Middletown Dedicates Anniversary Plaza

More than 50 people attended a ceremony to dedicate Anniversary Plaza - the spot where a time capsule was buried last year for the township’s 350th anniversary.

According to a township news release:

The dedication ceremony was held Friday at the plaza at the the Middletown Arts Center on Church Street.

The plaza includes engraved bricks, benches and a commemorative plaque.

The area was the center of Middletown when it was founded, and it is one of the oldest, continuously inhabited areas in America.

“The Lenni Lenape, here for 7,000 years, called this place Chaquassit and train station was their pow wow field. It’s where the Europeans came in the early 1600s; where the first town meeting was held in December 1664 just steps away at Old First Church. It’s where residents voted in the streets and took the sides of pirates and defied magistrates, locking then in the basement where Christ Church stands; where people argued, made amends, then celebrated on the ‘Training Day’ of the 1800s; where our generation chose to memorialize those we have lost in tragedy in 2001; where in 2014 we buried our time capsule to be opened on our 400th anniversary in 2064,” Mayor Stephanie C. Murray said.

Anniversary Plaza is a project of the Middletown 350 Committee. The members of the committee are: Tara Berson, Township Clerk Heidi R. Brunt, Recreation Director Janet E. Dellett, Jamie Ferlanti, Tom Garretson, Public Information Officer Cindy Herrschaft, Deputy Township Clerk Melissa Hesler, Chief Financial Officer Colleen Lapp, Public Works Director Ted Maloney, Linda Maresca, Township Administrator Anthony P. Mercantante, Mayor Stephanie C. Murray, Maggie O’Brien, Tony Panzica, Hedy Perna, Secretary to the Mayor Maureen T. Raisch, Library Director Kim Rinaldi, Assistant Director Community Development Amy Sarrinikolaou, Assistant Administrator Jim VanNest, Historical Advisor Peter Van Nortwick, Assistant Recreation Director Mary Beth Wheeler and Assistant Public Works Director Victor J. Wymbs.

The Middletown Arts Center is accepting donations to add personalized bricks to the plaza. A portion of each donation benefits the Middletown Arts Council. For more information call 732-671-4100.

Photos courtesy Middletown Township