1973: Groveville's Joe DeMent Receives the Shafer Award

1973: AL BONACCI AND FREDDIE SCHULZ

I never had the privilege of meeting the legendary Al Bonacci. Freddie Schulz? He is Hamilton Township's Philadelphia Phillies Phinatic. Fred is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to anything to do with his beloved Philles. This is his year! Good luck, Fred!

1973: Ewing Police Chief Calvin "Cal" Steepy

Veteran Ewingites and indeed veteran Mercer County area residents will recall the regime of Ewing police chiefs Cal Steepy and Bill Forst.

1973: HAMILTON POLICE OFFICERS RECEIVE CITATIONS

Whenever our men and women in blue are mentioned in the local press, it is usually in a negative situation. It's refreshing to uncover a photo of the guys above as they receive well-deserved thanks from Hamilton Township for their collective parts in fighting crime in our area. How familar those names are! Al Varga, a long time family friend, Bob Mohr is a Bromleyite. Bob's sister Lois was in Hamilton High's Class of '51 with me. Everybody knows Pete Schroeder, who went on to be a very popular "officer friendly." Officer Richard Taylor went on to become Hamilton's Chief, and of course, who could forget a dear friend, Maury Perilli.

1973: St. Anthony High School Honor Students

1973: CAHILL FOR GOVERNOR!

These Hamilton movers and shakers from the early 70's are shown posing with William Cahill, Republican candidate for N.J. Governer. Helen McDonald was the consummate lady and Don likewise the consummate gentleman with a generous amount of class.

1973: Old Friends are the Best Friends

I have known Jack since my years as a writer for the late great Mercer Messenger. From his earlier appointment to the Chairmanship of Hamilton's Development Commission above, Jack went on to be a vital link in Hamilton's Republican politics, serving as a Councilman, Council President on a number of occasions, and an unsuccessful run for Mayor.

1973: Fred Schulz: A Phillies Phan

Fred retired just recently. For years, he was a stalwart in Hamilton's Public Works Division and a valuable asset to the township where he was heavily involved in maintenance of our park. Fred was the first Foreman at Kuser Farm Park back when the township purchased the farm from Fritz and Edna Kuser.

1973: St. Joachim's Guild

From the "ST. JOACHIM'S PARISH" folder, this photo of the ladies of the "Guild" preparing for an upcoming fashion show.

1973: RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY FOR COLONIAL'S 50TH

Here's another post from my "COLONIAL VFD" folder in the Hamilton Library's digital files in the Local History Collection. Rocky Ranalli, the gentleman on the left was the proprietor of a gas station at the intersection of Liberty St. and Hamilton Avenue; the present site of the Camp Olden "mini" park.

1986: Remembering the Mercer Messenger

(Note: In the likely event that you read the column in the graphic above, please note that the word "lie" was erroneously omitted from the sentence referring to "un-picked flowers.")

This article was published when Publisher Jack Lacy decided to give a bit more "oomph" to the Mercer Messenger. My column, "The Way We Were," was promoted to a full page, and I sure could use it! There was, is, and always will be tons of interesting material to write about the wonderful township of Hamilton, the city of Trenton, and all of Mercer County. The size of the page precluded inclusion of the complete page. In order to pick up the continuation on page 17, I had to edit, cut, and paste the rest of the column over the graphic.

1915: SOUTH TRENTON COMMUNITY NEWS JUNE 3

I HAVE FOUND THAT THESE COMMUNITY NEWS REPORTS ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN FOR SOUTH TRENTON, EAST TRENTON, GROVEVILLE, ROBBINSVILLE AND DEUTZVILLE. ON THE OTHER HAND, HAMILTON SQUARE, WHITE HORSE AND YARDVILLE ARE FREQUENTLY PRINTED IN THE LOCAL PRESS.

1915: JOHN MORGAN REMEMBERS THE EARLY YEARS OF CHAMBERSBURG

Some of the best sources of little known local history can be found in the files of antique newspapers. The above is the reminiscences of an old timer who lived in the area of Chambersburg and the enviorns which included not only Emery, Bayard, Butler and South Clinon Avenue but also Hancock, Jersey, Rusling, and other adjacent areas. The Map included in this post speaks to the area Mr. John Morgan Wrote about. You can pinpoint the areas of which he speaks by referring to the map from 1905.

