The historical marker that leads you to had path to the cemetery
History of the Cemetery:
(From the Historic Marker sign)
The historic cemetery directly in the rear of the Behnke farm contains the graves of descendants of early settlers in this area including a least two local farmer-militiamen of the American Revolution, Jacobus Brouwer and Henry Banta, as well as the grave of Cornelius Demarest, who served in the 22nd regiment of the Union Army during the Civil War (From Paramus Rotary sign).
The only way into this tiny cemetery is through z path located on Viola Road
The historic little cemetery is rich in history of the first families of Bergen County including Revolutionary War and Civil War veterans
The cemetery is the resting place of members of the Banta, Bogert, Terhune, Van Saun, Demarest, Kipp and Voorhis families
The Van Saun family graves
The Bogart family graves
Video of the Cemetery tour:
My tour of the Old Spring Valley Burial Ground on June 3rd, 2025
On the evening of May 22nd, 2025 our college, Bergen Community College, on the Paramus Campus held a wonderful evening of music, dance, art, fashion and culinary delights through the partnership of the Colleges of Art, Music and Culinary Arts in the School of Business/Hotel Management, which make up the incubator, the Bergen Institute of Creative Arts (BICA). This evening showcased the talents of not just the students but the Professors who taught them as well.
The opening reception welcoming everyone
We started the evening with a wonderful cocktail party which the Culinary students created for everyone to enjoy. The food was wonderful and so beautifully displayed.
The delicious crab cakes and beef and cheese tartlets on the table.
The Caramelized Pork Belly has an Asian flair to it
The Vegetarian Quesadilla
The crab cakes were a big hit
The infused Water, Freshly Brewed Ice Tea and Virgin Sangria were offered as beverages
During the Cocktail Party, I got to talk to some my counterparts and some of the students on their works that night. They had done a wonderful job. The Art Department had their works hung all around the Cocktail Party.
The artwork’s theme dealt with the Migrant Crisis
Pictures of people involved in the Agricultural industry
The Fashion Program also put their designs and fashions on display during the party as well.
The student designers that evening showed their designs first at the Cocktail Party
After the Cocktail Party, we moved into the auditorium for an evening of entertainment. We would be getting to see the talents of the Theater, Dance and Music departments as well. The first to perform were members of the Theater Department, who did a wonderful job with their performances. These students could really belt out a tune.
The musical performance of student singer, Francesca Muffoletto, singing “Always Something More”
Then student singers, Ashlyn Kurtzmann and Christine Dunning performed “Perfect Strangers” from the musical “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”.
The start of the performance
The student singers performing “Perfect Strangers”
Our Dance Department performed next and student dancers, Manna Tao and Lila Knowles performed the dance, “La Bicicleta”.
The student dancers performing “La Bicicleta”
Then our Music Department performed next and one of our Professor’s in the Music Department, Professor John La Barbara, performed with students Steven Hanst and Haydn Day, original songs that he had written. All the music was a Brazilian theme and harmony was brilliant.
Professor John La Barbera with his trio performing “Aqua De Coco”
Professor La Barbera’s original song “Aqua De Coco”
After his performance with his trio, Professor La Barbera performed music from the movies with musician Gunnar Marks, one of our Music students on campus.
The last performance was all the music students, Gabrielle Buttacavole on vocals and Gunnar Marks, Steven Hanst on guitar, Aden Even-Ezra on bass and Michael Ramirez on keyboards performing original songs by both Gabrielle Buttacavole and Gunnar Marks.
The students performing “Share Air” written by the students
After the Intermission, Professor Mary Bays from the Fashion Department introduced her student designers and then they started the fashion show.
Professor Mary Bays introducing the student designers and they started the fashion show.
The Fashion show
The Fashion Show
The Fashion show
The Fashion show
The Fashion Show
Then the student designers came out with their models and did the runway finish with all their creations. These above creative designs were by student designers Michael Agostino, Camila Stefania Rodriguez Cervantes, Ediliana Pena, Priscilla Reyes, Donna Mendoza and Maritza Gomez. Their designs were quite unique.
The student designer and his creations
The student designer and her creations
The student designer and her creations
The student designer and her creations
After the Fashion Show was over to a very rounding success, Professor Ronda Drakeford, Chairwoman of the Hotel and Restaurant program thanked her students for providing the wonderful food for the program. The Culinary students did a wonderful job with both the cocktail hour and the desserts that followed the end of the program.
Then the performances ended and we all went outside the Ciccone Theater to have the dessert hour, which was not quite an hour as all the students, parents and faculty enjoyed the sweets and they were devoured quickly.
