NEW TICKETS, OLD EVENTS; NEW TICKETS NEW EVENTS

A quick note to let you know that we have posted FOUR tickets to tomorrow's Lime Kiln Tour -- sorry about the short notice, but if you've got 3 plus hours from 10:15 am to 1:30ish pm it's worthwhile grabbing them!  We meet at the County Parks Dept., the Arboreatum on Route 31 North at 10:15 am; bus leaves at 10:30 am and returns at about 1:30.  Lunch is included!!!! The cost for the tour and lunch is $10 per person....


We also have posted two new crafts -- one for children, one for adults -- Pysanky egg dying -- the Ukranian folk art.  Children's craft is April 12 in the afternoon (Saturday) at the North Branch; adults is April 16 (Wednesday) at 7 pm at the Flemington Choir School... both have only 12 tickets available and the children's craft has an age restriction.  Fyi, tickets for the children's event are for children only --- adults don't need tickets to attend with their children.


All of April is up including the Reading House tours..... We are still working on the Lindbergh Tours and will let you know when that comes up. 


Tickets for the Lindbergh show on May 3 and 4 should also be available very soon.


Don't forget the parade on March 22nd!  We are confirmed with Bergen's Outwaters Militia -- a Revolutionary War Militia that will definitely be drilling and firing muskets beginning at 10 am at Deer Path Park on our Birthday Saturday, March 22nd.... Parade kicks off at 4 -- still time to register if you have a group that wants to be in it.  Hot chocolate and birthday cake in the Flemington Women's Club behind the Historic Courthouse right after the parade.  And keep your fingers crossed that the ground conditions and weather holds up (that field has to dry out!!!) for fireworks around dark.


And Gala Tickets -- dwindling down -- as of this writing are still available..... call us at 908 788 2030 to reserve yours now! 

April Events: Lindbergh, Quilts, Poetry and More!

It's hard to believe we are moving into the 2nd quarter of 2014!  Three months down, nine more months of fabulous events, lectures, tours, performances and activities to go!





April showers bring more than flowers to Hunterdon County in 2014!  Here's a line up of what we have in store for you:




Migration Pattern Series:  We started in March with the Irish; now we move on to the English (April 5 with Founding Family descendant David Reading) and the Palantines (April 12 with County Historian Stephanie Stevens).  Follow David Reading's lecture on April 6 with a house tour of Governor Reading's Georgian-style Mansion.




National Poetry Month:  Come and join us as we celebrate National Poetry Month.  The Historic Courthouse is a dramatic back drop for 13 local poets who have spent the last year working on poetry in honor of our county's 300th birthday. 




Common Threads: Quilting Traditions in Hunterdon County:  the line up of events include a wonderful exhibition for 10 days at the Assembly Space (Building 1, Route 12 Complex) -- wait until you see the program book for this -- it is a real WOW!  On April 8th, join fabric expert Judy Grow in a companion lecture on the exhibition.  And there are still tickets available for the day long Quilt Symposium (check our website for registration information)!




Childrens' Crafts:  A companion craft project for the Quilt Exhibition -- children will learn to quilt next door of the exhibition at the Extension Center and then take a short walk over to see the adult quilts.  How fun and educational!  We also have added a special, just-in-time-for-Easter craft -- Pysanky -- the art of Ukranian egg dying!





Two Weeks (Plus!) of Lindbergh:  Lucky Lindy's not so luck life put Flemington on the map during the Trial of the Century.  Join historian, author and Lindbergh expert, Jim Davidson, for a series of five lectures that explore Lindbergh's controversial life as well as the kidnapping of Charles, Jr., the trial of Bruno Hauptmann and the havoc in our small towns created by both events.  We have ticketed all 5 lectures -- including May 1.





Our Two Weeks of Lindbergh culminate on May 2nd and 3rd when the Hunterdon County Tricentennial Committee presents a One Man Show "The Lone Eagle" -- a production we have brought up from Florida just for the Hunterdon 300th!   Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and veterans and $5 for students and all children 17 and under.  Reservation forms should be up on our website in the next week or so.  To make reservations, please print out a reservation form and mail it with your check to the Hunterdon County Tricentennial Committee, the Flemington Choir School, 3 Chorister Place, Flemington, NJ 08822.  If you wish to pay by credit card or cash, you can stop by our headquarters at the Flemington Choir School any Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm or call us at (908) 788-2030. 




