Don Poinsett’s artwork of a Prince Street home decorates the October page of next year’s calendar.
By: Vanessa S. Holt
Every year the Hidden Treasures calendar delves a little deeper into local history and architecture to present 13 images of local houses and historic sites as interpreted by neighborhood artists.
This year, the Northern Burlington County Chamber of Commerce is branching out from its original starting place of Bordentown into neighboring towns where some buildings have stood in one form or another for more than 200 years.
Now in its 18th year, the calendar, which raises money for art scholarships through its advertising sales, is not yet out of locations to depict in its pages.
"There are still a lot out there," said calendar committee co-chairwoman Claudia Teal, an artist herself. This year’s calendar showcases some sites that may be familiar to anyone who has ever strolled or driven down Farnsworth Avenue in Bordentown, but it travels a little farther afield into the farmlands of Columbus and Springfield, and to Florence and Crosswicks.
This year the $850 college scholarships raised from the calendars went to Bordentown Regional High School student Julie Clauser and Northern Burlington Regional High School student Christopher Victoria. The calendars will be available for free at local businesses that advertise in the calendar in the northern Burlington County area.
Artwork included in this year’s calendar includes:
Cover: Kathy Shumway Tunney’s depiction of an "Arts and Crafts" style house on Farnsworth Avenue in Bordentown that was built in 1910 for $3,100.
January: The Gilbert House on Petticoat Bridge Road in Columbus, by Nancy Gilbert. This house was built on the site of a Dec. 22, 1776 skirmish between Continental and Hessian troops.
February: Locus Hill Farm in Springfield Township. The house depicted in artwork by Patty Davis Parker dates to 1693 and has been in the same family since 1950.
March: A Farnsworth Avenue home in Bordentown, built in 1910 for Dr. William H. Shipps. Depicted on the calendar by Robert Allard, the home has been the home of Robert and Kim Sexton since 1989.
April: Lydia Congiu is the artist behind an illustration of a house at the corner of Prince and Burlington streets in Bordentown.
May: The Von Thaden Farm in Florence Township, which dates to 1691, is illustrated by Bob Malloy. The original section of the farmhouse was built in 1752, according to the calendar.
June: Steve Ferenzi’s drawing of St. Clare Roman Catholic Church in Florence is featured. Built in 1904, this is the second St. Clare’s church built in the town the first was a wood structure built in 1874.
July: Louis Borbi’s contribution depicts the gates of Helis Stock Farm in Springfield Township, established in 1873. The 1,500-acre estate was a thoroughbred farm with 90 miles of fence and 52 buildings in its prime.
August: Stacey Taylor’s Front Street property in Crosswicks dates to 1855 and was the home of Samuel Pasternack, who performed at the Metropolitan Opera House, according to the calendar. The artist for August is Phil Aklonis.
September: Al Barker’s contribution depicts a Main Street home in Crosswicks from 1680, one of the oldest buildings in Crosswicks.
October: A Prince Street home built in 1820 with an addition added in 1939 is pictured by artist Don Poinsett. It is presently owned by the Antozzeski family.
November: Judy Wilkinson’s artwork features a pre-Revolutionary War house on Park Street in Bordentown formerly known as the White House. It was a dormitory for the Bordentown Military Institute.
December: Artist Michael Budden contributes the final page in the calendar, the Rueben Greenberg Farm in Columbus. It entered the Farmland Preservation program in 2005.

