11/9/2023 0 Comments Loop hero swampPlatt had been giving slideshow presentations about the jetport fight. The idea for the film came from a conversation between Platt and co-producer Larry Fast, an avid local historian. Most were done in Harding Mayor Nicolas Platt’s home, Hartley House, where his godfather, Marcellus Hartley Dodge Sr., once lived. Morris and his crew shot 30 hours of interviews. The challenge was to decide what would hold the audience’s interest, and hold it together,” said Morris, a Chatham resident for 25 years. So much happened, there were so many players over nine years. “Trying to boil down an extremely complex story to an hour film, that was the hardest part. “It illustrated every page of my book just as I would have wanted.ĭirector Scott Morris, who produced a PBS special about the restoration of Dick Cavett’s home, said weaving together archival footage, newspaper clipping and interviews for Jetport was a challenge. “It’s fabulous,” said the author of Saving the Great Swamp: The People, the Power Brokers, and an Urban Wilderness, who lives in Basking Ridge. The movie was based on a book by Cam Cavanaugh. She was a great inspiration to me, and a lot of other people.” The only downside to the evening: It was “a little sad, a little wistful,” seeing old pictures of his mom on the giant screen. She’d get people interested, and they would do the work,” Karl said. She didn’t mind pushing people’s buttons.”Īs a 9-year-old, Karl learned a lot at his mother’s side: How to cook, how to cultivate the press, and especially, the value of citizen involvement. She was just a catalyst and a bully, a person with a mission. “One person can make a difference, which we saw with mom. “She would be working the room,” Susan said. Larry Fast and Scott Morris at MPAC screening of their jetport movie. Karl’s sister, Susan Fenske McDonough, called the movie “beautifully done,” and agreed that their mother would have eaten up this event. We’re going to go to the Great Swamp and photograph spotted salamanders!'” “She’d buttonhole you at parties like this, and say, ‘I know just the thing for you to do. gathering before Saturday’s free screening. “She loved to throw parties like this,” Helen’s son, Morristown attorney Karl Fenske, said at a V.I.P. It was the hub for the volunteer campaign that was crucial to the battle. Helen Fenske had lesser means, but her Green Village kitchen became a potent weapon in the battle. Marcellus Hartley Dodge, owner of the Remington Arms company, gifted land to the Department of the Interior, leading to creation of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and placing a roadblock in the Port Authority’s way. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.), went toe-to-toe with Meyner. The heroes included a politician, a philanthropist and a housewife.Ĭongressman Peter Frelinghuysen Jr., father of present Rep. Robert Meyner, who with Tobin continued pushing for the Great Swamp airport even after it appeared to be dead. One of his prime allies was New Jersey Gov. His push for the airport was premised partly on the flawed notion that jets from Europe would need to land there before continuing across the U.S. The prime villain: Austin Tobin, the late executive director of the Port of New York Authority, who insisted that the Great Swamp was the best place for a new airport, even though it lay just beyond the Port Authority’s jurisdiction. That nine-year fight is remembered in an hour-long documentary that premiered on Saturday before a large and enthusiastic audience at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown.Īny good story needs heroes and villains, and Saving the Great Swamp, Battle to Defeat the Jetporthas several. Dillard Kirby addresses MPAC screening of jetport movie. It’s even harder to imagine a grass-roots effort, generations before social media, actually defeating such an entrenched colossus as the Port Authority. It’s hard to envision what Greater Morristown would be like today if the Port Authority had succeeded a half-century ago in transforming the Great Swamp into the region’s fourth major airport.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |