The Shivers House at 68 North Main Street in Woodstown, NJ
The front of the Shivers House Museum at 68 Main Street from across the street
I got a personal tour of the Shivers House Museum and the Sign of Key Tavern, which is attached to the main house of the Shivers Family. The first part of the tour was of the Sign of Key Tavern, which consisted of The Hearth Room, where all the cooking took place and the Cage Bar room, where meals would be eaten and used for socialization.
I could see that the family business was very popular at the time when transportation was slower and these areas in the early 1700’s were barely populated. So this became the focal point of the communities. These taverns were part of the communication and transport systems of the country up until the Revolutionary War.
Later, family members built the the main house of which the tavern would be attached and thus began the home’s transformation to modern times. The house from the outside has a more symmetrical appearance but these changes on the outside altered the historic inside.
The History of the Shivers House:
In 1668, John Shivers at the bequest of King William of England was given thousands of acres to promote the hamlet development with what was then known as West Jersey.
Upon arrival, Shivers constructed on the property, utilizing Native American labor, a dam and saw mill on what would become Woodstown Lake. From here he milled the timber for his tavern. The tavern, The Sign of the Key, operated for 65 years on the corner of what is today Routes 40 and 45. Travelers could sleep, eat meals, communicate and trade furs from the area. After Shivers death, it was moved to its present location by his son, Samuel, as an addition to the current house.
The Shivers family owned the house through marriage through the Nineteen century.
The outside sign of the house
The informational sign on the history of the home and construction
The sign of the clock repair and antique shop business inside the house
(Much of the following research comes from owner Gregg Perry’s personal research on the house and family and from the personal tour Mr. Perry gave me of the house and grounds).
The first part of the house tour I took was of the old tavern section of the house. This had once been in a different area and moved here by the family and connected to the newly built house around 1726 when Tavern owner, John Shivers died.
The Cage Bar/ Dining room
The Dining Room area
The pewter materials in the Dining Room
The tavern was open in 1669 for business. The tavern has been here open for business from 1669 to 1720 until John Shivers died. The first part of the building served as the Kitchen area with an open hearth for cooking and serving. Meals were prepared here as well as keeping the building warm for guests who might stay overnight upstairs.
The second part of the building served as the Dining Room for the old Tavern. Visitors would have their meals served here and converse and socialize in this room. There is a rebuilt Cage Bar for serving alcohol. The old Tavern section of house has since been restored and has period furnishings and decorations.
The Cage Bar in the Tavern Room
The Tavern kitchen
The Hearth of the Kitchen is eleven feet wide by three feet deep by five feet high in opening containing two mobile cranes. The back firebox bricks are laid in a herringbone style pattern. A tavern hearth of this dimension would have allowed the cook to have multiple fires going in the firebox (Gregg Perry research).
The Kitchen of the Tavern
This is the room where all meals were prepared and served. It was also used as the central heating for the tavern in colder weather. It is decorated in period furnishings and pewter ware decorates the walls. This would have been used in serving at that period in the 1700’s.
The pewter materials
For the price of a penny today, a patron could have his choice of a tankard of ale or hard cider and a plate of whatever the entree was of the day as well as have the option to spend the night on the floor of the second floor with a burlap blanket. They could also have the horse fed and boarded if needed. The tavern had been in business in one form or another until the 1930’s when it closed for business during the Great Depression (Gregg Perry research).
The Main Part of the house was build 1723. This section of the home was built by John Shivers, whose portrait sits above the mantle.
The Grand Reception Room
The Grand Reception Room was built to impress visitors to the house and for entertaining for this prominent family. As the family accumulated wealth and social prominence in the area, the house was meant to impress people with its large fireplaces and tall ceilings.
The Portrait of John Shivers in the Grand Reception Room
The Grand Room
Much of the period furniture of the room has been restored back to its original form and the woodwork to the room is from the original house. Period clocks and decorations are from that period and part of the owners collection.
The Grand Room looking into the old Tavern
In the back of the Grand Reception room is the Keeping of Family Room where things were less formal. The room had been set up for Christmas. In the Keeping Room is the portrait of Samuel Shivers, John Shivers son above the fireplace.
The Keeping Room
This cosy room was set up and lit for the holidays. The lights put a nice glow on the original woodwork.
