I have written before about my old hometown of West Milford, and not in a very flattering light, admittedly.
The thing is, it is hard to understand the town, unless you have not only been there, but spent a significant amount of time there. When I have taken some friends there from more developed, urbanized parts of the state, they were almost always commenting on how beautiful and green it is, how there are so many trees everywhere, and how they almost felt they were on vacation. Indeed, it is a town that has been blessed with an abundance of natural beauty. There are lakes and woods aplenty, with numerous good hiking trails, and some beautiful drives, if you know where to go.
Also, we had an Olympic gold medal winner, Donna Weinbrecht, who won gold for freestyle mogul skiing in 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France. She went on the Letterman Show, and visited our high school (yes, I was in high school back then), and is still sometimes considered the pride of New Jersey.
But that's the thing about West Milford. There are some incredible things about it, but while some of the incredible things are good, some are actually quite bad. Frankly, I am not sure that people who are not locals would get it, if you will. Again, the reaction that people usually give me is that it is such a beautiful town, you were so lucky to grow up here, and so on and so forth. And indeed, on some level, I was. The surrounding woods were great, and I took advantage with frequent hikes in the woods when I was younger. Still go hiking there every now and then, in fact. For people who think of New Jersey as being defined by ugly highways like the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, which give off on views of industrial plants and warehouses and landfills and urbanized areas with seriously overpriced, shoulder to shoulder housing.
Then, there is the other side of it. That side that makes you think it is incredible in a very different way, one that makes it feel hard to believe that this is New Jersey, as well, but with a twist. When you see locals filing into the numerous outright redneck bars, and when you see Confederate flags flying, and when you see one Trump sticker and/or poster after another, you realize that you are in a very different part of New Jersey, one that most would never associate with the Garden State. This town would not look completely out of place in some more rural regions, perhaps the Pacific Northwest, or even some of the areas by the foothills of the Rockies, before the mountains get really, really high. Or, frankly, the Deep South, perhaps somewhere in the more mountainous regions. I mean, West Milford can fit in with those kinds of rural towns, the kinds of towns where locals rely on one industry, and do not take too kindly to strangers. Yes, West Milford has that side to it, too, despite being within view of the skyscrapers of Manhattan.. If you are not familiar with West Milford, then you will have to trust me that it does.
Most people who know me know that I read a lot of Stephen King. And when King describes some local Maine town, that has an abundance of natural beauty as well as a redneck feel, I feel that I can relate, having come from West Milford. The town can feel freeing, when you are in the middle of all of those woods. But it can also feel very restrictive, in terms of all of the rednecks that you will inevitably run into.
Case in point, I had a history teacher in that school district who advocated that there should indeed be segregation between whites and blacks. No, I am not joking. Of course, that was shocking to me, and that was right around 1987-88. It would likely be less shocking today, especially if it happened in West Milford, frankly. I have gotten to know some other school districts since, and somehow, things like that do not fly there. Believe me, that mindset is not uncommon in West Milford, and that includes among some teachers. Not all, but that man was hardly the only one who I sensed had a seriously closed mind there. In fact, that seemed to be the norm, and I am saying that as someone who attended those schools as a kid, and worked within them as an adult. That kind of thing just likely would not be seen in many other parts of New Jersey.
It can all feel depressing. I know some people who take a lot of pride in being from West Milford. But I know quite a few people - and generally interesting, intelligent people - who also moved far away, and are glad to have done so. This town has a very depressing feel to it, and the rednecks are just one part of that. There are also the housing prices, and the outrageously high property taxes. And there are many in West Milford who subscribe to that bullying political conservatism, the one that tries to imply that if you do not think and act exactly as they do, that somehow, you are not a "real American." Again, that Trump mentality, the one that has these northerners, these Yankees, essentially, flying the Confederate battle flag and sympathizing with the South during the days of the Jim Crow era, or perhaps even during the Civil War, even.
Not long ago, I posted a blog entry with a link to a news story about a local West Milford man who had gotten pulled over for driving under the influence. He excused his behavior by blaming a local football team, the New York Jets, who he claimed apparently had driven him to drink, and ultimately, to drive. That kind of finger-pointing, and the refusal to take responsibility for one's own actions, while likely being the type who politically preaches that everyone else is doing exactly that, is the kind of hypocrisy and ugliness is all too common in West Milford, and that can be a serious turnoff.
Well, here is another story that reveals a bit about the character of West Milford. I am not entirely sure if this is an exaggeration or not. I have been to this light, but not in quite a few years. It just is not in a part of the town that I frequent. The times that I have traveled there, it has taken some time, although it did not seem like a long enough time that it would necessarily qualify as the longest traffic light in the entire country. Apparently, however, it might be a serious contender. And indeed, that might be embarrassing enough to locals, and to officials, that they would want to change it.
But nope. Not in West Milford, where there are absolutely no plans to change that. You might almost think that some of the locals take pride in it.
The traffic light is on the one highway that runs through West Milford: Route 23, at the intersection of Clinton Road.. If you are wondering, yes it is the same Clinton Road that is supposed to be haunted, and which they are making movies about.
The traffic light is on the one highway that runs through West Milford: Route 23, at the intersection of Clinton Road.. If you are wondering, yes it is the same Clinton Road that is supposed to be haunted, and which they are making movies about.
Here is the link to this article that gives the dubious distinction to my old hometown of West Milford. Yes, another dubious distinction.
The longest traffic light in America June 14, 2010 3:41:20 PM PDT By Jen Maxfield and Eyewitness News
No comments:
Post a Comment