The Union Cemetery of The First Presbyterian Church of Ramsey, NJ
History of the Cemetery:
(from the church website)
Union Cemetery is a religious cemetery located at 316 Darlington Ave. in Ramsey, NJ. The cemetery is owned and managed by the First Presbyterian Church in Ramsey. As a religious cemetery, the cemetery is restricted under New Jersey state law and is not open to the general public. Only members of a Christian church and their immediate relatives may be interred at the cemetery.
The historic cemetery from the road. To the left is the oldest part of the cemetery
Entering the cemetery from Darlington Avenue
The newer part of the cemetery is to the right of the driveway
I was visiting the Union Cemetery in search of veterans of the Revolutionary War and found an interesting cemetery with a deep history in Bergen County. Many first families of Bergen County are buried here and veterans not just from the Revolutionary War but the Civil War all the way up to today are buried in this active town cemetery.
The older part of the cemetery is to the left of the driveway. These tombstones are from the early 1800’s.
The older part of the cemetery dates back to before the Revolutionary War
Many of the early family plots are located here with well known names like Hopper, Christie, Ackerman and the town’s namesake, the Ramsey family, whose family plot is in the oldest section of the cemetery.
The grave of Hannah Jane Ramsey in the Ramsey family plot
Part of the Ramsey family plot
The Ramsey family plot
The Union Cemetery to find the graves of Revolutionary War veterans and found some but not all of them. The tombstones are so worn after over two hundred years that they either had disappeared or were so worn you could not read them.
The oldest section of the cemetery where many veterans both from the Revolutionary and Civil War are buried. It was hard to read many of the tombstones. Some the veterans were buried in their family plots, others with their spouses separately. The burials were concentrated in the oldest part of the cemetery. Most of the veterans have been honored with American flags.
The first tombstones I found were from Ackerman family members
I could not make out the name of this Ackerman member but I figured it was one of the brothers wife
The grave of veteran John P. Post
The Post family history:
(from the Saddle River Historical Society website)
The Post family was of Dutch descent. The first Post was a soldier, who came here to protect the new settlements along the Hudson. They soon turned to milling; the name Post is attached to several mills in Bergen and Rockland Counties. Joseph Post, born in 1775, built a mill on the west branch of the Saddle River about 1800. He also opened a tavern and store on what is now West Saddle River Road, just north of Parker Place, across from the entrance to the mill.
The graves of members of the community at that time including the grave of John P. Post
The grave of veteran William Vanderbeck
The grave of a member of the Van Blarcom family, who was married to James Ramsey
I was not too sure who this was but by the veteran’s flower I am assuming the grave of veteran John Van Blarcom
The grave of Hannah (I believe Ackerman)
The Christie family plot
The Hopper family plot
The Hopper Family history:
(from the Saddle River Historical Society website)
The Hopper family is one of the oldest of European descent in Bergen County. Andries Hopper came from the Netherlands to New Amsterdam in the 1640’s. His widow and her son Hendrick were in the Polifly area (Hackensack) by the late 1600s. There was land to be had in the unsettled areas of what became Bergen County. Hendrick’s two oldest sons, Andries and Jan settled in the HoHoKus area (part of Paramus) around 1712. The Hopper name appears on many old homes and mills on early maps of the area. It was two of Andries’ children, Abram and Jan, who settled sometime around 1730 along the Saddle River in what is now Upper Saddle River.
The graveyard at the church dates back to before the Revolutionary War. The graveyard has veterans from all the wars since the Revolutionary War to the current wars.
The Wyckoff Reformed Church was built with local fieldstone in 1806. The carpentry inside was done by Daniel Baldwin. The style features vernacular Early Republic, Federal architecture and the windows are done in the Gothic Revival style (Wiki).
The historic graveyard in the back of the church
The back of the graveyard that reaches further back into town
The part of the graveyard from the mid to late 1800’s. There are Civil War veterans buried here.
