HSR propagandists Bill Hall, Susan Dechnikclick on image to view other side
HSR member Susan Dechnik shares these photos below she took July 4th.
She and Bill Hall and several other proselytizers were passing out our Glorious Fourth Palm Cards among the revelers bearing bits of borough history on one side and a pitch to become a member on the other.
Although recently retired as HSR treasurer, our goodwill ambassador Paul Daly also distributed the cards as he has for many years. The practice seems to have been started around 1987, possibly by Dan Campbell.
I have cards from 1987 thru this year except for 1992 and 1996. Maybe they were skipped for those years, but if any still survive in a kitchen drawer somewhere, please advise.
You’re thinking, “Shouldn’t you guys know? You are the historical society.”
Uh…no. And you would be surprised how often our capability is over estimated. But we would like to improve that and, in numbers there is strength.
Kindly consider adding your name to our number.
These are heady times indeed for the Society as renovations in the Library basement will soon enable us for the first time to set up a physical museum of sorts.
The Historical Society of Riverton invites you to join in our effort to make Riverton history more accessible by helping to underwrite the expense of this worthwhile project with your membership.
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Find the complete Riverton 4th of July Committee’s 2015 Program booklet here.
Find waaaay more pix and some video on the Riverton 4th of July Committee’s Facebook page.
Find Christian Hochenberger’s photos here, but know that the display is not permanent. Enjoy while you can. – JMc
Our much expanded Second Annual Daniel Campbell Riverton Awards Night took place April 16 at the Porch Club.
Homeowners brought photos and each explained their unique process involved in executing their restoration projects.
Dan Campbell, left, Adrienne Rogers, right, with the Society’s crystal keepsake
Society President Phyllis Rodgers presented each recipient with an award to symbolize their home’s transformation from a diamond in the rough to a vision realized.
Heartfelt thanks to Paul Daly for his years of service in many capacities
As originally conceived, it was again a night to congratulate and say ‘thank-you’ to a number of people who have served the Historical Society of Riverton.
The big addition to the agenda was the observance of milestone anniversaries of four of Riverton’s finest organizations – Riverton School’s 150th anniversary, the Porch Club’s 125th , Riverton Yacht Club’s 150th, and Riverton Fire Company’s 125th.
A cake for four anniversaries
It was all the excuse we needed for a big cake!
Many details of the big night are shown in the four attached slideshows. Text below indicates the content of each part.
(The slideshows contain several links to external content, so check OK or you will not see it.)
SLIDESHOW 1 covers the part shown in black text of the AGENDA below. (21 slides, 13.5MB)
SLIDESHOW 2 covers the part shown in green. (30 slides, 18.5MB)
SLIDESHOW 3 has only one topic, Riverton Yacht Club, but is the longest. (35 slides, 17.3MB)
SLIDESHOW 4, shown in the AGENDA in red, contains the Riverton Fire Company and some photos of the evening (10 slides, 10.5MB)
AGENDA April 16, 2015 Welcome – Acknowledgement of Board members and past presidents Business – Nomination and election of Peg Crook and Morgan Leone for Board seats HSR Service Awards to retiring Board members – Paul Daly, Charlotte Lippincott, Riverton School History Project Student Achievement Awards Daniel Campbell Awards – Bolton,Downes, Rogers, Schweich, Borough Council Special Service Awards – Michael Solin, Linda McCormick Historical House Markers – Bill McDermott explains new process, 100 Park Ave. Anniversaries – Mayor’s Proclamation Riverton School Porch Club Riverton Yacht Club Riverton Fire Company and candid photos of the whole event
certificates, trophies, mugs, and crystal keepsakes – tokens of achievement, recognition, and gratitude await their recipients
Who is this sailor about to go to war in 1944? Our own Society Treasurer, Mr. Paul V. Daly, CPA just supplied his service photo so we can include it in our website tribute to veterans. His name was one of more than thirty that the Borough added to the original Honor Roll in May 2011 when it adopted a more inclusive policy for including names of service personnel.
Any present or former resident of the Borough of Riverton, New Jersey who served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States of America during a time of war, is eligible to have their name placed on the memorial.
To verify eligibility, you must present a copy of your DD-214 or a copy of your military orders.
Since then, Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies have accounted for adding another forty or so names of Rivertonians to that revered register. In just one week from today the VFW will perform a ceremony at the Riverton War Memorial on Sunday, May 26, 2013 at 10:30 a.m.
