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Please visit my Groveville United Methodist Church Photo Page. The link is on the right column

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2nd annual Groveville & Yardville Reunion Saturday, September 10 at 1:00pm at Alstarz Sports Pub (alstarzsportspub.com), Bordentown, NJ 08505

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

A Christmas Tradition

Santa Clause arriving in Groveville, on our 1941 Ward LaFrance, in the 1940's, must have been a icy night, with those Snow Chains on the truck



Santa Clause arriving in Groveville, December, 2007

Almost every volunteer fire company in the area has this tradition and they all do it on their own schedule.

Groveville Fire Company has been doing this as long as anyone can remember. The oldest picture here goes back to Santa on our 1941 Ward LaFrance, so we know it goes back at least that far. I was the Santa on the truck that went through Groveville for over ten years and loved every minute of it.

Our Santa schedule was the same as far back as I can remember. About three months before Christmas the Christmas Committee would have their meeting. Usually the committee consisted of the same members as the year before, with the addition of maybe one new member. On the agenda was deciding how many children we would be planning for, each year we seemed to plan for more children. I believe the highest number, I remember, was us planning for five hundred children.

Next we would see if we have candy boxes and stockings left over from last year. We always bought these in lots of one thousand, so this year we were prepared to the next year and we got a better price that way. Then someone would be appointed to go to Levin Candy on South Clinton Avenue and order the candy boxes, the stockings and enough hard candy to fill five hundred boxes and five hundred Candy Canes.

A committee member would contact the costume store and reserve three Santa Costumes, later we bought our own and then someone would have too make sure they were cleaned and ready for the big night.

Another person’s job was to go to Lou’s Home Movies on Chambers Street and reserve one hour of 16mm cartoon films and make sure we had a spare bulb for the projector.

In the beginning of December someone would go to Blue Eagle Fruit and Produce on South Broad Street and order five hundred apples and oranges. They would take a stocking with them to make sure they got the grade of fruit that would fit the stocking, one year we bought fruit too big and almost caused a catastrophe.
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One year a member said that he could save us money on the fruit, he had a better deal somewhere else. When we opened the boxes we found that somewhere along the line the fruit had gotten frozen, it was like filling the stockings with "prunes". Thank goodness the owner of Blue Eagle, Gerry Munson, was a friend and long time Groveville resident and saved us at the last minute.

All of the ordered items would be picked up and at the firehouse about a week before Christmas.

The Sunday afternoon before Christmas we would gather at the fire house and get the stockings ready. We would put tables in a row to form a production line. Candy boxes would be filled the same way every year. The boxes had to be folded and put together, and then each would get filled with eight ounces of hard candy, each filled with an eight ounce beer glass filled with candy.

Then the stockings would be filled, the apple had to go in first, because they would fit in the toe, if you put the candy box in first you would run out of room in the stocking. Next you put in the orange, followed by the candy box, and then the candy cane and was slid in. Sometimes a coloring book or fire safety book was added. There are a lot of rules for stocking filling, all tried and true.
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Most of the work was done by the men, but it was all accomplished with a lot of help and support of a very active Ladies Auxiliary.

On Christmas Eve, we would gather at the firehouse by 4:30 PM, most of us came right from work, without stopping home.

The wooden chimney seats, painted like brick, had to be fastened to the trucks, the Santa’s had to get ready. We had two Santa’s on two trucks, one was designated as the “In Town Route” and the other was the “Country Route”.

The “Country Route” would load up a Karch’s Esso Station on Route130 (now Mule’ Auto Body) and later at the Yardville First Aid on Route 156. They would cover the streets behind Iccara’s Pizza, streets behind Yardville School, Papp Village, Yardville – Allentown Road, Crosswicks Road, and Crosswicks area. They would be done long after the other route.

The “In Town Route” started precisely at 5:30PM at Anchor Thread and proceeded up Main Street, bear right on Allen Street to the end, then back to Main to Broad Street. Then right on Broad Street, to Pettyridge Road, right on Pettyridge and complete all the streets in Groveville Gardens, exiting at Richbell Road and Main Streets, right on Main Street to Broad Street and left on Broad, bearing right on Pilgrim Way, back onto Broad and continuing to Route 156. We turned left on Route 156.

We then would stop at St. Elizabeth’s Home, for the longest time this was a home for Mentally Challenged Adults. We had a patient count from the Nun’s and we would bring enough Filled Stockings for each patient and Nun. Santa would get off the truck there and greet the patients and give them stockings, this was the most rewarding part of me being Santa that I could ever hope for, and this made it all worth it, even when it was cold, snowing, or raining.

Then we continued on to the Polish American Club, there we turned around and proceeded up Martins Lane. Then we returned to Route 156 to Church Street, right on Church Street, and through Eagle Rock or Sherwood II Apartments, (depending on your age). Continuing on Church Street to Main Street, right on Main Street to the fire house. There Santa would exit the truck behind the fire house.

The Children waiting for Santa at the fire house would have been treated to an hour of cartoons. The Santa on the truck would be cold, sometimes wet, snow covered, or just blown apart from his ride on the truck so the third Santa, warm and dry would appear for the children. He would have each child sit on his lap; listen to their Christmas Wishes, give them a filled stocking, and parents would take pictures.

