Lifestyle – Writing New Jersey Life

Seward Johnson’s Invitation to Grounds for Sculpture

On April 26, 2024

In Art, Arts, Culture, Museum, STEAM, Travel, US History

Come with me, and you’ll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look, and you’ll see
Into your imagination

“Pure Imagination” from “Willy Wonka” by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley

Beautiful peacocks wow visitors at Grounds for Sculpture

View from “Put Yourself in the Picture” by Roberto Lugo

Grounds for Sculpture is founder and sculptor Seward Johnson’s invitation to embrace art. Visitors, especially children, often hug or play with sculptures like they are old friends, sitting beside them at picnic tables or in outdoor cafes. Many have had the experience of bumping into a Seward Johnson statue around the country (and the world) and uttering, “Excuse me,” only to stop and laugh at the realization that it is not an actual person. The artist’s playful gotcha game continues with a celestial wink.

Beautiful orchard of Japanese cherry, apple blossom, and crab apple trees

The fun, a reflection of hard work, generosity, and planning, began in 1992 as an outgrowth of the Johnson Atelier, which Mr. Johnson founded in 1974, initially in Princeton, as a community for sculptors. The Atelier was ground-breaking by offering sculptors the opportunity to keep control of their work and have access to production methods formerly kept close to the vest within the sculpture world. By all accounts, the Atelier sculptors’ collaborations were, and are, rewarding and fun. The institute has the reputation of being the finest foundry for bronze casting in the country and among the best in the world. (Early collaborators and friends of Seward Johnson from the Atelier, sculptors Herk Van Tongeren, Isaac Witkin, and Brooke Barrie, contributed to the direction of the sculpture park that grew from the Atelier. Mr. Van Tongeren became the first Grounds for Sculpture president and executive director, and Ms. Barrie was the inaugural academic director, curator, and a successive director.) Seward Johnson’s generosity is a gift that keeps giving as sculptors have gone on from the Atelier to form schools and flourish as artists. Visitors may sometimes see the artists at work in the Atelier when exploring the grounds. Today, the Atelier also curates the exhibitions of Seward Johnson’s works, which help to increase tourism wherever the sculptures go.

“Put Yourself in the Picture” by Roberto Lugo

“Captured” by Seward Johnson with a woman reading his daughter’s book of poetry (June 2023)

What has changed most over the past several years at Grounds for Sculpture is that the core group of visitors has expanded from traditional art lovers to a crowd more reflective of those who would have visited when Grounds for Sculpture was the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Through grants from a foundation, Mr. Seward purchased the neglected 42 acres of the former fairgrounds and gradually transformed them with the same generous thought he had behind the placing of his inviting “Everyman” sculptures in public parks – they are a way to draw people back into the park. Among the art lovers at Grounds for Sculpture are international travelers, which indicates the appeal of the art. On a weekend visit this month, children with their families on holiday from overseas sported cartoon T-shirts like the Incredible Hulk. Perhaps Seward Johnson might have taken it as a compliment that budding connoisseurs consider his art, too, a marvel.

The Seward Johnson Center for the Arts (June 2023)

The children are in it for fun, which abounds at Grounds for Sculpture. On an April weekend visit, a giant stone snake was a hit with children who ran along it, as were the Cloud Swings, which had parents and grandparents playing with their children. Ideally, the art and events will inspire children’s lifelong creativity, and there are online activities for young artists to try before they visit.

Founder Seward Johnson

“It’s easy sometimes to forget the simple things that give us pleasure. If we open our eyes, life is marvelous.” Seward Johnson

Seward Johnson with Cecelia Joyce Horton and her parents on Cecelia and Seward’s wedding day

Seward Johnson II, born in New Brunswick, NJ, April 16, 1930, lived a New Jersey story as much as a worldwide one, having resided in Highland Park, Hopewell, and Princeton at different times. His parents were J. Seward Johnson, Jr. and Ruth Dill. His grandfather, Robert Wood Johnson, Sr., was a co-founder of the well-known pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, and his maternal grandfather was Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Melville Dill OBE, a Bermudian who served as an attorney-general and a member of Parliament. Not long after the Lindbergh kidnapping, Seward’s father foiled a kidnapping attempt in the Johnson family home, the Merriewold Estate Castle in Highland Park, which led to the family’s far-flung stays in London, Paris, Bermuda, and the New Mexico Ghost Ranch of Georgia O’Keefe. A fun tidbit is that Mr. Johnson’s cousins on his mother’s side are Michael and Joel Douglas, sons of Diana Dill and Kirk Douglas. Kirk once asked Seward to sculpt a bust of him, which Seward graciously did. Though portraiture was not usually “his thing,” it was a compliment that his famous uncle asked. The sculpture featured the striking dual faces of Kirk, whom the 16-year-old Seward first knew, and the Kirk of what was then 2002.

Following the philanthropic example of Robert Wood Johnson, J. Seward Johnson, Jr. set up six charities for each of his children to contribute to society, Seward’s being the Atlantic Foundation. It was through grants from the Atlantic Foundation that Seward purchased the land for the Atelier and Grounds for Sculpture and funded the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation, which his father had founded in 1971 for “preserving the environment through a deep, scientific understanding of the ocean”. The foundation supports marine research, classes, and marine mammal rescue as part of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University.

For someone who often appeared light-hearted publicly, Seward Johnson had navigated life challenges, some even more complex and undoubtedly more painful, by being played out publicly. Despite his intelligence, he struggled as a student due to his dyslexia but later found his way by enlisting in the U.S. Navy. During his service, he fought in the Korean War for four years on the USS Gloucester, and at one point, he and his fellow servicemen nearly lost their lives when the battleship took a direct hit. A failed first marriage caused despair, and lengthy litigation over the family estate made headlines for years. Corporate life did not suit his talents, and he was let go from the family business at 38.

Cecelia Joyce and Seward from the exhibition

A joyful counterbalance was Seward Johnson’s second marriage with writer, poet, director, and producer Cecelia Joyce Horton, with whom he shared the ultimate “meet cute” story. Seward, Cecelia, and another passenger got bumped from a flight from New York City to Nantucket. Seward wisely suggested that the other man, a traveler from California, might enjoy a night seeing the city, which cleared the way for dinner with Cecelia. For an uplifting experience, enjoy the exhibition “That’s Worth Celebrating: The Life and Work of the Johnson Family” in the Cecelia Joyce and Seward Johnson Gallery, which shares Mr. Johnson’s happiness with his family life.

Noting Seward’s mechanical ability, Cecelia encouraged her husband to move from painting, which they did together, to sculpture. After being rejected by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Seward’s first sculpture, the steel “Stainless Girl,” won the U.S. Steel’s 1968 Design in Steel Award out of 7,000 entries, and, as he joked in interviews, he never won anything again.

Impressively, he carried on with his work despite the initial derision of some art critics who may have missed that he had a different aim. He would comment, “The art of my work is in the interaction, not the aesthetic.”

Seward’s determination, however, demonstrated that he was not a dilettante, and the increasing profits from the sale of his works went back into the Atelier. (In what must have felt like a rewarding, full-circle experience, Georgia O’Keefe later used the Atelier.) Notably, Mr. Johnson received the Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award from the International Sculpture Center in 2019, which he had supported for years at the invitation of founder Elden Tefft, a sculptor and a professor at the University of Kansas, and membership in the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

“…not public art, but art for the public…” Seward Johnson

Seward Johnson’s most well-known series of sculptures may be “Celebrating the Familiar” as well as “Beyond the Frame,” which recreated the works of the Impressionists, and “Icons Revisited,” with the monumental sculptures like “Forever Marilyn” from a still photo from Billy Wilder’s “The Seven Year Itch” (the rights of which Mr. Johnson obtained from the photographer) and “Embracing Peace” from one of the better known Victory Over Japan or “V-J” Day photos of a sailor kissing a nurse in anticipation of the end of the war in Times Square. Seward Johnson created “Embracing Peace” from the photo by US Navy photojournalist Victor Jorgensen, which was in the public domain. Photographer Alfred Eisenstadt, who took the more well-known photo, had observed the tipsy sailor passing through Times Square, kissing women of all ages and appearances out of sheer joy that the war was ending. Current perspectives give the photo different meaning for some, but in the context of 1945 and Mr. Eisenstadt’s description, the jubilation at the end of World War II was felt throughout the country.