Please note:  we are still putting together a Lindbergh exploration  -- two days of Lindbergh tours -- house, grounds, famous places from the kidnapping with Tour Guide Jim Davidson... these tours are still being created.  You will be the first to know of any additions to the calendar because you receive this.




FYI:  we still have tickets available for some of our great lectures in March including the Civil War Music with authentic period desserts on March 26, the newly researched lecture on life in Hunterdon 300 years ago on March 18, the fascinating story of the Road Along the Rocks in South County on March 25, the beautiful slide show of Hunterdon's most gorgeous photographs on March 20, an amazing powerpoint and lecture of historic lime kilns on March 15, provocative stories about Hunterdon's historic wills that may leave you laughing, shaking your head or mystified on March 12, and our childrens' craft project on March 29.




And don't forget the Revolutionary War drilling and musket practice at Deer Path Park at 10 am on Saturday, March 22nd followed by our birthday Parade, cake, hot chocolate and fireworks in our County Seat, Flemington Borough.

We Love A Parade! Details!

Who doesn't love a parade?!!?





On March 22, 1714, Hunterdon County was officially incorporated.  On March 22, 2014, Hunterdon County is officially celebrating!





Here are the details so far:





Around 10 a.m. the day kicks off with Revolutionary War soldiers from Bergen County's (which incorporated before us) Outwaters Militia join our celebration at Deer Path Park where they will muster, drill and... yes, shoot off muskets!  This is open to the public and subject to weather and ground conditions.  Please check our website the day of March 22nd for any time change or cancellation notice -- www.hunterdon300th.org.



The 300th celebration parade kicks off at 4 pm down our County Seat's Main Street -- that's Flemington Borough if you aren't from these parts.





We are expecting many Revolutionary War and Civil War soldiers to march as well as our First Responders, Scouts, municipal and county elected officials, lots of floats, lots of bands, lots of organizations all in celebration of Hunterdon County -- will it be the biggest parade in Hunterdon's history and MAKE history?  You have to be there to find out!





IF YOUR ORGANIZATION WISHES TO PARTICIPATE IT IS NOT TOO LATE!  REGISTER ON OUR HOME PAGE AT WWW.HUNTERDON300TH.ORG OR CALL US AT (908) 788-2030! 
 
Following the parade, our great friends at Shop Rite are providing birthday cake and hot chocolate for 2,000 people, which will be served by our volunteers and Hunterdon County service organizations in the county park right behind the Hunterdon County Historic Courthouse.





Stay in Flemington and grab a bite to eat and take a stroll up to the school on Court Street (RFIS) and enjoy a spectacular fireworks display -- 45 minutes of spectacular fireworks -- that start after sundown -- sundown is 7:10 pm that night so you figure it out....





More details will be posted on our website as they unfold and get locked in.... but save the date now -- it is going to be a great birthday party day!

A Grand Night to Celebrate Our 300th!

A few words about our 300th Gala which we hope you'll read because it is going to be a very special evening.

The Hunterdon Tricentennial Committee has been fundraising for over two years in order to provide hundreds -- yes, hundreds -- of free or very low cost events, tours, performances, tours and activities.  We also are committed to making it a real birthday party -- that means cake, food, treats and presents!  Thanks to our very generous sponsors, grantors, donors and friends, Shop Rite, Merck, Exxon, JCP&L, the Hunterdon County Board of Chosen Freeholders and many others, we have been able to achieve our mission. 

But we continue to fund raise to offer even more to the community including lasting art and music.  We have prided ourselves in providing quality fundraising products in order to provide quality events.  Please take a moment to read about our upcoming gala -- we have tickets available, and we hope you would consider it a worthwhile way to spend your hard earned treasure and join us on Saturday evening, March 29th at the Grand Colonial on Route 173 in Union Township.

The evening begins at 6 pm with an open bar and butler passed hors d'eouvres that include yellow fin tuna tartar on a wonton crisp with wasabi creme fraiche, Vermont goat cheese quiche and grilled ternderloin of beef crositini with horseradish creme fraiche.

While nibbling on the tasties, you can peruse and bid on our very special Silent Auction prizes including a house portrait by historic preservationist and architect Michael Marguiles, a cashmere cape from Flemington Furs, a dining membership at Hawk Point Golf Club, tickets to both the Trenton Thunder and Somerset Patriots, and theatre tickets to the NJ PAC, Hunterdon Hills Playhouse, and State Theatre of New Brunswick.

We'll be called into the ballroom around 7ish pm while the Silent Auction stays open... find a seat or just start dancing to the great sounds of Swingdelic -- a live band straight from NYC that will play the songs that you love all evening long.

