Halloween extended…with Morristown graveyard tour, Nov. 5

Have you ever seen that PBS show, Secrets of the Dead?

Well, Morristown’s departed have a few secrets, too, and you can uncover them this Saturday, Nov. 5, at 4 pm.

Bones, Stones and the Undertaker is the season’s final walking tour by the Morris County Tourism Bureau. Last weekend’s snowstorm postponed it, but local historians Carol Barkin and David Breslauer are raring to go.

They will explore the graveyard at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Miller Road, where Alfred Vail, inventor of the telegraph, and George and Louisa Macculloch are buried. George Macculloch, founder of Macculloch Hall, created the Morris Canal linking the Delaware and Hudson Rivers across New Jersey.

The tour guides also will discuss 19th century funerals and the role of undertakers.

The tour costs $10. Call (973) 631-5151 for reservations.

And don’t forget the rescheduled Pumpkin Illumination, tonight, Nov. 1, at 6 pm outside the Vail Mansion.

READ MORE ABOUT THE OCTOBER SNOWSTORM

Happy faces from the Morristown Festival on the Green

The Morris County Tourism Bureau has plenty of great attractions to crow about, and people came in droves to see for themselves at Sunday’s Morristown Festival on the Green.

The Tourism tent at Schuyler Place housed 18 historical and artistic organizations, and a performance stage.  If the smiles in these photos are any indication, everyone liked what they saw.

 READ MORE ABOUT THE FESTIVAL ON THE GREEN

Please click icon below for captions.

Morris tourism ‘Be Our Guest’ program nets 700 pounds of food for food pantry

Visitors to nine Morristown-area tourist sites donated more than 700 pounds of food at last month’s “Be Our Guest” open house, reports the Morris County Alliance for Tourism.

The donations were delivered on June 1 to the Interfaith Food Pantry. Another $249 was collected for the United Way’s Front Line Fund, benefiting Morris County military families.

On May 15, these sites opened their doors for free to the public:

Acorn Hall, Fosterfields Living Historical Farm, Historic Speedwell, Macculloch Hall Historical Museum and Gardens, the Morris Museum, and Morristown National Historical Park/Washington’s Headquarters, all in Morristown; the Community Children’s Museum, Dover; the Museum of Early Trades & Crafts, Madison; and The Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, Morris Plains.

The food donations were in lieu of admission fees, valued at $10,500 for the day.

Morris Tourism pep rally: An iPhone app and a 17th century fight song

Pom-poms were fluttering Thursday inside the Washington’s Headquarters Museum at a pep rally that blended old and new.

Old: Giuditta, a 1693 oratorio by Alessandro Scarlatti, performed by a trio from the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey.

New: An iPhone app for a walking tour of Morristown, from Tour Buddy on iTunes.

Both were trotted out by the Morris County Tourism Bureau to celebrate National Tourism Week, and all that Morris County has to offer.

Please click icon below for captions.

Tourism is a $35.5 billion industry in New Jersey, “and I think Morris County is leading the way,” said Phyllis Oppenheimer, a representative of the state Division of Travel and Tourism.

Visitors spent nearly $1 billion in the county last year, up 3.4 percent from the prior year, she said.

Leslie Bensley, executive director of the county tourism bureau, asserted that it was fitting to announce the iPhone app at this event, since smart phones can trace their roots to the birth of the telegraph at Historic Speedwell in Morristown.

“This is the wave of the future,” she said. The app is available for free from iTunes, and a web-based version of the walking tour is at the tourism bureau website.

A mobile version of the tourism site also is coming soon, Leslie said.

Nine historic sites across the county are offering free admission on Sunday, rechristened Be Our Guest Day. They were represented at the rally. The list includes: Acorn Hall of Morristown, the Community Children’s Museum of Dover, Fosterfields Living Historical Farm of Morris Township, Historic Speedwell,  Macculloch Hall Historical Museum in Morristown, the Morris Museum in Morris Township, Morristown National Historical Park/Washington’s Headquarters, the Museum of Early Trades & Crafts of Madison, and the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms in Morris Plains.

“Today is an opportunity to showcase the diversity of what Morris County has to offer,” said Dave Helmer, executive director of the Morris County Parks Commission. “It’s an opportunity to brand Morris County as a viable destination for a day visit, a weekend respite or, dare we say it, a family vacation.”

He touted free concerts at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum– the Art-boretum, he dubbed it–scheduled for June, July and September.

Phyllis Oppenheimer rattled off some interesting factoids about tourism in New Jersey. Without tourism, she said, residents would have to pony up another $1,367 a year in taxes. Every 214 visitors to the state generate enough revenue to pay for a public school education for a year. Every 180 visitors spend enough to create a new job.