The Keeping Room at Christmas
Samuel Shivers painting in the Keeping Room
The house decorated for the Christmas holiday season
The sign welcoming you the the Endicott-Reardon Family museum
The original Endicott-Reardon Homestead that sits in the front of the museum
The entrance to the museum dedicated to the lives of both the Endicott and Reardon families.
The family artifacts and heirlooms at the museum as you enter the museum
The Endicott family display at the entrance
The museum is a real surprise as entire set of displays is dedicated to the lives of the local Reardon and Endicott families and their family items. A fascinating look of the lives of these early New Jersey families for over a hundred years. This is the collection of Harriett Reardon Bailey and her family. All these wonderful items were saved over the last 100 years and now it was time to share them with the world.
The various family items are organized by sections categorized by lifestyle and collection.
I was given a personal tour that I had arranged with the current curator who had known and worked with the owner of this extensive collection. It had been her dream to open a museum to share her collection with the public.
This beautiful, well lit and displayed collection of family heirlooms and personal items gives a glimpse of the lives of an upper middle class family in Southern New Jersey. It is organized and displayed as a household would be at that time. The first section of the museum was dedicated to items from the kitchen and preparations.
The family Living room furnishings and decorations
The family piano that once graced their Living Room
A decorative toy car used in the Living Room
The kitchen area and artifacts of the cooking and washing done in the house
The table set for a formal dinner
The next part of the exhibit was the formal Dining Room and on display were many of the China patterns that the family owned.
All the china collections the family owned plus other decorative pieces
The family collection of China and glass pieces
The family had various collections of China
Mainly of the bedroom items have been preserved too from linens to comforters to every day clothing. There are also a selection of family member’s clothing, jewelry and personal items.
The Bedroom vignette with clothing and accessories
Another view of the bedroom
Harriett Reardon Bailey had been a school teacher like her mother and there were displays of items that reflected her time in the classroom including a classroom setting.
Time on the classroom and family employment
The classroom set up
Activities and programs at the school
More local school items
There were also displays on her father’s time in the army and her uncle’s time working on the railroad with carefully preserved outfits, programs and railroad artifacts from the job.
The Railroad display
School and family items
Work on the railroad
The display on the family contribution to the armed forces
What I thought was interesting was that the founder of the museum, Harriett Reardon Bailey, had been an only child with relatives that had never been married so that she was the only child and a bit spoiled.
The Toy Room
In a separate room off the side held her extensive collection of dolls and games. She had kept all her childhood items in such beautiful shape and with great care. What impressed me was there was a picture of her as a little girl with all her dolls and stuffed animals her room and since she kept everything, they were able to recreate the display.
The picture of the owner of the museum as a little girl in her bedroom
The exact replicated display of toys in the same spots in the display
The collection of tea sets
The collection of toys and playthings are extensive and they are all in wonderful working shape
There was a large collection of dolls plus all their clothes and accessories that were kept together in her collection. Even into adulthood, all of her childhood items were kept in pristine condition.
The collectible dolls and clothing
The extensive collection of childhood dolls
The collection of China and baby dolls
The collection of baby dolls
The collection of cloth and rag dolls
The handmade dollhouse and rag dolls
The fancier imported and collectible dolls
What I thought was interesting during the tour was that the curator had said that the founder of this museum was dedicated in keeping all these items for so long and packing the house with family memorabilia. I think she knew what she was doing.
She was not just preserving memories, she was preserving a past that was fading away and the memories of a different time. As her family died, she kept their memories alive by preserving their past as well. The curator had said that she had always wanted to create a museum with all her family’s items and share them with the public. Now we get to glimpse into her family’s history and everyday life.
The museum shares with the public the day to day happenings and life of the Endicott-Reardon branches of the family and life as a middle class Victorian family. I think she preserved the best items with such care as to share them with future generations of what life was like at that time. When people knew each other and times were slower and quality mattered. I think she loved her beautiful things and wanted to share them with all of us.
The historic grounds of the property in the winter
I visited the John Westley Gandy Farmstead on private walking tours both in the Winter of 2024 and the Summer of 2025 and got a glimpse of farm life in early rural Southern New Jersey. Away from the markets of New York City, I got to see how tenant farming and life was for early farmers after the Revolutionary War.
