FAIR HAVEN, NJ — After more than a decade, the Fair Haven Garden Party to raise preservation funds for Bicentennial Hall/Historic Fisk Chapel returns to the borough this Saturday.
The Historic Association of Fair Haven, which started the fundraiser in 1995, has a renewed mission to continue to preserve the 1882 former A.M.E. church structure and encourage its use as a gathering place for the community, the party organizers say.
"The building is beautiful," said Elise Casey, co-chairwoman of the party, "and we want to bring more of the beauty back." Robbyn O'Neill is co-chair of the Garden Party.
There are stained glass windows, hardwood floors inside and a historic exterior that, after the passage of a few years, now needs repairs such as maintenance of the clapboard and roof shingles and new paint, said Casey, secretary of the association.
This is music to the ears of Pat Drummond, president of the association and a founder of the Garden Party in 1995.
"I'm just thrilled," she said, at the thought of the return of what is now the 18th annual Garden Party.
And she said she thinks a "new generation" of volunteers dedicated to the preservation of the structure is "doing great."
"I will be there!" she said of the party.
She said she oversaw 17 years of parties attended by hundreds of people interested in preserving Historic Fisk Chapel, listed on both the New Jersey and the National Register of Historic Places.
It is significant not only as a building, but for its association with the area's first African-American community, the historic registers note.
The structure, dubbed Bicentennial Hall when it was transferred to the borough from the Fisk Chapel A.M.E. Church in the 1970s, is the oldest religious building in the borough, according to the town website. A plaque on the structure says it is the oldest surviving religious building on Rumson Neck.
Drummond said that when the African Methodist Episcopal congregation needed to build a larger church at the site in Fair Haven, they offered the historic chapel to the town in 1974.
She recalled the building had to be cut in half (lengthwise) to be moved from Fisk Street to Cedar Avenue. Moving the building saved it from demolition, Drummond said.
She also said that the town created a basement foundation for the structure so it now has a basement that is also used for the HVAC system.
With various sources of government funding over the years, much work was accomplished to restore the building, including its roof that suffered in the move. She said the past Garden Party fundraisers raised about $500,000 over 17 years to help supplement the cost of improvements.
And according to the borough website, Fair Haven's three-stage plan for maintenance addressed issues such as plumbing, electrical work and more, often using Public Works staff where possible.
It's clearly a community effort, and that spirit continues on Saturday.
The Garden Party is from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Grange Avenue at the home of Chris and (Councilwoman) Tracy Cole, Casey said.
It will take place outdoors and those who have not already bought tickets can still purchase them at the door on Saturday, she added. The cost is $125 per person. There are also sponsorships available.
Casey said all are welcome to donate to the preservation work for the structure, whether they can attend the party or not. Learn more about attending the event and sponsorship and donati0n opportunities by clicking here.
In another tradition, Drummond said the party will be catered by Brennan's of Rumson, which has catered all of the parties through the years.
Casey said a goal of the Historic Association is to see that the building gets more use by the community.
Currently, she said, it's underutilized but it can be upgraded to create more flexible meeting spaces.
According to the New Jersey Historic Trust, Fisk Chapel was named for Civil War Gen. Clinton B. Fisk, commissioner of President Abraham Lincoln’s Freedman’s Bureau and a New Jersey and national politician at the time - and instrumental in providing the land and building to the Fair Haven congregation.
And Drummond said she "gets goosebumps" when she enters the building and sees the outline of where all the pews of the church rested at one time.
"You can feel the spirit of the people who were here," Drummond said.