Writing New Jersey Life

People and places of New Jersey…with some travels.

Category: Family

“Washington’s Headquarters at Morristown: A Common Purpose”

The Colonial Revival-style Washington Headquarters Museum, designed by John Russell Pope and built in the 1930’s,  with snowman greeter

With the opening of the new interactive Discovery History Center this week at the Washington Headquarters Museum, we revisit what brought seemingly disparate people together in the fight for freedom in New Jersey, known as the “Crossroads of the Revolution” and the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.  Among the many stations of General Washington during the Revolutionary War, Washington’s Morristown headquarters at the Ford Mansion marks both his longest stay and a bonding among the brave during the coldest winter on record in 1779-1780.  The group, whom General Washington had gathered, had a kinship of vision in the common purpose of freedom: Alexander Hamilton, British West Indies, James McHenry, Ireland, Henry Knox, New England, Don Juan Miralles, Cuba-France and emissary from Spain, and the Marquis de Lafayette, France, helped realize a new country as did homeowner Theodosia Johnes Ford and her children.

Gilbert du Motier, better known as the Marquis de Lafayette, started fighting in the Revolutionary War at only 19 and became like a son to George Washington.  The Marquis returned the paternal affection by naming his son “Georges Washington Motier de Lafayette,” Gilbert having lost his own father in the Seven Years War when he was a boy.   Their mutually held ideals of equality are what led the Marquis to his friend upon hearing the American Revolutionaries’ quest for independence mocked by British officers in London.  Mount Vernon adds this historical note to that of Morristown National Park with the credit that though the Marquis was young, he was already a seasoned officer from a lineage of independence with a forefather who fought with Joan of Arc.

Like his mentor, the Marquis had the strength of character to decline an imperial role as a leader of his native country, preferring democracy that he supported again during the French Revolution.  With Thomas Paine, he co-authored the new French Republic’s Constitution that guaranteed equality under the law, “The Declaration of the Rights of Man”.  Though it did not include women in a reflection of the times, the Marquis was an advocate for an immediate end to slavery.  From his contributions in both France and the United States, Lafayette was known as “The Hero of Two Worlds”.  This champion of democracy had the unique experience of later returning to the United States with his son Georges to tour the grateful nation that he had helped create.  With the fanfare, a four-month tour turned into a sixteen-month one of all the 24 states that comprised the country in 1824-1825.

In that fateful Morristown winter, the admirable Theodosia Johnes Ford not only risked the safety of herself and her family by allowing General Washington and his retinue stay in her home, but she generously gave Martha and George the bedroom that she had shared with her officer-husband who had recently passed away.  Sentiment aside, Theodosia continued to care for her children and carried on her husband’s work with the family farm and iron manufacturing business.

The Georgian-style Ford Mansion, built in 1774 by Jacob Ford, Jr., husband of Theodosia Johnes

An often unknown hero of the American Revolution was the Spanish-born Don Juan de Miralles, another friend of General Washington, a resident of Cuba with French-born parents. He worked for a French diplomat, and in that role, urged Spain to support the Colonial Army. Officially an observer, Don Juan de Miralles was, in effect, an advisor to the Continental Congress and helped with negotiations with Spain. The Colonists had offered the return of some Spanish land lost in the French and Indian War in exchange for backing their new currency, which the Spanish did discreetly, as well as making loans all via a world trading company.

Don Juan personally funded many towns in their resistance to the British and through his Cuban contacts he had supplies and weapons sent to the Colonial troops. Sadly, in that harsh winter of 1779, General Washington’s friend contracted pneumonia, and despite receiving care from the general’s personal physician, he died unexpectedly in April 1780.

At General Washington’s orders, Don Juan de Miralles was the first foreigner to receive a U.S. military funeral, one remarked on for its great ceremony accorded to the highest of dignitaries, solidifying the bond between the fledgling country and Spain and the debt of gratitude owed to Don Juan.  The Colonial Army would not have survived that winter without him.  The US-Spain connection was so strong that the first US dollars produced with the dollar symbol were similar to Spanish dollars. For the first time, the prospect of victory looked possible for the Colonials.  Don Juan’s death pained General Washington who regretted that his friend would not live to see what he had helped realize.

