Bridgeton’s Rich Sports Legacy
By Albert B. Kelly
I don’t know if it strikes
anyone else this way, but every time I consider the number of talented athletes
that have come out of the greater Bridgeton area, I’m impressed all over again.
This happened to me recently as we’re getting geared up for the kick-off of the
Smithsonian Institutes “Hometown Teams” traveling exhibit which opens at the
Bridgeton Library on June 27th.
I know it happens each and
every time I visit the All Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey; located in
Bridgeton City Park. If you have not immersed yourself in our local sports
history, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by all there is to see and
reflect on.
Considering that a number
of our athletes over several generations have played and performed at the
highest levels, I think our legacy goes beyond just “local”- touching and
intersecting with the history of sports on the national and international
level. This to me is impressive for a city that’s just 6.2 square miles with a
population that tops out at 25,000.
We’ve been blessed with
baseball Hall of Famer Goose Goslin and Negro League standout Harold Gould.
We’ve sent our sons to the NFL in the form of Brison Manor (Denver Broncos) and
George Jamison, Jr., (Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs).
We’ve been counted among
Olympians in the person of Shana Williams, 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2000
Sydney Olympics. Of course one day, I hope to say the same about recent
Bridgeton High School graduate and UCLA student-athlete Braheme Days, Jr as a
possible future Olympian.
We’ve seen collegiate
stars like our own Cynthia Wilks dominate in basketball at Virginia
Commonwealth University and from decades past; John Borican; who held a world
record at 1,000 meters, with AAU titles in the Pentathlon, Decathlon, and 800
meters in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. Borican was denied a chance to
compete in the Olympics because of WWII and he passed away shortly thereafter;
so we’ll always wonder what might have been.
Along with the athletes,
we’ve hosted a Babe Ruth World Series (1962), and nurtured Bernice Gera; who
started her career as the first female umpire in the early 1970’s. Bernice Gera
started on the diamond at the Bridgeton Invitational Tournament back in the day
and she donated her uniform to the All Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey.
All of this is to say that
we’ve got a sports lineage and a tradition that’s worthy of our time and
attention. The Smithsonian Institute “Hometown Teams” exhibit will run from
June 28th through August 10th with various exhibits, memorabilia, photographs,
and film all part of the mix at the Bridgeton Public Library.
In addition to what’s
featured at the Library over the six-week period, a Goose Goslin storefront
exhibit will be at 21 E. Commerce Street; (courtesy of Cliff Jones) and
“Seabrook Sports”- another storefront exhibit- will be at the Ashley McCormick
Center with both exhibits running through July up to August 10th.
To complement the Smithsonian
Exhibit, I encourage you to visit the All Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey;
it is a treasure-trove of all things sports and Dave Hitchner and team do a
fantastic job of stocking and presenting the collection which features the
athletes named above and much more; including 1980 Phillies World Series
memorabilia and a Jackie Robinson game-used bat.
On August 14th, the All
Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey will be inducting former Phillies
announcer Chris "Wheels" Wheeler into the ranks, certainly a feather
in the cap for Dave Hitchner and welcome addition to our growing sports
tradition.
Many thanks go to local
historian and architect Penny Watson and our former Library Director Gail
Robinson, both of whom rolled up their sleeves and did a lot of the heavy
lifting both to secure the Smithsonian Exhibit, but also for coordinating
logistics and planning as well.
As the summer of 2014
kicks into high gear, there’s the Smithsonian Home Town Teams Exhibit, the All
Sports Museum, a season of stage at the Ashley McCormick Center, Bridgeton
Invitational baseball, activities in City Park, fun at the Splash Park, the
arrival of some miniature golf in the next few weeks, and much more. So don’t
let anyone tell you there’s nothing to do in Bridgeton.