The house is decorated with artifacts from the early 1800’s to the turn of the Twentieth century and how they affected the lives of early inhabitants of the house. There is antique furniture, home made quilts and a fully stocked kitchen with a wood burning fireplace to cook meals from scratch (which was not a trend in those days, that is how they lived).
The grounds when I visited in the summer months
The grounds of the farm in the winter
The grounds of this historic homestead in the winter
The same grounds in the summer
The history of the house
The front of the house during the summer
The Laundry Room
The Laundry Room
When you walk inside the Gandy Housr on the first floor, you are welcomed into the kitchen and pantry area plus some of public areas of the house. Here meals were prepared and guests were greeted.
The pantry area of the kitchen
Wood was stored for heat and cooking and herbs were drying for the winter months for cooking and daily use.
The fire wood and herb s drying
The pantry and larders for daily cooking and baking for the daily meals. All meals were cooked from scratch and large breakfasts and lunches were part of farm life. All meals were cooked in the open hearth so meals had to be properly timed and cooking and baking had to be coordinated for the family meals.
The larders were filled with the items that were in season
Cooking over a wood burning fire was part of everyday meals in the farm kitchen. Various pots and pans were in use to cook the family meals.
The inside of the kitchen area that heated the main room
Meals were coordinated for the day with cereals and soups cooking first, baked items going into the oven when it was warm enough followed by roasts and stews.
The days cooking over a hot stove
There were early morning breakfasts on the farm and then a late lunch/ early supper when the afternoon work was done.
The other half of the main room was used for dining and the families social space. Here meals were served and the family relaxed.
Everyday family objects of the household
The front part of the room faced the road and the comings and goings of the surrounding community.
The side bench and family objects
The most interesting part of the tour of the first floor is the view of the construction of the home. Behind the glass frame showed how the home was built and of what.
The construction of the home behind the glass frame
The family quarters on the second floor show the chores that followed during the day with spinning yarn, making and mending clothes and dying fabrics.
The spinning wheels and the making of quilts
The landing and the first floor rooms
The spinning wheels and patterns
The first bedroom was furnished with handmade quilts and sown linens. The wash basins were used before indoor plumbing.
The first bedroom upstairs
The wash basin and grooming products
Going out for a formal evening
The second bedroom on the second floor has is collection of quilts
The hand made quilts in the second bedroom
The children’s toys
The handmade quilt collection in the one bedroom
Handmade linens were part of the fabric of rural life as women were trained to sew and quilt their clothes and bed linens. Store bought linens were a rarity at this time and the quality of a woman’s homemaking skills defined her household. The handwork on these quilts were amazing.
The upstairs fireplace to keep the rooms warm
The upstairs alcove where the fireplace is located
The Morning clothing in the alcove
We then headed up the stairs to see the attic which were hard to walk up they were such small stairs.
The narrow stair’s to the attic
I got to see the attic area which visitors normally don’s see. This is where the boys of the family would sleep in the summarrr
The attic loft area
We finished the house tour back in the kitchen-living room
The full kitchen and living room room
The laundry area just off the main room
The we then toured the grounds of the estate walking through the grounds and exploring all the buildings on the property, some original to the estate and some brought here from other properties that awaited the wrecking ball. The grounds included the family well, barn, outhouse, root cellar, wood shed and a grape arbor.
The area right behind the main
The estate well which was going to be replaced
Fresh well water is still a part of the communities in Southern New Jersey. These farmsteads were pretty much self-sufficient and people grew what they needed and could barter for the rest or bring it to market.
The woodshed on the estate
The estate on a sunny day
The root cellar
The Root Cellar was used to keep Summer foods and preserves cool throughout the season. People tried to eat seasonally as much as possible and store for the Winter months.
The Ice House
The historic sign for the Ice House
The inside of the ice house and the hooks to hold meats
Ice was brought in from local lakes and ponds to keep foods well preserved during the warmer months of the Spring and Summer.
The barn that was moved here
The inside of the barn with all sorts of historic farm. These are pieces of equipment that were used over the last 100 years.