Life-size “Embracing Peace” in downtown Spring Lake, NJ (2022)

“If It Were Time” by Seward Johnson, an homage to “Terrace at Sainte-Adresse” by Monet (2021)

“Family Secret” by Seward Johnson, inspired by Renoir’s “Two Sisters in the Terrace” (2021)

Regardless of scale, the faces of his works are remarkably expressive. Though “Beyond the Frame” initially drew some criticism for borrowing from other artists, Mr. Johnson believed that if viewers could walk inside the paintings in 3-D, this would be an ultimate sharing of the artist’s vision and a way to engage people who might not otherwise be interested in art. Seward added his contributions beyond the artist’s original canvas. As he said in interviews, he wanted to create “not public art, but art for the public” and added, “Interaction is part of the art form. But the interaction also extends beyond what is simply there to what is created in the viewer’s imagination.” Over the years, his works gained acceptance and became popular. Perhaps by not only doing what he loved but creating it with love is what resonates with people today.

People have compared his works with those of Norman Rockwell, whom Mr. Johnson admired, but he noted that Mr. Rockwell presented a story while Seward wanted the viewer to imagine what his figure’s story might be. Influences that Seward Johnson pointed out in “The Sculpture of J. Seward Johnson, Jr. Celebrating the Familiar” (1987) were the French painter and sculptor artist Honore Daumier, who conveyed his critiques of society with humor and sociologist/journalist William H. Whyte. William Whyte’s book “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces” (1980) contained observations underscored with photos of how people acted in urban environments. Seward Johnson, too, was a keen observer of human behavior and nature. In interviews, he shared that he liked to walk through Central Park for inspiration. His reassuring park figures offered an “enticement to socialize” and to enjoy nature. Similarly, Frederick Law Olmstead designed invitingly to bring people into parks for their benefit. The perspectives of both visionaries have become more invaluable post-pandemic.

Though intellectual, Mr. Johnson possessed an irrepressible sense of humor, which is evident throughout the Grounds for Sculpture. “I like to have discovery in my work, generally done with humor…I like people to smile at what I made them think…” Visitors will find themselves smiling and laughing out loud at some exhibits. When interviewed for the 2014 Grounds for Sculpture retrospective of his work, Mr. Johnson, who created art well into his 80s, divulged that he sometimes napped on the bed in the exhibit of Van Gogh’s bedroom in Arles and then went back to work with tap shoes tucked away in case some excess energy took hold. “I’m living in my dream, you see.”

Seward Johnson’s 3-D version of Van Gogh’s “Bedroom at Arles” that visitors can enter

The process

Imagination meets hard work in creating a bronze sculpture, which can take up to two years to complete. The trompe-l’oeil (“optical illusion”) or the realism of Seward Johnson’s work came with great effort. A novice’s summary of the process is that from initial clay models (maquettes), Mr. Johnson created facial expressions and gestures, then chose a live model to come to the studio for apprentices to make a life-size clay and plasticine figure. Seward finalized the face and pose and selected clothing for the sculpture’s story. Apprentices converted the figure to plaster and set the clothes in resin. Before the resin set, Mr. Johnson pumped air under the fabric and into the pockets to achieve the look of folds and motion in the clothes. The sculpture then dried for two days before being separated into sections.

“On Poppied Hill” by Seward Johnson, inspired by “Woman with Parasol in a Field of Poppies” by Monet

As described in “The J. Seward Johnson, Jr. Celebrating the Familiar,” the “true foundry process” then began. Apprentices converted the plaster pieces to wax by creating a rubber mold for each. They then perfected the details of the wax (“chasing”), which they dipped into a solution to create a protective ceramic shell. The next step was to “burn out” the wax to leave only the detailed ceramic shell with a “precise image of the original,” which is “the lost-wax method of casting”.

Highly skilled apprentices then poured molten bronze at 2,000 degrees F (1093.33 C) into the molds. The team then adjoined the pieces and added bronze details from the sculptor’s vision, like glasses, jewelry, and hand-held objects such as pens or gardening trowels. The last step, which involved reheating parts of the metal using acetylene torches, was the patination or the coloring of the figure with special colors unique to Mr. Johnson’s work thanks to his collaboration with his fellow artists at the Atelier. Computer technology later created the giant, iconic sculptures from the life-size bronze ones. Faces of Seward Johnson’s bronze works became more expressive over time with evolving techniques, which remains essentially the same today, though the Atelier offers more current information about their services.

The casting process of the Atelier also makes creating sculptures more cost-effective for artists, which is another draw in addition to the skilled artistry.

“Double Check”

A work of art can take on a life of its own, which Seward Johnson experienced with “Double Check,” another “double-taking” statue this one completed for Merrill Lynch and placed in Liberty Park (now Zuccotti Park) near the former Twin Towers. The Everyman sculpture depicts a man checking the contents of his briefcase before a meeting. After 9/11, the work, surrounded by debris, took on a different meaning, which Mr. Johnson speaks about in an exhibition video, a moving segment from “The Saturday Morning Show” with Russ Mitchell and produced by Nadine Witkin, daughter of sculptor Isaac Witkin. Some rescue workers initially mistook the lifelike sculpture for a survivor.

Firefighters, police officers, rescue workers, and mourners left notes, flowers, and other tributes around the memorial site. Respectfully, Mr. Johnson changed the time on Double Check’s watch to 8:46 a.m., the time the first tower was hit. Two tributes are at Grounds for Sculpture, one in the entryway (pictured above) and another in the Cecelia Joyce and Seward Johnson Gallery, a “shrine” in bronze.

A song in his heart

Sing-a-long host at Rat’s Restaurant accompanied by Phil Orr from the Seward Johnson Center for the Arts

A renowned raconteur, Seward Johnson also entertained people with his Sing-a-longs (with a bit of tap dancing) at Rat’s Restaurant. Accompanied by Adam Weitz and Phil Orr, he would sing Broadway tunes and American songbook favorites. Regrettably, I could not go to what I thought might be the last one, but his joy lives on in delightful YouTube and Atelier Facebook posts. After Seward Johnson’s unfortunate passing at nearly 90 years old in 2020, his friend Joyce Carol Oates compared him with Walt Whitman for his “populist yet strategically calculated art” with a “remarkable declaration of expansiveness….”. After an unveiling of an installation of his on Times Square, Seward serenaded his wife and in a mic drop moment quipped, “Now I can say that I’ve sung on Broadway.” Both he and his wife Cecelia’s generosity went beyond Grounds and the Atelier. Cecelia Joyce Johnson is now president of the Cecelia Joyce and Seward Johnson Foundation, which awards annual grants to educational and arts organizations. Among these is the Forman School in Connecticut, which supports students with learning differences, and where Mr. Johnson attended and Albert Einstein was an advisor.

(The grand sculptures are marvelous and awe-inspiring, but one of my favorites is the clay model of Albert Einstein, whom Mr. Johnson knew as a mentor from his high school days.)

Jazz greats by Seward Johnson at the Seward Johnson Center for the Arts

“God Bless America,” complete with corn, by Seward Johnson, inspired by “American Gothic” (earlier visit)

“A Turn of the Century” by Seward Johnson, an homage to “Dance at Bougival” by Renoir, with a partial view of “Los Mariachis” en route to Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Township

One figure from Seward Johnson’s “Los Mariachis”

The landscape

As Seward Johnson shared in a 2002 EBTV (East Brunswick TV) interview with Amy Fisher, “I want to have the land sculpted so that each piece is a separate experience as much as possible. I want it to be a sequential experience going through the park. I think that’s terribly important and then to add theater to the experience so that when you go around, it’s ‘Wow!’ All of a sudden it hits you….” His intent was “to enhance each piece”. Mr. Johnson, both Director of Design and Founder, planned much of the original grounds himself from the “rubble” of the former fairgrounds, which included planting trees while working alongside architect and sculptor Brian Carey. (In a Grounds for Sculpture 2015 video, Facilities Director W. Bruce Daniels notes that starting up required planting more than 2,000 trees, the remarkable variety of which visitors can appreciate on a tree tour, and tens of thousands of shrubs, roses, and ornamental grasses – including bamboo – to fill the grounds that had only a few maple trees remaining.) Mr. Johnson explained that sometimes pieces had to travel around the grounds before finding a home. Repeat visitors will enjoy a different experience on each visit with the circulation of works and new sculptures. Part of the fun is that visitors think that they have seen everything, but with a return visit, they realize that they have not.

A different view of the entrance with Seward Johnson’s “A Turn of the Century” and Wayne Trapp’s “Geometry of the Cosmos” (June 2022)

As Seward Johnson remarked, he did not often create portraits, but in his EBTV interview with Ms. Fisher, he shared that when legendary screen star Audrey Hepburn asked, he could not refuse. Ms. Hepburn generously sponsored the Audrey Hepburn Children’s House, which offers services for maltreated children and is part of the Pediatrics Department at Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center.