1015: FIRST BAPTIST SUNDAY SCHOOL

Many years ago when I was a communicant at St. Paul's P.E. Church on Centre Street, I was a member of the church Sunday School under the tutelage of "Miss Smith." St. Paul's P.E. Sunday School consisted of only one class, and it was basically 5 and 6 year olds. The above photo and article on the First Baptist Church Sunday School leads me to believe that the there were multiple classes and multiple ages attending the church's Sunday School on Centre Street.

1973: HAMILTON TO HAVE A NEW LIBRARY

Most Hamiltonians in my generation remember trips to the Hamilton Library when it was in the basement of the Municipal Building at 2090 Greenwood Avenue. Living in nearby Greenwood Village, I made many trips to that austere book collection. I seem to recall that Mrs. Grove was the lady behind the check out counter. Remember those card catalogs and those oak wood drawers in which the cards were stored? Remember searching the cards for 748.6 or someother Dewey decimal card?

1973: "GOLDEN RULE DAYS" IN LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP

What a great idea! Why can't we borrow that idea and do our own "Golden Rule Days" program? I had a very similar program on the agenda for a presentation at Kuser Farm mansion, but the budget crunch in Hamilton has temporarily (hopefully temporarily) curtailed Kuser evening programs. I have printed out a hard copy of this article for my friend Bob Immordino, who is not a computer user. Bob and I have been working on a Chambersburg onscreen Powerpoint type presentation which details the history of "the burg," and is centered on the Italian-American Chambersburg years. It was also a victim of difficult financial times. We were to have presented the program at Marsilio's Restaurant, but they went out of business. We'll get there one day.

1973: COLONIAL'S NEW FIREHOUSE

As indicated above, the article on the left is from the Mercer Messenger, heralding the grand opening of Colonial Volunteer Fire Company's brand new fire house on the Lenhardt Farm on Kuser Road. On the right is one of the fire trucks used in Colonial's early Liberty Street years.
If you look closely in the background, you will see the concrete arch from whence hung Trenton's old City Hall bell which now reposes on the front lawn of the new fire house. Behind the arch holding the bell, you will see Frese's delicatessen, also known by locals as "Freezies."

2008: ATTENTION KUSER SCHOOL ALUMNI

ATTENTION KUSER SCHOOL ALUMNI:

IF YOU WANT TO BE KEPT UPDATED ON THE PROGRESS AND EVENTS SCHEDULED FOR THE 100th CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF KUSER SCHOOL, PLEASE USE THE GUESTBOOK TO REQUEST INCLUSION ON OUR LIST OF ALUMNI, OR EMAIL ME AT

thomglo@verizon.net.

IF YOU KNOW OTHER ALUMNI WHO ARE NOT ON THE COMPUTER, SEND ME THEIR MAILING ADDRESS AND WE WILL SEE THAT THEY ARE KEPT UP TO DATE.

BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!
UPDATES WILL APPEAR HERE AND ALSO ON MY KUSER SCHOOL WEBSITE:

VISIT WWW.KUSER-SCHOOL.BLOGSPOT.COM

1973: COLONIAL VOLUNTEER FIRE'S HISTORIC BELL

What memories that old bell brings back to me on a personal basis. As I indicated in the lower right corner of the graphic, I thought it was the Liberty bell when I was a young student at Kuser School. Another memory is the photo of the late Cliff Willever working on installing the historic relic. And of course, Colonial wouldn't be Colonial without one of the Lenhardt boys being involved; in this case, Billy is manning the block and tackle.

Drew Kieffer said...

My Grandmother Susan Feehan rang this bell to call fireman to a fire in the 30's when it was at Newkirk and Liberty where the original CFD was. They lived adjacent to the firehouse on Newkirk. She then rang the bell to commemorate the opening of the new firehouse on Kuser road. The only porblem? Someone stole the clapper so she had to ring the bell with a hammer.

