The 4th in Plainfield's Past

Once upon a time and not in a galaxy far away, the 4th of July in Plainfield was a major event. For many years the parade was by far the biggest in North and Central New Jersey. Marching bands from all over the region competed in the parade along with military unit detachments. The floats were sophisticated, not Rose Bowl standards but beyond the flatbed truck type. All the adjacent municipalities participated in the parade. The marching route was from Leland Ave to Somerset Street and then through North Plainfield as far as Greenbrook Rd.

Unfortunately after the 1968 riots participation dwindled and our neighbors exhibiting a petty sense of community grandeur and a wish to disassociate from Plainfield organized their own individual parades. I believe that this was the time when there was an active movement in North Plainfield to change its name so that there would be no association with Plainfield.

Way back in the 20s and 30s the parade route was down Park Ave. I vaguely remember Doctor (Colonel) Corbisier (spelling ??) a Spanish American War veteran annually as Grand Marshal riding his horse at the head of the parade.

The old Fourth also has other memories. In the back yard of our house on the southeast corner of 4th and Grant we had a cherry tree., which was close to the flat roof over the kitchen extension. The Cherries were similar to Queen Anns and always ripened just in time to be picked on the fourth. As children my brother and I would climb the tree to pick them.

Since these cherries were tart not sweet they were only fit for "canning". My mother and Katherine and Agnes (sisters) who lived with us and worked as cooks, nursemaids etc. would spend several days cleaning sorting , pitting and then cooking the cherries and sealing them in quart "Ball Jars".

After the war I used to climb out a rear bed room window and reach the flat roof to pick those cherries. Ultimately both the tree and I became too old for such foolishness.