Across the street from the house is a rose garden with the sculpture “It’s Going to Be a Beautiful Building,” with Ms. Hepburn and an architect who are discussing the plans for the center across the street. Ms. Hepburn gives a sweet wave with her pointer finger to a shy little girl, which Seward observed when meeting with the benevolent actress.

On a June visit to Grounds for Sculpture last year, I went for the roses but fell for the water lilies with a tip of the sunhat to the dedicated horticulturalists and volunteers. (The flowers, the art! The art, the flowers! The floral beauty later transitions into art with autumn leaves and then with snowy vistas.) The sculptures are beautifully incorporated into the landscape, emphasizing how nature and imagination complement each other, an interplay that Mr. Johnson appreciated on a boyhood trip to Canada and later on a wilderness trek there with friends from the U.S. Navy, both thoughtfully shared in an excellent biographical video from the Johnson Atelier and another from Lynn DeClemente Losavio, the Collection Manager of The Seward Johnson Atelier via the Pennington Library.

Water lilies with “Sailing the Seine II” by Seward Johnson in the background

From Renoir’s “Luncheon at the Boating Party,” a partial view of Seward Johnson’s “Were You Invited?” (The answer at GFS is, “Yes!”)

Partial view of sculpture by Andrzej Pitynski (2021)

Works of other sculptors

Grounds for Sculpture has featured the works of numerous sculptors: New Jersey’s George Segal, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Dana Stewart, Clifford Ward, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Red Grooms. The collection is comprehensive, and these are only a few names.

“The Bathers” by Isaac Witkin (June 2023)

Exhibitions

This exhibition, “Likeness” by the artists of The Arc Mercer in the Education Center next to “Double Check,” closes Sunday, April 28^th.

On May 5^th, “Slow Motion” opens with the work of Ana Teresa Fernández, Colette Fu, Billy Dufala, Omar Tate, and Sandy Williams IV.

Previously, “Local Voices,” hosted with an almost familial dedication, was on view to convey an idea of the breadth of the exhibitions.

On the note of local, Seward Johnson’s sculptures are throughout Hamilton Township, which also features Veterans Park, Sayen Park Botanical Garden, and Mercer County Park. Nearby in Trenton is the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Cadwalader Park.

Seward Johnson work near Hamilton Township Town Hall (2020)

Photos from the annual Azalea Festival at Sayen Gardens with the wonderful Denny Paul Quartet (added May 2024):

For more “local” viewing of Seward Johnson’s work, also enjoy an exhibition at Ocean County College through June.

Visiting

Friendly staff members welcome visitors to the Grounds for Sculpture which is open daily from 10-5 (closed Tuesdays), though kindly check the Visitor Information as these change with the seasons. Reserve tickets online and allow several hours to explore. A museum shop with lovely selections is open Wednesday-Sunday.

A sculpted welcome along the way (June 2023)

Informal dining is available in the Van Gogh Café, which also offers pre-ordered take-out totes for Picnics in the Park in season to enjoy on the grounds, and another café in the Domestic Arts Building, when available, as is fine dining at the well-reviewed Rat’s Restaurant. Rat’s, named after Ratty from “The Wind in the Willows,” Mr. Johnson’s favorite character from a favorite book by Kenneth Grahame, recalls Monet’s Garden at Giverny. The restaurant has a separate entrance, and its hours are Wednesday through Sunday. Rat’s and the beautiful sculpture park grounds are available for meetings and events.

Grounds for Sculpture offers accessible tours of all kinds, as well as wheelchair and electronic convenience vehicle rentals. Tours for schools, colleges, adults, and corporations are available, though the popular school tours are sold out through June 17^th. Reserving well in advance is best. There are concerts and other events throughout the year. The Atelier is available for tours, private events, and team building. Additionally, Grounds for Sculpture became LEED Gold Certified in 2019, and it has two electric car charging stations. Memberships and volunteering (and gardening) that support Grounds for Sculpture and the Atelier are welcome. The Arc Mercer and Audrey Hepburn Children’s House via Executive Director Amy Glazer (amy.glazer@hmhn.org) also welcomes support.

The invitation

In this travel post, the GPS turned toward Seward Johnson’s life as he and the Grounds for Sculpture connect intrinsically. A true philanthropist, Seward Johnson has made his own “Everyman” good-hearted impulses larger than life with the realization of an incredible vision. Still present in the delight of visitors, Seward Johnson invites us all to his ongoing celebration.

Seward Johnson sculpture in homage to Monet’s “Women in the Garden” (partial view)

A “road trip” postscript

Seward Johnson’s sculptures at Old Westbury Gardens, Old Westbury, NY, which were selfie sensations (2022)

Seward Johnson’s Sculptures in Spring Lake, NJ (2022)

(Sources: groundsforsculpture.org and exhibitions, sewardjohnsonatelier.org, The Sculpture of J. Seward Johnson, Jr. Celebrating the Familiar by J. Seward Johnson, Jr. with Paula Stoeke, americanprofile.com, johnsonatelier.com, sculpturemagazine.com, youtube.com (Atelier, Pennington Public Library, EBTV, Nantucket History, Coppervideo), courierpostonline.com, communitynews.org, groundsforsculpturewordpress.com, mycentraljersey.com, washingtonpost.com, causeiq.com, ibdb.com, stateoftheartsnj.com, willowwoodarboretum.org, sculpturemagazine.art, artmuseum.princeton.edu, mainstreetmurfreesboro.org, walkaboutnewyork.com, observer.com, atlasobscura.com, downtownny.com, artcitybronze.com, uvalaw, hmdg.org, britannica.com, Wiki)

Saint Nicholas Day (Mikulas)

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On December 24, 2023

In Baking, Christmas, Czech Republic, Friendship, St. Nicholas Day, Travel

“Saint Nicholas” or “Mikulas”

Saint Nicholas in the United States is known as Santa Claus, a jovial figure who travels from the North Pole on Christmas Eve to bring gifts to good girls and boys. The writer Washington Irving, remembered at his Sunnyside home in the New York Hudson Valley, introduced “Sancte Claus,” a Dutch patron saint who smoked a pipe, rode in a wagon, and slid down chimneys to deliver gifts to children in “A History of New York” (1809) and extolled Christmas merriment in England in four essays in “The Sketch Book” (1819), known today for “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle”. His essays described celebrations that were nothing like the subdued observances of the American Puritan culture of the time. After returning home, Washington Irving co-founded The Saint Nicholas Society of New York, which moved gift-giving from the European St. Nicholas Day on December 5th or 6th to the 25th to extend the celebration. Washington Irving saw “yuletide gatherings” as cheerful counterbalances to life, later “fine-tuned” by Charles Dickens.

Clement Clarke Moore/Harry Livingston, Jr.’s poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas” (1823, now marking a 200th anniversary) first described St. Nicholas as “jolly” and added reindeer and the drawings of German-American caricaturist Thomas Nast (1862), whose works are at Macculloch Hall in New Jersey, are other artists who changed the image of the more serious Sinterklass of the Dutch in New York City into Santa Claus. (“Sinterklass” became “Sinty Claus,” though our grandfather, born on Christmas Eve in 1897 and whose father was from Ireland, used to say what I thought was “Santy Claus,” perhaps the Gaelic “Sainti” for “Santa” and others may have similar stories from many cultures.)

Thomas Nast’s Santa Claus, originally shared in a political context (Wiki)

Preceding Sinterklass and Father Christmas in England, Scotland, and Ireland was the original Santa figure of Saint Nicholas of Myra, Turkey, (270-343), a real-life Christian bishop with a miter, staff, and vestments who was the patron saint of children and a bringer of gifts, often in secret, which included throwing pouches of gold coins through the windows of those in need. Saint Nicholas Day, which often begins with the bishop’s arrival on a white horse on December 5th or 6th and starts a holiday season that lasts through Three Kings Day, January 6th, in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and France.

At the holidays, many of us have hearts in two places whether with family and friends near and far, two homes, or perhaps between the past and the present. On December 5th, “Mikulas,” I always think of Prague where I had the pleasure of living for a time. I had planned on sharing this year’s recipe “thank you” for St. Nicholas Day or “Mikulas,” but all the elements in the photos came together afterward. Czechs celebrate somewhat like our Halloween with costumes which is a source of great fun and would be lovely to share at another time. What always struck me about Mikulas was that there was such tremendous spirit on one of the darkest nights of winter.

