In just two weeks, months of planning, prep, and fundraising by the tireless volunteers of the Riverton July 4th Committee will culminate with the arrival of the 119th Children’s Parade.
Part summer picnic, part homecoming, part testimony to patriotic pride, who doesn’t look forward to Riverton’s Glorious Fourth?
By now, Riverton households have received their July 4th Programs.
We hope you will frequent the many business and professional donors and appreciate the many patrons whose generous contributions continue to make this treasured tradition possible.
Even our own Society placed this ad with a not-so-subtle invitation to join.
Jack Hutton (left) and Clyde Hutton owned Hutton Chevrolet in Riverside, 1949-1969
We highlighted Mary Honeyford’s family photo used on the July 4th Program cover in our Nov. 2014 Gaslight News along with an ad we found in the April 7, 1949 edition of Riverton’s now defunct hometown newspaper, The New Era.
Hutton Chevrolet, New Era, April 7, 1949, p9
How many of you remember any of the car dealerships that once made their home in Riverton?
Here are two to get you started.
Oakland car ad, New Era, Jan 24, 1929Olds Community ad, New Era, Nov 24, 1949, pg3
Community-Olds-Riverton-NJ-1966
Finally, can you tell which 4th of July Showcase sponsor now occupies the site depicted in the postcard below?
During the recent Garden Tour and the Historic Riverton Criterium folks stopped by our table to check out the historically themed mugs.
More than a few times people have wished to see photos of Riverton’s long-gone lunchtime eatery, The Sharon Shop, Klipple’s Bakery at Main&Broad , and Reynold’s Gas Station at the point.
If a reader can favor us with a donation of a photo or a high-resolution scan of these spots (or any other favorite of yours), please contact us. – JMc
Rob Gusky HRCentury/ Community Ride 2016 by Carlos Rogers
Tethered to my workplace until 5PM that day I knew I would be unable to catch the arrival of the HRCentury riders, so I appealed to the Universe and it delivered in the form of this great pic of HRCentury creator Rob Gusky from Carlos Rogers.
Rob looks pretty fresh after biking a hundred miles from Millburn, NJ to Riverton.
Susan Dechnik sent in most of the following photos.
The ride took longer than anticipated since the cyclists ran into a punishing headwind for much of it.
Also conceived by Rob Gusky, the 3-Mile Community Ride was to follow the conclusion of this second realization of the Historic Riverton Century, and many residents of all ages awaited in the former District parking lot.
HRCentury 2016 button
Meanwhile, HSR member Susan Dechnik handed out souvenir buttons bearing Anne Racioppi‘s imaginative logo and explained the connection to the 1895 NYC-Riverton Relay Race to those who were unaware.
Carlos Rogers commends the HRCentury riders
The arduous trip caused the bicyclists to converge on the parking lot from different directions and not all at once.
Carlos Rogers congratulated Rob and the other riders. A cheer arose from the crowd as the Community Ride began led by the Century riders.
The ride ended with a ceremony at Memorial Park.
Mayor Cairns Wells at left, President Phyllis Rodgers, Town Historian Paul Schopp
Mayor Suzanne Cairns Wells, Lifelong Wheelman Gary Sanderson and Riverton’s Town Historian Paul W. Schopp each addressed the audience and congratulated the athletes on their achievement.
In his address Mr.Schopp acknowledged that “…women have always maintained a keen interest in cycling and the mix of riders in today’s Riverton Century uphold the long legacy of female cyclists,” and described the 1895 Tri-State Relay Race which inspired Rob to create the Historic Riverton Century in 2014. Find a text file of his address here.
Gary Sanderson
Attired in vintage wheelman gear and displaying his restored 1895 Indian Racer bicycle, Gary Sanderson described the adversity experienced by the riders in 1895 with traveling miserable roads on failure-prone single-speed bicycles. Read Gary Sanderson’s remarks here.
Bill Hall at left, Rob Gusky, Carlos Rogers at right
Mr. Gusky cited nonagenarian Bill Hall for his dedication to bicycling, and recognized Carlos Rogers for creating in 2011 the Historic Riverton Criterium which every year contributes money to local organizations and individuals. To date Carlos has distributed over $20,000!
