Making History Fun: Volunteers at Four Centuries in a Weekend 2023

October is the biggest month of the year for the Deserted Village of Feltville! On Saturday and Sunday of the third weekend of every October, the County of Union holds an open house, Four Centuries in a Weekend, at more than 30 of its historic sites, with activities including tours, demonstrations, and exhibits—and, of course, family friendly ways to get involved in the county’s history. The biggest site, both size wise, and in amount of activities involved, is the Deserted Village, with presentations, tours, reenactors and lots of activities (cider pressing!) for all ages.

The second October event in the Deserted Village is the Haunted Hayride, which takes place the last weekend of the month, just around Halloween. You can read a bit more about its origins on my post about Dan Bernier, found at HERE. As its name implies, visitors take a hayride through the village, with various historic characters brought to life, perhaps in a slightly more haunted way than they might have seen themselves. Advance tickets are required, and they always sell out, so don’t show up without a ticket—and you should probably start planning for next year now.

As you can imagine, these events require the help of many people to be successful. The County of Union has created a wonderful program where its employees are offered comp time if they volunteer at any of a long list of events the county wants help with. For the two Deserted Village events, volunteers are often initially attracted by the comp time, but hooked once they volunteer, returning over and over.

I had the pleasure of wandering the village during the two days of this year’s Four Centuries, in those moments when I was not presenting or helping lead a tour, and I got to talk to a number of the many volunteers for the day. My apologies to those I have not yet talked to—please look for me next year! Photos and short profiles are found below.

Regina Filus found herself spending her first year of volunteering at Four Centuries in costume as the historic figure Anna Molloy. This is the first year that character—from the resort era of the Deserted Village—has been part of Four Centuries. Like many others, Regina had already been volunteering for several years at the Haunted Hayride. She was initially attracted to the Hayride by both the fact that she could volunteer in a place, the Watchung Reservation, that was a favorite of hers for walking around, and by the haunted-history aspect, but she loved playing the not so haunted Anna at Four Centuries. She has been working for the County for 4 ½ years, serving as a Forensic Scientist in the Controlled Dangerous Substances Division of the Union County Prosecutor’s Office Forensic Laboratory.

Michelle Schulz has been volunteering at events at Feltville for about ten years. Initially, it was simply one of a variety of volunteer opportunities for which the County of Union offered comp time, but it has become something that she looks forward to each year. She started at the Haunted Hayrides—she played a witch, a killer nanny and a few other roles, before taking over a staff food service role for both the Hayride and the annual Four Centuries in a Weekend event. For Four Centuries, she sets up Maskers Barn, and makes sure staff members get lunches. For the Haunted Hayride, she packs up food, sets off in a golf cart, and delivers food to volunteers at the various stations, since the volunteers can’t leave to come down and get their own food. In her day job, Michelle works as the Personnel Manager for Union County’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

Anthony Antunes may be one of the biggest fans of the Deserted Village, and Watchung Reservation, which it is part of. He sent the following information:

Watchung Reservation has always been a “sanctuary” to me. Whether it was a Sunday picnic after church with the family as a child, a rigorous hike to clear my mind of stress during final exams, or just driving through the reservation on a beautiful summer evening while taking in the beautiful foliage and fresh air. It’s truly a magical place.

Getting to work here was a journey: In 2008, I was involved in a pretty bad car accident where I sustained some significant damage to my right leg/foot. I was in my last semester of college, where I was pursuing a dual-bachelor degree in Business Administration and Marketing (I finished that semester from a hospital bed). After some time rehabilitating, I entered a competitive workforce with limited opportunities due to a struggling economy/recession. I followed the path my role models suggested…a corporate career with full benefits, 401k, and sustainability. I achieved just that and was doing very well for myself. However, I neglected myself during this time…so much that it was starting to affect those around me. During this time of deep depression and career-driven anxiety, my aunt, who was battling pancreatic cancer, realized I wasn’t my normal self…always happy and filled with positive energy. She was a successful business woman herself and happened to be one of my role models/favorite aunts. She explained to me that money means nothing when you’re on your death bed…family and time are the greatest commodities in the world. Once she passed, I quit my corporate job and concentrated on utilizing my time accordingly, while truly appreciating my family/loved ones around me. I got married to my amazing wife…or as I like to call her, “my angel on earth”. I tapped into my network and was offered an opportunity to work for the Union County Parks & Recreation Department. The job was a position as a Building Maintenance Worker, where I would be cleaning all public bathrooms in the north sector of the county parks system. This included my beloved sanctuary, Watchung Reservation. With nothing to lose, I took the offer and gave it a shot. I am proud to say that it was the second-best decision of my life (marrying my wife was the first best). During my tenure in the north sector, my love for the reservation/Feltville grew tremendously. Having the honor to clean and maintain living history/beauty each day for several years was truly a blessing in disguise. I often referred to it as “the best office in the county”. Although I do not work that sector anymore, I am still proudly serving under the same title but in a different sector of the county. Whenever I have spare time, I always make my way back up the mountain from Elizabeth for a hike or a stroll. With my wife and I welcoming our beautiful baby girl into the world on 10/12/23, I plan on introducing her to Feltville/Watchung Reservation very soon! I hope she loves it just as much as I do!