You will have a fabulous dinner that includes a choice of entree -- we're still debating which of the chef's specialites to offer you:  an herb crusted chicken with a marsala demi glacé?  a filet of sole with chive Guerrero Blanc?  one of the incredible beef and pork creations he makes?  Trust us -- the food is going to be wonderful!

Did I mention our band, Swingdelic?  dancing! fun!  They play everything! and we promise you WILL want to dance!  This Manhattan band plays the traditional big band and Great American Songbook music of Duke Ellington and Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack era, Motown, the Rolling Stones, and oldies and dance hits from the 50's to the 80's.  They WILL keep the dance floor packed! 

Following dinner, we move on to a Live Auction with Colonel Harrie Copeland -- not only a great auctioneer, but funny enough to make this a comedic floor show as well!  Even if you don't bid (and we promise, you will be tempted with what we've got in store for you!) you will laugh hard with Harrie -- his sharp wit and fast tongue will make you laugh out loud!

So what is in store for the Live Auction?  We've been very selective and have a small list of big items (we're anxious to get everyone back on that dance floor!)!  A few worth mentioning include lunch for four at the Congressional Dining Room with Hunterdon County Congressman Leonard Lance and then a private tour of Congress; a romantic balloon package; a framed Artist's Proof of Dan Campanelli's beautiful water color print of the Hunterdon Historic Courthouse "Blue Skies" -- that means he picked this out himself as the best of the best of the prints -- signed by the artist and numbered 4 out of 20 (that's right -- only 20 Artist's Proofs of this print exist!); an amazing framed 42-starred historic American flag; a week in Myrtle Beach courtesy of Assemblyman John DiMaio (don't you just wish you were there right now with this winter we're having!?!!); and 4 tickets to the Executive Viewing Stand for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade -- the seats where you get to see all of the Broadway performances, bands, dancing, movie stars and floats -- the same place the television cameras are posted to get the best shots!

Did we tempt you yet?  There are many more Silent Auction and a few more Live Auction prizes not listed but we think you get the point -- this is going to be one special night!

The Gala is limited to 250 guests (we sacrificed seats to make sure there is plenty of room for dancing!); we still have about 100 tickets left.  We believe that this evening will prove to be another high value, high quality event offered by the Hunterdon Tricentennial Committee and we hope you'll agree and join us!  Tickets are $150 per person, $300 a couple (there's that magic 300 number!).  We know you will have a memorable evening of fine food, great music and dancing and a lot of fun in between.  

 

AND your financial contribution will help us continue to offer all of our friends and neighbors in Hunterdon County more great 300th events, treats and fun in 2014!

 

For more information or tickets, please go to our website www.hunterdon300th.org and click on the calendar listing for March 29th's Gala or call us at (908) 788-2030.

 

3 Tricentennial Events You Need to Know About NOW!

Read this if you are interested in great, free or low cost entertainment OR quilting!




First, the great, free or low cost entertainment:


Back to back next weekend on February 22nd and 23rd the 300th is proud to announce two fine performances in celebration of Black History Month. 


"Paul Robeson Through his Words and Music” interweaves two dozen songs that were sung by Robeson, with a narrative of his life as an actor, singer, activist, and humanitarian and will be performed Saturday evening, February 22nd.


Paul Robeson (1898-1976) was born in Princeton, NJ to a former slave, the Reverend William Robeson at a time of open racism and segregation.  Robeson attended high school in Somerville, NJ where the head of the Music Department was Miss Bessie Vosseller, one of the two founders of the Flemington Choir School along with Miss Bessie Hopewell.  Miss Bessie Vosseller is credited with noticing Robeson as a very gifted student and gave him his early musical training as well as special attention.   Robeson personally credited Vosseller as the first person to take his voice seriously.  Robeson came to Flemington in 1938 to personally thank her.


Robeson attended Columbia University where he simultaneously received his law degree and played professional football.  At Columbia, he sang and acted in off-campus productions and, after graduating, he became a participant in the Harlem renaissance which resulted in his major career on both stage and screen as both a Shakespearean actor, Broadway star and great baritone.  He sold out concerts around the world singing in more than 25 different languages. 


Robeson starred in Shakespeare's Othello, the musical Showboat, and films such as Jericho and Proud Valley. He was one of the top performers and earners of the time.


