Dear partners and supporters,
As we enter the season of giving thanks, Friends of Jockey Hollow is grateful to you for enabling the work to protect, preserve, and promote our national gem. Therefore, it is with considerable pride that the committee and I share some of our 2023 accomplishments.
With your support, the Friends were able to:
- Install a digital display monitor at the Jockey Hollow Visitors Center to help visitors discover more about current park conditions, programs, and upcoming events.
- Conduct a federally mandated archeological investigation of forty-three sites along the trails so future repair work could continue.
- Purchase lumber for our partners at the NY/NJ Trail Conference who made repairs by building water dams and boardwalks for sections of the trails affected by erosion.
- Remove debris and encroaching invasive species from miles of trails & clear dozens of unsightly dead ash tree stumps to enhance the visitor experience.
- Fabricate and install a new fence at the historic Wick Garden which benefits our partners at the Herb Society of American- North Jersey Unit.
- Plant spring bulbs at Jockey Hollow Visitors Center.
- Engage a local architect for imperative renovations in 2024 to the NY Brigade Comfort Station.
- Underwrite a new brochure for the Cross Estate Gardens, a project of the New Jersey Historical Garden Foundation located at the New Jersey Brigade Unit.
Looking ahead to 2024 and to America’s 250th birthday in 2026, our ambitious plans include:
- Creating a NEW 1.5-mile trail that interprets the little-known story of the Pennsylvania Line Mutiny of 1781, the first and largest mutiny of the American Revolution
- Constructing a NEW accessible hut on the Hand’s Brigade Line that will allow people of all capabilities to gain a better insight into the soldier’s experience.
Please help us make these major projects a reality. Gen. George Washington liked to use the Scottish proverb, “Many a mickle makes a muckle.” – won’t you add your mickle today?
With great appreciation,
Leslie Bensley, Executive Director | fojh.org/support
FOJH Committee: Kim & Finn Wentworth |Mark Wentworth | Adrienne & S. Dillard Kirby