Of the tourism dollars spent in Morris County in 2010, more than one-third went for lodging. Another 26.5 percent was spent on entertainment. About 25 percent went for transportation. Roughly 8 percent was for food and about 6 percent was spent on retail, according to Phyllis.

Jill Hawk, the new superintendent of the Morristown National Historical Park, encouraged historical sites to work together. “We need to invest in each other’s stories and our future,” she said. “We have opportunities before us that we have never had before.”

Show and tell, courtesy of park curator Jude Pfister, included an 1830 edition of the Revolutionary War memoir Private Yankee Doodle, and the 17th century oratorio. Both items are from a collection bequeathed to the park by Lloyd Smith, the businessman who donated Jockey Hollow to the National Park Service in 1933.

Selections from the musical score were performed by Nancy Connell, Catherine Garrison and Margaret Walker.

The rally was intended to pitch Morris County to travel journalists from outside the state. Most, if not all, of the attending media were local, however.

Marty Epstein of Marty’s Reliable Cycle hopes for better luck with out-of-town cyclists. After the rally he found a picnic table and brainstormed with Full House Events, his promotional team, about his Gran Fondo biking weekend in August. He aims to attract bikers from nearby states to the Morristown event.

New book follows the Vail legacy from Morristown to rural Vermont

By Carol Barkin

Former AT&T tycoon Theodore Vail left his mark on Morristown; the Vail Mansion has been a focal point since the end of World War I. But Vail also is remembered in rural Lyndon, Vt.

In fact, whenever he returned to his Speedwell Farms, a flag measuring 25 by 30 feet would be raised up a 200-foot flagpole indicating his arrival, visible from hillside village homes. To Lyndon natives, T.N. Vail was royalty.

This side of Vail’s life is told in Dan Swainbanks’ new book, Mr. Vail is in Town: Theodore N. Vail, AT&T, and His Lyndon Legacy–surprisingly, only the second biography ever written about this corporate giant.

Much has been written about Vail’s career, yet only one book has been completely devoted to him, his official biography, published in 1921: In One’s Man’s Life: Being Chapters from the Personal and Business Career of Theodore N. Vail, by Albert Bigelow Paine.

Theodore Vail was born in Minerva, Ohio, in 1845, but grew up in Morristown when his father moved the family back in 1847 to head Stephen Vail’s Speedwell Iron Works. National Landmark Historic Speedwell preserves the history of the Vails and their contributions to manufacturing and telecommunications.

He attended local schools, and upon graduation worked as a drugstore clerk, living above the store. The store had a telegraph, which Vail mastered. Moving west, first as a telegraph operator, and then as a clerk sorting mail while on a moving train, T.N. worked his way up to become General Superintendent of the Railway Mails, a government monopoly.

Upon leaving the railway mails, he went on to create another monopoly, the telephone system. Vail was a founder of the Bell System and served as its president on two occasions.

Working with Alexander Graham Bell, Vail understood that the telephone was superior to the telegraph. To quote Bell, “I dreamed of wires extending all over America. It was the dream of a dreamer, but Mr. Vail has made it come true.”

His manor home in Lyndon was expanded, eventually becoming the largest private residence in Vermont. Upon Vail’s death some of the land and farm buildings were bequeathed to the state, and the manor became the centerpiece for Lyndon Teachers College.

In September 1974, the manor was demolished, the farm subdivided for housing, and Vail’s Lyndon legacy nearly wiped out. The Vail Mansion on South Street in Morristown, which T. N. built but never lived in, reminds us of his local roots. He and his wife are buried in Parsippany.

Readers interested in telecommunications history, the Vail family, the Gilded Age, and historic preservation may want to pick up a copy of Mr. Vail is in Town. To order a copy of the book, contact the Lyndon Historical Society, P.O. Box 85, Lyndon Center, Vermont 05850.

Carol Barkin is program manager for the Morris County Tourism Bureau.

Signs of the times: Check out these proposed ‘wayfinding systems’ for Morris County

About 50 people representing Morris County historic sites, government agencies and civic and business groups turned out Wednesday at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morris Township for an election.

The contenders weren’t politicians, however. They were signs.

A Philadelphia consulting firm showed four sets of designs for “wayfinding” systems–themed signs meant to guide visitors to tourist destinations, parks, municipal buildings and emergency services.

Leslie Bensley, director of the Morris County Tourism Bureau, believes better signs will mean happier visitors who repeatedly bring their wallets back to the county.

The results still are being tabulated, and exit polls were inconclusive. Leslie hopes everyone can agree on one design by year’s end. Then she can start hunting for $1 million in grants to erect the signs.

Morris County is among three sections of the state identified for a possible pilot project under the state wayfinding master plan, which was created by the nonprofit group Celebrate NJ.

