You know you're from Belleville, N.J., if you......
by ANTHOY BUCCINO
Who would have ever guessed that a house my grandfather owned, which plagued us Beck boys with so many wonderful "character building" experiences throughout our teen years, would make its way into the Belleville Public Library archive of pictures?
The house’s strategic location, right next to the Montgomery School on Mill Street (also known as Belleville Public School Number 2, which no longer exists), tempted many of the bored Montgomery School students to toss an orphaned red brick into the tall grass from time to time, grass that we often had to cut.
My brothers and I would cautiously work our way through the tall grass while pushing a gas powered lawn mower, secretly hoping to find the "golden brick" that would abruptly halt and possibly damage the mower blade and bring an end to the “character building” experiences for that day.
Of course, my father and grandfather would often find a way of assigning yet another “character building” experience upon us throughout the cool spring and blistering hot/humid summer months . Of course the “character building” was not just reserved to us Beck’s. It spanned generations. My grandfather, Uncle Pete and anyone else who cared to join the Del Vecchio tribe, also had the opportunity to join in on the fun.
Mill Street next to Montgomery School l974
More photos at: OLD BELLEVILLE
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