Memorial Day actually falls every year on the final Monday of May, so this Riverton observance is on the weekend so that more people may attend. Not to be confused with Veterans Day, it is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving, while Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, living or dead.
Former Riverton resident Mrs. Jacalyn Buckalew Hicks is one who plans to witness the installation of a new plaque bearing the names of her parents, both now passed.
Recently, we had heard from Jacalyn, now living in Delran, through the HSR website when she asked for help with how to go about getting her parents’ names, Richard (Dick) Buckalew and Theresa (Terry) Buckalew, on the Riverton War Memorial.
We directed her to Riverton’s Military & Veterans Affairs Committee thru the Borough webpage, and she applied to have the names of her parents, both veterans of World War Two, added to the War Memorial.
With both parents being veterans, there had to be a great story there and daughter Jacalyn, or Jackie, as she signs her emails, elaborated.
She explained that they were longtime Riverton residents at 225 Elm Avenue and were the original owners of the home. She was very happy to learn of the Memorial and felt that her parents would be honored to be part of it. Jackie writes:
Mom was a nurse and my father was a wounded officer. She was from Jersey City and he was from Philly and they went all the way to England to meet during the war. They were married in England and honeymooned in Scotland. I am glad you can use the couple picture (for the website). I keep it framed on my mantle. I still have her uniform jacket and I still have the boots my dad wore when he landed on the beaches on D-day.
There’s a reason we call these men and women The Greatest Generation. Do you know of a veteran whose name needs to be listed on the Riverton Honor Roll? Let’s get the paperwork started. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor
Bouquets of patriotic red, white, and blue decorations have burst into bloom this past week as Riverton readies for its 115th “Glorious Fourth.”
Patriotic displays have sprouted up all over town – Jim McQuaide, manager of Tristate HVAC, has decked out the landmark building for its first Independence Day under new ownership.Now if the predicted thunderstorms will just hold off, the shoreline (shown above on July 2) should be awash in a flood of spectators viewing the Sixth Annual Great Riverton Raft Race at about 5:30 p.m. tomorrow.
2012 July 4th Program – Click on image to download PDF file of entire bookletYou can see the entire schedule of events in the 2012 July 4th Program found here. Click here for the official website of the July 4th Committee.
The cover illustration from this year’s July Fourth Program shows an image of the famous “Riverton Nine” baseball team of 1872 taken from the baseball memorabilia collection of Bob Beishline of Palmyra.
Bob Beishline’s original photo of 1872 Riverton baseball teamIn 2002, Bob, Mike Robinson, Betty Hahle and a few others were among the first to help me start what has eventually grown into a huge virtual online collection of vintage images by kindly letting me scan their postcard collections.
Bill Hall’s Sporting Life clippingLater, Bill Hall provided me with a Sporting Life magazine clipping showing the same team. When I showed the photos during a presentation at a Society meeting, it was William Harris who explained the caption in the photo. FREDERICK K. MOORE CENTER simply meant that Moore was in the center.
“Frannie” Cole, 1938 Riverton Athletic Assn. baseball team
All of this concern about baseball is because Mr. Fran Cole, HSR member and lifetime resident of Riverton, who is Parade Marshall this year, used to be quite a baseball athlete and remains among the most fanatic of Phillies fans. He was even inducted into the Palmyra High School Sports Hall of Fame.
As a result of interviewing Mr. Cole about his memories as a young man working for his grandparents’ Cole Dairy during the 1930s, I had several photos of Fran from his baseball playing days. (See related 2010 Gaslight News story here and his oral history interview in three segments here: Mr. Francis Cole Remembers Cole Dairy Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. )
Fran Cole – photo by Bennett Landsman
So by an extraordinary amount of luck and best laid plans we here at the Society just happened to be able to help out July Fourth Committee Chairperson, Mrs. Tracy Hansen Foedisch, when she asked for a hand with supplying some images for this year’s program booklet. It’s nice when we can help reveal some part of Riverton’s past with what we have collected. In a past post I compared the task to completing a jigsaw puzzle.
It is an extraordinary privilege, and no small responsibility, to be able to curate the archives of the Historical Society of Riverton for the use of Rivertonians. As family and friends congregate during this July Fourth celebration, may I interrupt for a commercial message?
