Doug Palmieri, owner of the Old Bordentown Bookshop at 200 Farnsworth Avenue, will be a guest on the Jersey Buzz Radio Show this week. He’ll be talking about ghosts and hauntings and the upcoming Annual Ghost Walk in Bordentown, NJ on Sunday, the 25 Oct. from 6 – 9 pm.
He will have copies of the new book by Arlene S. Bice, Living with Ghosts ($15)that include true stories of Bordentown, Burlington City, and Mercer County, all NJ. This is her latest book that brings you many new stories never told before, plus an update on the haunting of her former home in Bordentown.
Resident writer, Susan Von Dongan, holds a guest spot in the book with a personal paranormal story of her own.
Info from Downtown Bordentown Association: Hear true ghostly tales of Bordentown City on this one-hour guided walking tour of the colonial town’s historic district. From the “woman in white” to the haunted Clara Barton schoolhouse, this after-dark tour is sure to provide great stories, chills and fun! Appropriate for all ages.
Stories and routes change each year. Tours happen rain or shine – so come dressed for the weather.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for children under 8. Advance ticketing strongly suggested. Ticket sales begin Oct. 3. Call The Old Book Shop at 609-324-9909 for info and tickets.
Blog
SAVE THE DATE! FRIDAY, 23 OCT. 7 – 9 BOOK READING/SIGNING of THE AFTERNOON CROWD at the American House Tavern * A Warren Artists’ Market Event
Warren Food Works 108 So. Main Str. Warrenton, NC252-257-1239.
In the worst of times, a barroom can be a dangerous place, in the best of times it can be fun, educational, and a good source of income. My few years tending bar at the American House Tavern, in the middle of horse country in the 70s, were the best of times. Some of the people I met became dear friends, some were dark horses, and some just had plain old good stories. I love a good story.
A tavern, with their daily regular customers and the newbies that walked in for the first time, is like a small neighborhood. You get to know some very well and others only their façade. But people reveal more than they realize when they are in public. Many stories didn’t get into the book. I’ll talk about a few of them.
Come out, bring your book to be signed, or you can purchase one for $10, or just come to hear the stories.
Random Act of Poetry Day
Grandfather Harry Daniels, Rachel Ann Daniels Philkill, Mahlon Philkill
WHO I AM & WHERE I COME FROM
Arlene Sandra Bice
Pre-internet years-chasing down the paper trail;
census, taxes, death certificates, birth, marriage,
and divorce. Name changes for many reasons.
Finding parents info, for they’ve been gone,
rarely spoke of their parentage or heritage;
information long gone before me.
Their grandparents-an interesting layer of ancestry,
coming & going, who is who, enlistments, uniforms,
cavalry, War Between the States; desertion, why?
A few stories remain, questions stay unanswered;
family secrets hide in dark corners. digging, digging, digging,
Filling in details, personalities emerge, talents, failings,
lies told, for what reason, what were their lives like,
what was happening in their world to influence their
decisions.
Ah-h-h, history revealed, folded into daily life as it was.
I found a source of my genes, a mirror to hold up,
career, marriages, adventures, a survivor of life, self-made,
keeper of the keys.
It was in a public library, where the original Wills & Testaments
of Rachel Ann Daniels and her mother Sarah Ann Martin
were brought forth; holding the original documents in my hands,
touching the paper they held a hundred years ago.
Unembarrassed, I wept; tears streaming; my roots exposed at last.
This is who I am and where I come from.
Book reading/signing at the Vance Co. Genealogy Society, Henderson NC
Come out to hear the unprinted, inside story of The Afternoon Crowd at the American House Tavern program, written by Arlene S. Bice dressed in colonial garb. The program is hosted by the Vance County Genealogy Society during their monthly meeting on Monday, October 12, 2015 at 6:30 P.M. in the Farm Bureau room of the Perry Memorial Library in Henderson, NC.
This is a fun book as well as recording the history of the 70s, set in the middle of horse country. Bring in your book to be signed or purchase one there for $10. Please plan to attend this informative meeting. All VCGS meetings are open to the public.
AMERICAN HOUSE TAVERN PICTURES
Bill-the owner, Roger the hoagie man, Mike-former owner, and The Candy Man Bill
Scenes from the American House Tavern-the subject for The Afternoon Crowd. Bill-the owner is a basic who threads in and out of the stories. Roger, the hoagie man-who made the best hoagies ever, ever, ever, will appear in another volume. Mike will appear in the next volume, too. Bill- the candy man has his bit of story in the book.
Every town and every house has its own stories to tell. Taverns are the best places for learning about human nature, how people think, and sometimes why they think the way they do. It was a job between careers and I loved it!