The Raspberry Tartlets served after the show
The Raspberry Chocolate Tartlets after the show
It was an excellent evening of students and faculty showing the immense talent of the students at Bergen Community College on our Paramus Campus and the skills they will bring forward in their future colleges and their careers. Congratulations to all our students involved with the Bergen Institute for the Creative Arts (BICA).
While I was writing my blogs on the beach towns of Point Pleasant and Point Pleasant Beach and Seaside Heights and Seaside Park, I drove through the town of Bay Head enough times as I criss-crossed the popular and heavily visited beach towns. When I stopped and actually walked around their historic downtown, I discovered a town not just rich in history but beauty as well.
Bay Head is a small town of less than a thousand people and the town is surrounded by Point Pleasant on most sides of the town. The town is also surrounded by water with the ocean and the bay and inlets.
What started as a resort town for people from the City to travel to by train for the summer months has morphed into an upscale community of clapboard beach homes, a picturesque shoreline and a wonderful little downtown. During the warmer months just walking around you can see the sheer beauty of the town.
The view of the Inlet from the dock
It is not difficult to walk the town and its quirky downtown area filled with interesting stores and restaurants. One of my favorite places to go is Mueller’s Bakery at 80 Bridge Avenue. Everything I have ever ordered here was excellent.
Some of the creative products in the cases. I loved this hamburger cake
It was hard for me to make a decision when I come to Mueller’s but on the recommendation of the young girl behind the counter I ordered the Apricot Pocket and the Apple Turnover when I could not decide between the two. So I just had them both and they were both excellent!
I settled on a Apricot Pocket
It was outstanding!
I also got one of their Apple Turnovers
The Apple Turnovers here are fantastic! Filled with fresh fruit and surrounded by sugary flaky pastry
I ate all of this while looking at the beautiful views of the inlets and canals that make up the waterways of Bay Head.
The bay at Bay Head on a sunny Spring day
After my snack one of the places I wanted to visit was the Bay Head Historical Society at 1643 Bay Avenue, which is actually in Point Pleasant just on the border.
The Bay Head Historical Society at 1643 Bay Avenue
The historical plaque of the original Loveland Homestead
The museum is small but has a unique collection of objects from toys to historical furnishings to Native American objects. It tells the story of the areas progression from Native American fishing grounds and summer month community to the farming communities these areas became to the modern resort towns they developed into today.
The Native American artifacts in the museum
A handmade dollhouse from a local resident
The collection of vintage furniture
The museum was having an exhibition “Maps” and it was interesting to see how the country created its borders.
The Lord’s signage on the agreement of East and West Jersey
During the summer months, the Slade Dale Cottage building is open for touring. This was donated to the museum and contains a very extensive nautical collection.
The Slade Dale Cottage on the grounds of the Historical Society
The historic plaque for the Slade Dale Cottage
The nautical exhibits at the museum
The Boating exhibit
The Boating display
After the tour of the Slade Dale Cottage, I walked around the Society’s gardens and grounds. The property is beautifully maintained and the gardens were in full bloom.
The grounds in the Spring of 2024
The gardens at the Historical Society in bloom
After enjoying my snack by the bay and my tour of the Historical Society, I decided to walk through the other side of downtown and walk to the beach. I went to the top of the stairs and admired the breathtaking views of the ocean. The waters matched the beautiful blue of the skies.
The beauty of the beach in Bay Head
It was a nice relaxing afternoon just walking around the downtown and window shopping in the stores. There is also a nice selection of restaurants to visit in the future.
While I walked around town before I left for the day and passed the beautiful and historic Grenville Hotel, which was bustling on a warm day. It was after lunch so people were lingering around and enjoying the view. I thought that lunch on the patio might be nice in the future.
It was an enjoyable afternoon and I would have to come back later in the summer.
Bay Head at Christmas time:
After a very long semester both in Graduate School and at the College, I finally traveled back to the Jersey shore on a very gloomy afternoon. I was exploring Point Pleasant and then traveled back to Bay Head. The town was so nicely decorated for the holidays. It was a quiet afternoon and it got very misty outside so I decided to stop at Mueller’s Bakery again for a snack and visit the Historical Society again.
Downtown Bay Head on a gloomy day at Christmas time
The bridge on the Inlet decorated for the holidays
Santa greets everyone outside the firehouse at the holidays. This is such a nice way to celebrate the holidays.
I walked around the downtown to admire the Christmas decorations. The town keeps it simple and elegant and the homeowners did a nice job decorating their homes. Then I went to the historical Society that was open that afternoon.