Please help preserve Riverton history by donating your Riverton related photos, collectibles, documents, and memorabilia, or at least send us a scan or photo. If you can help us in this endeavor, please contact us.
2012 July 4th Palm Card – both sides
During the parade HSR members Paul Daly, Gerald Weaber, and myself will be distributing this year’s edition of the Historical Society’s July 4th Palm Cards. The earliest one I have of these is from 1987. Former HSR President Dan Campbell may have started the tradition which seems to have continued through 2004 when it apparently stopped.
We resumed the tradition again last year when HSR Treasurer Paul Daly wondered out loud, ” How come we don’t give out those cards on July Fourth anymore?” (See more July 4th Palm Cards here.) If you have any cards for years not shown in this list, please send us a scan of both sides. July 4th Palm Cards: 1987-1990, 1993-1995, 1997, 1999, 2000-2004.
Tristate HVAC, a former post office, decked out for Independence DayIf you have some time to kill, type “July 4” or “July Fourth” in the search box at the top right of the home page. That should result in many hits for earlier posts and images related to the holiday.
Have a Glorious and Safe Fourth of July wherever you find yourself. Check back here later for more July Fourth posts. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor
Stiles Drug Store c.1916 606 Main Street The building housing Mrs. Phyllis Rodgers’ New Leaf Tea Room and Gift Shop at 606 Main marked its 100th anniversary in 2010.
Previous uses of the structure include a meat market for Ezra Perkins, a drug store, and a furniture store before Phyllis turned it into the highly regarded tea room that it is today. Seen below, the day after Christmas, the store looked like an icy confection, and the beribboned gaslight completed a picture which just as well might have been taken a several decades ago.
Butcher Ezra Perkins had his shop at 606 Main StreetProbably few people realize that it is HSR member Paul Daly who has so faithfully hung the red bows on Riverton’s gas streetlights for so many years.
I emailed him to tell him how much I appreciate it. I also asked how it was that he started to decorate the posts. He wrote back:
1/17/2010
I think it was …when I started (with the HSR) in 1988. Betty Hahle was our president and the Christmas (House) Tour was being held. She suggested that it would be nice if all of the gas lights were decorated. Somewhere along the way my hand went up and I said I would do my side of the tracks. …I got Harry Richman to help me… since he is tall he volunteered to put up the bows.
The New Leaf Tea Room 12/26/2010You should also know that Paul is our HSR treasurer and has been the go-to guy for so many essential tasks over the years. Despite setbacks caused by a serious operation in 2004, or a wrestling match with a ladder in which the ladder won, Paul has always returned to see that this tradition continues. A number of helpers over time have included Cathy, his wife, and various other persons whom could be persuaded to help. For the past several years, Paul’s neighbor, Grant Cole has shared the task. Paul continues:
This year I asked for a dozen new bows to replace ones that were ripped off the posts and others that are worn. This did not happen and we were short six bows. Apparently, the other side of the tracks was not done at all. Is this one of the traditions that is going by the wayside? Thanks for asking.—PAUL
A sincere Thank You to Paul and to all who have helped preserve this uniquely Riverton holiday tradition. – John McCormick, Gaslight News Editor
P.S. There are more vintage images of 606 Main as well as many other places in and around Riverton. Click on the IMAGES tab near the top of the HOMEPAGE.
Riverton’s second annual Victorian Day was held on Saturday, June 2, 2007, and provided the community with an opportunity to visit the HSR museum set-up for the day at 408 Main Street. Thanks go out to Pat & Richard Brunker, Bob Benarek, as well as Paul Daly, Joann DiNoia, Rob Hoag, Aggie & Bob Kennedy, John McCormick, Phyllis Rodgers, Priscilla Taylor, Elise Waters, and Gerald Weaber.
We appreciate the use of the former clinic of Dr. Alexander Marcy, Jr. as our museum for the day, offered by Dr. Anthony Cherico and family.
We especially appreciate the efforts of Phyllis Rodgers of The New Leaf, the Riverton Civic and Business Association, and the Economic Development Committee who all sponsored Riverson’s Second Annual Victorian Day.
Uh…no. And you would be surprised how often our capability is over estimated. But we would like to improve that and, in numbers there is strength.
These are heady times indeed for the Society as renovations in the Library basement will soon enable us for the first time to set up a physical museum of sorts.