Gift-giving and the family celebration is on Christmas Eve („Štědrý večer,” or “Generous Evening”) after the traditional meal of fish soup, schnitzel or carp, potato salad, and vegetables. (Sometimes, the carp is not eaten, but kept in a bathtub like a pet for the children, which I remember fondly from my early days there.) After dinner, a bell rings to let children (and grown-ups) know that Baby Jesus (Ježíšek) has left their presents under the Christmas tree. Good conversation, Czech fairy tale movies, Christmas cookies, and often midnight mass follow even for the non-religious. Visits with friends and neighbors take place on Christmas Day and the day after. Though kolaches are not associated with Christmas, they are popular everyday pastries that Czechs and visitors alike enjoy year-round. This year’s cookie recipe “thank you” is a spin on those.

Beautiful, traditional Czech-style glass-blown ornament from Michelle Carr on Esty: Cschelles who sells these at the Prague Christmas Market as well as online.

Astronomical clock ornament and “Merry Christmas”

The Czech ornaments I had were long ago given away, much like the impossibility of keeping a good book to oneself. They were too beautiful not to share, which Czechs would understand as the work of good writers circulated with appreciation. To my Czech friends in the “big village” of Prague, I was and am thinking of you with gratitude.

České ozdoby, které jsem měl, byly dávno rozdány, podobně jako nemožnost nechat si dobrou knihu pro sebe. Byly příliš krásné na to, abychom je nesdíleli, což by Češi chápali jako dílo dobrých spisovatelů, které kolovalo s uznáním. Svým českým přátelům z pražské „velké vesnice“ jsem na vás byl a myslím na vás s vděčností.

“Bowdoin College” bear from the UK with thanks

Ornament from German Christmas market (danke)

Charming felt mice are from Juegoal and the friendly snowman is from Acme

Kolachkes from Kelly at thehungrybluebird.com: “Kolachkes are traditional Czech cookies filled with jam, cheese or nuts and dusted with powdered sugar. These kolachkes are popular in Chicago area bakeries and my family’s favorite Christmas-time treat!”

Ingredients

4 sticks unsalted butter softened
6 ounces cream cheese softened
3 cups all-purpose flour sifted
6 tablespoons whipping cream
Confectioners’ sugar for rolling and sprinkling
Jam jelly or preserves of choice
Cream cheese filling optional, recipe follows
Nut filling optional, recipe follows

Instructions

Beat butter and cream cheese in bowl of electric mixer until light. Beat in the flour and cream, alternating the flour and cream, until well mixed. The dough will be very soft. Divide into 4 portions and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 350º and have ungreased cookie sheets ready.
Sprinkle work surface and rolling pin with powdered sugar. Roll out dough portion to about ¼-inch thickness. The dough is hard to roll at first but then gets easier. If it tears a little in spots, just pinch it back together. Use a small round cutter (2-inch diameter) to cut out cookies and place on baking sheet, about 1 – 2 inches apart.
Make a small depression in the center of each with your fingertip. I used, and prefer, the bottom of a shot glass which I dipped in powdered sugar so it wouldn’t stick. Works better for me than with my fingertip. Fill cookies scantily with jam, jelly, preserves, cheese or nut filling. If you use too much filling, it will run out onto the baking sheet.
Bake until bottoms are lightly browned, about 12 – 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack and sprinkle generously with powdered sugar while still warm.

Notes: Cheese Filling: Beat together 1 (8-ounce) package softened cream cheese, 1 egg yolk, ½ cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla until well mixed and smooth. Nut Filling: Cook 1 cup coarsely ground walnuts in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, ⅓ cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla until the nuts turn golden. Let cool. Makes 7 to 8 dozen, recipe can be halved.

Preparation time: 15 minutes. Baking time: 15 minutes. Overnight chill time: 12 hours. Total Time: 12 hours \, 30 minutes. mins. Servings: 96 pastries. Calories: 57 calories each.

East meets West: Wooden ornament (via Murdough’s Christmas Shop, Stone Harbor) and Lucy the Elephant (lucytheelephant.org), Margate; mug is from GoodStuffGifts on Etsy.

Delightful reminiscing and wonderful recipes by LaVina Vanorny-Barcus (Amazon); caroler decoration from Ye Olde Yardley Florist, and tea bag gift (dekuji)

(Sources: thehungrybird.com, cooklikeczechs.com, visitcechia.com, whychristmas.com, neh.gov, smithsonianmag.com, santaswhiskers.com, Google translate, home.army.mil, traveltomorrow.com, nypost.com, ageofrevolutions.com, Wiki)

Cherry Blossom Encore: Atlantic City, Margate, and Moorestown

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On June 23, 2023

In Architecture, Cherry Blossoms, Nature, Park, Travel, US History

A Garden State-proud Facebook follower reminded me of the splendid cherry blossoms along Chapel Avenue, Kings Highway, and Haddonfield Road in Cherry Hill and Haddonfield, both in Camden County, near Philadelphia. Adding a few beautiful cherry blossom photos from this spring from O’Donnell Park, Atlantic City as an encore to “A Cherry Blossom Spring: Branch Brook Park”. Pictured with the blossoms are the Greek Temple Monument War I Memorial near the historic Flemish-style Knife & Fork Inn of that era. Neighboring Margate has begun its own Cherry Blossom Festival which means a must-see visit to the newly refurbished Miss Lucy, who celebrates her birthday July 22nd.

Greek Temple Monument WWI Memorial, one of several war memorials in “All Wars Memorial Park” as noted by the Atlantic City Free Public Library

Atlantic Cape Community College, AC campus

Flemish-style historic Knife & Fork Inn, 1912

Margate Community Church, location of the inaugural Margate Cherry Blossom Festival, with Ventnor Avenue blocked off

Moorestown, Burlington County, near Philadelphia (2022)

A Cherry Blossom Spring: Branch Brook Park

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On June 21, 2023

In Arts, Cherry Blossoms, Culture, Culture, Nature, Park, Travel

“Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.” Theodore Roethke

Wandering under sunlit cherry blossoms is the hallmark of spring’s “Cherry Blossomland” in Branch Brook Park and one of life’s great pleasures. The dance of spring in the blossoms, tremulous and dainty in the breeze, signals the end of winter as much as the arrival of the blooms. So delicate, the white blossoms look like snowflakes on branches, spring having pranked winter with miraculous perseverance. On Easter Sunday, in a harmonious convergence with Purim and Ramadan, and the festive afterglow of Holi, families, couples, photographers, and worldwide visitors strolled throughout the nearly four-mile park. All were smiling, most grinning, blissed out by the breathtaking beauty and the great gift of enjoying life fully again.

Wonderful year-round, the park’s atmosphere is especially so in the spring. The park is a blossom-lover’s dream with all types of cherry trees: single blossom, double blossom, and weeping. Though selfies are the fashion, part of the fun in cherry blossom season is trading iPhones and cameras to capture happy moments. Young auteurs giving directions while photographing their parents were charming, even holding up hands for “framing” on this and an earlier visit. One, about 5 or 6, was reluctant to return the phone to parental amateurs in a hilarious and affectionate back and forth. Stay long enough, or better yet, visit often, and experience the second flowering of Branch Brook Park: blushing brides before blooms, proud young adults in caps and gowns, adorable children dressed for First Communion, lovely girls in Quince dresses, graceful women in saris and salwar kameez, and smartly dressed families in their holiday best, all posing in blossom-laden photos as everyone passes through the park with a rhythm that mirrors the flow of the Branch Brook after which it takes its name. Those dedicated to the park like the Branch Brook Park Alliance know how a shared love of beauty can bring people together.

Branch Brook Park in spring reflects the worldwide celebration of the blooms. Japanese cherry blossom festivals honor each stage of the blossom, which is reflective of life’s rites of passage with a reverence for nature that is intertwined with both Shintoism and Bhuddism. “Sakura” means not only “cherry blossom,” but symbolizes renewal. The blossoms’ brief bloom is bittersweet, reminding admirers to appreciate the fleeting flowering beauty and nature’s imperfection. How this philosophy of “wabi-sabi” (greatly condensed), which is from Zen Buddhism, manifests itself in everyday life in Japan is that family, friends, students, and co-workers gather in the tradition of “hanami,” which means flower-viewing, or what Americans might call picnicking, to appreciate the blossoms. In Japan, school begins in April and collective childhood back-to-school memories are replete with falling petals much like many Americans associate crunching leaves with the start of school. Hanami in Branch Brook Park translates into the annual “Bloomfest” and a new Cherry Blossom Welcome Center that is scheduled to open this fall.

Olmsted and Branch Brook Park history

A map of the L-shaped park of 360 acres shows its three main sections, the North, Middle, and the South with a picturesque extension in Belleville, which makes the park nearly four miles long. Branch Brook is a tributary of the Passaic River and the park includes a reservoir, a lake, ponds, streams, and the Second River in the Belleville extension. With the liveliness of the present-day park, it seems hard to believe that it is the oldest county park in the country.