For information on the exhibit (as of early 2022), just 32-miles via car, train, or bus from New York City, visit Washington’s Headquarters, part of Morristown National Historical Park, and the Washington Association. The program of opening events continues through tomorrow.

(Sources: Adapted from “The Moral Quandary of Heels” Copyright © 2013 All Rights Reserved Kathleen Helen Levey with additional links.)

“Cape May at Christmas”

Carriage House at Emlen Physick Estate

Heading downashore in off hours usually guarantees that at rest stops, one will avoid that quintessentially New Jersey phenomena in the most densely crowded state, the buddy park.  This is when the driver feels compelled to pull right up next to your car in an empty parking lot the size of an arena – and then bang his or her car door open directly into yours in such a familiar way that the lively, “Hey, buddy!” wave and grin as he blithely exits his car and dashes away leaves one wondering whether this is subconscious bonding or just plain obnoxiousness. Awhile back, West Orange’s Kyrie Irving either posted on Instagram or liked a hilarious photo of two cars on the NJ Turnpike trying to go through a toll booth at once. For the most part, getting along well in a relatively small space gives New Jerseyans an enviable flexibility of character.

Dazzling gazebo tree

Winter light view on the way, Cape May Light, Cape May Point State Park – with a spacious parking lot 😉

Cape May MAC welcome at Emlen Physick Estate

Counterpoint to the familiar assertiveness is the quiet kindness that you will find among those in the Garden State. The kindness may be a warm welcome such as the one visitors received on the Christmas Candle Light Tour in Cape May this December. The atmosphere in Cape May during the tour is like one big open house.  The town-proud Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts sponsors a number of holiday tours as well as lamplighter tours with its anchor in the stately Emlen Physick Estate and Carriage House, adorned beautifully for the holidays and warmed by guides and carolers.  The historic sites, inns, homes, and churches are so many that you will want to return to enjoy them all as did our grandparents over a lifetime from their honeymoon destination to summertime pleasure whenever they could make the then day-long journey from Newark.  Our grandfather, born on Christmas Eve, would have claimed that the decorations were for him, a favorite joke come birthday time.

Historic inns of Cape May on the tour included The Harrison Inn (tall, middle) with a thank you for the long-time Instagram follow.

Our Lady Star of the Sea

Joy in the details, Congress Hall

A present-day parallel delight is the Winter Wonderland at historic Congress Hall, breathtaking in its charm.  An endearing aspect of the hotel that distinguishes it from some fellow iconic ones is that visitors are also warmly welcomed.  The lobby, shops, café, spa, and restaurants are available for everyone to enjoy year-round, underscored at the holidays with the carousel, holiday train, and Winter Wonderland village of vendors. The candy cane-lined hallway, elegantly simple, was a joyful welcome for every visitor and a cell phone photo-snapping sensation.

Rejoining the tour and wrapping up the evening on a recent visit, Cape May MAC trolleys and buses were available to complement the walk. One guide was so modest in her kindness that it was not clear at first.  She had asked the driver to stop to see if any tour members were left behind at one of the homes, her errand requiring a walk of some distance in the cold.  Her thoughtfulness was a good reminder to relinquish my New York Metro area dweller’s focus on “the schedule”.  Returning to my car later, the only rival to the beauty of evening was above me.  In that clear cold of winter was the panorama of the Shore night sky with stars like diamonds cast across black velvet.  At this time of year, it is the star of hope and humility that shines the brightest.  May it light all paths joyfully as we celebrate the Lord’s birth.

Thank you to all for a wonderful visit.  For more information, please see Cape May MAC, Congress Hall, Our Lady Star of the Sea. Additional source: excerpt from The Moral Quandary of Heels © 2013 Kathleen Helen Levey.

Kindly check for more photos later as we dash away, dash away all to ready for Christmas! 🎄

“Cape May at Christmas” All Rights Reserved © 2017 Kathleen Helen Levey

A Cape May fairy tale

Winter Wonderland market at Congress Hall

A Happy Holiday Thank You


With a “thank you” to followers, posting a favorite gift for friends or hosts, the holiday festive Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint cookies of Nutley, New Jersey’s Martha Stewart.  You probably have all of the ingredients at home, handy on this rainy day.  (Still hoping for Christmas ❄️☃️! ) If you do not have wax paper to line the cookie sheets, just grease them and check on the cookies to see that they do not burn underneath.  Children will enjoy helping to roll the dough, create the “dip” in the cookie, and spoon in the jam.  Normally, cookies are not displayed in a bowl, but the ” Live well, laugh often, love much” message is irresistible.  (#ViviBeneAmaMoltoRidiSpesso 🙌) The sweet polar bear towel is a gift from a friend.

