It is safe to say that no individual is as responsible for putting Freehold Borough on the international map as Bruce Springsteen, who was born and raised in the blue-collar town.

JEFF GRANIT Eirik Alver (l), a journalist from Norway, chats with Freehold Borough Councilman Kevin Coyne during a stroll through Vinyard Park on May 12. Alver visited Freehold Borough to research a story he is writing about the town that produced rock star Bruce Springsteen.

I was more than a little surprised when a phone call came in to the editorial desk of the News Transcript on May 8 from Oslo, Norway, from a person who identi­fied himself as a journalist from a large daily newspaper in Oslo.

Eirik Alver asked to talk to someone who was familiar with the history of the borough. Alver said he was a writer for the Sunday supplement of Dagbladet, a daily newspaper with approximately 1 million readers. He said he wanted to do a story on the historic old town, or more precisely, "Bruce Springsteen’s Freehold."

It seems that as part of an upcoming European tour, Springsteen will play a concert in Oslo in June and Alver told me the readers of his newspaper would like to know more about the town in which Bruce grew up and the people who live in it.

Alver got on the Internet and came across a story by News Transcript staff writer Clare Marie Celano that described how a playground at Jackson and Center streets was named Vinyard Park in honor of Marion Vinyard and her late husband, Tex, two people who nurtured the careers of young local musicians, including Springsteen, in the 1960s.

Having written hundreds of stories about all facets of the borough and its resi­dents for almost 20 years, I volunteered to tell the Norwegian journalist what I knew about Freehold and its people.

Alver informed me that was not quite what he had in mind. He said he was flying from Oslo to New York City on May 9 with the intention of driving to the borough with his New York-based photographer early May 12.

I thought, wow, if a foreign newspaper was willing to spend that much money and time to do a special story about Freehold and one of its favorite sons, the least I could do was act as a guide and help the visiting journalist get some appropriate in­terviews.

Alver and his photographer, Orjan Ellinvag, arrived at the News Transcript office on Route 9 in Freehold Township at around 11 a.m. May 12.

I traveled with the two Norwegian jour­nalists to the Court Jester on East Main Street, where I had arranged for Kevin Coyne, a borough councilman and the town’s official historian, a noted author in his own right, to join the group.

We were joined by Michael Page, pro­prietor of the Court Jester, where Springsteen has been spotted from time to time during visits to his hometown.

It was also pointed out that Springsteen, who graduated from Freehold High School in 1967, often visited next door at Federici’s pizzeria, starting back when he was a youngster.

Page described how Springsteen has the ability to blend into large crowds, such as those that gather during summer Kruise Nites in the borough, without drawing a lot of attention. Page said while Springsteen is very good about signing autographs, man­agement did not encourage people to seek them, allowing the rock star to enjoy some privacy.

Coyne offered that Springsteen is not really apart from the people of Freehold, but "one of us."

The next stop was Jackson and Center streets to see the old rug mill, which has been converted into an apartment building and houses municipal operations, and Vinyard Park. Coyne said the park was ap­proximately on the site where the Vinyards had lived and invited Springsteen and other young musicians in to practice years ago.

The next stop was the Little League field on Otterson Road, where Coyne said Springsteen was a good baseball player during his youth.

We then passed a double house on South Street, near Throckmorton Street, the last house in the borough where the Springsteen family had been known to live. We also visited a site on Randolph Street, now a driveway to St. Rose of Lima Church, where the house which was Springsteen’s first Freehold home once stood. Ellinvag took pictures of a big red maple tree mentioned by Springsteen in some of his lyrics.

The Norwegian journalists were then shown St. Rose of Lima School on South Street. Springsteen graduated from the eighth grade at St. Rose in 1963. He re­turned as a world famous rock star in 1996 and played a concert in the school gymna­sium.

We then visited 39¹/2 Institute St., on the corner of Parker Street, the house where Springsteen lived for the longest time in the borough.

A stop was made at the borough’s fire­house on West Main Street, where the vis­iting journalists were shown and pho­tographed the "Born to Run" truck pur­chased by Springsteen.

Freehold High School was also visited and the 1967 yearbook was removed from its place under lock and key so that Ellinvag could take a photo of Springsteen’s picture in the annual. The visiting journalists had a pleasant chat with the main office staff.

The Battle of Monmouth Monument on Court Street, erected in memory of the pivotal 1778 battle between American and British troops, was the last stop on the tour.

The two Norwegians headed back to New York City just before 4 p.m., hope­fully having a little more insight about the people and the town where Bruce Springsteen grew up.

Dick Metzgar is a News Transcript staff writer

Visitor from afar gets look at Bruce’s hometown

Dick Metzgar

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