The farm equipment
The equipment that runs a farm
The storage area of the farm
The storage bins
The Outhouse
There was no indoor plumbing in those days and the use of the outhouse was placed far from the main house.
The grounds of the farm
The back of the farm
The front of the homestead in the summer of 2025
The house was warm and contained by fireplaces in the Winter months and open and airy in the Summer months with a flow of air through the open windows. The Upper Cape May Township Historical Society is open also for special events like their Strawberry and Apple festivals plus private tours.
The Gandy Farmstead Annual Apple Festival2025:
Two weeks after my initial visit to the Gandy House during the Firemen’s Convention, I returned for the Historical Society’s Annual Apple Festival. The event reminded me of the Brinckerhoff House Strawberry Festival, a very nice family and community event that attracted everyone.
Since there were a lot of shore towns I wanted to revisit while the weather was nice, I arranged to stay at an Airbnb in Ocean City so I had plenty of time to do what I needed to do and relax afterwards.
I could not believe how crowded the roads were as so many places were having either Fall festivals or October Fest. Route 9 was like a parking lot near Smithville, NJ.
I got to the Apple Festival around noon and the parking lot was packed with people. One of the members said later that afternoon that he could not believe the consistent crowds as it was still busy at 2:15pm (the festival was over by 3:00pm). The crowds were filled with several generations of family members who I am sure were traveling from one event to another on this spectacular sunny morning.
The sign welcoming you to the event
When I arrived at the festival, the parking lot was still filling up so I had to park way in the back so I could get in and out easily.
On the Gandy family property on the other side of the home, they had an antique car show, a mini train ride around the tracks of this part of the property and a Caboose train car that you could explore.
The train tracks around the farm property
The train set up and tracks to tour around the farm
The train rides were really popular with both the small and ‘big’ kids
This small train trip had a nice sized line to it as families were really enjoying themselves
I then toured the Caboose which was set up for service and a day in the life of a conductor. Some of the volunteers were even dressed as conductors leading tour and talking to families.
The caboose on the farm property
The inside of the caboose
Getting ready for the holidays
Life of a train conductor shown in the caboose
After the tour of the car show and watching the families have fun on the trains, I headed across the street to the Gandy House for the tours and activities.
The back of the Gandy Farmstead with crafts and entertainment
Entering the Apple Festival with a Farmers Market and Apple sale
The Farmers Market of locally grown produce
They had a wonderful duo interesting the crowds that afternoon
There were all sorts of crafts stands around where the entertainment was performing
The local crafts people were really talented and included crocheted, painters, floral arrangers and jewelry markers.
One woman sold flowers from her gardens and arranged bouquets
This woman painted her own crafts and did beautiful work for both Halloween and Christmas
Here beautiful holiday crafts
I loved this Santa tree and was going to get it for my mom
This woman had the most beautiful handmade doll clothing and knit items for the holidays
What is an Apple Festival without food? I went to the concession stand for lunch and ordered a hot dog with a glass of locally made Apple cider and had an homemade Apple Shortcake, which I found out later the members had made the night before.
The concession stand where all the food was made
Enjoying my lunch. Both the hotdogs and apple cider were locally made. That’s why it tasted so good!
Hot dogs taste so good off the grill!
The delicious homemade Apple Shortcake with homemade apple topping were made by the members
I also stopped off at the apple stand where cases of apples were being sold. It looked like many people were going to make pies and sauce with these and the stand looked like they were selling out.
I managed to buy one of the Mango sweet apples they were selling individually
The apples were so hard, fresh and sweet that it made the perfect addition to dessert.
The Mango Sweet apples
Talk about delicious
After lunch I ran into the Board members who had helped me with the tour two weeks early and I took a quick tour of the first floor of the home. The laundry room was not open the day of my private tour.
Touring the outside grape arbor
The grape arbor on an early Fall day
Touring the first floor laundry room
An early washing machine
How to do laundry at the turn of the last century
After having lunch, touring the house and visiting all the vendors I relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and listened to the entertainment perform. They did a combination of 70’s hit songs, country music and some James Taylor.
The duo performing
The first part of the song “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” from the 1970’s before people walked in the way
The rest of the song performed. They did an excellent job with it
Before I left just after 2:00pm, I stayed to see who won the Apple pie contest. There were only three contributors but I wanted to get a slice before I left. They did not slice them up. Bummer!