The Bay Head Historical Society museum decorated at Christmas time
The Bay Head Historical Society Museum explored a “Victorian Christmas” in 2024 and the museum was decorated with period holiday decorations, antique ornaments on their Christmas tree and vintage toys and games to admire as well as the museum was decorated for the holidays.
The display of vintage artifacts
Garland and decorations on the piano
The museum’s Christmas Tree with antique ornaments
I even stopped back at Mueller’s Bakery and an a Glazed Cruller. You should have seen the selection of holiday treats in the cases.
I ate this delicious treat inside the bakery at one of the tables and got to enjoy the holiday atmosphere.
I find Bay Head to be a relaxing alternative to Point Pleasant and Seaside Heights. There you ride the rides and eat fun foods on the Boardwalks. Here you just relax with the sounds of the waves, admire the beautiful homes with their colorful floral landscaping and just be in the moment.
Every semester for my Business Marketing, Management and Communications classes, I create one big Team assignment for my students. In a Commuter College, it is a lot tougher for students to get to know one another between their studies and their jobs, so I create these projects to foster learning, creativity and especially Teamwork.
This was the first time I had ever taught International Marketing and it was a challenge I really wanted to tackle. With International Tourism in a state of flux due to the economy and politics, what type of creative programming and offerings do we have to attract a foreign customer?
Promoting Bergen County, NJ for tourism has been one of biggest challenges I have had and how we get all these places to enter the modern era with a fresh approach to getting people to visit their establishment. The ‘Bergen 250-the 250th Anniversary of the Revolutionary War in Bergen County’ has been our most ambitious project to date. We took the website and plans the County of Bergen had planned and expanded it in every direction.
We added in special events, fundraising ideas, scavenger hunts and walking tours along with a new direction in promoting these sites through Digital Marketing and outlets like Tik Tok, YouTube and using QR codes so that the younger generation can use their phones interactively.
In the past, I have created these projects under the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner, the main consulting company, the Orion Malls banner, a Mall design company and the Buscomonzefi.com banner, my Tech Division. Each business does its best to be creative, forward thinking and have a thought producing presentations. I also challenge the students to top on another in their presentations and build on what they have seen others do in the past.
Professor Justin Watrel, CEO Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.
Our Corporate site (created my one of my former President’s:
As my International Marketing class entered its second month and before I ran the Midterm, I introduced the Team Project, similar to the one I created in 2020 just as COVID hit “From Revolution to Renewal-Exploring Historic Bergen County, NJ”:
The project that we started right before COVID closed the college:
With that class, I had planned a series of field trips once we got back from Spring Break but we never went back to campus. That project was done with work that had to be done online and with what we had because we could not leave our houses at that time. This project was to do what that project could not accomplish.
So I approached Vivian Davis, of the Bergen County Historic Division, who I had worked with for years in my time at the Department of Disabilities Services for the County, and who I initially worked with on the first project and asked her to help me again. She is running the ‘Bergen 250-the 250th Anniversary of the Revolutionary War in Bergen County’ event. Would she let me help her coming up with a different angle on advertising the event and some new ideas for special events and a fresh perspective on looking at the event from the students viewpoint?
It would be one of the most ambitious projects that I had ever attempted for this company model. She agreed to let me help in my own way plus be available for being a listening ear for the students and assist us on the Team site visits and tours.
It was a great partnership as she got much needed research and ideas for advertising while the students learned something new about their communities that they did not know. Even I learned about historical sites that I never knew existed and I have lived here off and on for the last thirty years. Everyone got something positive out of it and it was a win-win partnership.
I put together the project and had Vivian look it over and with some adjustments, it was a go and I presented to my students two weeks before the Spring Break in March. We would work on this project for the next seven weeks along with a series of site trips to places in the ‘Bergen 250’ roster. It would be an eye opener project for everyone involved.
The initial project concept for the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Team Project “The Bergen 250”:
I chose my Executive Team from a series of what I call “Alumni Students”, who I had in other classes and I knew their work and how they had performed in other Team Projects that I had run. I chose the remainder Student Executives from a look series of papers I had them write for the class promoting Foreign Tourism and Advertising.
Paper Two: Promoting McDonalds Foreign Food items for the American Market:
These two papers are how I determined who would be on what Teams and how they might perform on that section of the project. For the most part I was right. I saw this at the end of the project.
I broke the class into the following Teams: Marketing, Talent, Historical and Food Service with each Team having their own responsibilities (Please read the project). They were led by the President and Senior Vice-President of Operations, who reported to me as their CEO. Both of these students had participated in previous projects that had been equally ambitious.