The back of the church from the 1800’s
The graveyard from the 1800’s
The Revolutionary War era section of the graveyard
The graves of the Revolutionary War veterans
The grave of Revolutionary War veteran Albert N. Van Voorheis
When Albert Voorhees was born on 24 July 1759, in Bergen, New Jersey, British Colonial America, his father, Albert Van Voorhees, was 54 and his mother, Cornelia H. Van Gieson, was 42. He married Rachael Hopper on 26 July 1788, in Acquackanonk Township, Passaic, New Jersey, United States. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 6 daughters. He died on 17 October 1820, at the age of 61 (FamilySearch.com).
The grave of William P. Winter
The grave of Vanithy Van Voorheis, the wife of Albert Van Voorheis.
The historic part of graveyard right behind the church
The graves of Bridget Ackerman and Martin Myers
The graves of Jack Van Saun and his wife, a descendant of the Van Ripper farm family
The graves of the Van Ripper family
The family plots
The grave of David Stagg
The graves of Peggy Willis and Margaret and Abraham Van Voorheis
The graves of the Mickler family
The graves Abraham and Sara Ann Quackenbush
This historic church and graveyard are really interesting to walk around. It is a glimpse into the past of Bergen County, NJ and the entire State of New Jersey
Open: Sunday 9:00am-12:00pm/Monday-Saturday Be Appointment
My review on TripAdvisor:
The Saddle River Reformed Church at 481 East Saddle River Road in Saddle River, NJ is also known as the “Old Stone Church”
The historic marker of the church
I visited the ‘Old Stone Church’ in Saddle River, one of the oldest churches in the state and was taken not just by the beauty of the church but by the respect the church has for the people who are buried here. There is much recognition for the contributions of the soldiers and the armed forces not just for the Revolutionary War soldiers but current ones as well.
The oldest part of the cemetery is the closest to the church
The oldest part of the cemetery contains names like Demarest, Haring, Hopper, DeBraun, Eckerson, Terhune and Zabriskie. These are the first settlers of the area whose families owned farms in Saddle River. Many of the families have family plots in the cemetery.
The Hopper family plot
The Zabriskie family plot
The Gilderston family plot
The DeBraun family plot
The oldest part of the cemetery holds so much history of the founding members of the Saddle River and Bergen County community.
The History of the Church:
(from the Saddle River Reformed Church website)
Our church, known to many as the Old Stone Church, was organized in 1784 as a daughter church of the Old Paramus Church. It is a part of the Reformed Church in America, a denomination which traces its roots to the Dutch colonists.
While there is evidence that the original church building was erected in 1789, our present sanctuary was built in 1819. An extensive renovation in 1971 – 1972 recreated the appearance of the original structure.
The Old Stone Church and the historic Revolutionary War Cemetery that is located behind it.
The History of the Cemetery:
(From the Saddle River Reformed Church website):
Our cemetery is the resting place of numerous American Revolution and Civil War Veterans. Church records indicate that the following veterans have been buried at our historic site.
The Saddle River Reformed Church Cemetery is one of the most historic in this part of the country. Our cemetery is over 230 years old and is the burial ground of nine known Veterans of the American Revolution. Tracing back to the founding of this nation, these resting places designate the cemetery as an historic spot of great significance, with a special interest to historians and antiquarians. Surrounded by mature and lush foliage, its peaceful setting by the banks of the Saddle River make for an esteemed and hallowed resting place for your loved ones.
Some of the most fascinating part of the cemetery is its historical section
With the Bergen 250-The 250th Anniversary of the Revolutionary War next year, I wanted to point out the veterans buried here from the war.
David DeBaun was born in Schraalenburg (Bergenfield) in 1759 to Abraham DeBaun and Bridget Ackerman. About 1770 the family moved to Hempstead in New York. David served as a private in the Second Regiment of Hay’s Militia, Captain Garret Ackerson’s Company. He married Hannah Forshay, b. 1868, d. 1836. David died in New Hempstead, NY in 1820. He was tax officer of Hempstead in 1811 and 1812; supervisor of Haverstraw 1811-1814. An enclosed plot in the Upper Saddle River Cemetery is the resting place of his entire family.
