Clinton Township Newsletter

3 a u g u s t 2 0 2 6 A while back, I wrote a recurring column called "Wouldn't It Be Cool If..." and was pleasantly surprised by how many people enjoyed it. Since I've got summer on the brain and, truthfully, I'm drawing a blank on what to write this month, I thought I'd revisit that theme. So here goes... Wouldn't it be cool if we could travel invisibly back in time and see Hunterdon County as it looked when the Lenape people called it home, and then again during the days of the American Revolution? I've found rocks on our property that appear to have been cut by human hands and were probably once part of an early settler's house or outbuilding. We are incredibly fortunate to live in a county filled with historic homes, many dating to the 18th and 19th centuries. We need to preserve them whenever we can, so future generations aren't left wondering whether that lonely old stone was once part of someone's home. (And while we're making wishes... could someone please restore, or even faithfully rebuild, that beautiful Dutch Colonial on Grayrock Road?) Wouldn't it be cool if we had a small theater in downtown Clinton—and another in Flemington? For Clinton, I nominate rebuilding the old Clinton Music Hall building at 23 West Main Street. For Flemington, I'd choose restoring the Guitar Boy building. The mural can stay... or go. Discuss. Wouldn't it be cool if we could spend just one week living as we did before home computers, smartphones, the internet, and artificial intelligence? How would you manage? Better yet, wouldn't it be cool if everyone put away their screens for a week, or even a month, and actually talked to one another face to face? Or wrote letters. Remember letters? Wouldn't it be cool if we could somehow see our own era the way future generations will see it: as history? What will they admire about the way we lived? What will they criticize? And what parts of life today will make them nostalgic fifty or a hundred years from now? If your grandparents are no longer with you, wouldn't it be cool to have one more conversation with them? When mine were alive, I was mostly wrapped up in my teenage world. I didn't ask the questions I wish I'd asked. Today, I'd give almost anything to sit down with them for an afternoon. I am grateful, though, that one day my grandfather gave me a personal tour of his childhood in Pensacola, Florida. He showed me the house where he was born, the site of the home where he and his six siblings grew up, his grammar school, the places where he played, and so much more. I'm also thankful that both he and my grandmother wrote short autobiographies. Even so, there are countless stories I'll never know. It makes me wonder: What stories would you want your great-grandchildren to know about your life today? I'll leave you with one last thought. Summer has a way of slipping through our fingers. Before long, the backpacks will come out, the calendars will fill up, and autumn will quietly take its place. So while there's still time, slow down a little. Put the phone away for an afternoon. Visit someone. Write a note. Read a book on the porch. Take a walk without earbuds. Let your mind wander. Daydream a little. After all... wouldn't it be cool if we all did? -Julie Flynn DAYS TO KEEP IN MIND Sat August 1 World Lung Cancer Day Sun August 2 American Family Day Fri August 7 Purple Heart Day Sun August 9 National Book Lovers Day (!) Wed August 12 Middle Child Day August 14, 1945: Victory Day (commemorates the end of World War II with the surrender of Japan during the war.) Sat August 15 Assumption of Mary Sat August 15 National Relaxation Day Fri August 21 Senior Citizens Day Wed August 26 Women's Equality Day (in the United States it's a day to commemorate the 19th amendment of the Constitution which, in 1920, gave women the right to vote.) Mon August 31 International Overdose Awareness Day

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