BORDENTOWN CITY: City train show returns

Each holiday season citizens create a train display at Old City Hall at 11 Crosswicks St.

by Jen Samuel, Special Writer
BORDENTOWN CITY — Each holiday season citizens create a train display at Old City Hall at 11 Crosswicks St.
   The day after Thanksgiving families, residents and friends enter the Old City Hall to witness the transformative Holiday Train Show featuring model engine trains running through spirited landscapes in charismatic communities.
   This year, the train show opens to the public Friday, Nov. 29, and runs from noon to 8 p.m. through the Thanksgiving weekend, Saturday, Nov. 30 and Sunday, Dec. 1. Admission is free.
   Nearby from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 30 the annual tree lighting will illuminate the intersection of Crosswicks Street and Farnsworth Avenue. During the event, Santa will make an appearance.
   Free doors prizes and raffle tickets will be available to lucky winners of the train show on Sunday, Dec. 1.
   Two of the planners are Commissioner Zigmont Targonski and Mayor Joseph Malone III. For almost four weeks they have been working on the project inside the Old City Hall.
   The festive train show set to run, in part, on holiday spirit will feature approximately 10 looping tracks, multiple gauge engines and locomotives as big as three feet long.
   ”This is our fourth year,” Mr. Targonski said Monday. “We’ve talked about this for ten years.”
   Nancy Targonski, Mr. Targonski’s wife, is another creator at the helm of the fourth annual train show.
   In one area she is setting up a New England village with houses and people figurines.
   Additionally, Ms. Targonski is creating a tribute to the Seaside Heights boardwalk.
   ”It is a salute to Seaside,” Mr. Targonski said, adding his wife traveled to iconic spot on the Jersey Shore as a girl with her family.
   He said his wife was planning the display prior to the iconic Jersey Shore boardwalk being struck by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. In September, the iconic location was again consumed, this time by the flames of an electrical fire.
   ”Now it’s doubly even more important,” the commissioner said.
   The Seaside tribute area will feature an amusement ride, a Ferris wheel, a merry-go-round, plus a train running along the boardwalk and swimmers in a replica ocean.
   Additionally, Mr. Targonski said his wife would be displaying some historical boardwalk pictures of Seaside Heights.
   Half a dozen trains will run through a residential town Mayor Malone is creating, which Mr. Targonski said mirrors the area.
   Also there will be a Thomas the Tank Engine for youngsters.
   Visitors will have an opportunity to take festive photos near the display with loved ones.
   The mayor said the team is trying to create an atmosphere welcoming to youngsters and adults, where the kids can have fun and parents can relive their childhoods.
   After Thanksgiving weekend, the Holiday Train Show will remain open on weekends through the New Year from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Special showings are available by appointment.
   Mayor Malone said 4,500 people attended last year.
   ”We try to do something a little bit different,” Mr. Zigmont stated.
   Groups such as Train Collectors of America have already been calling Mr. Targonski for show dates and times.
   ”It’s a pretty elaborate set up,” Mr. Targonski stated.
   For 2013, Mr. Targonski has created a double decker track for the model trains to travel.
   The mayor said on the first floor of Old City Hall resident Mikki Quinn is creating a train show using Polar Express and Candy Land layouts.
   Harvey Crawford will also be showing a special Christmas theme train set.
   The Old City Hall Restoration Project Committee of Bordentown City oversees events in the building.
   Additionally Bob Liberman, an avid model train and railroad memorabilia collector, will be presenting in the show.
   Mr. Targonski encouraged families to create their own train displays at home.
   ”Our layouts are within the realm that any family could do for a minimal cost,” he said.
   To put on the holiday show volunteers spend $5,000 of their own money, the mayor said.
   ”This is our gift to the community and to everyone who wants to come,” Mayor Malone said.
   The mayor anticipated as many as 18 to 20 trains running at once in the show.
   The volunteers are working in Old City Hall to create, what the mayor and commissioner described as, a place of friendship for the community.
   ”There are some good wholesome activities for kids to come and see,” Mayor Malone said. “We just want to have a very positive feeling, and, wish everybody a very happy holiday season.”
   Folks visiting the train show are invited to make donations to the Old City Hall Restoration Project to assist the committee in its efforts to raise capital for restoration projects of the historic landmark building.
   For information on Old City Hall and upcoming events, contact Vicki Gaudier, at [email protected], or visit the Old City Hall Restoration Project Facebook page.