John Tallman
(from the church website)
John Tallman was a Sergeant in Hays Regiment of Militia, Orange County, NY Militia, Company of Captain Hogenkamp, William Sickles, and Aurie Smith, and is listed on the Revolutionary War pension records. He was born in Tappan, the son of Jan Tallman and Helena Gerritse Blauvelt. He married Margrietje Forseur (Forshay). He died in New Hempstead, NY in 1839.
David Eckerson
(from the church website)
David Thomas Eckerson, was born in Schraalenburgh (Bergenfield) in 1738. He married Angenetye Vanderbeek and they had a sons Thomas, Paul, Jon, David and Aurie and daughters Hannah, Mary and Angenetye. He is on the Revolutionary War rolls in Rockland County. Revolutionary War veteran Peter van Orden was an executor to his will.
Thomas Eckerson
(from the church website)
Thomas Eckerson, 1745-1818, was married to Cornelia Eckerson. They had children, Thomas Eckerson, Edward T. Eckerson, Maria Eckerson Crouter, and Jacob Eckerson. He is listed as a Private, New Jersey Regiment. He also served in the War of 1812.
Abraham Haring
(from the church website)
Abraham G. Haring was born in 1755 in Tappan, Orange, NY to Garret J. Haring and Cornelia Lent. He married Elizabeth Blauvelt. He died in 1832 in Hempstead, Rockland, NY. He served in the Revolutionary War 1775-1783, Coopers Regiment, NY Militia.
John Terhune
(from the church website)
John A. Terhune, 1753-1805, was the son of Albert A. Terhune and Elizabeth Doremus. He inherited the stone house on the sw corner of Lake Street and West Saddle River Road, known as the Terhune-Hopper house. He married Catherine Lutkins, daughter of Harman Lutkins of Paramus. He is on the SAR list.
Jacob Zabriskie
In the modern day, I wanted to point out a hero to the Bergen Country Firefighting Community and former Saddle River Fire Chief Larry Rauch and his wife, Sherry who both contributed so much to the firefighting community.
Many members of the Revolutionary, Civil, war of 1812 to WWI and II to Desert Storm are buried here. These church treats our veterans with great respect.
The historical sign for the Union Cemetery at 151 Franklin Avenue in Wyckoff, NJ
The marker sign put up by the Wyckoff Historical Society
The walled garden just outside the cemetery in bloom
The Union Cemetery was originally the resting place of the Van Blarcom family and the right hand side of the cemetery has the Van Blarcom family plot
One of the descendants of the family, Ethel Van Blarcom Green donated money for the preservation of this family plot.
The Biography of Ethel Van Blarcom Green:
(From the Wyckoff Historical Site)
If you at all familiar with the Wyckoff Historical Society’s recent activities at Union Cemetery, you may know that the 250 year-old site was the original Van Blarcom burial site. The name can be traced to the early 1700s when the first Van Blarcom family settled in New Jersey. The oldest legible headstone dates to 1764.
What you may not know, is that Ethel Van Blarcom, a direct descendant, bestowed a significant financial contribution to the Society beginning in 1978, with her wish that her beloved family cemetery be maintained. Although she lived in California for most of her adult life, Union Cemetery obviously held a special place in her heart, and she wanted to see it survive. The Society has Ethel’s hand-written letters that confirm her generous donation. She also continued to renew her Society membership until 1984.
However, it wasn’t until 2019 that the current trustees decided it was time to use the funds for its intended use, and honor Ethel’s wishes. Several headstones were repaired, new fencing is being installed, and yearly grounds maintenance is conducted, thanks, in part, to Ethel’s generosity.