Following are the ingredients:

“Standard” US

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup raspberry jam

“Standard” UK (Imperial)

20 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon (scant) baking powder

1/2 teaspoon (scant) baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup plus two tablespoons smooth peanut butter

110 grams unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon packed light-brown sugar

1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, plus more for rolling

1 large egg

3/4 teaspoon slightly rounded pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup plus 2 dsp (dessertspoons) raspberry jam

Metric

300 ml all purpose flour

30 drops teaspoon baking powder

30 drops teaspoon baking soda

30 drops teaspoon salt

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

110 grams unsalted butter, softened

75 grams packed light-brown sugar

75 grams granulated sugar, plus more for rolling

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

110 grams cup raspberry jam

(Conversions from AllRecipes.co.uk)

Enjoy making these! Martha Stewart’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints

Text and photo All Rights Reserved ©️ 2017 Kathleen Helen Levey

“Holiday Light Spectacular at Turtle Back Zoo”

Carousel house welcome

If happiness is perspective, the soaring view from atop a father’s shoulders is a wonderful way to think of the world.  Like many fortunate children, it was a first memory from Turtle Back Zoo where it is a joy to see such memories made today at events like Holiday Light Spectacular.

View from Savanna Cafe deck on another visit

The light display is free, as is the parking, and open to the public.  From the time one turns onto Northfield Avenue and sees the dazzling lights along the South Mountain Recreation Complex entrance, it is clear that it will be quite a show.  At the actual zoo entrance, a cheerful costumed Frosty the Snowman and Turtle greet visitors as the carols regale from loudspeakers.  The first sign you will see, however, is the invitation to stop at the green tent to make a donation of canned or boxed food, unwrapped toys, or gently used coats to the Community Food Bank.

Endangered species carousel in carousel house

The zoo is immediately festive and fun with a menorah and Kwanzaa kinara ready to add to the celebration.  Some animals are on view like the barn pets, and the train and carousel also charm for free.  Pony rides are available for $2.00.  Photo stations with themes from Peanuts to polar bears to penguins to How the Grinch Stole Christmas throughout the zoo are ideal for creating holiday cards or Snap Chatting (with the Mom & Dad filter), added holiday features.  S’more stations ($4.50 for a kit) at the new Savanna Café gave a ski lodge.  This is a delightful way to start the season.

Follow the leader on the boa and s’mores fire pits

What was different this year was the crowd.  The visitors are always in good spirits, the staff, always welcoming.  When we went to the zoo as children, we fed the deer, admired the wandering peacocks, played with the turtles, rode on the children’s train (whose whistle still thrills), and ate sandwiches at the wooden picnic tables.  We thought it out-of-this-world fun.  All of those things are still there and, impressively, more like the African Adventure, Outback Aviary, Treetop Adventure Course, and Mini Golf, but Friday night’s mood of the visitors, the friendliness and quiet joy around the s’mores fire pits, reminded me of the zoo of years ago.  It was a happiness infused with gratitude.  People were taking photos, but enjoying each other’s company even more, sparked by the delight that the animals bring.

Taking care at Turtle Back Zoo

Princeton’s Mary Chapin Carpenter wrote a beautiful song “Bells Are Ringing” from Come Darkness, Come Light about the essence of Christmas, and though the happy, flickering lights and the holly-jolly are at Holiday Light Spectacular in abundance, the underlying spirit of Christmas is at the zoo more so this year.

Some visitor notes: The winter hours are 10-3:30 daily, and stroller rental ($7) is available during hours.  The zoo is wheelchair accessible.  The grounds are hilly, so bring good walking shoes.  (Lunch hour walkers have been onto this great aspect for years.)  Now it is safer to let the zookeepers feed the animals. If you want to visit the zoo before the light show, you can ice skate at Codey Arena or have a bite until the show starts at 5 at wonderful places in the area.  For more on the zoo and events, visit Turtle Back Zoo and South Mountain Recreation Complex.