Michael Ondrey is a Boy Scout in Troop 83 Kenilworth. He has enjoyed the Watchung Reservation and the Deserted Village for some time, so he made it the subject of his proposed Eagle Scout project. His proposal, which has just been approved, will help Union County determine the original location of the Feltville Cemetery. With his troop, and with the help of some County personnel, Michael will clear the area where he believes the cemetery was located, and search for indicators such as the residue of fenceposts, and headstones. He debuted his project to visitors at Four Centuries 2023, joining John Willcocks (as channeled by Tim Bernier, see profile HERE) at the Feltville Cemetery.

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Wendy Rupa was channeling school teacher Sarah Felt Toby in her second year as a volunteer at Four Centuries in a Weekend. The original Sarah was a niece of David Felt, the man who built the mill village that he named Feltville. Sarah’s name appears in the 1850 census for the area, along with her job as school teacher at the village. Prior to appearing as Sarah, Wendy had served at the Haunted Hayride for a number of years. Wendy enjoys working with children in her role as Sarah, seeing their happy but confused faces as she tries to demonstrate what a quill pen was and how to use it. She found herself trying to explain how expensive ink was in 1850, as the children made blots of ink on lined paper, trying to form letters. Her biggest question this year from kids was how ink was made. She has worked for the past ten years in the child support department of Union County’s Division of Social Services.

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Barbara Cronenberger brought her long knowledge of spinning to Four Centuries for a second year of volunteering. Barbara demonstrated how wool was converted into yarn on the porch of the caretaker’s house at the Village. She has actually been spinning since the Bicentennial (1976), when a demonstration she saw piqued her interest enough to teach herself how to spin from books and from live demonstrations that she attended. She finds wool especially nice to work with, because the natural lanolin in the raw wool after being sheared from sheep lubricates both the parts of the spinning wheel and the hands of the spinner. Barbara also has an interest in local history, including the history of the original families at the Village. She has apparently passed on her interest to her daughter, who is involved with a project called Plain Sight, meant to “restore the stories of the enslaved and free people of color to their essential place in American history.” Online HERE.

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Ryan Agostinho was in his third year of portraying 1850 farmer Moses Price at Four Centuries 2023, but he has been volunteering at Four Centuries for nine years. He started volunteering as a Boy Scout from Troop 23 with Scout Master Dan Bernier, helping press cider and with other activities, and loved it so much he stayed on past his boy scout years to play one of Feltville’s characters. He happily showed me around the garden which the site’s caretaker maintains in a mostly historically accurate way, describing how people of the time at the village fed themselves from small garden plots like the one he was showing off, and other sources, like game hunting. Ryan has always been interested in gardening. His grandparents were farmers in Portugal. In 2017, Ryan’s Eagle Scout project was a community garden for his parish, St. Genevieve in Elizabeth. It continues to be used today with its harvest going towards the church’s food pantry. Ryan is currently a student at NJIT studying civil engineering.

These profiles represent only a small fraction of the dozens of dedicated volunteers who make Four Centuries a wonderful experience for people from everywhere. Here are photos of some lovely women who helped me during the day, and whom I am looking forward to seeing again next year.

Lesley Doran saw me trudging up the hill to the parking lot, and stopped and offered me a ride in her golf cart. She cheerfully took people around the village all day on the second day of Four Centuries in a weekend.

Darrin Rockefeller was helping out with the parking, guiding people into the event and offering them information on the various activities. It seems that her real love is the Haunted Hayride, which would be the next weekend. Darrin sent the following:

The Haunted Hayride is an amazing Event held by Dan Bernier. It combines History with Scary Details and characters. Dan is our Director of Park Environmental Services of Union County Parks & Recreation. I have been lucky enough to have been a part of this Haunted Hayride Event for a few years now. Dan does an amazing job coordinating this Event each year and it is a sell out every year! Every performer and helper is magnificent! I am grateful to be a part of it.

Jennifer Colon was also helping out with parking. She reported:

This was actually my first time volunteering at the Four Centuries event. I loved it. The Deserted Village is one of my favorite places in Union County. I work for the Division of Social Services in Elizabeth.