Bring in the Harvest Homecoming at NBL

For centuries, ancient peoples of North America baked or boiled a large orangey squash, called gescundhac, even drying strips to preserve for winter nourishment. In 1609, native communities along the Hudson River offered pumpkins to Henry Hudson’s crew.

European colonists applied the name, “pompion,” a word describing “a large ripe melon,” to the North American fruit, which English speakers corrupted into “pumpkin.” So how did the pumpkin transform into the Jack-O-Lantern of the Irish-American commemoration of All Hallow’s Eve?

The Bergen County Historical Society will host a Harvest Homecoming at Historic , 1201-1209 Main Street, River Edge, tomorrow from 6:30 to 9:30pm.

At 7pm in the Steuben House, historian Kevin Wright, author of 1609: A Country That Was Never Lost, will speak on the history of the pumpkin. A photographic exhibit, entitled, “Hier Ligt Begraven: Historic Cemeteries and Family Burying Grounds of Bergen County,” features views from historic cemeteries, gravestone art and inscriptions, which bear silent witness to those who made our history.

Throughout the evening, visitors may partake of period refreshments and a gift shop in the Campbell-Christie House, a restored 18th century tavern relocated from New Milford to the grounds of the Bergen County Historical Society in 1977.

The Demarest House, beautifully restored by the Blauvelt-Demarest Foundation, will also be open, displaying Bergen Dutch furnishings. Local artifacts exhibited in the Steuben House include a Revolutionary War musket, fished from the Hackensack River at New Bridge by a nine-year old boy in 1914.

The suggested donation is $7 for adults, $5 for children, and free for BCHS members. In conjunction with our Harvest Homecoming, BCHS will be collecting non-perishable can goods for donation to the Center for Food Action.