Paintings, photos of Joe Palaia Park on display
Ocean Township residents contribute to exhibit at library
BY DANIEL HOWLEY Staff Writer
The talent of township artists of all ages is being showcased at an exhibit at the Ocean Township Public Library this month that highlights Joe Palaia Park.

PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Above: One of the many acrylic paintings, "Magical Garden" by Renate Mesnikoff, hangs in the Turner Reading Room at the Ocean Township Library Dec. 7 during an exhibit of art depicting Joe Palaia Park. At left are additional paintings featured at the exhibit.

The exhibit features 28 pictures, photographs, watercolors and oil paintings contributed by community members and marks the first of its kind to be held at the Terner House Gallery in the library.

"What's special about this is it is the first exhibit in the Terner House that is a community exhibit," Director of Human Services Dr. Richard Ponton said last week. "[It] gives the township of Ocean the opportunity to showcase the talent of the community.

"I think that we are blessed to have so many fine artists contribute to this show," he said, adding, "It is beautiful art depicting a beautiful park."

The exhibit opened at the gallery on Nov. 4 and will run until tomorrow.

The exhibit consists of art work from residents ranging in age from 10 to 85 years old, according to Ponton, who said what he found most interesting about the project was watching residents in the park working on their pieces for the exhibit.

The park was chosen as the subject of the exhibit due to the important role it plays in the township, according to Ponton.

"[Palaia Park] is a wonderful centerpiece to the township of Ocean, and so the exhibit that highlights that is a wonderful centerpiece of the gallery," Ponton said.

"It gets people to see [the park] from an artistic point of view and shows it in the gallery as how these artists see it," he said.

Paintings and pictures include scenic images of the park from different seasons, families relaxing on the park's green grass, and various representations of the paths that crisscross the park.

Today, wildlife in the park is abundant and includes animals such as deer, groundhogs, turtles and various birds, according to Ponton.

According to Ponton, the park is approximately 30 percent of the size of New York's Central Park, or 208 acres, Ponton explained.

It is also the host site of many events throughout the year, including seasonal festivals.

Joe Palaia Park was named for New Jersey State Sen. Joseph Palaia, who is a former Ocean Township mayor and was instrumental in acquiring the park for the township.

The Joe Palaia Park has a "rather interesting history," according to the Ocean Township Environmental Commission Web site.

The earliest available records show that the area was originally owned by Nathan Wooley. Wooley sold the site in 1817 to W.H. Croxson, who operated a farm at the site.

In 1923, a farmer stumbled upon the bones of a mammoth on the land. The mammoth was an "exceptional discovery" at the time because it was one of the best-preserved specimens found in world, according to the Web site.

The finding also marked the first mammoth fossil to be found in New Jersey, according to the Web site.

The whereabouts of the skeleton are unknown today, according to the Web site.

The southern section of what is now Joe Palaia Park was formerly known as Foxhurst Farm.

The 63-acre Foxhurst Farm site was owned by AT&T's manufacturing arm, Western Electric, and was used to develop experimental communications. In 1927, the company purchased the remaining 145 acres of land that now makes up Palaia Park.

AT&T conducted many experiments from 1919 to 1953 on an area of the property called the Deal Test Site. Experiments included the development of shipto shore telephony and the use of short-wave radiotelephone service to England, according to the Web site.

Some remains of AT&T's ownership of the site are still visible today, including one of the towers

used to transmit signals to ships. A two-story white building,

which was once used to house a laboratory and dormitories for engineers, also remains standing at the site

The property was later sold to a Jersey City developer, who leased it out to the U.S. Army for satellite research programs from 1953 through 1978, according to Ponton.

Some of the first signals from the Russian satellites Sputnik I and II were picked up at the location, Ponton said.

Following changes in satellite technology, the Deal Site was declared obsolete and in 1973 Ocean Township used grant money from the state Green Acres program to purchase the property.

The next exhibit scheduled at the Terner House Gallery is a needlework display, which will begin Dec. 16.