The two weeks before the Spring Break, the Student Consultants got their game-plans together, divided the responsibilities and started their research on the historical sites being promoted by the ‘Bergen 250’. There are a lot of historical sites in Bergen County that date back to the Revolutionary War and before To the time of Dutch settlements.
When we arrived back from the break, I arranged a series of Field Site visits that I took my student to so that they could experience and tour the sites up close. These were also location trips for of Food Service division who would be arranging a series of special meals at these sites.
The first place the Team visited was the Garretson Forge & Farm in Fair Lawn, NJ. This historic home and grounds were going to be one of the locations for a special event for the Food Service Division.
The Garretson Forge & Farm at 4-02 River Road in Fair Lawn, NJ
We had done a promotional project on the site a few semesters before with much success and now we would be arranging a ‘rustic’ Afternoon Tea on the grounds and promoting the gardens with a Flower sale.
The Student Consultants starting a tour of the Garretson Forge & Farm led by historian Vivian Davis.
The students touring the historical kitchen
The students touring the historical room at the Garretson Forge & Farm
Our class picture at the site
Our host and ‘Client’ Vivian Davis joining us in the group picture
The trip to the Garretson Forge & Farm was one of a series of trips that I thought would be important to the students to get a feel for these sites rather than just passing by. We also could incorporate layouts and use of historical items for our Scavenger Hunt that people could download to their phones that our Marketing Team was creating for their part of the project.
The next week we went out into the field again, this time to the Baylor Massacre site in Old Tappan, Nj and the Haring Farm Cemetery, a tiny family plot on what used to be the Haring Farm both in Old Tappan, NJ.
The Baylor Massacre site is where the Patriots had gotten ambushed by the British on a tip from a local resident and instead of following protocol of war, the British bayoneted the troops and through their bodies in a ditch. The bodies had been rediscovered only in the last fifty years when they wanted to develop the land.
With the Haring Farm Cemetery, this was the final resting place of Abraham Haring, a prominent farming family in the area, on what was once hundreds of acres of land of the Haring family. As Vivian explained to us, these families always assumed that the farm would be there and in the family hands.
The Baylor Massacre site at 486 Rivervale Road in River Vale, NJ
Walking around the site before the students arrived
The site of the graves
The location of the old mill where the bodies were thrown
Vivian’s counterpart in the Historic Division, Colin, joined us on this day for this tour and was better than me on explaining everything.
Before everyone got there, I had been to the sites the day before and while the Baylor Massacre site is well taken care of by the County, the Haring Farm Cemetery was a mess of fallen fences, fallen trees and branches all around the site, making it dangerous to walk around. I even touched a dead branch and it came crashing down.
The entrance to the Haring Farm Cemetery at Old Haring Farm Court in River Vale, NJ
The cemetery looked so much nicer when it was cleaned up
I always felt like the family was watching me as I had such a positive feel at the site
Even the family tombstones looked a lot better
Being married into the Haring family via my father’s older brother’s wife sister in law, I felt an obligation to clean this place up. So in a two piece suit the next day, I got to the graveyard early, removed all the branches, raked the whole site, fixed the fence and raked the entire site, cleaning the tombstones while I was doing all this.
There is a good feeling when you honor and respect the dead
After cleaning the site, I got myself together and went back to the Baylor Massacre site and started to meet the students. Some arrived early and started to walk around to get a feel for the site.
Colin and I talking to the students about the incident at the site during the Revolutionary War
The Baylor Massacre site was going to be used for a Jazz Concert to honor the soldiers and Patriots whom had passed with a food truck event to go with it along with historical walking tours that evening. The evening event was planned with luminaries lining the paths and the gravesite being lit for the evening to honor those who had passed.
First we walked the entire site to understand the logistics of the event
After the tour and discussion of the site we took a few group pictures of us at the site. In some cases, this was the first time almost all the students had visited the site. This shows how these sites need to be better publicized.
My class at the site with the Memorial in sight
The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Team Picture at the Baylor Massacre site
After the tour of the Baylor Massacre site, we headed up to the Haring Farm Cemetery, which was up the road. When we all got there, Colin explained to us that rather than burying their loved ones in a church graveyard, some families wanted to have their loved ones buried close by and again these families thought these farms would always be in the family hands.
Vivian had explained to the students at the initial meeting that one of the past times people had during the Revolutionary War was picnics at cemeteries and graveyards. This is where we got the idea of graveyard tours with a box lunch. We would create an interactive map with QR codes that people could tour with their ‘to go’ lunch.
We arrived at a cleaned up cemetery
The renovation of the site was done by an Eagle Scout
We took some time to understand burial rights of farming families and get a feel for the family members
We toured the small site and Colin explained to the students that Bergen County was dotted with these types of sites because of the number of family farms that once made up Colonial Bergen County, NJ.