MERJE, the consulting firm, is being paid $80,000 for its design work. The money comes from a $50,000 grant from the Garden State Historic Trust Fund and an April gala by the tourism bureau.

Here are the four designs in the running. Which one gets your vote?

(CLICK EACH IMAGE FOR A LARGER VERSION)

Morris County signs may get a $1M makeover; presentation on Nov. 10 in Morris Township

New destination signs may be coming to Morris County.  You can take a peek at them–and give your two cents– on Nov. 10 at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morris Township.

Recommendations from an $80,000 “wayfinding” study will be presented at the Haggerty Education Center from 5 pm to 6:30 pm.

A Philadelphia consulting firm, MERJE, will show four design options for new signs. Possible ways to integrate smart phone apps and other web technologies to inform and guide visitors also will be discussed, said MERJE’s John Bosio.

If county and local officials can agree on a new system, the next step will be finding $1 million to install it.

Leslie Bensley, executive director of the Morris County Tourism Bureau, anticipates some tough questions but  contends a strong case can be made for such an expenditure.

“Saying the economy is not good is not a good excuse,” Leslie said. “This is part of efforts to stimulate the economy. For every $1 invested in tourism and heritage programs, you get a $25 return.”

The study was funded with a $50,000 grant from the Garden State Historic Trust Fund, and additional money from a Tourism Bureau gala. Morris County is among three sections of the state identified for a possible pilot project under the state wayfinding master plan, which was created by the nonprofit group Celebrate NJ.

Better signs should make it easier for visitors to find their way around–which may induce them to stay longer, spend more, and consider returning, according to Leslie.

There also might be environmental benefits–such as fewer idling automobiles by confused visitors and fewer lost motorists wasting gas, said Carol Barkin, program manager for the county tourism bureau.

Some 73 destinations are on the preliminary list, along with generic destinations such as “town hall,” “police station,” “fire station,” “post office,” “business district” and “high school.”  At least 27 of the destinations are in Morristown, Morris Township or Morris Plains.

Among the more ticklish issues are which destinations to include, and how to list their names.

Should a new sign for Morristown’s Macculloch Hall include its full name — the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum–so visitors know what it is?  Or will that be too hard to read from a passing car?

Private businesses will be excluded, Leslie said. But she would like town halls, municipal parking and train stations to be part of the mix.  Attractive signs can enhance a sense of civic pride, she suggested.

That’s what makes it more than a “signage project,” said John Bosio, who has conducted similar studies in Newark, Jersey City and Camden, and in the historic communities of Savannah, Ga., and Frederick, Md.

“All too often people think we’re just running around and putting up signs,” he said. “It’s about how visitors come to Morris County, and the experience they have. It’s a marketing program.”

PREVIOUS STORIES:

New study aims for better destination signs in Morristown and Morris County

Morristown contest asks businesses to dress up windows for ‘Holly Days’

Calling all Morristown businesses…it’s time to show your holiday spirit!

The first annual Walking Tour of Windows contest is challenging merchants to make downtown “one of the most family friendly destinations” anywhere for the holidays–which officially kick off with Santa’s arrival at the Christmas Festival on the Green on Nov. 26 and climax with First Night Morris County on New Year’s Eve. In between are 10 performances of The Nutcracker by the New Jersey Ballet at the Community Theatre.

Suggested themes for storefront displays include:

• Santa (think Thomas Nast)
• International Holiday Celebration
• Winter Wonderland
• Historic Holiday

Participating stores will be featured online by MorristownGreen.com and the Morris County Tourism Bureau.

Merchants with the best displays (as chosen by the public and the Arts Council of the Morris Area) will be recognized onstage at the Community Theatre prior to the Dec. 19 performance of The Nutcracker.

Which only seems fitting, since the contest idea started there.

Allison Larena, president of the theater, “just thought that when people come to our theater to see a performance, they should know about all the wonderful things going on in town over the holidays, and make a day of it,” said Ed Kirchdoerffer, theater general manager.

“I’m hoping businesses will join in the fun,” said Jennifer Wehring of the Morristown Partnership, a sponsor of the contest along with the  Tourism Bureau, the Arts Council and The Mayo Center for the Performing Arts at the Community Theatre.

“We need to lean on each other in these hard economic times,” Jennifer said. “So the more, the merrier.”

“It’s just adding arts visibility to the downtown. Window dressing and staging is considered an art form,” said the Arts Council’s Kadie Dempsey, who organized a succesful Halloween pumpkin illumination last week and is helping with a Morristown gallery walk on Nov. 16.