Branch Brook Park reflects a history of generosity. Civil War volunteers trained in what was Camp Frelinghuysen on the former land of the Newark Aqueduct Board. The Ballantine Family gifted 32 acres, Z.M. Keene, William A. Righter, and Messrs. Heller, collectively, 50 acres, and the Newark Common Council, 60 acres. In 1924, Harmon Washington Hendricks, an industrialist from a prominent philanthropic Jewish family which dates back to the late 1700’s, bequeathed his family home and the 23 acres along the Second River, the former site of the Hendricks Copper Mill. The adjacent Hendricks Field Golf Course, upgraded in 2018, also has cherry trees.

Regarding the park design, requested by the Newark Park Commission, Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. and Calvert Vaux, well-known for Central Park (1858), envisioned a bucolic Branch Brook Park (1867) with their trademark naturalism that includes extensive rolling hills, stately tree clusters, waterways, and inviting paths. Landscape architects John Bogart and Nathan F. Barrett designed a plan with an ornamental or “romantic” style (1895), but it was the Olmsted Brothers, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., and his half-brother, John Charles Olmsted, who created the park keeping the garden-like style of Bogart and Barrett around the reservoir.

The cherry blossoms adorn the design. Branch Brook Park boasts the largest collection of cherry blossoms in the country, though the picturesque spring wonder of Washington, DC’s Tidal Basin, a gift of cherry trees from Japan in 1912, receives an applause-worthy note as do the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. In 1927, Caroline Bamberger Fuld, who was the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Germany, brought 2,000-2,050 cherry trees of many varieties from Japan. A lovely detail of this story is that she nurtured the cherry blossom trees on her own nearby Orange, New Jersey estate to ensure their survival before having them planted in the park.

Caroline Bamberger Fuld
(Photo: Jewish Women’s Archive)

Caroline was the sister of Bamberger and Co. department store founder Louis Bamberger and the wife of Felix Fuld, another founder. After Felix passed away in January 1929, Louis sold the business to R.H. Macy & Co. a few months before the stock market crash. (Louis Bamberger gave the company’s 236 long-term employees, or “co-workers” as he called them, $1 million after the sale. Ideal bosses, he and Felix Fuld provided on-site health care, a cafeteria, a music club, a library, and classes offered through Rutgers University.) After her husband’s death, Ms. Fuld, along with Louis, carried on her husband’s generosity. Both Caroline and Louis are known today for co-founding the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, which created a place for independent thought and research and gave new lives to many Jewish mathematicians in the 1930’s who needed to leave Europe.

The original 2,000+ gift of Ms. Fuld has increased to approximately 5,200 (some sources note more) with 18 varieties with the help of the Alliance and Essex County Parks and Recreation, both of which have added more trees, preserved trees, and restored historical and architectural treasures. Various sources note that not only does the park have the most blossoming cherry trees in the country, but the greatest variety. Regarding the undertaking of planting the initial trees from Ms. Fuld, the National Park Service credits the Olmsted Brothers with returning and giving the trees a tiered-slope placement so park-goers could appreciate the blooms more completely. For those who prefer an immersive cherry blossom experience, the Belleville extension has the most densely planted blooms, which is also a wondrous experience for enjoying the light fragrance. A note here to underscore the park signs which have increasingly larger letters each year; please do not touch the trees so others may enjoy their beauty.

Architectural details

As Branch Brook Park Alliance notes, most of the “centennial” structures, those over 100 years old, are the work of the distinguished Carrere and Hastings, the most notable being the Beaux-arts Ballantine Gate, 1898. (The gates lead to the also noteworthy architecture of the Forest Hills section of Newark, where Newark Porchfest brings fun and music each fall.) There are also some Art Deco gems and the distinctive lion sculptures by Karl Bitter at the reservoir. The lions, donated by the Prudential Insurance Company from their former office building, are nicknamed “Art” and “Pat” after former Prudential CEO Art Ryan and his wife Pat, also park supporters. Prudential arranged for the planting of twenty-four cherry trees as a memorial to Kiyofumi Sakaguchi. Other elegant tributes include the Patricia A. Chambers Cherry Grove, the Althea Gibson Tennis Center and statue by Thomas Jay Warren, the Roberto Clemente Fields and statue, a Felix Mendelssohn bust, a prize won by the United Singers of Newark in 1903, and a bust of Frederick Law Olmsted, also by Thomas Jay Warren, to note a few. While setting out to write about cherry blossoms, this has turned to a reflection on generosity, which are essentially one and the same in Branch Brook Park.

Beaux-arts Ballantine Gates by Carrere, 1898, and Hastings, restored by Essex County Restoration and Open Space Fund (2020)

Art Deco Bridge, Belleville extension (2016)

One of the two 7-foot-tall limestone Prudential lions, 1901, by sculptor Karl Bitter at the reservoir with the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in the background (2018)

Althea Gibson by Thomas Jay Warren (2018)

Althea Gibson Tennis Center, which looks like a Tiffany window (2016). Louis Comfort Tiffany, a name appearing at the Newark Museum of Art, went to school and trained early on as a painter in NJ, another case for the maxim “all roads lead to New Jersey”.

Roberto Clemente statue by Roberto Clemente Field, Lake Street and Bloomfield Avenue, 2012, by Susan Wagner, a slightly smaller scale version (8 feet) of her Clemente statue at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Made possible through private donors, Verizon, and PSE&G.

Frederick Law Olmsted bust at the reservoir (2022)

Peak blooms are usually between the second and third weeks of April which means a welcome return trip for fans of the wonderful Newark St. Patrick’s Day Parade. For blossom viewing, driving is an option to see these sights and the blossoms, though there are wheelchair-friendly trails. Light rail lines and buses also travel to the park. For the definitive history of Branch Brook Park, please visit the Alliance. Other park features include the Prudential Concert Grove near the lions and reservoir, a roller skating rink and basketball courts near the cathedral basilica, baseball fields, bocce courts, which will return when the new center opens, a playground in the Belleville extension (“excellent” as rated by peals of laughter) and the Alliance’s cherry blossom live cam for anyone who cannot make the trip (yet) along with their Bloomwatch, which is also informative about the variety of cherry blossom blooms, on social media. Though the Rutgers Master Gardeners and many other organizations volunteer to help keep the park beautiful, the Alliance always welcomes more volunteers.

Pathway in Southern Division by the cathedral (2022 in this section)

Lake in Southern Division by Roller Rink

Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart

Standing majestically on the park’s horizon is the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, graceful with its French Gothic Revival style (1898-1954). Both a National and a New Jersey Historic Site, the fifth largest cathedral in the nation is approximately 45,000 square feet, about the size of Westminster Abbey in London, and draws tourists as well as parishioners for its beautiful architecture. In 1995, Pope John Paul II conferred the title of “minor basilica” upon the cathedral, the highest recognition given to a cathedral with special significance.

Viewing the cathedral and the cherry blossoms was one of our early family traditions as Vailsburg, Newark residents, which brings to mind one special person among many, our grandmother, remembered in “Arriving Home to Sweetness”. Another early memory was seeing the first spring light shining through a window while hearing the voice of Newark’s Sarah Vaughan* from the records of “The Divine One” played often by our father fan. Newarker Whitney Houston was the great vocal artist of my generation, recalled in a visit to the former Grammy Museum at the Prudential Center, which is still home to the New Jersey Devils and the Seton Hall Pirates. The Newark Museum of Art, with its incredible collection, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), which now hosts the annual Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition, and the Newark Library, which is a beautiful building and an excellent research resource, are also nearby.

New Jersey Center for the Performing Arts

“The Cuppah” by Gianni Toso, Newark Museum of Art

Beaux-art, Tiffany & Co. , 1900, Newark. Belonged to the [Thomas and Mina] Edison, West Orange.

An appreciative Martin Brodeur in “The Salute” to fans, 2015, by Jon Krawczyk outside Prudential Center (2019). The statue’s stand contains a fans’ time capsule of Brodeur memorabilia.

Partial view of the magnificent “The Mural,” 2007, by ambidextrous sports artist Tom Mosser. Commissioned by the NJ Devils, at 200’ x 30′ it is one of the largest indoor sports mural in the country. Pictured here are Martin Brodeur, Ritchie Regan, and boxers among many celebrated state athletes and icons.