Thank you to the zoo for another dazzling Holiday Light Spectacular and hope to visit again before it ends on January 1st!

All Rights Reserved © 2017 Kathleen Helen Levey

“Swans in Winter”

Swan paddle boats at South Mountain Reservation

The wonderful swan paddle boats from South Mountain Reservation move from the reservoir above to storage below in the winter. Though completely still, perspective transforms them.

At the holidays, we look both back and forward.  While preparing for this year, we think of our Uncle Ray, a comedy writer and a Laurel and Hardy fan with whom we watched the warm-hearted “March of the Wooden Soldiers” every Thanksgiving morning, a family tradition.  A little bit of silly for a rainy Sunday….  Make it a #SundayFunday with a trip to the Holiday Light Spectacular at Turtle Back Zoo, tonight from 5-9.  As for the swans, they will return to the water in the spring, but the Regatta Playground at the dock is delightful, free, and open now as is the Holiday Light Spectacular: South Mountain Recreation Complex.

“March of the Wooden Soldiers”

New Jersey’s Jack Nicholson

Ingmar Bergman

“Sleeping Beauty”

South Mountain Reservation

“Swans in Winter” © 2017 Kathleen Helen Levey All rights reserved.

“Edison” from “The Moral Quandary of Heels”

…[Jay Reilly] dared to go bending round his accustomed comfort zone when he was a business exchange student at OP Jindal University.  The stalwart wiffle ball player…found himself at the literature festival in the heart of the Pink City of Jaipur one weekend afternoon. Ducking into a matinee, he met “my Aishyrwara” from the Goa seaside and visual poetry became a permanent part of his life.

Keya and Rory grew up in the glow of possibilities under the gleaming “Eternal Light” atop the Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower, a beacon [commemorating] invention in the Menlo Park neighborhood of Edison, the site of Thomas Edison’s first research center where the light bulb was perfected for everyday use. Nearby they played soccer and went ice skating in the winter with Tata on the sloping green of Roosevelt Park and fished there at the lake in the spring with Pop Reilly. When Pop shared his increasingly incredible fishing tales, Tata joined the siblings in their refrain, “Oh, really, O’Reilly?”.  Sometimes, the two grandfathers took them on outings together to argue politics and smoke cigars when no one was looking, a vice on which they wholeheartedly agreed.

In the secret, fun ways that siblings have while growing up, Keya and Rory formed their bond by stealing away quietly to shred the curves at Edison Skate Park. When school was out, the sister and brother loved summering at Island Beach State Park with its powdery dunes like mirroring Earthly clouds. They had acquired the penchant of Jersey Shore locals for collecting tee shirts from every fundraising walk, marathon, and shore event in which they participated. The both egalitarian and orderly duo characteristically enjoyed alphabetizing their growing collection, sharing their bounty and adventures via social media.  Like Sundance Film Festival vendors who handed out swag to social media stars for instant free advertising, Shore promoters realized the value of the brother and sister’s nearly 300,000 followers. They began to shower the two with tees, but the siblings would vouch for only those events that they had experienced themselves, evidenced by enthusiastic selfies or more often photos of other participants. They [posted] about festival highlights culminating in an annual prose poem on September 30th, the birthday of Union City and Princeton University boy, W.S. Merwin, former Poet Laureate and their spiritual twin in his love of poetry and ecology:

“Festivals” or #Downashore #Seeyoulateralligator

Swinging synergy, the Asbury Park & Red Bank jazz and country fests,
the Barnegat Bay Festival via Belmar’s Seafood Festival,
the Bradley Beach Lobster Fest and Brigantine Sand Castles,
car shows, classic and non, in Atlantic Highlands, Beach Haven, Cape May, Ocean City, Ocean Grove, Seaside Heights, Tuckerton, and Wildwood, all,
to follow summer…
Then taking in Fair Haven Day,
Keyport Jazz & Blues and Keansburg Gratitude,
the Lakewood Blue Claws annual tee shirt giveaway :),
Lavalette’s Christmas in July,
Long Branch’s 4th of July Oceanfest,
the Manasquan Classic Longboard Surfing Contest, and
Margate City’s Beachstock, celebrated.
The iconic Miss America and Miss New Jersey pageants,
North Wildwood blues and the NJ Devils Point Pleasant Beach Bash bands
and the harmony of Ocean’s Township’s Italian Festival
all synced with the rhythm of Ocean County Bluegrass and Sea Bright’s Dunesday.
Sea Isle City’s Irish Festival Weekend graced by the Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh,
bringing smiles, while the Shadow of the City concert in Seaside Heights
rocks on to the Spring Lake South End Surf Contest and 5K,
and the Wildwood Crest Sand Sculpting Festival.
Finally, the fall ProPlayer Football Camp and Charity Game in Toms River,
All forming the seasonal bouquet.

The college-bound siblings, serious sentinels who appreciated both the power and the beauty of the sea, guarded their fellow ocean lovers faithfully as substitute lifeguards in their most-prized tees with red crosses while working their way down the coast that year in a commemoration of the season. Serene blue skies enlivened with aerial banners like Come n’ play with DJ Ray Thursday Nite” met summer’s lingering twilight along the coast.  The twins’ sometime inland ventures included seeing the Quixotic balloonists at their fancied New Jersey Cappadocia, the Festival of Balloons at Solberg Airport in Hunterdon County.  The sunset “balloon glow” like a horizon of celestial fireflies was an inspiring scene in the tradition of aviator Thor Solberg’s first solo flight to Norway after he practiced blindfolded to prepare for traversing the heavens.

Off duty, Keya and Rory crossed wide beaches and swam until in their dreams at night they still felt the lulling sensation of the waves, their bedroom windows cast wide open for there was never enough of the ocean air for the two. Theirs was a true love of the sea.

The Moral Quandary of Heels
All Rights Reserved © 2013 Kathleen Helen Levey. “Edison” posted on “Writing New Jersey Life,” September 25, 2017

“Remembrance Meets Welcome: Captain Carranza Ceremony and Mount Holly”

The American Legion Mount Holly Post 11’s beautiful 89th ceremony honoring Captain Emilio Carranza took place last Saturday in Wharton State Forest.  Members of  Captain Carranza’s family, dignitaries from the Mexican Embassy in Washington, DC, the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico, members of the Medford American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Civil Air Color Guard, local Scout troops, and rescue squad members joined in the remembrance of the Mexican aviator-hero.  Elegant sashes adorned the floral wreaths with respects from the Carranza family, the ballet, other American Legion Posts, Sons of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Civil Air Patrol, and families, businesses, communities, and friends from Burlington County, the state, and beyond. Thanks to the dedication of Post 11 and long-term participants, it was wonderful to see more attendees this year.

Carranza Park with the monument to the captain and floral adornments has changed significantly since the American Legionnaires of Mount Holly Post 11 answered the call for aid in 1928. “In this desolate spot,” reads the Legion’s press release, ”was born the Post’s program of international amity.” (The New York Times, 2002)  The occasion for the search was somber, but the Pinelands today has a distinct beauty that one appreciates more with each visit. Next year will be the 90th anniversary of Captain Carranza’s death and donations that directly support the ceremony and the preservation of the captain’s monument are most welcome.  If you wish to support this commemoration, kindly send a check to: Mount Holly Post 11, PO Box 711, Mount Holly NJ 08060.

Members of the Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Nueva York

Attendees were cordially invited to see the Ballet Folklorico of New York perform afterwards at a luncheon at where fundraising films, books, and materials commemorating the captain were available. (For commemorative items and more information about Captain Emilio Carranza, visit: www.post11.org.)  The dancers delighted everyone by bringing audience members up to join them.  The New York-based group announced that they will be performing dances from the annual Guelaguetza in Oaxaca on Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn, all day on July 30th to support the park. For more information about this event, visit the Facebook page of the Ballet Forklorico Mexicano de Nueva York facebook.com/BFMNY/.

