Enough already — let's rename the Joe Kyrillos Bridge

For the past nine years, we have been celebrating a unique New Jersey holiday, "Joe Kyrillos Day."

Named for the infamous "Mitt Romney Republican" state senator who even supported some tax hikes, including the gas tax.

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

We were planning to move past it, and the countdown began.

Then a funny thing happened along the journey to the 10th Annual JK Day. Someone put up signs on the Senator Kyrillos Bridge in Red Bank, claiming that the bridge should revert to its original name, "Hubbard's Bridge."

Photo via Google Maps

The forgotten family behind the original bridge name

Looking into it a bit, it's clear that the bridge was originally named for the Hubbard family, longtime Monmouth County residents, going back to Jacobus Hubbard, a Revolutionary War hero who is actually buried near the Middletown entrance to the bridge.

A lineage of war heroes and doctors gave way in 2018 to a state senator?

Surely, Sen. Kyrillos must have accomplished something big in order to steal the name away from a prominent, patriotic American family.

Right?

Well, not so much.

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

How the bridge ended up bearing Joe Kyrillos' name

Turns out, the senator was responsible for grabbing some additional funding in a Trenton budget, which was used to rebuild the aging structure.

So, Joe K. gets a gift from the Legislature and, as they do often, they throw some taxpayer money to a lawmaker to use locally in order to secure their vote.

It's how Trenton works.

So, a normal day in Trenton securing votes with your money, and a great American family is whitewashed from history? No way, not on our watch.

Not only are we scrapping Joe Kyrillos Day, but I'm calling for a renaming of the old bridge back to its historical roots honoring a family willing to sacrifice their fortunes and sacred honor to build this great nation.

For me, it's the Hubbard Bridge.