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

HI DREW:

YOUR GRANDMOM WAS ONE OF COLONIALS EARLIEST PIONEERS, AS WAS THE FEEHAN FAMILY AT THE CORNER OF NEWKIRK AVENUE AND LIBERTY STREET. I REMEMBER HER QUITE WELL AND SAW HER QUITE OFTEN ON MY DAILY WALK PAST THE FEEHAN HOME ON MY WAY TO KUSER SCHOOL.

TOM GLOVER

1933: TRENTON'S WIDOWS' AND SINGLE WOMENS' HOME

Judy and I made daily trips to this Spring Street rest home to visit Louise Baird, our vocal music teacher at Hamilton High. "Ouise" moved there as she advanced in age, giving up her beloved apartment in Greenwood Village. I understand that this historic old home for the aged is going to close and be sold for other purposes than hosting retired residents.

1973: FROM OUT OF THE PAST: HAMILTON POLITICS

It was the year my friend Maury Perilli decided not to seek re-election as the Mayor of Hamilton Township. The two gentlemen illustrated above were members of Hamilton's Democratic Club, earlier known as the Harry Lieberman organization.

1933: OFFICER DENSON DIRECTS TRAFFIC IN DOWNTOWN TRENTON

It's difficult to imagine the center of Trenton in the environment illustrated above. The archaic traffic sign, manned by one of Trenton's finest, in this case Officer Denson, lends a nostalgic element to the photo.

1974: MAKE WAY FOR JACK RAFFERTY!

Here's an interesting political article which was written at a time when former Mayor Jack Rafferty was fighting Democratic partisanship while he was the lone Republican in an administration ruled by the Democrats. The photo of Jack Rafferty was imported from another article in the "POLITICS, HAMILTON) folder in the Hamilton Township Public Library's Local History Collection.

1932: RACISM 101 IN TRENTON SCHOOLS

1933: THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Exactly one week after I was born, this editorial cartoon appeared in the Trenton Evening Times. All over America, poverty became a reality to many families.

1930: THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Throught good economic times and bad, the Rescue Mission is there for those unfortunates who lack work and need assistance. The great depression hit very hard on nearly all of America's non-wealthy population. Men who just weeks before had secure jobs, ended up selling apples on the street. Many families even today, have stories to tell about the hardships they faced.

1974: CARL MOLDOVAN TELLS IT LIKE IT IS

I inserted "LIGHTNING STRIKES THE HAMILTON B.O.E." into this graphic. Even though I have a history of being a fierce supporter of Hamilton's schools, as a senior citizen I find myself wondering why I don't get just a bit of a tax break from the large amount of my taxes which are going to the schools. The amount taken by the Township is not even close to the amount that goes to Hamilton's school system. Like most senior citizens, I feel that we paid taxes all our lives, especially during the time our children went to the schools, and there should be a consideration somewhere in there that we get a bit of relief.

But there I go again, exposing another of my personal "defects:" I'm an alturistic dreamer.

1974: Patti Willever - Colonial Ladies' Auxiliary

The lovely lady in the graphic spent countless hours leading the Colonial Volunteer Fire Department's Ladies' Auxiliary. Throughout the pages of local volunteer fire company history, the ladies' auxiliaries became a very necessary part of the successful operation of our local fire companies. Patti and Cliff Willever were a very important part of the Colonial family for many years.

2008 COMPUTERS AND THE SENIOR CITIZEN

Apparently, there are numerous computer classes being held in Ewing, Hamilton and presumably Trenton and other retirement communities. My experience and my impression that few senior citizens are into computing is based on my personal experiences in dealing quite heavily in senior affairs around Mercer County. My two brothers, both of whom are over 80, want nothing to do with them, observing that they are "too complicated," they are "too busy," or they are just plain not interested in taking the time to even investigate. When personal computing really began to take hold, back in the old "MS-DOS"era and with Apple competing with IBM and "CPM" trying to keep up with "MS-DOS," computing was considered a strictly "geek" thing, left to those with scientific aptitudes; those who knew "COBAL" and other terribly technical concepts. When the computer became truly PERSONAL back in the early 80's, and Microsoft mimicked the Macintosh operating system and created WINDOWS 3.0, a new world of computing was born. Of course, the above is only a very sketchy, off the cuff mini chronology of the evolution of the personal computer. Through those years, the younger generation made haste to learn computing. I was one of the middle agers who didn't have time for that new gimmick that was supposedly going to change the world. I saw the light in 1985 when I encountered my first word processor; a huge IBM computer utilizing those large really floppy floppy disks.