La Legión Americana La 89 ceremonia hermosa del poste 11 del soporte Holly que honra al capitán Emilio Carranza ocurrió el sábado pasado en el bosque del estado de Wharton. Miembros de la familia del capitán Carranza, dignatarios de la Embajada de México en Washington, DC, el Ballet Folklórico de México, miembros de la Legión Americana Medford y Veteranos de Guerras Extranjeras, tropas Scouts locales y miembros del escuadrón de rescate se unieron al recuerdo del aviador mexicano -héroe. El próximo año será el 90 aniversario de la muerte del capitán Carranza y las donaciones que apoyan directamente la ceremonia y la preservación del monumento del capitán son bienvenidas. Si desea apoyar esta conmemoración, envíe un cheque a: Mount Holly Post 11, PO Box 711, Mount Holly NJ 08060.

Los asistentes fueron cordialmente invitados a ver el Ballet Folklorico de Nueva York realizar después en un almuerzo en donde las películas de recaudación de fondos, libros y materiales que conmemoraban al capitán estaban disponibles. (Para artículos conmemorativos y más información sobre el capitán Emilio Carranza en espanol, visite: www.post11.org.) Los bailarines deleitaron a todos reuniendo a los miembros de la audiencia para unirse a ellos. El grupo con sede en Nueva York anunció que presentará danzas de la Guelaguetza anual en Oaxaca en Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn, todo el día el 30 de julio para apoyar el parque. Para más información sobre este evento, visite la página de Facebook del Ballet Forklorico Mexicano de Nueva York facebook.com/BFMNY/.  (Google translator.)

Mount Holly
As a means of a thank you, had the pleasure of returning to picturesque Mount Holly for a brief visit where visitors receive friendly hellos while walking around the town named for its holly trees.  Town proud, new sidewalks, murals, and development are happening everywhere, and house proud, many people were out tending to their charming historic homes on the sunny afternoon in the seat of Burlington County, which our family first knew as the hometown of Franco Harris when we cheered for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Mount Holly, site of the Battle of Iron Works Hill, two days before the Battle of Trenton, has points of interest ranging from historic Revolutionary War sites to the state-of-the-art campus of Rowan College at Burlington County. RCBC includes a culinary arts program, a student-run restaurant, and an art gallery right in the center of town. On this late Saturday afternoon, shoppers from both New Jersey and Philadelphia, the latter just a 40 minute drive, were finishing up in the Mill Race Village shops in the historic downtown district, which includes architectural styles from the early 1700’s through the late 1800’s. Shoppers were stepping out to go to the popular pizzeria on High Street and all the restaurants throughout the downtown.
If you will be attending the nearby Burlington County Farm Fair, July 18th-22nd, in Columbus, New Jersey, consider stopping by for a warm Mount Holly “hello”.
   

Mount Holly, New Jersey

Posted on “Writing New Jersey Life” July 13, 2017 All Rights Reserved © 2017 Kathleen Helen Levey

 

 

Space Shuttle Cake

Space Shuttle Cake, impromptu version

If this rainy start to the holiday weekend has changed your plans, have some fun making this Space Shuttle Cake together.  The recipe is via Party Pieces, the party company of the family of Catherine, Princess of Wales.*  A hit on Instagram @kathleenhelenlevey last summer, in the US pound cake can serve as a substitute for Madeira cake.  You did not read it here, but if you only have an hour to prepare this vs. the several you had planned, rumor has it that defrosted pound cake held together by canned icing, decorated with Skittles, licorice, and some tinfoil improvisation will make children celebrating the Fourth of July just as happy :).

Ingredients:

-1 x 4 egg quantity Madeira cake
-1 x 450g quantity of Buttercream icing
-4 or 5 shop-bought mini sponge rolls
-Red and blue Smarties, silver balls and liquorice to decorate
-orange or yellow sugar paste
-6 ice cream cones

Method:

  1. Cook the Madeira cake mixture in a greased 1.2 litre ovenproof bowl for 50-55 minutes. Turn out and let cool. Trim the crust from the cake and slice the top flat. This will create the base of the spaceship.

To assemble:

  1. Using buttercream, stick together the sponge rolls. This will form the middle part of the ship. Place them on top of the base, then stick an upturned ice-cream cone on top of them to form the nose cone. Cover the whole cake with the remaining buttercream icing.
    3. Place the cake on a round cake board and stick five ice-cream cones around the base to form the space shuttle “legs”. Decorate the spaceship using blue and red Smarties, silver balls and liquorice wheels for portholes.
    4. Roll out the orange sugar paste and cut into little triangles. Stick these around the base of the rocket and up around the sides to create a flame effect.