The crew from the first truck would bring the truck back inside, remove the chimney, and return it to service. They would then load up the utility truck (9-3) with filled stockings and take them to some underprivileged family’s we knew of on the other side of Crosswicks, and families of children unable to get to the firehouse, whether due to illness or handicapped.
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All of the left over stockings would be donated to needy families, Rudy Coderoni always knew of someone needy and would take the stockings to them.

By the time all of the trucks were back and had been returned to service, the fire house cleaned and straightened, most of us got to our homes about ten o’clock on Christmas Eve to start our families Christmas.

The time spent doing this was so rewarding that rarely did anyone complain. Today most Volunteer Fire Companies can’t accomplish this on Christmas Eve.

Groveville Fire Company, for example, does it on a Sunday afternoon and it takes all day.

Why, you ask, well with the growth and expansion of Groveville's district, the amount of streets that Santa must cover has almost doubled, the fire house is no longer in the middle of Groveville, most people used to walk to the firehouse, today they would have to load the family in the car to get there. If all the “Santa Aged” children in the fire district showed up for a stocking, I would bet it would be well over 1200, that’s a lot of filled stockings and I doubt that Santa would have time to hear all those wishes in one night, let alone wait while the parents took their pictures. The final and most important reason and the one that bothers me the most is that volunteerism is way down, its way down everywhere, just a sign of the times, and there is just not the manpower to accomplish this task today, shame ain’t it.
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Just remember even in these times they still try to give the children something, even if its not what we remember.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

At war during Christmas

God Bless Our Troops and those that give their time and their lives that we may celebrate Christmas at home as we like, in peace.
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My father joined the army and had been discharged and when WWII was declared and he was called back. During WWII he was stationed in England and Germany. He was in Germany and assigned to a communications section, it was Christmas time and he was helping his company’s mess section unpack rations for their Christmas dinner. As he was unpacking boxes he came across a pie filling and the box was labeled “Brick’s Mincemeat, Crosswicks, NJ”. He said “Here I am halfway around the world and away from my family and this box came from three miles from my home”. He said he was never that homesick. It’s amazing the things that are said that stick with you through the years, but I will never forget my father and this story.


Saturday, December 22, 2007

Merry Christmas To Everyone

I want to wish everyone that enjoys my site and has sent me stories, memories, photos and yes, even those that have sent me corrections, a very Merry Christmas. I have enjoyed passing on all that I have learned so much.

Merry Christmas

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Groveville PAL Basketball Team ~ 1949

This is the Groveville PAL Basketball Team, about 1949
Standing ~ Ray Bell, Gerry Munson, Ed Jones (Manager & Coach), John Buckley, Donald Richardson.
Kneeling ~Lee Jones, Denny Bloomer, Donald Mack

Friday, December 14, 2007

The Bridge at Anchor Thread


These are photos of the bridge at Anchor Thread, over the Crosswicks Creek. This is the Iron Bridge I remember growing up in Groveville. The old bridge had a Dedication Plate, stating its date of construction and the engineer and builder, I wish I had a picture of that or at least the information it offered.
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This was a Truss Style Bridge, very popular in the late 1800's and early 1900’s.
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There is a wide band of webbed steel that ran the entire span on each side about waist high, this was a guard to keep pedestrians from falling off the bridge. As kids we found that if four or five of us pulled on this with some type of rhythm the entire bridge would shake, that was big excitement in Groveville in the 1950's. It was also a great bridge for climbing, but not me.



This picture is the beginning of the end for this bridge, the picture of the bridge with the truck on it is the day they began to dismantle the old bridge. The next picture is the ribbon cutting ceremony, this was on the Burlington County side of the bridge an I believe these are Burlington County officials, as I don’t recognize any of them. This was in 1990


This photo below is the bridge today, not as much fun, you can't climb on it or shake it, and no I haven't tried either.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

The Automobile in Hamilton

The first automobile appeared in Hamilton Township in 1899. On September 3, 1902, an ordinance was passed reducing the speed of automobiles from Twelve miles per hour to Eight miles per hour, with a fine from $15.00 to $20.00 for violation. Numerous complaints had been received that automobiles were speeding through the township at Ten miles per hour.
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This little tid bit of information is from a booklet I have titled;
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"Hamilton Township 1842 ~ 1942
100th Anniversary Observance Week, April 26 ~May 2, 1942"

Monday, December 10, 2007

Groveville School ~ 1943 ~ 1944

1St Row

Arthur Inman
C. Ray Bell
Miss Elias’s (Teacher) niece
Loraine Engle
Anne Schroder
Rose (Sis) Sellers
Dick Inman
Muriel Becker
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2nd Row

Walt Grove
Gerry Munson
Janis Riggs
Joan Laven
Connie DeMent
Bobby Chamberlain

Friday, December 7, 2007

Groveville School ~ 1944~1945

Second & Third Grades
Top Row; Richard Inman ~ Arthur Inman ~C. Ray Bell ~ Pat Deviney ~ Loraine Engle
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2nd Row; Mickey Wright ~ Joan Lavan ~ Sally Jones ~ Robert Chamberlain
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Center; Miss Elias
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3rd Row; Walter Grove ~ Anne Schroeder ~Margie Beuhler ~ Rose (Sis) Sellers
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4th Row; Janice Riggs ~ Gerry Munson ~ Connie DeMent ~ George Pelke ~ Allen Taylor

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Daryl, Tom, and Claire


Daryl, Tom, & Claire Dwier standing in front of their house at 205 Main Street, Groveville. In the background is Don & Clara Snyder's house. To the right is Jo Hepburn's Store. This picture was taken in 1950.