Most of my contemporaries say that computing is too complicated. Especially those over 80 years of age. One site on the web states that less than 4% of the entire senior community are active in computing. Believe me: I have made it a part of my presentations to encourage them to get active. I taught beginning computer classes at the Hamilton Library a few years ago, and found the there were only a handful of seniors who wanted to learn. Most thought it was too complicated, too expensive, or an unnecessary appliance. Don't misunderstand me. There are a few seniors who are regulars on my site and who are constantly writing to tell me how they appreciate the memories I bring back to them. It is really my target audience with www.glover320.blogspot.com, but the number of visitors to this site I'm sure falls within the 4 to 5% area cited above.On the other hand, those who read my column are largely seniors and I constantly receive snail mail from them, responding to a specific column. Had those seniors been on the internet visiting my site, they would have contacted me. Here's an extract from just one website dealing with the lack of senior participation. The writer states what I have been telling my senior citizens for at least 15 years:
"Technology and the Senior Citizen"
"Most people in the 65 and younger age group deal with new technology on a daily basis - from computers at work to cell phones in the car. However, for those that did not grow up with an iPod in their back pocket, technology can be scary and intimidating. Younger generations take it for granted that they are being raised with a lot of these items. Even those in the middle-age bracket find themselves at the minimum exposed to it from their families and jobs. But for those people that no longer go to work and may have limited access outside of their homes, technology can be viewed as unncessary and frightening. What they don't realize is how much technology can make their day-to-day tasks easier and even improve their quality of life."

REMEMBERING RICHARD TRACY

It's kind of fun remembering the comic strips of yesterday. One of the perks in my job in the Hamilton Local History collection is to see "re-runs" of Captain Easy, Joe Jinx and Dynamite Dunn, L'il Abner, Snuffy Smith, The Phantom, and of course Dick Tracy. I did this column many years ago for the Mercer Messenger. Do you remember all those characters Dick Tracy had to put away? I sure do!

2008: EIGHTY THOUSAND AND COUNTING

I knew there was an interest in local history, nostalgia and ephemera, but I really had no idea that it would be so intense. Back when I began posting on this, the first of my 4 websites, I assumed that the site would be visited by students and scholars. I felt that there would be limited interest due to the fact that most of my contemporaries in the senior citizen population do not own a computer, nor are they interested in learning the basics of computing.

1978: SENIOR PROM QUEEN FINALISTS

I would never want to be a judge charged with picking the prom queen from the lovely young ladies in the photo. I have started going through newspapers from the 70's and 80's. There will be more Hamilton High West posts from that era in the immediate future; stay tuned.

1978: SENIOR PROM QUEEN FINALISTS

I would never want to be a judge charged with picking the prom queen from the lovely young ladies in the photo. I have started going through newspapers from the 70's and 80's. There will be more Hamilton High West posts from that era in the immediate future; stay tuned.

1978: SENIOR PROM QUEEN FINALISTS

I would never want to be a judge charged with picking the prom queen from the lovely young ladies in the photo. I have started going through newspapers from the 70's and 80's. There will be more Hamilton High West posts from that era in the immediate future; stay tuned.

1978: SENIOR PROM QUEEN FINALISTS

I would never want to be a judge charged with picking the prom queen from the lovely young ladies in the photo. I have started going through newspapers from the 70's and 80's. There will be more Hamilton High West posts from that era in the immediate future; stay tuned.

1978: SENIOR PROM QUEEN FINALISTS

I would never want to be a judge charged with picking the prom queen from the lovely young ladies in the photo. I have started going through newspapers from the 70's and 80's. There will be more Hamilton High West posts from that era in the immediate future; stay tuned.