It was at this time that Society trustees, Doris Noerr, Melanie Long, and Linda Vreeland, dove into genealogy websites and Society archives to learn more about Ethel’s life and to particularly find a photograph of her.
“After several week of research, we obtained Ethel’s death certificate which led to contacting her niece Naomi who is now 92,” said Society president, Lynn Groel-Lynch. “To our delight, she had a photo of Ethel and her husband, Roy Green that we believe is her 1916 wedding photo.”
Ethel was born in Paterson in 1897 and lived to the age of 89. She and Roy moved to the Los Angeles, California area most likely around the time of her mother’s death in 1933. The couple had no children.
“We are still in the process of contacting a few descendants, and those we’ve spoken to have been happy to share what they know about Ethel,” said Melanie Long. “We also will install a plaque in her memory near where her father, Edward is buried in Union Cemetery. There are thousands of Van Blarcom names as they were the one of the prominent families in our area’s farming community, and after all these years, the Society is thrilled to finally honor the legacy of one very important Van Blarcom, Ethel Van Blarcom Green. As they say, ‘It’s never too late’”.
The current history of the Union Cemetery:
(Wyckoff Historical Society website)
The original Grange sign from the 1960s at the Franklin Avenue entrance of Union Cemetery was weathered and fragile. The Wyckoff Historical Society recently replaced the old sign with one that is also hand-lettered, and includes the Grange logo which was barely visible on the old sign. Two new posts display the new sign.
The Ackerman and Terwilliger families are buried to the left/northern side of the cemetery
The Terwilliger family plot
The resting place of James Terwilliger’s tombstone
To the right of the pathway around the cemetery to the south is the Van Blarcom family plot where on the oldest graves is that of John Van Blarcom, a veteran of the Revolutionary War.
The resting place of Revolutionary War veteran, John Van Blarcom
The original section of the Van Blarcom family plot dating back to the Revolutionary War
The later burial section of the Van Blarcom family
The resting place of Daniel and Rebecca Van Blarcom
The Terwilliger family has two sections of the family plot in the northern section of the cemetery
The Ackerman family’s plot is to the middle most northern end of the cemetery
The Mallinson/Westervelt family has the further most family plot of the cemetery
The cemetery is so peaceful and relaxing to walk around. The Wyckoff Historical Society has done a wonderful job maintaining the property. Even though it is the resting place of many family plots, it’s still a very welcoming place and you can feel it as you walk the paths. There is a respect of remembering the people of the past that can be felt here
As you walk the pathways, you visit the people who have contributed to the growth and history of Bergen County and the surrounding area. They shaped their communities from before the Revolution War to today.
My video of visiting the cemetery and the families that rest here.
The History of the Cemetery:
(From the Wyckoff Historical Society website)
The Union Cemetery on Franklin Avenue dates back to the first half of the 1700s, when Johannes Van Blarcom set aside an area of his property to become a burial place. The earliest readable stone is from 1764 and thought to mark the grave of a slave girl because there is no surname given. Johannes Van Blarcom’s daughter, who died in 1725, is alleged to be buried there also. Various community groups have volunteered to maintain the cemetery, including the Wyckoff Historical Society. In 2018, dead trees, underbrush, and poison ivy were removed.
Most are early Van Blarcom family members as the cemetery was one of the original family cemeteries.
The stone marker sign at the entrance to the family cemetery. This cemetery is the final resting place of Captain John Outwater from the local militia who fought in the Revolutionary War and his family.
The memorial to Captain Outwater in the center of the cemetery dedicated to his contributions to Revolutionary War
Captain John Outwater during the Revolutionary War
When John J. Outwater was born on 9 February 1780, in Hackensack, Bergen, New Jersey, United States, his father, Captain John Outwater, was 33 and his mother, Hendrickje Dirck Lozier, was 34. He married Cathalina Van Bussum on 1 February 1813, in Old First Reformed Church, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey, United States.
