Bon Jovi Visits His Hometown, Gives Back To Jersey

 Above, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Sayerville, NJ native Jon Bon Jovi walk through Sayerville today. The town was extensively damaged during superstorm Sandy. Below, Christie greets Bon Jovi while New Jersey First Lady Mary Pat Christie greets Bon Jovi's wife, Dorothea. Photos provided by the Governor's Office.

Here are the full media pool notes from Jon Bon Jovi's visit to Sayerville, NJ today:

Gov. Christie, First Lady Mary Pat Christie and their daughter, Sarah, 17, met Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, at the corner of Patton Drive and Nimitz Place in Sayerville, NJ, at 10:50 am on Monday for a 35-minute walk down the block to meet, hug and take pictures with residents.

Bon Jovi grew up in the town, about four miles away, and he said he once played a “block dance” across the street. He said he had been to Sayreville “a couple of times” since Sandy inflicted extensive property damage in town.

Sayreville, which sits off the Raritan River, was one of the hardest hit by Sandy. It has working-class homes, several of which had American flags flying out front.

Patton Drive, which saw water pour into basements and first floors, didn’t suffer the same damage as nearby streets where properties are in line to be bought out by the state after several devastating floods.

Patton Drive homeowners, though, still may stand be benefit from grants funded through the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, which is chaired by Mary Pat Christie. Bon Jovi is an honorary advisory board member and at a news conference after the walk with Christie he announced that he and his band mates were donating $1 million to the fund.

Before Jon Bon Jovi arrived, Christie walked over to meet Joanne Switzer, who told the governor about the 4 ½ feet of water that her mother’s home sustained. “I hope it’s fixed so it never happens again,” Switzer said. “She never had a drop of water since 1960.”

“Please tell your mom we’re thinking about her,” Christie said.

Jon Bon Jovi then arrived, and the two greeted each other with a hug and a handshake before sharing a laugh and walking down the street with arms around each other’s shoulders.

Christie wore suit pants and a tie; Bon Jovi had on sunglasses, a sports jacket and jeans. Bon Jovi said his wife told him to wear the jacket despite the heat so his armpit stains wouldn’t show.

Unlike Christie’s first visit to Sayreville just days after the storm, which involved several teary encounters, there was a happier mood among residents. Residents scrambled for pictures and several thanked him for coming back.

“We’ll be back here a lot, we’ll definitely be back here a lot,” Christie said at one point.

To another resident, he said: “I’m going to continue to come back here…Don’t worry, I won’t forget.”

“What brings youse guys down the block?” one exceedingly excited woman asked.

“Come to check everything out, see how everything’s going,” Christie said. “Jon’s helping with things, so…”

In a brief interview Bon Jovi described Sayreville as “very blue collar.”

“These aren’t vacation homes, they aren’t second homes,” he said. “It’s the kind of community where both parents worked full time. This is the kind of place that’s middle class America, a hard-working community.”

He noted that his wife, his high school sweetheart, is also from Sayreville.

Christie told several residents that the first step in the town’s recovery process would be to buy out homes that sit right on the water, and eventually about 300 would be bought out. They’ve sustained heavy flooding during three storms in recent years.

The governor introduced himself as “Chris.” He met a 71-year-old woman with purple sunglasses who shares his Sept. 6 birthday. She was giddy about meeting Christie.

“Thank you for all you do,” Sharon Atkinson said. “You’re my governor.”

“I’m so happy to meet you,” Christie told her.

Christie heard stories about neighbors sleeping at neighbors’ homes after houses were damaged in the storm. He was told that neighbors shared generators to get power back, and helped each other get water out of homes.

During the storm, water in a lake next to the neighborhood rose almost 18 inches, one resident said.

“It was the scariest thing in 60 years,” said long-time resident Frank Atkinson.

“Just amazing, resilient,” Christie told one female volunteer. “Attagirl.”

Edward Meszaros, 44, said to Christie: “Get to be the president, that’s what we want.”

Later, after another resident asked him if he was going to run for president, Christie said: “Oh we’ll see. I gotta run for reelection in November first.”

Christie spread the credit around. “Everybody worked well together – the local folks, the citizens, the state folks and the federal guys, they really worked well together and that makes the difference,” he said.

Bill Nordling, 41, said to both Bon Jovi and Christie: “You two guys, your presence here certainly helps out.”

“We got no choice,” Christie said, “that’s what we gotta do.”

Residents had various personal connections to Bon Jovi. One man said he ran a “battle of the bands” competition that Bon Jovi won during high school. A woman told him he went to school with her aunt. He thought about the name for a moment and then said: “I knew her, sure. I actually did.”

Bon Jovi didn’t linger in conversations with adults but warmed up with children, kneeling down to ask a girl who had sought an autograph to draw a picture for him. He had an extended conversation about Pop Warner football with a boy who wore a Leprechauns jersey (Bon Jovi said he was a Panther as a kid).

Mary Pat, who wore a sleeveless dress, was all smiles. When a woman ran over to get a picture, she said: “She’s a Jersey girl! I like that aggressiveness.”