As a worldwide performer and traveler, Robeson became a Civil and Human Rights activist.  Robeson took many unpopular and controversial positions for his time including for the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, for independence in India and for the labor movement in Great Britain.  Most infamously, Robeson took a pro-Communist position during the Cold War.  He felt that under Stalinism people were treated equally while in the United States he was banned from using “Whites Only” restrooms, restaurants and hotels.  This led to Robeson being blacklisted during McCathyism, his passport being revoked and ultimately a legal challenge against the State Department as to “whether American citizens, regardless of their political beliefs or sympathies, may enjoy their constitutional rights." In 1958, after years of fighting, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the State Department could not deny American citizens the right to travel because of their political beliefs or affiliations.
   
Although triumphantly returning to Carnegie Hall in a sold out concert, the years of fighting his being blacklisted, fighting for his Constitutional rights and simultaneously not working affected his health and ultimately his career.  Robeson moved to Philadelphia where he lived in seclusion and died in 1976 in somewhat obscurity.

Paul Robeson is portrayed by Derrick McQueen who has performed this role in various states around the country.  “Paul Robeson Through his Words and Music” begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Flemington Presbyterian Church.  Tickets are free but required and may be obtained from either the Tricentennial’s website or at the Flemington Choir School in Flemington.  For further information, contact the Hunterdon Tricentennial Committee at (908) 788-2030 or visit their website at www.hunterdon300th.org.

The following day, Sunday afternoon, February 23rd, the East Amwell Historical Society will present "A DRAMATIC DIALOGUE BETWEEN DR. LARISON AND SILVIA DUBOIS" at the Little Theatre (Hunterdon Central High School off Route 523) at 4 pm.  In an extended interview in 1883 Silvia Dubois, then nearly 100 years old, told her life story to Dr. Cornelius Wilson Larison. How much of Silvia's life is history and how much is folklore we cannot be sure, but it remains a fascinating view of slave life and the life of the uneducated free black in the North during the 18th and 19th centuries. The presentation is based on Dr. Larison's biography on Silvia Dubois, who was born into slavery in the Sourland Mountains around 1788.  After repeated beatings by her mistress, Sylvia finally hit back.  Surprisingly, her master granted her freedom.  Her life's story is a fascinating study of true grit and the determination to live free.

Joy Kelly Smith, a New York stage actress, professional story-teller, director and musician will portray Silvia Dubois.   Ron O'Reilly, a resident of East Amwell and personal historian who helps people tell their life stories, will play the part of Dr. Larison.

 

The Dialogue is $5 at the door; no reservations or tickets are required in advance.

Now, if you are a QUILTER, pay attention to this announcement:  In conjunction with the quilt display and lecture the first week of April, a Symposium with four nationally known speakers is being presented on Saturday, April 12th at the Baptistown Baptist Church, 1040 Route 519, Baptistown, NJ.  This is a full day seminar that runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  Included in the $50 fee is a continental breakfast and lunch.  Only 50 tickets are available.  If you are interested in attending this special day, please send your check payable to the Hunterdon County Tricentennial Committee for $50 to Judy Grow-Seminar, 76 Old Clinton Road, Flemington, NJ 08822.  If you have questions, you can email Judy directly at judy.grow@comcast.net.  Please include with your check your name, phone number(s) and email address. 


The speakers for the symposium include Sue Reich (Washington Depot, CT) who will speak on "Quiltings, Frolicks and Bees:  100 Years of Signature Quilts", Karen Dever (Moorestown, NJ) speaking on "My Garden of Quilts - Botanical Textiles", Newbie Richardson (Alexandria, VA) who will speak on "Quilts in Context" and Dana Balsamo (Princeton, NJ) speaking on "Evaluating Your Quilts... Is It a Treasure?"  Attendees are invited to bring their own antique quilts for evaluation. 


For more information including a download of the brochure for the 300th's quilt display "Common Threads: Quilting Traditions in Hunterdon County, NJ" please see the Tricentennial's website.













 

 

   

 

March Events -- Happy Birthday, Hunterdon County! We Love a Parade!!

March events are now ticketing!  We have some very amazing talks and events scheduled. 


If you have children, the March 1st History Hunting for Hunterdon's Young Historians is really going to be exciting.  County historians will have real, authentic County artifacts for children to touch, use, work and learn from!  This event is limited to only 25 children ages 6 to 10 -- and yes, in anticipation of "selling out" of this free event we are already planning an Encore!