They were the parents of at least 4 sons. He died on 25 September 1842, in Wilson, Wilson, Niagara, New York, United States, at the age of 62, and was buried in Glenwood, Lewiston, Lewiston, Niagara, New York, United States.
The original entrance to the cemetery must have been on Moonachie Avenue in the distant past.
The original graves of Captain John Outwater and his wife, Louise Lozier
Across from their graves is the memorial to the family
Various members of the Outwater family including parents, brothers and sisters and children are buried here.
The grave of Jacob Outwater and his family
The tombstone of Jacob Outwater
The grave of Jacob’s son who died as an infant
The graves of George Outwater and his wife, Ann Van Note
I think this is the grave of George Outwater’s first wife, Mary
Buried outside the family plot is the grave of Henry Cordes
The Outwater family cemetery sits on a small hill overlooking a Quick Check store and gasoline station. Talk about modern progress.
I took a quick tour of the cemetery:
My video of the Outwater Family Cemetery and the grave of Captain John Outwater of Revolutionary War fame.
It is a family cemetery started before 1792 on land originally owned by Abraham Hopper. The Hopper family was the first to settle Ho-Ho-Kus, then known as Hoppertown. Many Dutch families also settled the area including the Zabriskie, Ackerman, Blauvelt, Bamper, Banta, and Terhune families. Most were members of the Old Paramus Reformed Church nearby.
While family members were commonly interred in the church graveyard, some chose to bury family members in small local plots closer to their residences. Such was the case with the Ackermans who had a plot on the northeast side of town near the Saddle River, and the Hopper and Zabskie families who were buried in the small plot in Hoppertown near the Ho-Ho-Kus brook.
The small cemetery
The historic sign
The original family cemetery of the Hopper family when the original name of the area was ‘Hoppertown’ for the family whose land dominated the area. While some would bury their loved ones at the family church’s graveyards, some preferred their loved ones closer and would be buried on the family farm. Some families picked the highest point, usually a small hill that would over look the land. This particular cemetery is located in a small cove at the bend of the road.
This small historical cemetery is another example of history lost in time. The generations of distant family members no longer care for this historical spots and they were left for the elements. This cemetery was cared for by Veterans of the Wars and the Boy Scouts who put a lot of care in it. Now it is under the Borough of Ho Ho Kus, NJ.
The history of the cemetery
The history of the Zabriskie family
The family plot map of the tombstones.
The small family burial plot common to farms in Bergen County at that time.
Who is buried here:
(From the Borough of Ho Ho Kus, NJ website)
There were a number of descendants from the Hopper and Zabriskie families who were interred in the small cemetery between 1792 and 1867. In 1910, an archivist named John Neafie from New York City cataloged the names on the headstones and provided a copy to the Bergen County Historical Society. Some of those appearing in this catalog included:
Garret Hopper, died Feb.17, 1792, age 69 years
Elsey Hopper, wife of Garret Hopper, died March 8, 1816, age 89 years
Mary Zabriskie, wife of Henry Zabriskie, died June 3, 1821, age 69 years
Francis W. Perry, wife of James H. Perry Esq. and daughter of H. and Sally Zabriskie, born June 25, 1814, died Nov. 27, 1834
Henry Zabriskie, died Feb.23, 1839, 22 years
Henry H. Zabriskie, died Feb. 27,1832, age 46 years
Sally Zabriskie, wife of H.H. Zabriskie, died May 11, 1829, age 41 years
Garret H. Zabriskie, died Aug. 6, 1867, age 79 years
Caty Van Voorhase, wife of Garret H. Zabriskie, died Nov. 6, 1833, age 41 years
Garret Zabriskie, son of Henry and Lavinia Banta, died Oct. 16, 1832, age 4 years
Ann Bamper, wife of Jacob Bamper, died Feb. 26, 1844, age 90 years
C.I.Z. (probably refers to Casparis, son of Mary Zabriskie)
The grave of Henry Zabriskie
The graves Henry and Garrett Zabriske
The graves Garrett Zabriske and Francis Perry
The grave of Caty Van Voorhase
The grave of Sally Zabriskie
The grave of Francis Perry
The cemetery is a testament to the family and their love of the land they owned.