Sources: PartyPieces.co.uk blog (“The Party Times”) by Pippa Middleton Matthews and  Children’s Parties by Ryland and Small.

*The Middletons sold Party Pieces in 2023.  We thank them for the fun and wish them the best of luck!

Posted July 1, 2017 on “Writing New Jersey Life” Additional text: All Rights Reserved © 2017 Kathleen Helen Levey

“Ray Seery, Comedy Writer”

Ray Seery at work in Randolph, New Jersey

“I believe that one of the things the world needs now is a good laugh.”

Jokes were to our uncle what fireworks are to Fourth of July, a way to celebrate life and spread joy.  Long-term Morris County residents may recognize the name Ray Seery, a Randolph resident and “gag writer” interviewed in the 1970’s and 1980’s in The Randolph Reporter and New Jersey Monthly.  Highlights for him also included interviews with The Star-Ledger and Parade magazine.

His Newark childhood in the 1930’s was an overall happy one, though in any retelling by his nieces and nephew, it may have begun like a set up to one of the jokes he would later write: “Our mother had two brothers. One was Sonny Boy, as his father’s love shone upon him.  The other was Ray.  He became a comedian.”

Smart and attention-seeking, he was a classic class cut-up and made the rounds of most of the Newark public schools in the 1940’s.  Having finally landed at Seton Hall Prep, his patient parents were called in one day to speak about the jokester.  Told to wait outside the archbishop’s office with his partner-in-crime, Ray and his friend spotted the clergyman’s shiny Studebaker, parked in front of the school. This proved too tempting for the boys to resist, a big mistake on steep South Orange Avenue when they did not know how to work a clutch.  They promptly crashed the car at the bottom of the street.  Miraculously, it was still intact.

On another school-aged adventure in the days when Hollywood stars appeared on Newark stages, Ray, 13, waited outside his first stage door for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy who were performing in vaudeville, a family story he shared in an early interview with The Star-Ledger. He had opportunity to speak with the talented Mr. Laurel, who was kind and took the time to talk with Ray and encourage him with his interest in comedy.  Stan Laurel corresponded personally with fans, and they wrote to each other until Mr. Laurel’s death in 1965.

Uncle Ray’s Navy hi-jinks were numerous, more material for the comedian-in-training and a story for another day, but it was in his return home to the US that he found direction for his talent – comedy.  He funded initial work as a comedian with a day job as a bank teller.  When he read in the papers that Bob Hope and Babe Ruth, two of his idols, would be playing golf at Forest Hill Field Club in Bloomfield, he could not resist a young man’s impulse to play hooky.  Charming, Ray worked his way through the crowd, managed to meet both men and formed a lifelong professional connection with Mr. Hope. The next day, a front page photo of Bob Hope and Babe Ruth featured Uncle Ray behind the rope line. This delighted Ray, but not his boss, which led to Ray’s cabbie career in New York City, a great way for the young comedian to try his material out with test audiences on wheels.

For the ultimate appraisal of his material, Ray would take fares from Broadway, sometimes coming upon the stars themselves whether they were seeing other shows or appearing in them.  Navigating the cab to the curb on a rainy night, before looking at his fare, Uncle Ray heard a man say, “The Waldorf Hotel.”  Without turning around, avid movie fan Ray said, “Claude Rains.”

Pleased, Mr. Rains, the brilliant Warner Brothers character actor probably best known today for his role as French Captain Louis Renault in “Casablanca,” replied, “Thank you.”

Young Raymond from his New York City taxi’s driver’s license

On forays when he ventured outside the cab and into the theater, Ray sought out his look-a-like, as Orson Welles was in his younger days, when he was on Broadway. The two hit it off creatively and maintained a lifelong friendship, exchanging ideas and jokes whenever they saw each other at events or corresponded. Regardless of how the press described the young genius, who married his first wife in New Jersey, Orson was always warm and gracious.

Orson Welles, just 23, Howard Koch, and John Houseman of the Mercury Theater created panic on October 30, 1938 when they broadcast a dramatization of H. G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” with a news-like format much like the 1937 Hindenburg real-life newscast asserting that a Martian invasion had begun in Grovers Mill, New Jersey about 30 miles from Lakehurst.  (Sources: The Asbury Park Press, SmithsonianMagazine.com) Upon hearing that his in-laws were among those who had fled their homes, our grandfather quipped, “That’s what they get for not listening to Charlie McCarthy.”