The winners of the Apple pie contest
The Apple Festival sponsored by the Upper Township Historical Society happens every October. It is a wonderful family event and fundraiser for the Historical Society. I know I had a lot of fun and it reminded me of the events that I went to as a kid in the 1970’s.
It was funny that the only person who had a cell phone glued to his hand was me. It was just like the 1970’s all over again with families enjoying each other’s company. Try to visit in the future.
Welcome to Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. from Professor Justin Watrel, CEO & Co-Founder:
“This is the second time I have opened the firm, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., for my Introduction to Business 101 class. As a College Professor, I have always felt that the only way that the students are going to learn is by doing the work in real life. So every semester we do a group project that encompasses everything we are learning in the text book. The entire class becomes members of the Paramus-branch Team and they have to do a real life project that has to be presented in front of a group. This project took it one step further as the Team was invited to present the project to His Honorable Andre Sayegh, Mayor of Paterson and his Executive Team.”
The website for Bergecco-Parc Consulting Incorporated’s latest project: “Take me back to Paterson, NJ”:
For this semester, I developed something different from the previous projects. I had been in Paterson, NJ visiting some sites for my blog, “VisitingaMuseum.com” that is available on WordPress.com as well, that is an off-shoot of my main blog, “MywalkinManhattan.com”.
I had visited the Paterson Museum one afternoon and then walked to the Paterson Falls, which is the second highest Falls east of the Mississippi. Along the way I had a hot dog and fries at Libby’s Lunch, a restaurant that has been in Paterson since 1936 (See my review on TripAdvisor-Now closed in 2021).
The Paterson Museum at 2 Market Street
Inside the Paterson Museum
While I was walking around the Falls after lunch and admiring them for all directions, I wondered why people don’t come down and visit them.
The Paterson Falls in the Summer
Paterson, NJ does not have the best reputation in the State of New Jersey. The schools, the gang problems and the poverty rate does not add to the reputation of a city that has been left behind. It was once the shopping and entertainment mecca from the end of the
Second World War until the riots of 1967. ‘
White flight’ and the closing of manufacturing plants sealed the fate of the city and the 1991 fire of Meyer Brothers Department Store in the downtown area just personified the problems of the City.
Downtown Paterson, NJ
The former Quackenbush Department Store
Yet I still saw something there. There is a lot of beauty to the City. Walking from the Falls back to the Paterson Museum I decided to find Lou Costello Park, a small square that is dedicated to the Comedian Lou Costello of the comedy team of Abbott & Costello. This small park just down the street from the Falls and was weed investing and full of homeless people. It was a little scary walking through the park, more for the homeless than for me as they thought I was an undercover policeman.
Lou Costello Memorial Park
The park in the summer
Walking down the street from the park leads to “Little Lima” the home of one of the largest population of Peruvian-Americans in the county. This vibrant neighborhood contains restaurants, retail stores, bakeries and salons and there is a lot to offer. This was once home to a large Irish population who used to work in the Mills and then it was Paterson’s Italian “Little Italy” until about the 70’s when most families moved to the suburbs.
Little Lima in Paterson, NJ
I stopped in Los Immortales at 21 Market Street, a deli/bakery (see review on TripAdvisor) for a snack. They had the most delicious dulce de leche doughnuts, filled with a kind of caramel tasting sweetened milk filling. They also had delicious pastilitos, similar to empanadas, a pastry filled with beef or chicken.
Los Inmortales at 21 Market Street
On another trip I made to the City later that week to finalize the field trip, I ate at Central City Pizza at 301 Main Street (see my review on TripAdvisor). Their pizza was amazing for a small pizzeria. The slices were huge, the pizza sauce amazing and at $2.00 a slice was well within budget.
All of these sites were only within a few blocks of one another. As I was walking back to the car at the museum, it dawned on me why people were not coming here with these free cultural sites and reasonable meals. This is where the idea for marketing Paterson, NJ for tourism came about.
The front of the Paterson Museum
The front of the museum
This semester I wanted to introduce my business students to the concept of marketing and using their business tools from class to see the same vision of the City that I was seeing. So I presented the project, “Take me back to Paterson, NJ”, to the class. How could we take the second largest City in New Jersey, one that was surround by some of the wealthiest suburbs and make it a destination to travel to for entertainment?
