Lens-Artists Challenge #163 – Keep Walking…
Category Archives: Newark, NJ
RDP Friday – Carousel…
The Flying Horses in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard are the oldest platform carousel in the United States. It was made in 1876 by early American carousel manufacturer, Charles Dare. The Flying Horses Carousel was originally built for the Coney Island amusement park in Brooklyn. In 1884 after eight years there the Flying Horses Carousel moved to the town of Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard where it still remains in operation as one of only two surviving carousels fabricated by Dare. The carousel became a National Historic Landmark in 1986, the same year it was acquired by local conservation organization the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust.
I flew on these beautiful horses every day when I was a little girl. The ticket taker was a young man who would never take my tickets ! We tried everything to get him to take them… we brought him candy and cookies and tried slipping the tickets in with them… nothing work. At the end of the summer I said I wanted to buy him a gift, so off my mom and I went to purchase what I thought was a novel idea .. a tie. I was 5 years old, what did I know about buying gifts for men… he, by the way was about 13 but in my eyes he was a grown up. We put the tie in the box with all of summer’s uncollected tickets. As he came around to NOT collect my ticket I handed him the box. He smiled. Ah ha, success… or so I thought. As we were leaving the Flying Horses he came over and thanked us for the tie and as we turned to leave he handed us the tickets.
There are two ring dispenser arms situated next to the carousel that offer gold rings and the lucky rider who grabs the coveted brass ring gets a free ride
The last time I flew on the Flying Horses a few years ago my granddaughter Tiffany was with me. I thought it might be my last time ever to ride them (I think that every time anyway)… and as my horse came around to the arm shooting the rings out I could see that the next one, the one waiting for me was the GOLD ring. What a fantastic way to possibly end my Flying Horses ride…
But I missed it … my fingers slipped and I couldn’t grab it. But… right behind me was my granddaughter and she got it. She offered me the free ride but it meant more to me that she should have it. Perfect ending, if indeed it was.
Rings of gold are good luck I’m told…
as for riding Flying Horses you’re never too old 🙂
Two other carousels…
New York city’s Bryant Park
Newark, New Jersey’s Military Park
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2021/06/04/rdp-friday-carousel/
Challenge Your Camera: #4 Churches…
The Old First Presbyterian Church, the oldest church in Newark, NJ was established in 1666 by the founders of Newark, NJ. My 10 times great-grandfather Robert Treat from Bradford, CT was one of the founders of Newark and member of this church. It wasn’t until 2018 when I joined a walking tour of Newark that I found out the history of the church and my connection to it.
1644 Org. Brandford, Connecticut – 1666 Robert Treat Leads Settlement (my 10th times gr grandfather) – 1668 First Meeting House – 1745 Church Temporal Rule Ends – 1748 Princeton’s 1st Commencement – 1753 Charter From King George II – 1775 British loot manse – 1791 Present (3rd) Church dedicated – 1952 Chapel & (4th) Parish House.
Among the noted pastors of the Church was its 7th pastor from 1736-1755, the Rev Aaron Burr Sr father of Aaron Burr Jr, the 3rd Vice President.
One of these days I hope to get back there and take a tour of the inside of the church.
If you’re interested in the history of the Old First Presbyterian Church of Newark, NJ CLICK HERE
https://nowathome.wordpress.com/2021/01/26/challenge-your-camera-4-churches/
Our Family Santa…
For many of the years my dad was a police officer in Newark, NJ he worked in the Emergency Squad division. During the long hours between calls the guys would keep themselves busy in various ways like cooking. Near the Christmas holidays they always came up with a special project, like candle making for instance.
In 1956 they made Santas. I still have ours. Santa stands about 3 and 1/2 feet tall and is made from press board. After the outline was drawn the guys cut out the Santas and my dad set to work drawing the features, clothing and bag of toys. At that point our Santa came home and my mother and I painted him. I’m not sure how many coats of paint we used but Santa was spread out on our kitchen table for about a week before he was completely dry. I don’t know what kind of paint we used either but here it is 64 years later and he’s not chipped or faded. This was the only time I ever remember the three of us doing a family project together.
I love everything about this Santa, even the buttons being on the wrong side… but the thing I love the most is that he looks like my dad… a self portrait so to speak.
Below is my daughter Patty age 2 and 1/2 in 1966…… and her daughter (my granddaughter) Tiffany age 2 and 1/2 in 1991.
Here’s to Christmas memories, old and new ❤
2020 Photo Challenge #16…
Converging Lines
Top photo is Route 80 in New Jersey heading west to Pennsylvania and the Delaware Water Gap.
Bottom photo is Plimouth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts
Below are photos from the island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
Miscellaneous
https://nowathome.wordpress.com/2020/04/19/2020-photo-challenge-16/
https://traveltalk.me.uk/2020/04/19/2020-photo-challenge-16/
Friendly Friday Photo Challenge – Art Unexpected…
Clockwise from upper right: tree sculpture in PA – easels in windows – statues and metal cows at the Field Gallery on Martha’s Vineyard – sidewalk art – mural in NJ – piano in Greenwich Village, NYC.
