Scenes from 14th Annual Miles for Matheny

Once again, Miles for Matheny was on Sunday held at Natirar County Park as one of the largest fundraisers and community get-togethers in the Somerset Hills area. The event, reported in "Miles of Smiles" , attracted about 1,600 participants and spectators to the park in Peapack-Gladstone.

Many residents from towns in the Somerset Hills — including Basking Ridge, Bernardsville, Bedminster and Peapack-Gladstone — took part one way or another. A highlight of the day was the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk — in which able-bodied friends and family members accompanied Matheny patients and others in wheelchairs.

The event was named in honor of the late Lu Huggins of Basking Ridge, who began the forerunner of Miles for Matheny in 1998 as a way to get patients from Matheny out into the community.

The event benefits the School of Medicine and Dentistry, serves both inpatients and outpatients at the Matheny Medical and Educational Center in Peapack-Gladstone.

Marissa Buccafusco and twins Sarah and Kathryn Bush, all seniors at Ridge High School, said they are regular volunteers at the facility for residential and non-residential patients with developmental disabilities.