Strike up the Band!

The orchestra warms up.  (Bergeron Image)

It was a perfect summer evening in Somerville on Friday, June 17.  As is usual, the antique cars were lined up along Main Street, and the sidewalks on both sides of our county seat’s thoroughfare were full of strollers enjoying the sights and sounds of their surroundings.  

The restaurants were doing a brisk business, with many of them offering street-side dining on tables set up just outside their establishments.

Mr. Larry Markiewicz, Conductor.  (Bergeron Image)

Further down by the old County Court House and the Jury Selection Building, the Somerset Valley Orchestra was tuning up for an outdoor performance on the lawn between the two buildings, and people were gathering and setting up their summer folding chairs in anticipation of a delightful evening.  And delightful it was.

Led by Mr. Larry Markiewicz, Conductor, a large group of area people were treated to a music fest where the weather, the setting, the performers and the audience all came together to create a pleasant evening of musical enjoyment.

Somerville Icon Shuts Down

On Thursday, December 31, MacArthur’s Appliances shuttered its doors and went out of business. It was a very quiet ending for an area institution begun in 1955 by “Mac,” father of Hayes and Craig MacArthur, brothers who grew up in the enterprise and who eventually succeeded their dad. Hayes explained how, starting at 11 years old, he showed up at the store to help out after school. Together with Craig, they gradually worked their way up the ladder.

Situated on Main Street in the heart of downtown Somerville, MacArthur’s served area residents uncompromisingly; selling, delivering and servicing major home appliances and TV’s. In its heyday, MacArthur’s maintained its own large warehouse, buying in bulk ahead of customer purchases, stocking name brands like Maytag and Zenith in the days of USA-manufactured products.

But, about 15 years ago, the appliance and television markets began to change in a way that would signal the beginning of the end for stalwart businesses like MacArthur’s. National chains like Lowe’s and Home Depot would begin their encroachment into appliance retailing, while others like Best Buy and Circuit City would begin their takeover of the television market.

The advantage of national chain purchasing power, combined with large-scale advertising of American products manufactured offshore, would erode the ability of a small community business like MacArthur’s to compete.

In the 30-plus years that we have lived in Bridgewater, none of our major appliances – all of which have been replaced over time – have come from any store other than “Mac’s” place. Priscille could never see the advantage of saving a couple of bucks (peanuts when written off over the years of an appliance’s life) by jumping around from one store to another, dealing with people who would not be there the next time she entered the establishment.

When the need arose, we always showed up on Main Street in Somerville, greeted Hayes and Craig, asked one another how things were going, and got down to the business of talking appliances.

We still have an aged 36-inch Zenith console TV, the oldest of our MacArthur purchases. It needed to be repaired once, but the darn thing just won’t quit. Eventually, when we need to get that new LCD HD TV, we’ll be thinking of those two guys on Main Street, Somerville, who provided some of the best service in Somerset County.

Free Community WiFi

Tom Perry, a popular columnist for the Courier News back when newspapers enjoyed higher circulation, was fond of saying that he was an inveterate newspaper junkie. He once wrote that when on vacation, he would always pick up a copy of the local paper to get a feel for the people and customs of the area.

I like to do the same. That’s how I came across a noteworthy story of how the City of Nashua, N.H. deployed a free, extensive WiFi network, one which blankets the downtown area with seamless and reliable Internet service.

Nashua’s wireless network was designed and deployed under the initiative of the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce, which worked with the support of a prominent consortium of area businesses and a California firm. John T. Barker, IT Director for the City of Nashua, directed much of the technical aspects of the project, working strictly as an unpaid volunteer, contributing, he says, approximately 100 hours of his time. The project was completed for about $40,000. Project bids exceeding $100,000 were thrown out.

We in Central Jersey can learn from this example: The patrons of businesses in downtown Somerville would benefit enormously from the provisioning of a free WiFi network which doesn’t break the bank.

Bridgewater Township, which has no central business area, could prod management of the Bridgewater Commons Mall to establish a free WiFi network to cover the entire Mall area. Similarly, such a network could be made available for public use in the Township’s new, showcase Municipal Building Complex, where space could be set aside for public use.

Even the Bridgewater-Raritan school district should consider opening up the nearby high school on Garretson Road for free public internet access: The school library, located just to the left of the main entrance is a perfect spot for such public use.

We all have the same DNA. Yet, as I travel about, I am always struck as I observe the number and diversity of communities outside of New Jersey which seem to be squeezing so much more out of a dollar than we in Central Jersey seem to have the will to do.


Note: According to Wikipedia, “Nashua was twice named ‘Best Place to Live in America’ in annual surveys by Money magazine. It is the only city to get the No. 1 ranking two times—in 1987 and 1997.”