Left to right: Ken Daneyko, Tony Meola, Terry Dehere, Althea Gibson

Note: News 12 New Jersey recently reported that Newark artists Rorshachbrand, Robert Ramone and Andre Leon, have created a new, beautiful mural honoring Newark and New Jersey musical artists that will inspire performers as they take the stage at the Prudential Center.

The 22-foot stainless steel “Stanley” aka “The Iron Man” by NJ Devils fan Jon Krawczyk stands in Championship Plaza behind the Pru Center. Children enjoy sitting and playing on his foot and hockey stick in what has become a popular selfie station/photo stop. The artist drove this and “The Salute” across the country from his California studio.

Newark Library (2015) which has beautiful murals

Nature’s poetry

Central Park has a plaque with the Theodore Roethke quote note above, “Deep within their roots, all flowers keep the light,” which came up when researching it. (This calls for a visit to another Olmsted gem: “Central Park: A Template of Beauty”.) The renowned poet, who inspired generations of poets, felt a deep connection with nature from the time spent with his father in the elder’s greenhouse workplace where young Theodore observed the nurturing of beauty. After experiencing family tragedies at 14, Theodore struggled, as many young people have following the pandemic, but later found his way by writing poetry. Thematic in his work is the belief that nature has a soul, perhaps being interconnected with his own. Poet Roethke’s view of nature as holding spiritual truth complements the essence of a traditional blossom festival.

A walk in the park with nature’s beauty, fresh air, and a stretch can often make cares drift away like petals on the stream. Nature is a gift, no more so than in spring, when flowers bring joy. In the absence of the poet, deferring here to blossom eloquence.

* (No YouTube ad, hopefully; if so, worth the wait for “I’ve Got the World on a String”.)

(Sources: branchbrook.org, essexcountyparks.org, rhiplaces.com,
newarkbasilica.org/history, newarkhistory.com, newarkmemories.com, smithsonian.org, planning.org, jwa.org, loebjewishportraints.com, ias.edu, my modermet.com, loc.gov, asiasocity.org, portal.cca.edu, bbg.org, gotokyo.org, japaneseobjects.com, kenyonreview.org, poetryfoundation.org, knowingnewark.npl.org, acchamber.org, acfpl.org, tapinto.net, patch.com, jerseycares.org, tclf.org, krelickconservation.com, whom.com, bridgesnyc.com, splurgefrugal.com, emaculent.wordpress.com, dana.njit.edu, margatemasmore.com, wobm.com, cherryhill.yolasite.com, wally gobetz flickr.com, nhl.com, alltrails.com, lastleafgardener.com, nps.gov, Wiki)

A Holiday Thank You

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On December 26, 2022

In Art, Baking, Christmas, Culture, History, Holidays, Museum, Travel

“Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly Merry Christmas.” Peg Bracken

Enjoy the ongoing celebration of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Three Kings Day/Little Christmas with cocoa in a cookie. Warm thanks for following and a “cheers” to happiness in 2023!

Magnolia from Winterthur Museum and poinsettias from Longwood Gardens

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup powdered sugar
Beat together the cocoa powder, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder. Beat the dry ingredients into the cocoa-oil mix. Cover and chill for 4 hours or overnight. Bake at 350°F for 10 to 13 minutes. Yields about 50 cookies.

Fun twists:

Double Chocolate: Add a cup of mini chocolate chips.
Black Forest: Add a cup of chopped dried cherries or cranberries
Mint Chocolate: Swap 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla for mint extract, and add some crushed candy canes to the powdered sugar
Orange Chocolate: Swap 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla for orange extract
Powdered sugar: Add some cinnamon for a festive fun.

(Source: simplyrecipes.com)

Beautiful trees and flowers from Longwood Gardens thru 1/8

Beautiful menorah at Morven Museum, Princeton

“A Festival of Trees” at Morven Museum thru 1/8

SAVE – A friend to homeless animals, Morven Museum

Beautiful tree at Palmer Square, Princeton

Santa visits children at Palmer Square thanks to the Princeton Fire Department

Shining stars of the Princeton Fire Department 🌟

The Princeton Fire Department spreading holiday cheer 🎄✨

Tree dedicated to servicemen and women at the annual “Yuletide at Winterthur,” Winterthur Museum, Delaware, thru 1/8

The signature, exquisite floral tree, Winterthur

Enjoy a Garden Tour with Tyler at Winterthur

For what’s in bloom, enjoy checking Winterthur’s yearly bloom guide 🌸

“Welcome Summer at State Fair Meadowlands”

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On June 25, 2021

In Culture, Family, Friendship, Lifestyle, State Fair, Travel

State Fair Meadowlands with MetLife Stadium

“Treat every day like Christmas.”

Buddy the Elf

Celebrate summer and every new day out at the State Fair Meadowlands with its welcome return. Rainbow colors, catchy pop tunes, the whirring of rides, and shrieks of delight – the fair produced by State Fair Event Management is the launch of summer fun.

Perhaps it is true to form that a fair in New Jersey is on pavement as opposed to being in a cornfield, but a magical transformation delivers both an amusement park and a Garden State country fair with face painting, a petting zoo, pig races, high dives, music (not just live music, but great bands), magic shows, and a renowned hypnotist’s act that has most out-of-staters leaving saying, “Where’s the nearest jughandle so we can turn around and do it all again?” As part of the Meadowlands dynamic, helicopter rides take the place of the traditional hot air balloon ones. The location also gives excellent accessibility, so everyone can attend.

Floating over Root Beer Floats on the Sky Ride ✨

Following so many pairs of tiny hands in big, wandering fairgoers will first encounter a cornucopia of booths with every imagined fair food favorite from cotton candy to tropical smoothies to gyros to empanadillas. (If you’re dieting, wear blinders and track shoes, or better yet, treat your loved ones.) The serene Sky Ride gives fairgoers an overview and #instagreat photos that meet classic thrill rides like the Polar Express with scares galore in the Haunted Mansion. Candy colored kiddie rides are rivaled only by the Petting Zoo. Though scaled back a bit this year, the zoo still provides enough kid to kid excitement with goats and barnyard friends to elicit happy dances from small children. The fun of rides is only part of the “feel good” atmosphere that makes this one of my favorite events in the state. Adding to the daily fair excitement are the Fourth of July fireworks on July 3^rd and 4^th.

Young Artists

Did you know that you would meet young artists at the fair? Portraiture is the new selfie, proving that everything old is new again, and fairgoers will have the pleasure of experiencing charm in person with no signal dropping. Remember making conversation? New friends will be met at the fair.

Thank you to these young artists. 🎨🌟

Travel Tidbits

To mask or not to mask? Candidly, not many wore masks on this year’s visit, but you can wear one without feeling out of place. If you are concerned, consider going early when it is easier to social distance. Everyone and everything, however, must pass through a metal detector at the entrance. Thank you to security for keeping each and every person safe. Thanks, too, to the amazing professionals calling out to come enjoy the rides and play games, whatever the weather, whatever the crowd, and to those who posed for photos taking it in faith that they were asked for those in good faith.

All smiles at the fun basketball toss at Cully’s Enterprises

Tickets for the fair, June 18^th through July 11^th, must be purchased online and a barcode downloaded for each instead of printing. A Pay One Price Fun Pass includes free admission, free shows and unlimited rides with some exceptions, and free parking. A Fast Pass, available only at the fair, entitles ticketholders to upgrade tickets and skip the lines for some rides. Children under three feet are free, a generous tradition.

As for souvenirs, the memories to take back into the workaday world are beyond compare. The fair magician conjures up children’s smiles, peals of laughter, and marvel, shared harmoniously by one and all. With this beautiful weather, what could be better than to rejoin family and friends in fun? With feet on the ground, but hearts in the air, let’s say to each other, “We’ll meet at the fair”.

(Sources: David Bernenbaum, screenwriter for “Elf”, for the opening quote and State Fair Events Management/State Fair Meadowlands)

“Earth Day Collage”

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On April 25, 2021

In Earth Day, Family, Travel, US History

“We were there…and we were square.”

As our family wended its way towards cherry blossoms and national icons in 1970, we first had to navigate the infamous Capital Beltway. My brother, a mini-me of our father with the same crew cut, intrepidly served as navigator, a daring feat for a second-grader. When we passed the city’s icons over and over again with no clear exit in sight, sometimes finding ourselves in Virginia as well as Maryland, we felt taunted by the holiday that might not be. Le panique having passed, working together, we eventually got out of the loop. Though some Americans were still reeling from the breakups of The Beatles and Diana Ross & The Supremes, Apollo 13 was safely home after a close call, so everything was possible.

