There is little doubt that Fred Vereen Jr. has left his mark on the Eggerts Crossing neighborhood.
By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
There is little doubt that Fred Vereen Jr. has left his mark on the Eggerts Crossing neighborhood.
Mr. Vereen was instrumental in establishing the Lawrence Neighborhood Service Center on Eggerts Crossing Road — now known as the Lawrence Community Center — and in the development of the Eggerts Crossing Village affordable housing complex on Johnson Avenue.
He also played a role in creating the Every Child Valued after-school program that meets at Eggerts Crossing Village. In fact, the housing development’s community center was renamed the “Fred Vereen Jr. Community Center.”
Now, the street on which Mr. Vereen has lived for many years — Cheverly Road — is being renamed Fred Vereen Jr. Road. Township Council approved a resolution earlier this month to change the name of the street in his honor.
”This idea to rename the street was brought to my attention by Tom Wilfrid,” said Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun. Mr. Wilfrid, who is a former mayor and school board president, chairs the Every Child Valued program’s board of trustees.
”I thought, ‘This one’s pretty easy.’ It is a testament to Mr. Vereen and what he has accomplished,” Mr. Krawczun said at Township Council’s Nov. 7 meeting.
Mayor Jim Kownacki thanked Mr. Vereen for all of the work he has put into making the Eggerts Crossing neighborhood a better place to live. He praised the lifelong Eggerts Crossing neighborhood resident for his hard work and dedication.
”It’s time we changed the name of the road for you,” Mayor Kownacki said.
Mr. Vereen thanked Township Council for renaming Cheverly Road — which is off Eggerts Crossing Road, near the Lawrence Community Center — in his honor.
”That doesn’t mean I can say that I’ll get my street plowed first,” he said with a smile.
The Eggerts Crossing neighborhood has come a long way, Mr. Vereen said. It was one of the last neighborhoods to have its streets paved and utilities installed. The substandard housing sparked the movement to create the Eggerts Crossing Village development. He was the development’s property manager until he retired in 2008.
Mr. Vereen said he often tells visitors about the history of the Eggerts Crossing neighborhood and Eggerts Crossing Village, and what it was like when he was growing up in the neighborhood. He said he donated his papers and documents to the Lawrence Headquarters Branch of the Mercer County Library System “so people can see exactly what it took” to get to this point.
William Holmes, Mr. Vereen’s brother-in-law, said he was “elated” because renaming the street in his honor because it speaks to what he has accomplished.
Helen Holmes, who is Mr. Vereen’s sister, said she was proud of her brother. She said she had watched him work for the betterment of Eggerts Crossing from the time he was a young man. The Eggerts Crossing Civic League changed its bylaws to allow him to join because he was too young, she said.
Mr. Vereen “got people together to get things done,” including the push for moderate income housing that resulted in Eggerts Crossing Village, she said.
”I have seen you grit your teeth many times, hoping (good) things would happen for the African-American community. Now, you are 80 years old and you have a street named for you,” Ms. Holmes told her brother.