Our logo promoting the City of Paterson, NJ
Another proposal on the logo for the City
What I like about working with students in the entry level classes is their eagerness to look at things in a new light and their ambition to push themselves on their own. When I set the Executive Team up, it was interesting to see how they all come together. It takes time but I always see new relationships and friendships come out of it.
Walking through ‘Little Lima’, the Peruvian section of the City of Paterson
It was a slow start on the project as the students had to get to know their groups and the trust factors start. I saw the project start to jell when I arranged a trip ‘into the field’ to Paterson, NJ after our Midterm exam. I was surprised how happy some of the students were to go on a field trip. We lucked out and the weather was terrific, warm and sunny, a perfect fall day.
Our trip to the falls really amazed them
The interesting part of this trip I found out later on in their research papers on the project was that many of them were worried about visiting Paterson, NJ. The reputation was already established in their minds and it was my job as their CEO of the company to change it.
As a group, it was an information trip and I could tell really opened the eyes of the students. Not only were they really surprised by what they saw but I liked how they bonded together both over lunch at Libby’s for a hot dog and fries and touring the Falls for a second time.
We started the trip by visiting the Paterson Museum first and meeting the curator and staff. I don’t think the students realized what a rich history Paterson had and the role it played in the history of this country. The Paterson Museum covers from the time of the Lenape Indians when they used this area as a fishing site and for worship to when Alexander Hamilton created the first planned City using the water source as energy and this lead to the creation of the Silk Industry henceforth the nickname “Silk City “.
The Museum covers the history of the City of Paterson including famous individuals such as Lou Costello the Comedian, the growth the aerospace business of Curtis-Wright, the gun manufacturing industry, the silk industry and locomotive industry. There is also displays of minerals from the area as well as art work. Some of the students from our Talent Division had to plan a press party here so they asked lots of questions.
The history of ‘Silk City’ at the Paterson Museum
Touring the museum
After our tour of the Paterson Museum, we started our first part of the tour of the Paterson Falls before lunch. Since the day got clearer and sunnier, the Falls were in their prime. It was just beautiful to enter the Paterson Falls National Park.
The Paterson Great Falls in the Great Falls District of the City of Paterson at 72 McBride Avenue
This is where the students were able to capture of the real beauty of the City. The Falls were just beautiful with all the leaves changing colors behind them. We saw the entrance to the park for a quick explanation of the Falls and how they developed and how the Indians used this area as their summer camp.
The Paterson Falls
Before we took a full tour of the Falls, I took the students to Libby’s Lunch at 98 McBride Avenue (See review on TripAdvisor-Closed in 2020), a small diner restaurant that has been by the Falls since 1936. We had a group lunch of hot dogs and French fries (some of the students had turkey burgers) and Cokes. This is where I really saw my students bond. There was a lot of laughing and talking around the table and I could see that everyone was having a good time. The service could not have been nicer and more friendly and our waitress handled this large crowd well.
Libby’s Lunch in Paterson, NJ at 98 McBride Avenue (Closed in 2020-now Silk City Cafe)
After lunch, some of the students had to leave for work and other classes (they would return later for future visits) and the rest of the class and I continued on with our tour of the falls. We walked from the restaurant to the top part of the river and walked over the bridge covering the Falls and then we walked over the Falls. That’s when I knew I had their attention. The Falls are just so majestic and natural that when you hear the roar of the Falls it is enjoyable.
The hot dogs and fries were terrific
I gave the students about twenty minutes to walk around the park and just admire the view. I could see that many of the them were captured by the beauty of the park and after walking all over the park, some of them met on the benches below and just talked. it was nice to see that they were getting along so well.
Our next stop was Lou Costello Park, a tiny triangle of land down the block from the Falls and into the Mill district. This small park was dedicated to the famous comedian is located just behind the ‘Little Lima’ neighborhood District just off Ellison Street.
Lou Costello Park on Van Houten Street
The information sign in the park
It is a sad reminder of the famous comedian. The park was falling apart and I had to warn the students of the homeless who took up residence here. For the most part, our group seemed to scare away everyone and we were able to walk the whole park with no problems. The statue could have used a good sandblasting and the lawn a good mowing and trimming but overall it was a good tour. There were not a lot of homeless that day in the bandstand.