After enjoying an early morning visit to the Lincoln Memorial and the cherry blossoms on the Tidal Basin, we walked up the hill on the National Mall towards the Washington Monument. Suddenly, a living tie-dye rainbow danced all around us, young people jubilantly carrying banners, chanting slogans, and looking like extras for a happier occasion than the protest in “Forrest Gump”. We had walked into the middle of one of the first Earth Day events. Impressively, the massive crowd had gathered pre-Twitter, and where they were from, who knew, but given the tee shirts, some had tumbled out of local college dorms. For a Junior Girl Scout, there were so many grooming revelations alone: face painting, uncombed hair, and braless-ness, but these were observations coming from someone who thought wild living was staying up all night at slumber parties with Flower Power sleeping bags and spinning Bobby Sherman 45s with girlfriends.

Our father, a Clint Eastwood look-a-like, walked with determination through the milling crowd. With a buzz cut amidst cascading manes, he was easy to follow, which all of us did, each politely repeating, “Excuse me” to the Gaia-revelers who did not see us. In the rosy hue of memory, when thinking of these Earth Day free spirits, I see an image of a young woman’s outstretched hand at the end of an innocent snap-the-whip as if inviting us to join.

Our grandfather, who lived with us, had opted to stay behind in the Garden State and work with the promise of a weekend visit with one of his sons. Coincidentally, our uncle lived near Freehold Raceway, but he was confident that his good looks and charm were always the draw. Our grandfather, a retired firefighter, was patriotic, but the ponies had a certain momentum that the once provincial D.C. of his youth lacked. He was, however, a charming paradox. Whenever asked for life advice, the racing fan playfully replied, “Don’t bet on the horses.” Much to our mother’s dismay, while other grandparents took their grandchildren to museums, concerts, and the theater, ours took us for schooling in applied math, though the main lesson was that he enjoyed spending time with us. *

Even on the road, our mother, a dutiful daughter, reminded my brother and me, “Don’t forget sugar for Grandpa”. This family tradition of bringing a few packets of sugar for Gramps evolved perhaps because he savored the luxuriant feeling of a restaurant while having coffee at home attired in what may now be referred to as pandemic chic. How this began may be as unanswerable as why some of us still wear make-up under facemasks.

Back home were also two sweet sisters who babysat us on occasion. The sisters’ parents had immigrated from Germany, and the young women sometimes impressed us by sharing a few sayings in German. The younger sister, who was delightful, was still in high school and immersed in homework and teen concerns. The older sister, who was in secretarial school and practiced her shorthand at night, seemed quite grown up and filled in if her younger sister was not free. Aside from being willing to play everything from Twister to Monopoly, she fascinated us with photos sent from her fiancé fighting in Vietnam to whom she wrote faithfully.

Lest sweet sisters and Earth Day revelers seem sent from central casting, like actors who do not want to be typecast, everyone wants and deserves appreciation for having depth. Our father with the buzz cut loved the arts and was a talented writer, especially gifted with descriptive writing. Earlier that April, we had had fun on his April Fool’s birthday, with our usual jokes, “You have ketchup on your tie,” phony bad grades, and plastic spiders in his food, etc.. Nothing could top the whimsy of the cosmos, however, that fated the birth of such a serious fellow on April 1^st, but this was also the man who could juggle plates like a top “America’s Got Talent” contestant, a skill acquired from his days waiting tables in his beloved Pocono Mountains.

Though now might not be the time for jokes about the Earth’s revolutions, Mother Earth or “Terra Mater,” the Roman goddess, intrigued me, as did all mythology. My father once delighted me with a beautifully illustrated book of creation myths from around the world, now safely tucked away along with family photo albums as we sail the pandemic seas, brought home from a business trip to the Philippines. What I recall of these myths or faiths, for many of us, are their extraordinary commonalities.

Every culture has its beliefs, and collectively still, we share the American Dream. For anyone who is feeling pessimistic, our grandfather would wink and say, “Don’t bet on the horses.”

*From a review of past posts, this is not a repeat in the abundant Gramps repertoire, but my editor is on holiday. ⛵️☀️

(Sources: Memory lane, NASA, Wiki)

“The National Arts Club: In Love with the Arts”

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On February 15, 2021

In Architecture, Art, Arts, Culture, Fashion, Travel

“There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” Vincent Van Gogh

The National Arts Club earns a renown for its impressive art, engaging events, and a National Historic Landmark home in Gramercy Park, but its true vibrancy comes from its members. The Club members celebrate, promote, and educate others about the “visual arts, literature, film, architecture, fashion, photography and music” in the warm way of passing along a book that is too good not to share.

The Club that helps keep the arts alive in the city began in 1898 with Charles Augustus de Kay, the art and literary critic for The New York Times. Mr. de Kay’s goal was to look to American artists for inspiration rather than European, which was traditional at the time, and to encourage public interest in the arts and education in fine arts. With the help of philanthropist Spencer Trask, Mr. de Kay and fellow founding members like Henry Frick purchased the Victorian Gothic Revival mansion of Samuel J. Tilden, 25^th governor of New York, for the Club. Governor Tilden, who ended New York City corruption, most notably that of Tammany Hall, had bequeathed his fortune for a citywide New York Public Library. His stately home at 15 Gramercy Park South in the Gramercy Park Historic District was formerly two brownstones joined by a sandstone façade designed by Calvert Vaux, co-creator of Central Park. For the mansion’s exterior, Mr. Vaux used the Aesthetic Movement style that emphasized bringing beauty into all aspects of life, making it the ideal home for the Club. In a 2008 restoration, New York City-Brazilian artist Sergio Rosetti Morosini, active in the conservation of the city’s landmarks, added a bust of Michelangelo above the Club’s entrance. The interior includes magnificent stained-glass panels by artist John LaFarge, who had a studio in Greenwich Village, and a stained-glass dome by Scottish-born artisan Donald McDonald.

“Joyce Carol Oates,” NAC Medal recipient

The building is so elegant and distinctive that filmmakers and television producers have requested it for works like “The Age of Innocence,” “The Manhattan Murder Mystery,” “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1999), “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Billions,” “Gotham,” “Jimmy Choo,” and “Boardwalk Empire”. Even more distinctive is the welcoming of women as members since the Club’s 1898 founding. Historical name dropping of former members includes artistic greats like painters Cecilia Beaux, Frederic Remington, William Merritt Chase, George Bellows, Chen Chi and sculptors Anna Hyatt Huntington, Robert Henri, Daniel Chester French, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

With such names, one might mistake the Club as being pretentious, but members are there to share a genuine love of the arts. Crossing the threshold means receiving a friendly greeting not only from other members but long-time staff. The atmosphere is lively for the sociable and serene for artists at work. Dining amidst beautiful artworks, resuming again Tuesday with safety protocols, is another opportunity to connect. Lectures and events cover topics including art, fashion, fragrances, cuisine, dance and movement, film screenings, and concerts featuring jazz, classical, and contemporary music. In the past year, the Club has celebrated its fun traditions virtually with events like this month’s Bonnet Bash hat contest, the holiday concert with the Gramercy Brass Orchestra, the Halloween Gala, and Open House New York.

Membership includes worldwide access to other clubs. Additional membership perks allow access to meeting and event rooms, overnight accommodation, and Gramercy Park, the last private park in Manhattan, all the more relaxing for restricting photography.

Important traditions recognize lifelong contributors to the arts with the National Arts Club Medal and encourage new playwrights with the Kesselring Prize for Playwrighting. Medal recipients, whose portraits adorn the walls, include Anna Sui, Joyce Carol Oates, Frederica von Stade, Patricia Field, Claire Bloom, Ellen Burstyn, Toni Morrison, Nadine Gordimer, Lin Manuel-Miranda, John Turturro, Itzhak Perlman, Ang Lee, Salman Rushdie, Spike Lee, I.M. Pei, Tom Wolfe, Frank McCourt, W.H. Auden, Saul Bellow, Tennessee Williams, Roy Lichtenstein, Philip Roth, Mark Twain, Downing Vaux, Calvert’s son, and more. The Kesselring Prize awarded in honor of Joseph Kesselring, best known for writing “Arsenic and Old Lace,” presently honors playwright Mona Mansour. Selected new artists receive support as Artist Fellows which gives them a membership for one year to enhance their careers.

The National Arts Club has carried on gracefully during this past year underscoring the importance of the uplifting to inspire and connect us. Artists, too, are visionaries, who give us pause to reflect. In a place where a love of art, life, people, and the city all flow together, this nonprofit’s extraordinary and newly renovated galleries are free and open to the public daily, 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with reservations presently for safety. Additionally, gallery spaces are available for non-members. (Note: On view as of early 2022: “Art of the Abstract Mark,” Libbie Marks’ collage paintings, the “Will Barnet Student Show,” which welcomes new young artists, “Consequences: A Parlor Game,” which showcases the work of the National Academicians of 2021, and “A Century of American Landscape Art,” some landscape “treasures” from the Club’s permanent collection of more than 600 works of art.) Enjoy exhibition updates and Club news on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, which offers a virtual tour, also available on the NAC website.