Rob recognizes the women athletes
Gusky called up the women participants in this year’s HRCentury and Phyllis Rodgers and Pat Brunker presented them and the men with sashes reminiscent of those worn by riders in 1895.
Later, many in the group met at Riverton’s Orange Blossom Cafe to eat and to recount details of their experience.
Everyone agreed that the two big bike spectacles now associated with the second weekend in June are community assets which combine to promote the sport of bicycling as well as provide family fun.
Rob recaps the day for Bill Brown
Perhaps it was the influence of the euphoria of a bicyclist’s high, but Gusky and Crew were already heard scheming to recreate the next ride.
Are you up for it?
Later on Facebook, Rob Gusky generously thanked the many people and organizations that made this year’s Riverton Century and Community Ride a success.
Century route planner Randy “Wheels” Jackson of the Major Taylor Cycling Club also wrote a lengthy Facebook piece recognizing those who had made it possible for him to “…relax and enjoy the ride.”
The creation of the Historic Riverton Century Ride by Rob Gusky and the Historic Riverton Criterium by Carlos Rogers now rank among the most treasured traditions of the Borough. The Historical Society of Riverton is privileged to be associated with them both.
Please add your own photos or submit comments. – JMc
Be advised I have to work until 5pm today so I will not be there for the arrival of Century riders or the Community Ride. I expect to make it to the Orange Blossom dinner.
Pulleeeze… can someone get pix of the event with a camera, cell phone, GoPro Hero, camera drone, Fisher-Price camera, anything so we have a record of the event.
Please send to me at rivertonhistory@gmail.com Will be off tomorrow for the Criterium, tho’. – John McCormick
Timetable: 8 am – riders leave from Millburn
• 2 pm – riders at Bordentown
• 4:30 pm – riders gather in parking lot near old District Restaurant (N corner) for Community Ride – Carlos Rogers to M/C
• The Community Ride ends at Memorial Park, where refreshments will be available and a short ceremony will be held commemorating the event
• 7 pm – Dinner at Orange Blossom – $15 pay at door
PS: Perfect Timing – Thank you to HSR’s Susan Dechnik for writing a cover story for Editor Regina Collinsgru’s June issue of The Positive Press.
These webpages have recounted the exploits of the riders of the 1895 New York Times Tri-State Relay Racemore than a few times. As that event unfolded in June 1895, Annie “Londonderry” Kopchovsky, a young mother of three children, was just three months from completing her goal of bicycling around the world – a remarkable achievement she supposedly undertook on a wager between two wealthy Boston club men.
Seemingly impossible conditions imposed on the bet was that she start penniless, not accept handouts, earn $5,000 along the way, and complete the journey in fifteen months.
Mrs. Kopchovsky financed her adventure with income earned through product endorsements, by displaying advertising banners on herself and on her bike, by giving riding demonstrations, selling photos and souvenirs, and by making personal appearances.
August 12, 1895, Denver Rocky Mountain News, p.3
Not far into her trip, newspapers dubbed her Annie “Londonderry,” a sobriquet earned when she started to display a placard for the Londonderry Lithia Spring Water Company on her bike as a promotion.
It would be generous to say that she was given to tall-tales and embellishment in telling of her exploits. In interviews and later writings the natural entrepreneur and master of self-promotion constantly reinvented her own back story and told sensational tales of hunting Bengal tigers with a German prince, close calls with encountering highwaymen in France, and of time spent in a Japanese prison. She may have even fabricated her claim that a wager inspired her.
Press and Horticulturist, June 8, 1895, p.1
Periodicals of the era chronicled her adventures much as they followed the travels of Nellie Bly in her successful attempt in 1889, to break the record of Phileas Fogg, the fictional character from Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days.
Annie completed her circumnavigation in just under fifteen months.
