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Vol. 14 No. 4 WEEK OF AUGUST 2 TO AUGUST 8. 1979 . W °»'.* ' \ ' * Cape May County Park

A Pastoral Summer Setting •

far their weddings the director said. ' Everything in the park is free except a fee for using tenqis courts and reservations made on the nine large picnic shelters for groups. Fulginiti said. Free recreational equipment for use in the park is also available. County Park East opposite the' main park on route 9 includes three tennis courts, two baseball fields a Little league field and softball field, restrooms and picnic

areas.

But. perhaps one of the most popular and most unusual aspects of the bounty park is the county park zoo. Founded in 1977, the zoo is home to some 86

^ # „ animals.

COASTING ALONG. Baby duck teems hardly lo rirtd Mami't in- •nn w a funj^by utrnetloit as he swims blithely around the Cape May Ctwniy Par* funds and CETA allowing it'

pood. »e pood (arm* «► serene summer setttn* for plcnlcers and

slroHers.

Sicilian donkey, goats, sheep, birds, pigs and

rabbits.

The zoo is for the exhibition of ani/nals and is not a petting zoo. Fulginiti emphasized. Another highlight of the park is a summer series of concerts performed on the “showmobile"' a portable stage rented out to area organizations when not in use at the park. Featured, at the 2 p.m. Sunday concerts have been

such performers as Larry Ferrari, the Happy Times Children’s Theater. The King Singers and the Angelus Chorus The Coast Guard Training Center 1 Band will perform this Sunday. The public has responded well to the concerts. Fulginiti said. The series will con'inue through Sept. 16 Fulginiti said he has seen the park make tremendous {Continued on Page 17) <

COURT HOUSE - A fuzzy baby duck ripples the placid pond waters as he trtss to keep pace with a more erpericarffed swimmer - Mamma * Nearby a family pienks in the shade children play cowboi Indian in the ‘ The setting of pastoral scene is at the Cape May County Park on route 9 north of Cape May Court HcAise. More than a few persons have discovered the serene charm of the park in the summef. Open from 8:30a.m. until dark the park offers shady picnic areas with grills, fishing in one section of the

pond, tennis, ping pong, softball and more. The park, split into County Park East and County Park West by route 9 comprises 120 acres of land. An estimated 100,000 visitors drive through the park gates each year, Leon Fulginiti, Park Director Part of the old Matthews plantations the park even has a small graveyard dating back 200 years. The park came into existence after the formation of a County Park Commission by the County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1963. Maintenance and operation of the park is funded by the

county and through various < grants. Fulginiti h£ads up a staff of il^regular park workers and 30 Compreheneive Employment Training Act (CETA) employees. Appointed a park commissioner ^11 years ago, Fulginiti was named park director in 1972. He is not modest when it comes to singing the park's praises. “We have one of the best county parks in the state of New Jersey.” Fulginiti said. "We have a very nice park- here. We're very proud of itll About lfl« couples each year find tlA banks of the park pond an rayllic setting

to “operate without any cost to the county,”

Fulginiti said

"That’s quite a saving to the taxpayers of Cape May

County." he added.

The county zoo is run under a unique "adopt an animal” system. Animals are acquired either by being donated or after money to buy them has been donated by a group or

private individual.

The park must first make sure it has the proper facilities to house a particular animal and pass stringent N.J. Fish and Game department stan-

dards, Fulginiti said. V ^ , . , , ,

Included among the zoo’s FISHING. HIKING, picmcing and many more inhabitants are a lion activities air enjoyed on £f lazy summer day at

raised from a cub by a park the Cape jvfay Countv Park,

employee, a monkey.

V'?

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PM A SYMBOL'bF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, the Woodbine Brotherhood Synagogue still stands a testimony to the courage of early Jewish settlers.

Woodbine Synagogue A Symbol Of Freedom

WOODBINE — The history of the synagogue in Woodbine is closely interwoven with the history of the town. In 1885. a fund was established by Baron Maurice. De Hiigch, a wealthy Bavarian industrialist. to set up towns In America where Jewish refugees from Russia could escape the tyranny of the Czar. Part of that fund was used to buy over 5,000 acres of land in the sparsely populated section of Cape May County where the Borough of Woodbine now is. A design was made out for the town, and in 1891 the first imigrants arrived. ■''The Woodbine

Brotherhood first met in temporary quarters, but as • more of their countrymen began settling in Woodbine, they decided to build a house of worship. The Baron De Hirsch Fund lent money for the mortgage, and members of the community subscribed liberally. Most of the actual building of the structure was done by the new colonists themselves. For a period, a group of the men worked on the county roads to raise money to buy bricks. Some of the bricks were made from the day soil of one of

the local farms. The Woodbine Brotherhood Synagogue was consecrated on November 29. 1896. the first synagogue in the county, and the only one fqr many years thereafter. At first there were areas of misunderstanding between the predominantly Protestant native-born Cape May CounUans and the Woodbine residents The Russians’ foreign speech, dress and customs were new and strange to the local families whose ancestors originally settled the county. One of these differences concerned the

Jewish tradition of celebrating the Sabbath on Saturday, with Sunday and ordinary working day Fine* were levied on those working on Sunday When it was brought to the attention of the lawmakers that the Seventh Day Adventists who settled in Shiloh also had Saturday as their Holy Day. and were not penalized for Sunday labor, the fines were dropped Throughout the years, many of the families of the original refugees have left Woodbine, but the building they constructed still stands.