On March 18, a very special free lecture will be given just for the 300th.  County Historian Stephanie Stevens researched and wrote "Your Life on March 22, 1714" -- new research as to how we would have worked, lived, played, dined if we lived in Hunterdon 300 years ago.  It is going to be a fascinating exploration back in time.  Later in the year, Stephanie is going to present 2 companion lectures:  "Your Life on March 22, 1814" and "Your Life on March 22, 1914."  Attending this series will give real insight as to what a difference a century can make.... sometimes.










Our first in a series of five lectures on Immigrant Settlement Patterns happens in March; we have two great talks on Revolutionary War history and Hunterdon, our second historic craft project for children and the first of a three parter by Surrogate Susan Hoffman -- she has really interesting stories about old, historic wills she's found and read.  Tickets required but all free!

We also have a lecture on lime kilns on a Saturday and then the next day, our first bus tour -- to see, what else?  lime kilns!  Those details are being worked out, but we are taking limited reservations, no obligation, on a first come first served basis.

We have to point out a special day in Flemington:  a free workshop and lecture, which, if you live in an old house, may be of real interest to you or someone you know.  County Clerk Mary Melfi and her staff will teach 30 people how to search the Search Room for old deeds and documents on your property.  You can end your day there or take a nice lunch break at a Main Street café and then attend Historian Marfy Goodspeed's discussion on how to read these old documents and glean information from them.  If you just want to attend Marfy's lecture, that's fine, too.  Space is limited.








One event to check your calendar for is March 26's historical music performance by Ridley and Anne Enslow.   The Enslow's will play for 85 lucky people who score these free tickets:  historical music from the period of the Civil War, on period instruments, and they will be dressed in appropriate historical attire.  Our good friends from Teaberry's Tea Room are going to make authentic treats from mid 19th century recipes for our guests to enjoy!  And yes, it's another great, FREE event!








And, because it is our birthday month, on our actual date of incorporation, March 22, we celebrate with perhaps the biggest parade in Hunterdon's history, down the main drag in the County Seat.  Floats roll out at 4 pm.  If you have an organization or group that would like to participate please go to our website to register.







Following the parade (and perhaps a downtown Flemington dinner), at the Intermediate School on Bonnell Street the first 2,000 people will receive free cake and hot chocolate courtesy of our super friends at Shop Rite.  And if that isn't enough, we're topping the day off with a fantastic free fireworks show!








If you want to keep the celebration going, on March 29th, the 300th presents the Tricentennial Gala at the Grand Colonial.  A night of great food, fun, a silent and live auction, live band and dancing awaits.  250 tickets available -- sorry, not free -- it's another great fundraiser to help provide hundreds of free events. Please check our website's link to the gala for details.





Spend some time looking over all the possibilities in the month of March -- it's a month rich in history, fun and celebration.  Surely a calendar that has something for everyone!

Our Second Tavern Tour and Third 300 Fun Facts!

Due to overwhelming popular demand, County Historian John Kuhl has agreed to do a second encore of his lecture "300 Fun Facts About Hunterdon County."  We have entitled this "BRAVO! 300 Fun Facts" and it will be held on Sunday afternoon, February 16 at 2 pm at the Main Branch of the County Library on Route 12.  If you've been shut out from the "Fun Facts" and "Encore! Fun Facts" grab tickets fast!  They are available thru our website as well as at our headquarters, The Flemington Choir School, 3 Chorister Place in Flemington.


Please check our website before rushing over to the Flemington Choir School  www.hunterdon300th.org on Friday, but it looks like tickets may be available on Saturday, February 1st on a first come, first served basis for tickets for our second Tavern Tour:  The Fox and the Hound in Lebanon Borough on Saturday, March 8th.






Another lovely meal will be served followed by a double feature lecture with Lebanon Borough Historian Joe Hauck and County Historian Stephanie Stevens about the region with a focus on the real history of Round Valley -- from the geology to the early settlers; the farmers to the politics.... and then there's the story of the reservoir and the backdoor deals made.... a tell all by County Historian Extraordinaire Stevens -- she reveals where all the bodies are buried... well not all -- at least 6 are still in the murky depths of the reservoir!








Please take note:  this event will be on the second floor of this historic tavern and is NOT HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE.  We are very sorry for the inconvenience and hope that those of you unable to come to this event because of accessibility issue will join us for future events and more user friendly, tavern tours.


Score these tickets between 10 am and 2 pm, while they last, first come first served, at the Flemington Choir School, 3 Chorister Place, Flemington, the home of the Hunterdon Tricentennial.  Cash and check preferred.  Only 46 available!  Please check our website on Friday to make sure the event is posted for ticketing.