Halloween events proved so popular in Morristown that the county Tourism Bureau is hoping the momentum carries over to the windows contest and draws visitors downtown, said Carol Barkin, program manager for the bureau.

“It’s a lovely project that adds another dimension to Morristown’s efforts to highlight the holiday season,” said Leslie Bensley, tourism executive director.

Shoppers who vote for their favorite windows will be eligible for gift certificates from the Morristown Partnership. Business operators with the best windows can win tickets to a future performance at the Community Theatre,  and to the Arts Council’s New Jersey Symphony concert at Giralda Farms next June and Morristown walking tours sponsored by the Tourism Bureau.

All participating merchants will receive two tickets to the December 19th performance of The Nutcracker, and an invitation to a post-holiday celebration at the Community Theatre.

The deadline to register is Nov. 15. Windows must be decorated by Nov. 26. Judging is scheduled for Dec. 19, with winners announced prior to the 6 pm performance of The Nutcracker. Download a registration form here.

Two tours this weekend explore Morristown’s gilded past

Morristown history buffs will be in their glory this weekend, as the Morris County Tourism Bureau winds down its summer walking tours with programs on Saturday and Sunday.

“Morristown in Three Centuries” will cover 300 years starting with the Presbyterian Church and winding through the Industrial Revolution and the Gilded Age. Sites discussed on the tour include the Vail Mansion, Macculloch Hall, and the Thomas Nast House.

The tour is led by Al MacLennan, a docent for the Morris County Tourism Bureau who has lived in Morris County for 35 years.

On Sunday, you can discover “Secrets & Lore of Historic Morristown,” led by David Breslauer, former executive director of the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum. He will describe how two farms morphed into a spectacular neighborhood of Victorian mansions, transforming Morristown’s social scene.

Both tours start at 10 a.m. at the Morris County Tourism Bureau, on 6 Court St. The cost for each is $10;  call (973) 631-5151 for more details or to make a reservation.

Walking tours resume this fall with an Oct. 9 hike to Morristown’s Fort Nonsense and an October 16 tour of Morristown’s historic cemeteries.

New study aims for better destination signs in Morristown and Morris County

Finding your destination in Morristown is one thing. Finding reasons to linger afterward is another.

A new study aims to make it easier for travelers to find their way around Morristown and Morris County. Area tourism officials and businesses are hoping better signs–maybe with some digital enhancements– might persuade visitors to stay longer.

“The system now is primarily for the vehicular network. We want to make it more pedestrian-friendly, with local kiosks,” said Leslie Bensley, executive director of the Morris County Tourism Bureau.

The bureau has hired a Philadelphia consulting firm, MERJE, to perform an $80,000 “wayfinding” study to recommend ways to make destination signs more legible and visually appealing. The money includes a $50,000 grant from the Garden State Historic Trust Fund; the rest was raised by the bureau at an April gala.

Representatives of government, business and cultural organizations met with MERJE’s John Bosio at the Morristown Club this week to share their frustrations with the present sign system, which dates to 1999, and to suggest improvements.

Morristown Councilwoman Rebecca Feldman said visitors have a hard time finding Morristown Memorial Hospital.

Some 18,000 babies are born there every year, she said, and that means parents must venture to Morristown’s town hall for birth certificates.

Better signs might encourage these people, and other hospital visitors, to explore Morristown while they are here, she said.

Morris County is among three sections of the state identified for a possible pilot project under the state wayfinding master plan, which was created by the nonprofit group Celebrate NJ.

Such a project would implement proposals from the MERJE study, and would require a second round of funding.

“This is about how people get from point A to point B, but in a broader sense it’s about creating a brand and identity for the community,” said John Bosio, who has done signage studies in Newark, Jersey City and Camden.

At this week’s meeting he showed examples of signs in Asheville, N.C.; Augusta, Ga., and Fredericksburg, Va., places that have a blend of historical and natural attractions similar to Morris County.

The MERJE study, expected to finished by next spring, also will examine how websites, mobile applications and interactive signs might be incorporated into a pilot program, John said.

Kiosks in Tampa, Fla., list special phone numbers. When you send a text message to those numbers, you receive a reply with information specific to that location, he said.

Butler County, Ohio, has an easy-to-navigate cell phone application with information on destinations, including driving directions.

“It’s all about the experience people have when they come here, and helping them find their way–whether it’s a mobile app or a website,” John said.

“We’re not just running around putting signs up. We may come out of this and say that the thing they should do is update the (tourism) website.”

Organizations represented at the meeting included the Morristown Partnership, the Morristown Parking Authority, Morristown’s Community Theatre, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, the Stickley Museum, the New Jersey Historic Trust, the National Park Service, Acorn Hall, the Morris Museum, the Morris County engineering department, AAA and Morristown Airport.

Next Page »