Keeping things nice for Bruce

[Marc LeVine]

Bruce's old house at 39 Institute Street, as most Borough residents already know. Last weekend, during his very first performances at the PNC Arts Center, several bus loads of fans visited the house and toured the rest of the town. I understand that our guests represented several countries, US states and cities.

Those who live in the areas of Institute, Yard, Conover, Marcy and surrounding streets should realize that they are, strangely enough, part of a tourist area. Hopefully, they will pay particular attention to how their area looks and try to keep it especially neat as Bruce fans are coming by all the time and judging our town's curb appeal.

Bruce is a very important part of this town's history and should be respected by area residents; putting their best feet forward to honor his achievements in front of the whole world. More so than anyone else, The Boss put Freehold Borough on the map.

[HotLyricscom]

Here is an old story that tells you what what Bruce fans from around the world come to see in Freehold...

European fans sample slice of Bruce’s hometown
Vinyard Park, firehouse,
sites of singer’s homes
are part of Freehold tour
By clare MARie celano
Staff Writer

CARL BEAMS Tour leaders Stan Goldstein and Jean Mikle talk to the Badlands group on Randolph Street, where one of the homes that Bruce Springsteen lived in used to stand.

FREEHOLD — Almost 80 European Bruce Springsteen fans descended upon the Market Yard parking lot at 11 a.m. July 16 (2003) to begin their tour of the hometown of Freehold’s most famous native son.

Like the "Pied Piper," Springsteen not only managed to lure his diehard fans across a country, but across a continent.

Appropriately christened "Badlands" by co-creators Steven Jump and his brother, Philip, both from Cheltenham, England, the European fan club has members from many countries. This tour of the borough included fans from England, the Netherlands, Canada, Ireland and Germany.

Jump, an original diehard Springsteen groupie who has seen the rock star in concert 31 times, owns a record shop in England but said he spends a great deal of time taking people on American tours. He’s managed to turn a hobby for fun into a business with a profit.

Freehold Borough fireman Chris Barkalow talks to the group about the fire truck Bruce Springsteen donated to the community.

Fans came not only to see Springsteen in concert at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, but to see for themselves where much of his music originated from.

They came to see, to touch and to experience in person, emotions, memories, people and places that inspired the "Boss" to put hand to guitar, pen to paper and make musical history. They came to see for themselves what Springsteen sings about.

The group’s visit to America included Springsteen shows, a tour through Springsteen’s hometown of Freehold, and a visit to Asbury Park, the Jersey Shore town most closely associated with Springsteen’s early career.

Tour organizers on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, Stan Goldstein and Jean Mikle, coordinated a walking tour of Springsteen sites in Freehold, as they have done for four years.

Goldstein has seen Springsteen in concert 151 times. When he’s not attending concerts, Goldstein works as a journalist for The Star-Ledger as a sports copy editor. Mikle, a journalist with the Asbury Park Press, has seen Springsteen in concert more than 100 times.

In fact, the two are so devoted to Springsteen and his work that they’ve even self-published a book on the musician titled Rock and Roll Tour of the Jersey Shore.

Sites on the walking tour of Freehold Borough included a visit to the location where Springsteen’s home on Randolph Street once stood. The property is now part of the St. Rose of Lima Church parking lot.

Fans stopped to take some snapshots of the "big red maple" tree that Springsteen mentions in his song "In Freehold." Springsteen debuted the song at his 1996 St. Rose of Lima benefit concert.

Fans also visited homes that Springsteen lived in at 391/2 Institute Street and at 68 South St. The St. Rose of Lima School, which Springsteen attended, and Freehold Borough High School, from which he graduated, were also on the tour. The group visited the Freehold Fire Department and saw the bright yellow "Born to Run" fire truck Springsteen donated to the community.

Moving down Main Street, fans saw what was once the offices of Lawyer’s Title and is now an attorney’s office. Springsteen’s mother, Adele, worked at Lawyer’s Title, and he sings about the office in his song "The Wish."

Next stop was the CVS pharmacy. The building was formerly the home of a J.J. Newbury department store. In his song "Local Hero," Springsteen relates how he was driving along Main Street one day and looked in the window of the store. What he saw gave him pause for reflection. He noticed his picture in the window of the department store, placed in between a stuffed Doberman and a photo of Bruce Lee.

Lines from the song address this event.

"Who is that?" Springsteen asked the clerk.

"Oh, just a local hero," she replied.

Federici’s restaurant on West Main Street was also part of the walking tour. The singer has been known to stop in for a bite when he’s around town. Owner Frank Federici was on hand to greet the visitors, although he said he couldn’t understand why they would want to come there.

"They’re just going to see walls and tables and dishes, right?" he said, looking perplexed.

Well, not really.

Fans wanted to see Springsteen’s "roots" and spend some time in the places he "hung out" at as a young man writing music.

Breaking for lunch on West Main Street, the fans stopped long enough to visit the borough’s newest historical monument at Columbia Triumphant park, next to the Monmouth County Hall of Records Annex. A few even snapped a picture of the engraved brick Springsteen donated during a fund-raiser for the monument.

Vinyard Park was the last stop on the Freehold tour. Fans boarded buses from the Market Yard and stepped off at Jackson and Center streets to see the rug mill Springsteen immortalized in his song, "My Hometown."

One fan looked up kind of in awe at the recently renovated structure now known as the Rug Mill Towers and quietly asked, "Is this the textile mill across the railroad tracks?"

This was more than just a tour for many of Springsteen’s fans. This was an opportunity to collect memories, something tangible to place alongside the music and the musician they so love.

Vinyard Park was recently dedicated to Tex and Marion Vinyard. The tiny park on the corner of Center and Jackson streets holds good memories for the artist as well as for many borough residents.

On the property where children now swing on swings and slide on slides, once stood the duplex home of the late Tex Vinyard and his wife, Marion, before it was torn down in the 1970s. The couple were instrumental in Springsteen’s early career, opening their home to him, George Theiss and other members of the band the Castiles.

The town dedicated the park to the Vinyards in May 2002 as a thank you for the contribution they made to Springsteen’s career and to music. Springsteen attended and spoke at the park’s dedication ceremony.

Talking to members of the tour group was much like talking to any star struck teenager. Although the average age of participants was probably 40, the enthusiasm was no different that youngsters camping out all night to buy concert tickets.

Alun Jones, a fan on the tour who lives in England, has attended 59 Springsteen concerts, many with the tour, and said the tour was a very positive experience.

Thea Copier and Ger Pracity came from the Netherlands to see Springsteen in concert and to see his home as well. The couple have seen the rock star more than 30 times. They said they enjoyed the concerts [at least three of them this time around] and were planning another trip to the United State to see more shows in August.

When asked why they travel all this way for Springsteen’s concerts, Pracity answered.

"Bruce is good people. He speaks for all the people. His music is great and he sings about things that all people can relate to," he said, before adding, "Bruce is, well, Bruce is just real, you know?"