[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 100 (Thursday, July 27, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING PHILIP ROSENBLOOM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 26, 2000

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Philip 
Rosenbloom of Monmouth Beach, Monmouth County, who will be celebrating 
on August 1st his 75th birthday. Phil Rosenbloom has devoted much of 
his adult life enhancing the civic and cultural life of my district, 
and I wish to honor his contributions.
  A native of Monmouth County, Phil Rosenbloom grew up in Asbury Park, 
where his family owned the local print shop. The printing business 
became his vocation as well, and he gradually built his own successful 
printing corporation based in New York, where he produced record album 
jackets and direct mail advertising for manufacturers of records, 
tapes, and CD's. However, if printing was his business, his passion 
since his childhood days has been great jazz music. Phil often said 
that his fantasy of the perfect life would be to own a little saloon 
where he would invite the great jazz musicians in the country to play 
and he could listen all day long.
  But Mr. Speaker, we pay tribute to Phil because he is not just a 
listener--he is a ``doer.'' While establishing his career in the 
printing business, he and his wife, Norma, raised three sons just a few 
miles away from his boyhood home. He served on the Board of Trustees of 
Temple Beth Miriam; he chaired committees for Planned Parenthood of 
Central New Jersey; he served as President of the Board of Trustees of 
the Monmouth County Arts Council; he currently sits on the Monmouth 
Beach Planning Board. In the 1960's, when my district was experiencing 
the racial tensions prevalent throughout the country, Phil was an 
outspoken advocate for civil rights and racial harmony. He is a life 
member of the NAACP.
  Perhaps his most noteworthy achievement was to find a way to share 
his love of music and theater with the citizens of Monmouth County. 
After selling his business and ``retiring,'' Phil devoted his energy 
and enthusiasm to the transformation of a run-down movie house in Red 
Bank into the Count Basie Theatre, now a newly-renovated and vibrant 
cultural center. Under his presidency of the theater, he has helped 
bring music, plays, and other arts to the children of our district, and 
he has helped create a showplace for great jazz. He also helped 
establish a jazz scholarship to a leading school of music, which will 
be presented on an annual basis to deserving young jazz musicians in 
our district. He continues to serve as a trustee of the theater.
  Phil and his wife, Norma, a classically-trained pianist, a former 
high school music teacher, and now a family law attorney, live in 
Monmouth Beach. They have three sons, David, James, and Eric, and three 
grandchildren. All of their sons learned from Phil and Norma the 
importance of building their adult lives around giving service to 
others.
  Mr. Speaker, when we think of a life well-lived, we think about 
dedication to family, to community, and to place of worship. We think 
about balancing hard work with a love and passion for our culture's 
highest forms of expression--theater, art, and music. Phil Rosenbloom 
certainly embodies, and continues to embody, the meaning of a well-
lived life. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me today in 
honoring Phil Rosenbloom and celebrating with him his 75th birthday.

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