1978: SENIOR PROM QUEEN FINALISTS

I would never want to be a judge charged with picking the prom queen from the lovely young ladies in the photo. I have started going through newspapers from the 70's and 80's. There will be more Hamilton High West posts from that era in the immediate future; stay tuned.

1978: SENIOR PROM QUEEN FINALISTS

I would never want to be a judge charged with picking the prom queen from the lovely young ladies in the photo. I have started going through newspapers from the 70's and 80's. There will be more Hamilton High West posts from that era in the immediate future; stay tuned.

1965: Maurice T. Perilli:

He was one of our earliest and best mayors. I have a substantial collection of Maury Perilli memorabilia in the Hamilton Township Public Library's Local History Collection. During his tenure, the Hamilton Library, Hamilton's police station, the transit village, and "Hamilton Park" that was to become Veterans' Park was established. Maury was also involved in the early negotiations with Fritz and Edna Kuser for the township's acquisition of Kuser Farm in the early 1970's. As a dear friend of Maury's I can safely say he is one of the most honorable and honest men I have ever met. Unfortunately, many of the current generation have no idea of the accomplishments of this man who brought Hamilton from a rural community to the viable metropolis it is becoming today. Hamilton Township's recently published local history book says very little about the incredible accomplishments this man made as the Mayor of Hamilton Township. Thankfully, the Local History Collection at the Hamilton Township Library has a comprehensive collection of newspaper articles which recorded his accomplishments.

1945: Joe DeLorenzo

That's my friend Joe DeLorenzo in the photo above. Joe is a regular visitor to my Local History work shop at the Hamilton Township Public Library. The DeLorenzo family will ever be remembered in the Mercer County area for their tomato pies that made Trenton famous. That's TOMATO PIES, NOT, PIZZA!

1978: STEINERT FUTURE BUSINESS LEADERS

With the 50th anniversary on Steinert being celebrated in this year of 2008, I have been going through my files and you will notice that there are a number of Steinert posts in recent days. It occurred to me that perhaps there is a visitor to this website who would be interested in downloading the graphics. As of this entry, there are 25 Steinert related graphics in my index. I sent a link to the Steinert folks, but have had no acknowledgement. However, I am sure there are a number of Spartans who will find the graphics of interest. Enjoy!

1978: Boys' Town of Italy

From the "CHAMBERSBURG" folder in the Hamilton Library's Local History Collection, this photo of the planning of a Cedar Gardens dinner-dance fund raiser for Boys Town of Italy.

1978: Steinert Group IV Soccer Champions

Back in my Hamilton High West years, our soccer teams were in the Group IV competition nearly every year, and in many years we were Group IV champions. Steinert's Spartans are also viable soccer champions.

1978: A Rough Winter

The winter of 1978 proved to be a really rough time for area public works departments and the N.J. Dept. of Transportation. I recall commuting from New Brunswick to Hamilton on one of those heavy snow days, following the snow plows down route 1 at 35 miles per hour.

1978: Maury Perilli on Multi-Lingual Education

As one who spends hours going through old press articles, I have found countless stories of immigrants coming from Italy, Germany, Hungary, and other foreign countries who are eager to learn the English language and become assimilated into our society. Early 20th century newspapers reveal many stories of night school classes being avidly sought by the newcomers. There was never a suggestion that America adopt Spanish, or Italian, or German "as a second language."

1978: STEINERT PRESENTS "ANNIE GET YOUR GUN"

"Anything you can do, I can do better..." "The girl that I marry will have to be, as soft and as sweet as a nursery, the girl I call my own, will wear satin and laces and smell of cologne.." What a wonderful musical!....and I bet Craig and Jill did a bang up job in playing the lead roles.

Steinert Spartans Celebrate their 50th.

In an effort to bring Steinert and Nottingham High School material as well as Hamilton West, I have found a source in the late, lamented Mercer Messenger. My friend Jack Lacy, my former boss, and Publisher of that great old community newspaper has brought me a large collection of papers from when he held forth as publisher. His papers, along with those in my collection, and those that remain in the Library files, will assure interesting future posts of all three high schools in Hamilton.