Old Bridge, New Jersey

I've lived in New Jersey my entire life, and in Old Bridge, New Jersey, since 1969. My husband and I have lived in the same house on the same street all these years and our children were born here, went to school, and still have friends here. I guess that sounds rather dull and ordinary, but actually it isn't.
In many ways this is a special town. Are we as scenic as San Francisco? Well, we do have our own small bay area. When you walk on the boardwalk at Laurence Harbor, on a clear day you can see across the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to New York. Staten Island and Perth Amboy are close bye. There are always boats and seagulls not far from shore. It is a peaceful place.

Cheesequake State Park is another tranquil place we enjoy walking. It was carved out of Old Bridge. There are 68 acres of pine barrens, fresh and salt water marshes, white cedar swamp and hardwood forest. I enjoy the variety of plant and animal life. Besides the occasional deer crashing through the woods, you generally see field mice, box turtles, and squirrels. There is a huge lake where all kinds of birds congregate, my favorite being the Canadian geese. I have seen families of geese, goslings flanked front and back by concerned parents. Besides, the gaggle of geese, there are laughing gulls, snowy herons, blue jays and robins in the spring, even the occasional offspray. In the spring, the lake is stocked with trout for fishing enthusiasts. Weeping willow trees caress the sandy banks. At the Crab Bridge, people cast their traps and chat companionably.

From the early 19th century until 1920, there was a steamboat landing at Dock Road. It served as a major produce shipping point from the New Jersey farm community to New York City. Apparently, the ships didn't return empty from NYC; they carried away the city’s horse manure to fertilize the New Jersey farmlands. So the arrangement was a reciprocal one.

Perhaps we do not have the cultural diversity of New York, but our population is a varied one. However, I guess what really makes our working class community a special place is the kind of people who live here. Although we don't have a "main street" and the town is often referred to as a "bedroom community", people do care about others.

A number of Old Bridge people who worked in Manhattan died in 9-11. One man who worked with elevators near the Twin Towers hurried to the disaster hoping he could help bring people to safety. He lost his own life in making this heroic effort.

A neighbor who lives a few houses away from us described another act of courage and human concern. At the time that the first tower was attacked, our neighbor was with his supervisor, a man who was raised in Old Bridge. They saw what was happening from the vantage of an office window on the 102nd floor of the second tower. Our neighbor's boss immediately told him to get out of the building, that he would warn everyone else to leave immediately. My neighbor lived to tell the story; however, his boss did not.
The parents of these courageous men who lost their lives trying to help others are good, caring individuals that live in our township. Our residents have not forgotten the courage of those who lost their lives trying to help others. We do care. Old Bridge may be just an ordinary town like so many others, and yet in its own way it is extraordinary.

Jacqueline S

Submitted: Tuesday 24th February 2004, 8:03 PM

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