Signed copies of The Afternoon Crowd can be found at Randy Now’s ManCave at 134 Farnsworth Ave. or at the Old Bookshop at 200 Farnsworth Ave. in Bordentown, NJ. Or, you may order it from me if you want an inscription, or from Amazon.com. $10 wherever you buy it. Enjoy!
AN EXCEPTIONAL FIRST FRIDAY POETRY NIGHT
The September First Friday continues to exceed my expectations! I thought that the holiday weekend would bring us a small group dedicated to our efforts of bringing poetry and oral expression to Warren County. Instead, the Warren Food Works (WFW) was packed with a diverse crowd from 18 to 80 mingling, enjoying each other while eating, drinking, and soaking up the words cast out into the atmosphere.
A wide range of poetic subjects seeping from the hearts of writers-Warren County writers, and Virginia writers, too, silenced the room with absorption. The always-welcome songs sung so beautifully by Shavon Russell Jones and afterwards, her sister, (forgive me I didn’t get her name.) A big surprise to everyone when volunteer from behind the bar, Cris Hunter ended the evening with the most beautiful rendition of Nature Boy. It brought some tears for the beauty of it. Their voices were like melted chocolate, velvety smooth and mesmerizing to everyone.
Miranda Medlin offered a stirring presentation, taking all into her realm. Devonte, a poet from our last year anthology Sitting with a Drunken Sorceress gave us his words and Travis Bullock continues to bring people in just to hear what he has to tell us.
So many others came to read, to share thoughts, feelings, and to merely listen. It was a very full night; a night to show Thomas Park what his dream has wrought; a night to make him proud for all his efforts.
READY FOR YOU TO READ!
PIRATES ON THE LAKE
It was a magical, mystical night on Lake Gaston
the first full supermoon of the year promising to
revive enchantment, serendipitous messages of
nature, a culmination of the summer of 2015 before
the Virgo harvest of planting in the earth began in reality.
On this evening when the world gazed at the same
full supermoon at the same time; our moon would
follow the path of the late winter sun and the sun’s
path for six months; a supermoon indeed.
All water vehicles had gone home, hooting as they
passed, not knowing the sacredness of our laden boat
or the independent meditations and ceremonies
planned with great care and anticipation.
Wanting to free my soul of entanglements
ethereal currents ran through me as surely
as passing water crafts created currents to
rock our boat, a way to gain our attention.
Yet it was the moon teasing us by peeking
in and out of the mournfully colored clouds
that caught our thoughts and held them until
we pulled up anchor, quietly, and slowly made
our way home.
Arlene Sandra Bice (C) 8/31/2015
Photos by Lisa Hagan
The Afternoon Crowd of the American House Tavern
While tending bar is a lot of work, although good bartenders don’t appear to be working hard, if you like the study of people, it is grand. I love people; our differences, our sameness, and our stories. For as many as we are on this earth, we each have a personal story that is unique. We have reasons, whys, and wherefores that mold us into who we are today.
While Stanley Dancer was a great horseman with a good reputation as an individual, I had met him, but did not know him on a personal level. I did come to know many of the people who worked for him and for other horse trainers in the Plumsted Township area. They were teachers about their professions to me. Working with and around horses was a daily chore; no taking off sick days, or Christmas. The animals must be fed and tended to and these people chose a life style that did not afford them luxuries. I admired them greatly; came to love them for who they were, what they were willing to sacrifice to be where they were, and what jobs they did.
Please enjoy an excerpt from THE HORSEY SET
they came with bruised, calloused hands
coarser than sandpaper
to lift a shot of whiskey chased by a
cold mug of beer,
a reward
for hard work done out in the elements,
thanks not given
except
what they gave themselves;
not a lot of time
to linger; even on
Christmas Day
horses had regular schedules
to keep
and these
workers were there
to keep ‘em
The Afternoon Crowd at the American House Tavern *new book out
A bolt of lightning came out of the sky and struck me in the spring of this year. This book is the result of that moment. I have no idea which of my deceased ancestors dredged up these old memories and sent them to me or why it came, but it lifted me out of a gloomy week, filling me with so much laughter while I wrote it and again, when I re-wrote it.
This easy-to-read poetic narrative is of my few years tending bar at the American House Tavern, in the middle of the horse country of New Egypt, New Jersey, in the 70s. I share my take on the people who came into my life at that time, in that place. This is my interpretation of those sitting across the bar from me while I scooted around, pouring beers, mixing cocktails, and playing amateur psychologist, sometimes matchmaker.
The books are being printed up now and available on Amazon in hardcopy and e-mode. If you would like a signed copy, or one inscribed to your best friend, lover, relative, etc. please send $12 (includes shipping) using Paypal or a check in snail mail.
If you enjoy it, please write a review.