With a flourish, Mayor Jim Kownacki and Harold Vereen pulled the blue cloth off the signpost at the edge of the Lawrence Township Greenway on Eggerts Crossing Road on a warm, sunny morning Aug. 14.
And with it, the Lawrence Township Greenway pedestrian path was officially named the Harold Vereen Walkway – in honor of the longtime Eggerts Crossing neighborhood resident and former Lawrence Township Council member.
The Harold Vereen Walkway begins at the Ewing Township border, meanders through the Eggerts Crossing neighborhood on Johnson Avenue, and ends at the Rider University campus.
The paved path is in the roadbed of the former Johnson “fast line” trolley of the Trenton-Princeton Traction Co., which was in operation from 1901-40. The trip from Willow Street in Trenton to Witherspoon Street in Princeton took about 16 minutes.
Vereen has been a trailblazer in the Eggerts Crossing neighborhood where he grew up – from working with Rutgers University graduate students to create “A Vision of Eggerts Crossing” revitalization plan, to installing new sidewalks on Drift Avenue and Johnson Avenue.
Vereen led efforts to revitalize the neglected Heritage Park and expand Gilpin Park, and to complete the Lawrence Township Greenway during his 17-year tenure as president of the Eggerts Crossing Civic League board of trustees.
Kownacki told the 70-plus attendees that he had worked with Vereen on projects for many years, and “it is his vision that we have here (today).” Kownacki also served as the civic group’s treasurer.
“We are here today to honor a man I respect very much. He is my mentor. He got me to where I am today,” Kownacki said of Vereen, who served on the Lawrence Township Council from 1990-93.
Vereen, who took the microphone from Kownacki, said he grew up in Eggerts Crossing on Landover Road, and he still lives in the neighborhood.
“Eggerts Crossing is in my blood,” Vereen said.
Vereen recalled his initial involvement in civic affairs. He was 14 years old when his older brother, Fred Vereen Jr., handed him a petition that called on Lawrence Township to pave the streets in Eggerts Crossing.
“Fred told me to get some signatures on the petition. That petition got things moving,” he said.
“When I got on Township Council, I started up again. We filled in and leveled the old railroad bed for the Johnson trolley line (for what would become the Lawrence Township Greenway),” Vereen said.
There have been some setbacks along the way, but “we just kept things going,” Vereen said.
“It’s hard work, and it’s not always easy. There are new houses (in the neighborhood) because of what we are doing in the community. Once we get rid of COVID-19, we can do a lot more things,” Vereen said.
Vereen also was presented with a resolution from state Sen. Shirley K. Turner and Assembly members Verlina Reynolds Jackson and Anthony Verrelli of the 15th Legislative District, which includes Lawrence Township.
Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami Covello also sent a certificate to honor Vereen.
Turned thanked Lawrence Township officials for “a most deserving tribute to not just a man who is a public servant, (but) who had the vision and foresight to make the lives of everyone in this community abundantly healthier and safe.”
“Harold is not a show horse, he is a work horse,” Turner said. “So often, when elected officials leave office, they disappear. But if you look around this community, you can see Harold is still working.”
Turner also acknowledged Vereen’s wife, Joyce, noting that “behind every great man, there is a greater woman. She supported Harold and works arm-in-arm with him.”
Jackson also praised Vereen for his fortitude, his willpower, strength and determination to see projects to completion over the course of 20 years. It is all about community-building, and young people would be wise to continue it, she said.
“It’s staying together, even when we get the word ‘no,’ ” Jackson said.
Mercer County Commissioner Sam Frisby said, “We are so excited about the renaming (of the Lawrence Township Greenway path).” “You have been doing this work for a long time. Everybody knows the Vereen name. We are so glad you blazed a path for us.”