We took our group shot while respecting the resting place
After all my students left after the both tours, I went back for one more look and again, I felt such a positive presence as if the family were so happy that we visited.
The weather prevented the next field trip and we had to concentrate on the project so after lecture, the students worked with their groups. Throughout this part of the semester, I would alternate between lecture one day and being ‘out in the field’ the other. This the students had a better experience of being ‘in the industry’.
As the project progressed and started to come together, we took our last and most ambitious field trip to Park Ridge, NJ, to the sites of the ‘Farm to Table Dinner’. This site tour included the Wortendyke Barn, the Pascack Reformed Church, where the Candlelight Tour of the Wortendyke family graveyard would take place and then to the Pascack Valley Historical Society, where the Cocktail Party would take place to open the event.
Then after the site visit, I would be wrapping the afternoon with lunch at Pompilios Pizzeria in Downtown Westwood, NJ for a Team dinner. It was a long afternoon but the students got to experience so much and see a lot.
Our first stop was the Wortendyke Barn, one of the few surviving Dutch-American examples of early American barns.
The barn in the early Spring on one of the few nice days of the week
Vivian met us again for the first part of the tour and explained how the barn was designed, who the Wortendykes were as a family presence in Bergen County and the use of the barn since it became County parkland.
We then moved on to take the next tour at the Pascack Reformed Church, one of the oldest churches in the State of New Jersey. Our tour was hosted by Pastor Sharon Gross-Gill, who had joined the church and loved the idea of the project promoting the church and its historic values.
The Team touring the second level of the church
The team touring the bell tower of the church
Our Vice-President of Marketing ringing the church bell. Each Team member could ring the bell if they wanted to try it.
We were then joined by the church historian who gave us the tour of the Wortendyke family plot
Touring through the Wortendyke family plot
Our Team picture with Pastor Sharon Gross-Gill at the Pascack Reformed Church graveyard
We then moved on to a quick tour of the Pascack Historical Society, which has an interesting display of early Dutch artifacts and only Wampum making machine (Native American currency) in the United States Almost all my students had not seen these things before.
The Pascack Valley Historical Society at 19 Ridge Avenue in Park Ridge, NJ
I have to thank the amazing support of the Pascack Valley Historical Society Board for coming out in full force to help support this project.
The Board touring with us at the museum
The Team with Board member, Peter Meany, as he explains how the Wampum machine worked.
Our Team group picture with the Board of the Pascack Historical Society
I wanted to thank Board Members Kristin Beuscher, Peter Meany, Ralph Donnell Jr., Christopher Kersting and Patrick Dolan for being our hosts, leading the tours and some of them showing up for our presentation of the final Presentation.
After the tours were all over, I took the entire Team to lunch in Downtown Westwood for a Team building pizza lunch/dinner. It had been a long day and the students had worked so hard the whole day, it was nice to break bread with the Team plus the pizza here is excellent. We had a really good time at lunch and everyone got to know each other a little better.
Pompilio’s Pizzeria & Restaurant at 233 Westwood Avenue in Westwood, NJ
Members of the Talent Team with the Marketing Team
Members of the Historical Team dining with the Executive Team
The pizza here is delicious and I love taking my Teams here for lunch
This was the last of the field trips before the presentation two weeks later. One of the pitfalls of the projects that I did that semester was the Spring Break in March and then the Easter Break in late April which had some of my students traveling for the break. I am happy to say that everyone showed up and did their work.
The presentation went by really well and was well attended for an afternoon event. Several parents as well as boyfriends and girlfriends showed up. Vivian and Colin both showed up with their boss from the Division, so the real life ‘clients’ were there for the presentation.
The formal Presentation on YouTube of Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. “Bergen 250-The 250th Anniversary of the Revolutionary War in Bergen County, NJ”:
Senior Vice-President of Operations Gabriela Chavasco welcomes everyone
The Executive Team leading the Presentation
Vice-President of Operations Brandon Robertson leads the presentation of Foodservice Special Events
Vice-President of Marketing Bart Potensky leads the Marketing Team in their presentation of the Advertising gameplay
Vice-President Kate Trinidad leads the Talent Team on the inside operations of keeping the company well supported from Corporate
After the successful Presentation was over, we took the official Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Corporate pictures.
It was a job well done for the entire Team. I also want to thank Vivian Davis and Colin Fitzpatrick from the Historic Division of the County of Bergen in New Jersey for all their support and guidance and feedback on this assignment. It really was a “Team Effort” from everyone involved.
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