Ridgewood Storytellers: Anything Can Happen

      In 2016, the Ridgewood Public Library was awarded a grant from the Bergen County Division of Cultural & Historic Affairs. The grant funded "Storytellers @RPL," an Oral History Project aimed to document, preserve and celebrate the rich history of the community of Ridgewood, New Jersey.

            https://www.ridgewoodlibrary.org/storytellers-rpl

     Just today I was lamenting the lack of historical records (that I was aware of) on the subject of Ridgewood. Then I recalled the Ridgewood Public Library, that great incubator of civic responsibility and new ideas. They have been busy collecting oral histories of village residents, some going back 60 years or more. I've provided a link above. I take great delight when they say they lived in Ridgewood when my family did because I have an old phonebook from 1976. I check to see where they live or lived and am drawn back ever so slightly to a simpler time.

      I hope one day to add my recollections but truly hope many others will add their own before I do. It's a fantastic program and short of a museum the best way the history can be recorded and considered by those who lived through the same times. Maybe they will one day add a response section for people who remember things differently. Until that day I'll take these oral histories with no complaint, especially since they provide written transcripts along with the recordings.