Clinton Township Newsletter

2 5 O c t O b e r 2 0 1 5 H u n t e r d o n C o u n t y ' s d i v i s i o n o F p a r k s & r e C r e a t i o n i n o C t o b e r Registration for these programs is required and is first-come, first-served. For a registration form download one from our website at: www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/depts/parks/ProgramRegistrationForms.html. For more information, call the Parks Division at: 908.782.1158. • BACKPACKING: Eckville to Port Clinton. Saturday (8:00 am) October 3 to Sunday (5:00 pm) October 4. Meet at Arboretum, ages 14 through adult (children must be accompanied by an adult) $50. Limit of 9 participants on this trip. Hike and camp along Blue Mountain, PA! Learn about the Appalachian Mountains and native animals while enjoying beautiful scenery! The group meets at the Arboretum and drives into Berks County, PA in a County van. We'll pick up the trail on Hawk Mountain Road in Eckville, take a break at each of two great views, The Pinnacle and Pulpit Rock, and camp overnight at Windsor Furnace Shelter. Sunday we'll hike out to Port Clinton, stopping at another view before taking the van back to the Arboretum. Participants must be in good physical condition and ready to hike 6 to 9 miles each day with a full backpack. All participants must attend a pre-hike meeting Wed., September 30 at 7:00 pm at the Arboretum. • VAN TRIP: Terror Behind the Walls (Eastern State Penitentiary) Friday, October 16, 6:00 pm return around midnight. Arboretum, ages 13-adult (children must be accompanied by an adult), $40. Join us as we experience "Terror Behind the Walls" at the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, a massive haunted house in an 11 acre abandoned prison. This tour has consistently been ranked as one of the top haunted attractions in the nation. Tour begins in a former exercise yard surrounded by 30 foot high walls then through the long, abandoned cellblocks that once housed 80,000 inmates. You'll have a chance to visit the penitentiary's central surveillance hub with a magnificent view down all seven original cellblocks. Visit one of the historic site's exhibits or gift shops and feast on batter-dipped Oreos and funnel cake from the snack bar! We'll be parking at the zoo and taking the ghost bus. Please note: The Penitentiary isn't heated! www.easternstate.org. • Project WOW – Wonders of Wetlands. Thursday, October 22, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Echo Hill Park/Main Lodge • Ages: - Adult. Cost: $15 includes WOW Curriculum Guide, lunch. WOW! This workshop introduces and provides an instructional guide for educators with a resourceful and creative collection of wetland activities, information and ideas. Includes: over 50 hands-on multidisciplinary activities in lesson plan format, extensive background information on wetlands, ideas for student action projects and a wetlands resource guide and will introduce the three parameters of wetlands (soils vegetation and hydrology), wetland functions and values as well as management options all through fun and engaging activities. A lunch will be provided. • Columbia Trail Hike & Picnic. Saturday, October 24, 10 am to 2:30 pm. Columbia Trail, High Bridge, ages 10 through adult, $10. Let's get outside for a Fall outing on the popular Columbia Trail! Learn the history of the trail while looking for fall colors and interesting plants and animals with Park Naturalist Laura Kroon Bush. Bring your lunch and water! Seven-mile hike over flat gravel terrain. email us today at: ctnl@comcast.net When You Advertise in the Clinton Township Newsletter, You Can: Reach Over 14,000 Local Consumers Monthly • Change Your Message Monthly • Have Your Ad Designed – FREE! • Run a Small Article – Free! • Have your ad linked to your website at: ClintonTwpNewsletter.com Image: NJ Geological Survey—1928 t H e H u n t e r d o n C o u n t y C u l t u r a l a n d H e r i t a g e C o m m i s s i o n "The Annandale Haunted House" B y F r a n k C u r C i O Somehow I've become that person to whom it is addressed—to "tell us about the olden days, Pops!" Well, I recollect that back in '77, just after the Bicentennial Year festivities, several of us got together to learn more about the history of Clinton Township. We approached several folks we considered "Old Timers" to come and talk with us. Unfortunately, at the time, none of us knew how to conduct an oral history. So our guests were just asked to tell us about the "olden days"—which they did, but added nothing new. After one such gathering, as we were enjoying refreshments after the meeting, I found myself sitting with Robert, who was at least 50 years older than me at the time. Having had my fill of farm life stories and ten-cent loaf of bread stories, I asked him "What did kids do around here?" Not only did Robert grow up in Annandale, he raised his own kids and helped raise his grandkids in Annandale—he had three generations of stories. He told me about his own kids and the "Annandale Haunted House". Apparently, around Halloween each year in the late 1920's and early 1930's, Annandale kids liked to invite kids from out of town to come see the Haunted House—in the evening, around twilight, especially when there was a full moon. It always worked, scaring the bejeezus out of them! Even adults were a little intimated by the sight of the Annandale Haunted House. The famous writers of the Depression Era WPA Tour Guide of New Jersey described what it called a "ghoulish sight—a large, black, four-story, barn-like building… standing high on a hill." It was the abandoned Annandale Graphite Company's Mill. Painted black so the graphite power didn't show, windows covered with white paper, which shone eerily when there was a full moon. The Hill? Today it's off Petticoat Lane near the Transfer Station where the Clinton Town Water Tanks are. More History Next Time (December) – F r a n k C u r C i O

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