Serene Grovers Mill, now part of West Windsor

Monument for “War of the Worlds in Van Nest Park,” where historical markers, an Eagle Scout project, take visitors along a timeline of the broadcast. A nearby water tower was thought to be a Martian spaceship. Of an approximate 6 million listeners, it is estimated that in a jittery pre-WWII US, an estimated one million thought that there was an invasion.

As soon as he started working, Ray, the big brother, brought along his younger siblings to share his adventures from trips to Atlantic City’s Steel Pier to Coney Island to movie premieres.  At a presidential debate shortly before the 1948 election, Uncle Ray brought our mother to snap photos while he greeted the candidates.  As President Truman stepped off the elevator and our teen-aged mother tried to take a photo, Ray, a Democrat, called over, “Forget him, he’s going to lose!”  The snaps of Governor Dewey were wonderful, though.

Comedy was difficult to break into, and kindhearted Ray soon saw that he was better suited to writing material than jousting with hecklers. Bob Hope bought some of his material, giving him his first paycheck as a comedy writer, which he had enlarged and framed. Once one comedian’s name was on the resume, doors opened with others: Phyllis Diller, Billy Rose, Rodney Dangerfield, and occasionally, people as varied as Daily News columnist Liz Smith and Bishop Fulton Sheen.  For Bishop Sheen, Uncle Ray coined the phrase “Uncle Fultie” like “Uncle Miltie” for Milton Berle, both on television at the time, stories which he enjoyed sharing in interviews. Demand for jokes ran hot and cold, however, and aside from these noted professionals, paychecks from others sometimes got lost in the mail, so Ray was wise to have a full-time job.

Whenever Bob Hope came to the Garden State, Uncle Ray would meet him and have the backstage thrill of listening to the veteran comedian deliver his jokes to great laughter at places like the Garden State Arts Center.  Even at White House events during two respectively different administrations, Ray and our aunt had the same pleasure.  Committed to the USO and humanitarian causes, Bob Hope often hosted fundraising events in New Jersey and New York City.  On one celebrated occasion, Uncle Ray and our mother met Grace Kelly.  Princess Grace, who grew up in Philadelphia and spent summers in Ocean City, New Jersey, was as warm and beautiful in person as they had anticipated.

Steve Allen, comedian, author, musician, composer, and first host of “The Tonight Show,” encouraged Uncle Ray when he was starting out. Mr. Allen not only paid Uncle Ray for his material, but credited him publicly and treated him like a friend. Public taste in comedy changed over the years, but Steve Allen kept his material clever, clean, and not mean, which sounds like an Uncle Ray quip. This is one of the many reasons why they got along so well for decades.  One of Uncle Ray’s favorite stories about Mr. Allen was how, after getting Mr. Allen to read his jokes by placing them under his car windshield, Ray enlisted the aid of a cousin to fly a banner over the Queen Elizabeth ocean liner on which Steve and his lovely wife Jayne Meadows, equally kind, were departing.  Unbeknownst to Ray, Steve had wanted a low-key departure without press.  The banner read: “Bon Voyage Steverino! Ray Seery”.  The actual punchline was that Ray’s father (with the same name) and brother were fishing off Sandy Hook and, knowing Ray, nonchalantly took in the sight of the banner as Ray carried on a Jersey Shore summer tradition.

An all-round creative person, Uncle Ray was a talented cartoonist and artist.  The Bob Hope, Dean Martin, Newark-born Jerry Lewis, Cary Grant, and Babe Ruth paintings throughout @kathleenhelen15 on Instagram are by him.  He is the “uncle” of #uncleart, which when spoken, sounds much more aptly like, “Uncle Heart”.

Bob Hope and Princess Grace of Monaco

“Ray Seery, Comedy Writer”: Adapted from “The Music Box” from Proverbs All Rights Reserved © 2013 Kathleen Helen Levey and Instagram @kathleenhelen15 Published June 26, 2017 “Writing New Jersey Life” All Rights Reserved © 2017

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