But unlike the her globe-trotting counterpart Nellie Bly, the exploits of Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, which advanced women’s bicycling in the United States and made her one of the most celebrated women the 1890s, were largely forgotten until author Peter Zheutlin penned Around the World on Two Wheels in 2007.
In 2006, filmmaker Gillian Klempner Willman sought to recreate the leg of Annie’s 1894 trip from New York City to Boston with the help of Gary Sanderson, antique bicycle enthusiast and current editor American Bicyclist Magazine, and others.
Gary Sanderson, image credit: spokeswomanproductions.com
The Society is most fortunate to have Gary Sanderson appear with his c.1895 Indian Racer at the Historic Riverton Century and 3-Mile Community Ride Ceremony on June 11.
Rob Gusky, originator of the June 11 event reports that at least six women athletes have registered to ride at eventbrite.com.
Carlos Rogers’ Historic Riverton Criterium on June 12 features a Women’s Cat 1/2/3 event that promises a $500 purse, neutral support, beauty and haircare gift baskets for the top 3 places, and cash primes!
When you watch those women athletes next weekend remember the debt owed to the legacy of Annie Londonderry which has helped make their participation possible.
And make some noise with those cowbells. – JMc
Not to know what happened before you were born is to be a child forever. – Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106 BC – 43 BC
Key bullets resulting from a conference call with Rob Gusky this morning and an email from Phyllis Rodgers about the upcoming Historic Riverton Century,3-Mile Community Ride, and Historic Riverton Criterium follow:
full-century riders committed to ride from Millburn, NJ to Riverton – 12
cyclists committed to ride from Bordentown – 9
6 of the riders are women
3-Mile Community Ride participants – 44
Orange Blossom meal ticket for after the event – 21
HRCentury 2016 button
HSR President Phyllis Rodgers adds these details about the two-day cycling event
Saturday, approx. 4PM-4:30, representatives of the Society to meet Community Riders at District parking lot; Check children for helmets and waivers; Give out buttons to children
Speakers at the brief ceremony at Memorial Park on Saturday include Mayor Cairns, Paul Schopp, Gary Sanderson with his c.1895 bike, and originator Rob Gusky
Dinner at Orange Blossom 7PM
Marshals for Sunday’s big Criterium advised to bring an umbrella or sunscreen, and a chair
Still need some more volunteer marshals – contact Iris Gaughan at iggaughan@gmail.com or 856-829-8671
Today there are computer camps, karate camps, space camps, basketball camps, art camps, and many more, but the place for legions of boys around here during the 1950s was Medford Township’s Camp Lenape.
My friend and frequent collaborator, Harlan Radford, Jr., is preparing an article on Camp Lenape, a 400 acre Boy Scout camp that developers bought in 1987 and turned into building lots for luxury homes.
Ye Olde Swimming Hole, Camp Lenape, Medford, NJ c.1954
If you know where he might find a map or diagram showing the layout and names of campsites within, please advise.
News of Interest… Philadelphia Inquirer, September 19, 1894, Page 3
The 3-Mile Community Ride planned to welcome the Historic Riverton Century Riders on June 11 is not the first bicycle procession around the streets of Riverton.
Cycling at Riverton, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 17, 1894, Page 3
In September 1894, in conjunction with an upcoming bicycle race on Riverton’s race track, the Ladies Floral Tournament Club of Riverton orchestrated a complex parade of some twenty-five carriages through the main roads of Riverton.
The wheelmen of the Riverton Athletic Association on their decorated bicycles traveled in opposite directions.
Participants were awarded prizes for the best decorated carriages and bicycles.
It ended with refreshments at the clubhouse of the Riverton Athletic Association.
Another article publicized the innovation of bicycle races by a dozen electric arc lights for the September 25th meet.
Imagine the spectacle of a day given over to the sport of bicycling attended by almost 4,000 fans.
Bicycle race by electric light, September 26, 1894, Trenton Evening Times New Jersey, Page 7
You don’t have to imagine because soon Riverton will devote two days to cycling events – the Historic Riverton Century and Community Ride on Saturday, June 11, and the Historic Riverton Criterium the next day on Sunday, June 12.