The History of the Hopper and Zabriskie families in the area:
(From the Borough of Ho Ho Kus, NJ website)
The Hopper’s owned homesteads in the center of town on both sides of the brook and operated a grist mill. During the American Revolution, they were committed to the patriot cause and served with the Bergen County Militia. The British made several raids into Hoppertown during the war while foraging for military stores, farm animals, and other goods. One notable siege took place at Hoppertown on April 16, 1780. John J. Hopper was seriously wounded. His home and those of his brothers were burned down. The grist mill on the brook was also destroyed. The Zabriskie family would later acquire and occupy the original Hopper residence which was placed under siege. The building is now known as the Ho-Ho-Kus Inn & Tavern. Materials from John Hopper’s original house razed during the raid are believed to be incorporated into the foundation of the inn.
Around 1830, John J. Zabriskie took up residence in the former Hopper home, which became known as the Mansion House. The Zabriskie’s owned several farms and buildings nearby and built a dam and mill on the brook. The Zabriskie family also acquired the Hopper family cemetery on the hillside adjacent to the mill. When the first Zabriskie mill dam breached in 1862, John Jacob would build a much grander dam out of brownstone blocks to create Sylvan Lake while at the same time expanding cotton mill operations.
The Sautjes Tave Begraven Ground Cemetery is an example of an early Dutch Cemetery of some of the first Colonists in Bergen County with some families arriving in the early 1600’s .
The entrance to the Sautjes Tave Begraven Ground Cemetery in Demarest, NJ
The historic sign at the entrance placed by the David Demarest Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
The inside of the historic cemetery
These early families once owned farms under royal patents of hundreds of acres and these would be passed down from generation to generation. These small family cemeteries were once located on the edge of family land that have since been replaced by modern suburbs. This is now in the middle of a traffic circle surrounded by homes. The cemetery is a wonderful shape and is nicely landscaped.
The cemetery from the south side
Generations of a Bogarts, Blauvelts, Haring, Demarest, Du Bois, Van Scivan and other prominent families all inter married into each family were buried here.
The Bogart-Bauvelt family plot
The Bogart-Blauvelt family plot
The Demarest family plot
The Demarest-Haring family plot
The Ann Marie Demarest grave
The Cornelius Demarest grave site, a Revolutionary War veteran
Patriot Douwe Talema, who was killed by the Tories during the Revolutionary War
The Daniel Van Scivan grave, another Revolutionary War veteran
The Haring Family plot
The Haring family plot
The James Haring grave
The Sophia Haring grave
The Du Bois family plot
The Cemetery view from the southern corner
My video of Touring the Cemetery and its historic roots:
My tour of the cemetery
Leaving the cemetery you can see the landscaping offers these families privacy in both life and death.
After the tour of the cemetery, I explored Downtown Demarest, NJ and discovered a beautiful little town with small local stores and a beautiful set of parks surround the streams and the train station just off the downtown.
The town of Demarest Veteran’s display
The town of Demarest has its own rich beauty and you can see this by visiting its Downtown area and its parks.
The breathtaking Duck Pond Park attracted a lot of painters who set their easels by the banks of the streams.
The Duck Pond is really beautiful
They also have a really nice railroad terminal that is now a senior center
The historic Demarest Railroad Station
This wonderful community has so many wonderful attributes.
The Dewolf-Haring family cemetery sits on a homeowners front yard
The Dewolf-Haring Cemetery is one of the most unusual of the small cemeteries in Bergen County that I have seen. It sits right in front of someone’s front yard.
The cemetery probably at one time sat at the very edge of the farmland which is now a golf club and a neighborhood of McMansions. It shows the progress of the area as the farmland was sold off.
The gravesite of John Haring
The DeWolf-Haring family; grandparents and grandson
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
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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