My daughter and I are deeply into our genealogy and have been visiting cemeteries where our ancestor are buried. I’ve always found cemeteries to be interesting places, especially the older ones where grave stones and markers are indeed works of art. We have several ancestors buried in Mt Pleasant Cemetery in Newark, New Jersey, which is Newark’s oldest cemetery and in my opinion the most beautiful and interesting one. The cemetery has a special section for the firemen of Newark and that is where my great, great grandfather is buried. The unexpected art connection to me are the fire hydrants that surround this section.
https://thesandychronicles.blog/2020/03/06/friendly-friday-challenge-art-unexpected/
Downtown Newark, NJ Walking Tour…
What a fun thing to do on a gorgeous April Saturday. A walking tour of downtown Newark, NJ with Have You Met Newark tours. Newark is where I was born and grew up and it’s exciting to see what’s going on there. Here are some pictures of our tour.
Pictured below is the Prudential Center arena (The Rock) and the NJ Performing Arts Center (NJPAC)
The Old First Presbyterian Church was established in 1666 by the founders of Newark, NJ. My 10 times great-grandfather was one of the founders of Newark and he, along with some of my other ancestors were buried there.
The City Hall, and Broad and Market streets, known as the 4 corners.
The Prudential buildings. The Prudential came to Newark in the late 1800’s, the original building was demolished in 1956 to make way for Prudential Plaza which opened in 1960. A few blocks away in July 2016 the Prudential Tower opened.
Prudential Plaza Prudential Tower
Right in downtown Newark are three lovely parks. Lincoln Park, Military Park and here is Washington Park. The Newark museum and library are located on one side of the park.
Newark always had lots of department stores. Pictured here are Bamberger’s (which became Macy’s).. and Kresge (which is the K in K-Mart ), there was also Orbach’s and S. Klein all within a two block radius.
But the department store that was always a bit above the others, literally and figuratively was Hahne & Co. Hahne’s closed its doors in 1987 and sat empty for 30 years, it has been totally renovated and is gorgeous. In addition to retail space the new renovation includes 160 apartments. Note the original Hahne & Co sign.
I’m a big fan of Newark, not just because I was born and raised there but because it’s a terrific place to visit. Learn about what Newark is planning for the future, like this beautiful new park. 
But also learn about Newark’s place in our history. A fun way to do that is with a group from Have You Met Newark.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Tour Guide…
The prompt: Share with us an image, or two, or three, (or more!) of where you live. For bonus points, tell us what it is about the photo(s) that you love. I can’t wait to go on a fantastic virtual tour of the world, courtesy of photo challenge participants. Away we go!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rather than share where I live now I want to share where I was born and raised and lived until I got married.
My home town… Newark, New Jersey
Above is the Essex County courthouse. In the forefront is a statue of Abraham Lincoln called the Seated Lincoln sculpted by Gutzon Borglum who was the creator of the Mount Rushmore sculpture of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
Surprising to many who don’t know much about the city of Newark, it has some beautiful parks in it. Washington Park, Lincoln Park and the newly revitalized Military Park. Here sits another of Gutzon Borglum’s works, one of his most compelling : Wars of America. He created this magnificent sculpture over the course of six years, completing it in 1926. It memorializes all the major conflicts in which Americans participated up to and including the First World War.
Thus ends a short tour of two of the beautiful sculptures you can find in Newark, New Jersey 🙂
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/tour-guide/
Our Santa…
My dad was a police officer in Newark, NJ. For many of his years on the force he worked in the Emergency Squad division. During the long hours between calls the guys would keep themselves busy in various ways like cooking. Near the Christmas holidays they always came up with a special project, like candle making for instance.
In 1956 they made Santas. I still have ours. Santa stands about 3 and 1/2 feet tall and is made from press board. After the outline was drawn the guys cut out the Santas and my dad set to work drawing the features, clothing and bag of toys. At that point our Santa came home and my mother and I painted him. I’m not sure how many coats of paint we used but Santa was spread out on our kitchen table for about a week before he was completely dry. I don’t know what kind of paint we used either but here it is 61 years later and he’s not chipped or faded. This was the only time I ever remember the three of us doing a family project together.
I love everything about this Santa, even the buttons being on the wrong side… but the thing I love the most is that he looks like my dad… a self portrait so to speak.
Below is my daughter Patty age 2 and 1/2 in 1966…
… and then her daughter (my granddaughter) Tiffany age 2 and 1/2 in 1991.
Here’s to Christmas memories ❤
Weekly Photo Challenge: Heritage…
This week we are to share a photo of something that says “heritage” to us. My daughter Deb and I have been deep into genealogy and tracing our roots. On my father’s side our family, the Freeman’s go back to the original founding fathers of Newark, New Jersey. My 8th times great grandfather (not sure of the number), Robert Treat and a host of other men from Milford and Branford, CT founded the city of Newark in 1666. I am the last of our particular Freeman line to be born in Newark as was my father, my grandfather etc.
There are two monuments to the founders of Newark in the city. One is in Fairmont Cemetery where many of my family are buried. That’s Robert Treat on the top.
Newark NJ founders statue (Robert Treat)
The other monument, which had fallen into disrepair was restored and put in its new location last year for the 350th anniversary of the founding of Newark. This monument has the founders names on it… there’s my 8times great grandfather, Stephen Freeman.
MV Obsession 