for more information www.yellowgarageantiques.com 856-478-0300
The Fiar will Benefit the Harrison Twp. Historical Society
The 33rd Annual WHITESBOG Blueberry Festival will be held June 25th and 26th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. From their flyer, "A Great Old-fashioned country Fair with artists, crafters, Musicians, wagon tours, blueberry picking, kids crafts, blueberry baked goods, ice cream, food vendors, historic house ours, local community groups and fun for all!"
for more information (609) 893-4646 or www.whitesbog.org
After readipng SoJourn, I was reminded of my old favorite magazine South Jersey Magazine published 4 times a year during its life, by Shirley R. Bailey from Millville, NJ.
I LOVED that Magazine and I want to share with you one incident in my relationship with that magazine. Out hiking one sunny day with a geocaching friend, we drove part way down a flooded sandy road, parked and waded through shallow pools of water that covered the rest of the road to the beach on the bay. Once we were on the beach, we hiked along and found large concrete building pads, partly sticking out of the sand near one, I found an old milk bottle, which I still have. It was the kind with the fat lip that had the push in cardboard lid with a tab. When I was little, I would raid our ice-box on the back porch where the milkman left the milk. I would peel the cardboard lid and lick the cream, like a cat, and then put the lid down.
Anyhow, some weeks later, rummaging around in my old favorite bookstore, Murphy's Loft in Mullica Hill, I ran across a copy of the South Jersey Magazine that had harrowing accounts of the flood of 1950 at Thompson's Beach and Moore's Beach, resort communities on the Bay. A ten foot tidal flood had washed houses right off their concrete pads and floated them away. Many people, caught asleep and unawares of the quiet rising of the water, had to be rescued. Some clung to the debris floating from their rooftops until they washed up somewhere or were saved by searchers. Some drowned.
I haven't gone back to Moore's Beach or Thompson's Beach since then, but the memory of that ghostly place and what it signifies is with me still, how even so benign a place as the New Jersey Bay can become a death trap. And how you must always pay attention to the weather and heed the warnings. For more on the stories of that dreadful night, check out this geochacher site:
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5HWF1_tbt-thompsons-beach-trek?guid=65ce4028-4c73-40a7-baab-08d93656f6d8
But what I especially wanted to mention here today was a salute to the historians of the past, the ones who collected the stories and kept them alive for us to enjlighten us about the drama behind the ruins and artifcacts we come upon in our hikes around our own backyard, South Jersey. Thank you Shirley Bailey!
Here is her obituary:
Shirley R. (Robbins) Bailey
Obituary
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Shirley R. (Robbins) Bailey, age 83, of Millville, died suddenly Sunday morning, Feb. 20, 2011, at her residence after a brief illness.
Born in Absecon, she grew up in Dividing Creek, Bridgeton and was a graduate of Bridgeton High School, class of 1945.
She was the publisher the "South Jersey Magazine" as well as other books relating to Sough Jersey History. Previously she had worked for Airwork Corporation, Millville as the computer department head. She retired in 2003. She will always be known as an authority on local history.
She is survived by her husband Richard N. Bailey; her daughter Destra L. Bailey; and son-in-law Glenn Clark of Millville; her grandson Aaron Clark; and several nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by her brothers Joseph and Donald Robbins, and her parents, Frank and Mina (Conover) Robbins.
Funeral services was conducted on Friday, Feb. 25, 2011 at 11 a.m. in the CHRISTY FUNERAL HOME, 11 W. Broad Street, Millville.
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