Our next part of the tour was to “Little Lima’, the Peruvian-American district of shops, bakeries and restaurants that is tucked between Downtown Paterson and the Paterson Museum. Little Lima is between Main Street, Spruce Street, McBride Avenue, Cianci Street and Ward and Olive Streets. The border is with the Paterson Museum.
We walked all the streets in the neighborhood and on the edge of Downtown Paterson, where I showed the students all the Beaux-Arts buildings that once made up all the upscale department and specialty stores, office buildings and hotels. The one thing our little group did was shock all the merchants and patrons who looked at us like “Oh, no gentrifiers!” If I saw a mixed combination of students and a professor walking through my neighborhood, I would think the same thing.
Walking down Market Street in Paterson, NJ once the shopping hub of North Jersey
We walked all the side blocks so that I could show them the businesses that were open and the condition of the neighborhood. We walked all around the church area and parking lot for a view of where we could hold events. Then I took them to Los Immortales at 21 Market Street (see my review on TripAdvisor) for dessert. We had the most delicious doughnuts filled with dulce de leche that I had eaten a few weeks before and cookies filled with the same. Each of the students took time to walk in and check out the store. Some even bought pastiletos, a type of empanada even after the big lunch. We really wiped out their baked goods. The staff got a kick out of it.
Los Immortales at 71 Market Street in Paterson, NJ
We walked back to the Paterson Museum and ate our dessert outside on the benches. We discussed the day and then the next group of students had to leave for classes and work and the last group of us headed to Lambert Castle.
Lambert Castle is located away from the downtown and we had to go to Garret Mountain Reserve Park to visit the former mansion of silk baron, Catholina Lambert. The home was closed as it was getting ready for the annual bazaar and then after the holidays it would close for a five-year renovation.
We got to walk the grounds and admire the castle with its spectacular views of Paterson and New York City plus the glorious foliage that surrounded the house and the hillside. We got to walk the fountains and walkways around the house and discussed how this could be used for parties and get togethers. From there, we finished our visit and now it was up to the students to work their magic.
From that afternoon on until the presentation on November 22nd, we met at the end of class to have Board Meetings and group discussions on our progress. Some of groups gelled better than others and with each class that I have done this there are always the ones who think they don’t have to do anything. They always stand out in the crowd.
Then there was a weird twist to the project. I stopped in City Hall in Paterson to see the Mayor and drop off a copy of the project to see if he and the Council would come and hear the presentation. Because of a mix-up in appointments, he thought I was someone else and being in a blue suit I am not sure knew who I was or what I was doing there (the intern who told me to come in was off that day and did not leave the message).
Paterson City Hall at 155 Market Street
We had a good laugh and I proceeded to tell his Honorable Andre Sayegh about our project for my class. We had a long discussion about what I wanted to do and the things I wanted the students to achieve on the project. He liked the ideas and came up with a better idea then him coming to class (he worked as a college professor as well and his class was right after mine). Why didn’t bring my class to City Hall to meet him? I loved it and told the Mayor I had to check with the school and then with the students but it should not be a problem.
The next week after our quiz and then lecture, almost everyone in my class got into their cars and off we went to Paterson City Hall on Market Street for our visit with the Mayor. I will tell you, it was a great meeting. The Mayor Sayegh is so personal and so enthusiastic about building the City of Paterson back to being an entertainment and dining destination that he embraced the project and encouraged all of my students with ideas and questions that we might have on how to bring tourists and surrounding residents back to the City.
My class and I meeting with His Honorable Mayor Andre Sayegh
With that I invited the Mayor and the Council to come to campus to hear our ‘pitch’ on how to sell the City of Paterson as a destination. He upped it more and asked if we would like to make the presentation in Paterson City Hall the morning of the project.
The class got all excited and high-fived one another. I asked everyone to slow down as permission to do this project would have to come from the Dean’s Office. I just can’t take thirty students to City Hall on a Saturday morning to present a project without permission. So with the help of my Chairman, Dean and the Vice-President of the College, we got the approval to present the project in Paterson City Hall.
