I've lived in New Jersey for more than 40 years, but I'll never be a real New Jersey girl. I grew up in Pennsylvania where there was lots of snow, one traffic light in town, and 90 kids in my grade--from kindergarten through graduation. I didn't know anything about The Shore, or baked ziti, or Chanukah until I came to Jersey. But, I've come to love all of that and much more--especially the history. I now know about the Jersey Dutch, strawberry baskets, railroad suburbs, the bridge that saved a nation, and so much more. I've learned that to tell the local stories about regular people I need to read wills, estate files, census records, pension applications, letters, tombstones, newspapers, and anything else I can find. So, that's some of what I want to share with you!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

History and Open Space

History and open space are both threatened in Fair Lawn.  The proposed development of the residential Vanderbeck property as an assisted living facility in Fair Lawn threatens the destruction of open space, paving of land immediately next to the Naugle house, and surrounding the Jacob Vanderbeck, Jr. house with parking lots.  Fair Lawn is preparing to re-zone the 3-acre Vanderbeck property from residential to a classification that would allow an assisted living facility and big profits for the developer and no big tax windfall for Fair Lawn.  Developing the property for several luxury homes in an idyllic setting would keep the residential neighborhood intact, preserve the open space around both historic houses, and allow the property owner fair use of his property.  There is no point in saving historic  houses only to surround them with parking lots.  Historic properties should be kept in the residential market (the Vanderbeck house) or re-habbed by a public owner for a non-profit, governmental, or educational use (the Naugle house).  Fair Lawn has a powerful tool to stop this travesty:  refuse to re-zone the property. 
 
See today's Opinion piece in the Record from H. Gelfand, Joe Suplicki, and myself.  http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/fairlwan_070913.html
 
More to come.

The History Backups:  we've got our backs up for history (and open space)
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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

More American Accents

Ok, Bill Carbone sent me this link and I took the test. The blog it comes from is mainly political and advertisements, but you can ignore all that. The questionaire asks whether two words are pronounced alike or differently, etc.  Then it calls your accent.  It "pegged" mine!   

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Midland 95%
"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania (YES), southern Ohio (YES for mother), southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio. (New career?)

What does yours say?

I know we've gotten a little far afield from Bergen County research and genealogy.  Stay tuned, I promise the next post will be on-topic.
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