Festival will be held Sept. 23
By:Vanessa S. Holt
CHESTERFIELD – Visitors to the 12th annual Crosswicks Village Festival on Sept. 23 may find themselves dropping in on another century, with Civil War soldiers setting up camp on the Village Green as passengers board carriages for a ride around town.
The Crosswicks Festival Committee, which puts together the annual event, is made up of representatives from non-profit groups in the township.
"It’s done to bring the community together," said Claudia Monte, a board member of the Crosswicks Community Association.
Most of the activities will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the village of Crosswicks on Main Street, at the Historical Society Museum, Methodist Church, Crosswicks Community House, Crosswicks Library, and Friends Meeting House. Visitors can begin their day at any of those locations, and make their way through the village to see the sights.
The Chesterfield Township Historical Society will present a house tour on the day of the festival. They plan to feature about six houses this year, all within easy walking distance, highlighting a variety of different styles of homes.
Carriage rides also will depart from the Historical Society building on Main Street throughout the day.
Antique motorcycles and old farm machinery donated by residents for the event will be on display, and a broom maker will demonstrate that Colonial craft all day long.
The Historical Society also will hold a 50/50 raffle, and will sell mincemeat and festival sweatshirts to raise money for its programs.
The highlight of the day, said event organizers, will be an appearance by Ray Mansfield, host of "Let’s Talk Antiques," on NBC-40. He will conduct appraisals for $5 per item, from noon to 3 p.m..
His nationally syndicated column, "Flea Market Finds," generates over 3,000 letters a month from the readers of over 150 newspapers who have questions about antiques.
"He calls himself the ‘poor man’s road show’," said Ms. Monte, referring to the popular "Antiques Road Show" program that features expert appraisals.
Mr. Mansfield’s appraisals will be a new addition to the festival. Attendees are welcome to bring "any type of antique," she said, whether they are family heirlooms or "flea market finds."
In addition to the all-day events and the antique appraisal, there are a number of scheduled performances.
At 11:15 a.m. dancers from the Country Roads Dance Academy will perform Colonial period dances outside. At noon and 2 p.m., the Libby Prison Minstrels will give a performance for the third year in a row. They perform Civil War era songs in period costumes.
Both performances are sponsored by the Crosswicks Community Association. They also will hold a raffle for a trip, with a first prize of two nights at Pharaoh Inn in Cape May, a second prize of two nights at Fernbrook Inn in Chesterfield, and a third prize of one night at Isaac Hillard Inn in Pemberton.
The Crosswicks Community Association will host a Civil War encampment on the Village Green during the day. Although not the site of any Civil War battle, Crosswicks was the site of a skirmish between the British and American troops in the Revolutionary War, as British troops withdrew from Philadelphia and began to make their way to New York.
A cannonball hole in the Crosswicks Meeting House wall attests to a time in the village history when British troops stayed at the Meeting House in 1778.
Local historians said Sunday services were still held at the Meeting House, even when the building was used as barracks by soldiers.
The Meeting House was built in 1773, and is the third building on the property to be used for that purpose. Friends had previously met at the home of Thomas Lambert on the site in 1677. The present Meeting House was built for 750 pounds, the equivalent of $3,750, with a cedar interior and oak benches.
Many of the buildings on Main Street have a complex history. For instance, Crosswicks Library has been housed in the former Union Fire Company building since the 1960’s.
The library was founded in 1817, but moved several times as it looked for a permanent home. In the early 1900s, the library functioned out of private homes for some time, until it received permission from Union Fire Company to use a meeting room on the second floor as its headquarters.
In 1962, the Library used the balcony of the Crosswicks Community Association across the street until it outgrew the facility and ultimately took over the fire company’s building when that organization moved into the former Crosswicks Elementary School in 1968.
This year at the festival, the Crosswicks Library will be the site of book, plant and bake sales. A puppet show will be held at 1 p.m.
At 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., Florence resident Gwendolyn Jones, founder of the Garden State Storyteller’s League, will tell stories to children and children-at-heart at the Crosswicks Library
Every year, a special Crosswicks Post Office Village Festival cancellation stamp is issued, and this year it will be of the Chesterfield Village Crossroads.
The Crosswicks Post Office has been at its present location on the corner of New Street and Main Street since 1967, but until 1907 was on the corner of Buttonwood Street and Ward Avenue.
The Union Fire Company No. 1 will hold a spaghetti dinner from 3 to 7 p.m. Food will also be available throughout the day of the festival at Crosswicks United Methodist Church.
There is no rain date set for the festival. Proceeds benefit non-profit organizations in the community, including Crosswicks Community Association, Chesterfield Township Historical Society, Crosswicks Library, Crosswicks Friends Meeting House, Crosswicks Methodist Church and Union Fire Co. No. 1.