I am the first one to say that I was really nervous about the presentation. I had not seen a dry run of it before that day and I found out later in the student’s papers that I read that there was a lot of last minutes preparations for the presentation up to that morning. When we got to City Hall I could see that a lot of students were nervous and when they were giving their presentations there were some that ummed their way through. This was not a problem as when you are giving your first presentation especially in a real life situation, it can be nerve wracking.
Presenting the project at Paterson City Hall
Even before the presentation I was giving the students their Dress Code grade. Getting a group of Millennials and Generation Z students to dress like it was the Reagan Administration was a challenge. Some of the men did not own suits or a blue blazer, so I allowed sweaters. Some did not know how to tie a tie but I have to admit they all had shoes that were shined. Still they presented themselves as gentlemen. The ladies were completely professionally dressed in dresses, skirts, blouses and pantsuits.
Still I opened the presentation to the Mayor of who I was as CEO, who we were and the presentation that we were about to give. After that I had the President and the Senior VP of Operations take over and what a job they did. We were working without a screen, monitor or projector that worked (surprising for a City Hall) but our President took full control of the situation and she and the Senior VP can it like pros.
Each team gave their presentation group by group. We started with the Special Events team with a presentation by their VP and her teams. We had the Lambert Castle team, The Paterson Falls Team, The Paterson Museum Team and the Abbott & Costello Film Retrospect Team. Each gave their presentation on how they would promote their areas followed by commercials promoting their section.
The Paterson Falls Team Commercial:
The Paterson Museum Team Commercial:
The Lambert Castle Team Commercial:
Then our Restaurant Team made their presentation promoting “Little Lima” as a dining and entertainment district in the way of the new “Ironbound Section” as in Newark, NJ. Our VP of the Restaurant Division also came with samples of Peruvian cookies for everyone to sample which I thought was a nice touch.
The ‘Little Lima’ Restaurant Team Commercial:
Our VP of Talent & Security and her team gave their presentation on how we were going to pay for the Paramus Division. She and her team gave their report of salaries, benefits and perks of the company. As a progressive and innovative company, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. wants to keep the employees happy.
The President and Senior VP lastly gave their report on where we would be running the Division from and picked out the location in an office space in Downtown Paterson, NJ right near City Hall where we could work with the Mayor and his team.
When the students finished their presentation, I was floored by the professionalism of the project, the details and just the way the students presented themselves. I swear I thought the whole thing was really real as did the Mayor and his team.
When we opened it up for questions of the Executive Team, I enjoyed hearing how the students could justify their work and research with the field trip and then their own visits to Paterson on their own. Some of the questions got so detailed that I thought they believed this was a presentation by an outside firm. It was a great relief when it was over. The students were happy and the Mayor and his team seemed impressed.
Our last order of business was taking a picture of the Bergecco-Parc Team with the Mayor and his team. That was a thrill for me. You will never know how proud of I was of this group of students (and of all my students who do this project.
The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. team Fall 2019 with his Honorable Mayor Andre Sayegh and his Executive Team at Paterson, NJ City Hall November 22, 2019.
Here is the attachment to the Bergecco-Parc Website:
The Presentation was feature in the recent “Inside Edition” of Bergen Community College Number 8:
As the team broke up and I talked with the Mayor, I saw the team leave one by one with new found respect for one another. Frustrations, concerns and last minute details over. Was the presentation 100%? There were some things we needed to work on including some dress-code issues, articulation in speeches and some of the details of the Power Point but this is what a real team faces everyday when they go to work. Who really does the work, who doesn’t, who thinks they can ‘coast by’ and who does the extra mile. I hope they all thought of this by the time we got back to class after the Thanksgiving break.
I said my goodbyes to everyone and had a quick conversation with my President and Senior VP of Operations to tell them how proud I was of the ladies for leading such a good presentation and taking control of the situation with the IT.
The only bad part is I never got to taste one of the muffins that the Mayor brought in for the team for breakfast. When I finally left, everything on the breakfast table was gone (more like stripped away).
When I came back from Florida after my break, I called the Mayor to hear his feedback and the best part was he said ‘he would hire us’. That was nice to hear!
If there was ever a Professor that felt prouder of his students it was me!
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 