as business of the year. Owner John Burnetsky is a long time community supporter, president of the Jackson Liberty Band Association and a member of the Jackson School Board.

The James Volpe Foundation is another foundation that had its start after a tragedy. After Jackson Memorial student James Volpe died in a car crash, his father Anthony, mother Christine and brother Justin, along with family and friends began raising money in James’ name to support James’ most passionate interest, youth sports and baseball. The foundation raises money to help sports teams and has donated a driving simulator to promote safe driving among students learning to drive in the school. The foundation helps fund sports equipment for volunteer and school teams and assists under privileged athletes pay for sports fees when needed.

The poll was conducted by JTOWN Magazine and the Shore News Network. The poll application software was managed by Code Rubik, Inc. a third party application developer based out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

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Phil Stilton is the Editor and Publisher of Shore News Network, an independent digital newsroom providing original reporting on New Jersey, national news, government, public policy, public safety, courts, and community affairs.

As founder of the publication, Stilton leads editorial strategy, investigative reporting, and daily newsroom operations while overseeing coverage that reaches millions of readers annually.

With extensive experience covering municipal government, county government, state legislatures, elections, law enforcement, emergency management, and public records, Stilton specializes in translating complex government actions into clear, factual reporting. His work frequently relies on primary source documents, including court filings, legislation, public meeting records, election finance disclosures, government databases, police reports, and Freedom of Information and Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests. He has reported extensively on local government accountability, taxpayer spending, campaign finance, public corruption investigations, infrastructure, public safety, and the policies affecting New Jersey residents.

Under Stilton's editorial leadership, Shore News Network has grown into one of New Jersey's largest independent digital news organizations, publishing thousands of original news articles each year while providing breaking news coverage, investigative reporting, and analysis across state and local government. The publication's reporting is routinely sourced from official government agencies, public officials, court records, and firsthand documentation, with a commitment to transparency, attribution, corrections when warranted, and clearly distinguishing factual reporting from opinion.

Stilton's journalism follows established newsroom standards emphasizing accuracy, verification, fairness, and accountability. Every effort is made to verify information through official records and multiple reliable sources before publication. His reporting is intended to provide readers with timely, well-documented information that helps them understand the issues affecting their communities, while maintaining editorial independence from political parties, government agencies, advocacy organizations, and commercial interests.

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