As I stood on the newly created plaza under a brightly shinning mid-day sun, with the Raritan River flowing over the Clinton waterfall to the left, and the iconic Hunterdon Art Museum in the foreground, it was difficult to not fully appreciate the sheer beauty of Clinton, N.J. as it celebrated its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary Saturday May 30, 2015.
The town of Clinton put on all the trimmings for the event. Main St. was closed to cars. Vendors set up shop from the Clinton Fire Department all the way to Lower Center St. Starting with a beer garden and a barbeque at the fire department, our beautiful hamlet opened up Main St. for its citizens to walk up and down, allowing them the opportunity to casually peruse the numerous vendor tents.
Diagonally across from the post office was a face painting tent for children (and adults if they so desired). Balloon animals were available for kids who may not have wanted to spend the rest of the day looking like a lion, tiger, or bear. Oh my!
On the same side of the street as the post office, The Clinton Book Shop, one of the staples of downtown Clinton, hosted a book signing by long time New York Post cartoonist Sean Delonas. As usual, the doors to the book shop were wide open, welcoming all with open arms.
Further down the street, just before crossing Leigh Street, Pru Thai offered a buffet selection of some of the finest Thai cuisine to be found for miles around. Twenty yards to the other side of Leigh St., right outside of Bill Healy Designs, which offers some of the most exquisite crystal and stemware in New Jersey, The Clinton Guild was advertising upcoming local events. Their "Time to Discover Clinton" brochure was chock full of exciting things going on in Clinton this summer. A chance to win the 50/50 raffle made visiting the Guild members that much more worthwhile.
Even though the walk was not that long from the fire department to the Guild tent, it was a warm day and a good appetite could be worked up pretty easily. Even if the fireman's barbeque or the Pru Thai station had been a stop along the way. The planners of this wonderful day must have had this in mind as there were ample opportunities to fill one's belly along the rest of the route.
A New York City style "dirty-water dog" Thuman's cart could be found just past the Hallmark store. The next chance to slow down any rumblings that may have been occurring in the stomach was offered two doors down and across the street, at Fourchette. They have been satisfying the cheese lover in all of us during their short but enjoyable time on Main Street. Who doesn't have a love of cheese deep down inside? In front of their store was an array of samples varied enough to satisfy any palette.
Shoes, clothes and various sundries were available further down the street before the turn to the newly renovated plaza overlooking the Clinton waterfall. Recently reconstructed with steps leading to the river, the plaza has added one more element for the fine citizens of Clinton to enjoy as they finish a stroll down Main St., or decide to take their shoes off to wade in the cool, refreshing river.
A Billy Joel cover band in front of the Hunterdon Art Museum was awaiting those who made the turn onto Lower Center Street. If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn the man from Oyster Bay had paid Clinton a visit. The sound was almost indistinguishable from Billy Joel himself. The band put on quite a show!
While all of this was wonderful and a true treat, as I stood on the banks of the Raritan River listening to Billy Joel and feeling a cool breeze come across my somewhat sunburned face, the thought of how quaint and peaceful Clinton is began to flow into my heart. It found a home and settled in.
Along with this I began to think of all the people across the last one hundred and fifty years who must have felt the same way. How many have stood in the exact spot I was standing in, thinking how lucky they were to be living in Clinton? I'm very confident they were feeling that way as I doubt Clinton has changed much since 1865. Outside of the 'horseless carriage' and electricity, I wouldn't be surprised if a hundred and fifty years ago Clinton was nearly identical to the quaint town we know and love today. Here's hoping it looks the same in another hundred and fifty years.