“Benny Goodman,” NAC Medal recipient, by fellow medalist and Club member Everett Raymond Kinstler

While living in the city, I had the pleasure of being an affiliate member for a time through an alumnae group, which was an incredible experience. Later, I attended the most welcoming and cordial reception and tour, which included a view of The Players club for the performing arts next door, through another alumni association. A delightful lecture from curators from The Clark Art Institute and French National Heritage for the exhibition “Women in Paris, 1850-1900” marked the occasion of another memorable stop.

“Some Little Talk of Me and Thee There Was,” 1905-1909, by Harry Willson Watrous

On my most recent visit, which fell on Valentine’s Day of last year right before the pandemic began, the Media/Marketing Communications director kindly gave two talented British travel and cuisine writers and myself a morning tour. Such fans of New York City, the couple was here to celebrate his birthday. Having seen a number of the inspirational city sights on other trips, they asked me about a unique and wonderful New York City experience for which the only answer was, “The National Arts Club.” On every visit, I am thrilled by being in the company of people who also value what I love.

Valentine’s Day 2020 was a day of kindnesses, so in keeping with the true nature of the city. Though this valentine meandered en route for a while, it still arrives heartfelt.

(Sources: NAC website and social media, onthesetofnewyork,com, saxonhenry.com (member), the artstory.org, ny.curbed.com, tripadvisor.com, goodreads.com, Wiki)

Partial view of the Club’s historic brownstone home (2017)

“The Garden of Friendship”

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On February 1, 2021

In Fashion, Friendship, Gardening

A snow-laden winter garden may appear bleak, but beneath the earth beats the slow, steady heartbeat of hibernation. The emerging January light, perhaps the finest for photography, has a newborn clarity. January, associated with the Roman god of transition and beginnings, Janus, looks both forward and backward in his depictions. He takes the wisdom drawn from the past into the future, an investment much like the good faith planting of seeds.

With all of us keen for spring and the making of new memories, it is in the quiet time of winter that the groundwork for the miraculous happens. Looking back, we appreciate the qualities that initially drew us to friends, sustaining memories even though we may enjoy the beauty of snow and crisp, clear winter days while we wait “safely apart”. (Quotations marks convey the hope that these pandemic expressions will one day fade away from our collective memory.)

Wonderful friendships may have dubious beginnings. One friend who loved gardens and helped them flourish approached me across a middle school cafeteria during study hall. Certain I was in trouble, a fait accompli for the teenage mindset, it was quite the opposite – she worked in the school and needed a volunteer. Immediately, I admired her style. She always wore a colorful scarf, fabulous earrings, and/or a vibrant lipstick – that conveyed her appreciation for beauty. As a fan of Maureen O’Hara, I loved her red hair. This graceful woman and a gangly teenager may have seemed an unlikely duo, but the chemistry of friendship was there. Our friendship evolved like one of those lovely life surprises when your friends’ children also grow up to become your friends.

No friend was more loyal. We were each other’s cheerleaders during short hems, long hems, big hair, sleek hair, and regular to gel manicures. We shared scoops on everything from sales on bakeware to arts & cultural events. She rolled with my youthful Star Trekkiness as I did with her mystifying love of cats. (Kidding, cat fans.) No one topped her for the relish and rapid-fire sharing of news-breaking gossip divulged to her circle of friends, but like a skillful tightrope walker, she balanced airily far above meanness. She and her husband, also a wonderful friend, kindly extended themselves to many friends and former students for years.

My favorite story about her is one that I cannot share, but it involved her inventive and hilariously audacious sleuthing to help a wronged friend. (Will leave this to your imagination for now to preserve everyone’s privacy.) Nora Ephron once wrote about her disappointment that while dining out with family and friends that no one had told her that she had spinach in her teeth the entire evening. Mine was the friend of the gentle nudge or signaling nod who saved me from many awkward social situations like a slip hanging out. (Checked Macy’s online, and slips appear not to have fallen prey to COVID chic.) No one could ever even insinuate, much less say a bad word about anyone she loved in her presence, which was a rare gift to all of us as loyalties now change along with trending hashtags. Lest my friend, who became our family friend, seem too serious, it was our shared laughter that I most recall along with our second birthday celebrations together, being almost birthday twins.

In the way that both falling snowflakes on the face awaken us or the first spring breeze feels on bare skin, thinking of my friend brings home the pleasure of a garden. In her retirement, she volunteered at a beautiful arboretum among many nonprofits. She most enjoyed working in the garden away from the politics of the office, displaying perennial wisdom. Showing children how to appreciate nature and pass along beloved flowers, plants, and trees through generations was a true joy. Having grown up with a special magnolia tree, lilac bush, and weeping willow trees planted by and for family members, I can understand the deep-seated satisfaction of gardeners like my friend who grow flowers, plants, and trees anew from those passed down to them by parents and grandparents. These make a new place truly home, especially now with so many having moved. As for my friend’s own flowers, as a meal shared with friends tastes better, so the flowers in her garden were more fragrant and the petals like velvet to the touch.

Our family friend was a prolific reader with virtuosity in discussing authors and their works. My wish was to delight her by being successful with writing in her lifetime, but her love was not dependent upon any behavior or success – it was for who I was, her most generous gift. Though parting a few years ago was difficult, I was grateful to be here in the Garden State again to show her my gratitude and love while she was ill, small gestures along with those dedicated ones of her loving family and friends-like-family. Devoted to her husband and family, she summoned all her strength to live until her 50th wedding anniversary, which she did with great joy. Her life-affirming appreciation of God’s gift of nature’s beauty reflected a steadfast belief that we would all meet again.

Writing about my friend has brought long-awaited snow, a gift indeed. Next month, a visit to the arts, which my friend would have enjoyed.

(Sources: extension.umaine.edu/gardening, merriam-webster.com, Wiki)

“Smithville Holiday Cheer”

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On December 31, 2020

In Christmas, Culture, Travel, US History

Charming Historic Smithville Village, just outside Atlantic City, offers an array of holiday cheer: a Christmas Light Show, a Magic Talking Tree, a children’s train ride and carousel, extensive shopping, and a variety of dining. With its mostly outdoor attractions, this idyllic spot also offers a safer way to get away and lift everyone’s spirits.

Smithville holds live events like its first performance of “A Christmas Carol” this year, which perfectly suits this warm-hearted community. The shopkeepers and staff are always friendly, admirably so at this time. The Christmas Light Show and Magic Talking Tree, generously, are open to the public. Early December features an annual Hospitality Night with events and refreshments to thank visitors for their loyalty, a courtesy which my former employers and friends in “The Christmas Customers” would have enjoyed.

Smithville kindness at the Village Sweet Shoppe

The scenic village with the bridge crossing picturesque Lake Meone forms what is known as “The Village Greene,” part of a larger residential Smithville community within Galloway Township. The village dates back to the 1700’s when it began as a stagecoach stop. The Historic Smithville Inn, which has blog updates, is a popular event destination. The inn is one of two, the other being the Colonial Inn Bed and Breakfast. The inns and some restaurants offer dining, now outdoors or with curbside takeout in addition to other food vendors for those who are spending the day or looking to go out for the evening.

Prim and Proper in the Noah Newcumb House, 1820

Delightful decor and gifts at Prim & Proper

Woof, Woof Barkery & Pet Boutique, one of the pet-oriented Smithville shops

For warm weather fans, summertime features paddleboat rides on the lake. There is no shortage of affordable entertainment year-round with events like the annual car show and Oktoberfest.

Dashing to share this before the wonderful Light Show ends on January 5th. For a current schedule of holiday events, kindly visit Historic Smithville. Warm wishes for a safe and Happy New Year!

(Sources: HistoricSmithville.com, Wiki)

Writing New Jersey Life

People and places of New Jersey…with some travels.

Category: Lifestyle Page 1 of 6

Seward Johnson’s Invitation to Grounds for Sculpture

Saint Nicholas Day (Mikulas)

Cherry Blossom Encore: Atlantic City, Margate, and Moorestown

A Cherry Blossom Spring: Branch Brook Park

A Holiday Thank You

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

“Welcome Summer at State Fair Meadowlands”

“Earth Day Collage”

“The National Arts Club: In Love with the Arts”

“The Garden of Friendship”

“Smithville Holiday Cheer”

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