I am glad I stopped to investigate this area. This part of town, along route 70 is VERY rural compared to the hustle, bustle and severe congestion of the Route 70 near Cherry Hill only 5 miles away. I drive by often and wondered why there was a clearing with pretty landscaping in the middle of nowhere. I parked my car on the side of the road (there is plenty of parking on wide shoulders) to take a closer look. Sure enough, I saw the Blue Star sign and remembered the category. What luck!
The sign reads Blue Star Memorial Byways and beneath it reads Garden Clubs of New Jersey. Although the signage lacks the authenticity of the more elaborate and traditional signs, it nonetheless is a real memorial marker sponsored by a legitimate garden club.
Our general garden club has a nifty website which can be found here --> (
visit link)
Our local garden club who oversees this specific marker can be found here --> (
visit link)
So, after some digging here is what I found out about this SPECIFIC marker:
In the Beginning....
"1979...
On December 14th, 1979, the Pinelands Garden Club of Medford, Inc. in coordination with the NJ Department of Transportation established Route 70 as a Blue Star Memorial By-way. The site was in the middle of the "old Medford Circle", which is now the intersection of Rt. 70 and Main St./Rt. 541." Unfortunately, due to the widening of Rt. 70 in 1996, the site was lost, and so was the sign."
So What Happened???
"2004...
In 2004 (25 years later), under the leadership of Jeanette Johnson once more, a new Blue Star site was constructed in Medford. The NJ Dept. of Transportation (NJDOT) was able to locate and place a sign at the site which was similar to the original one that was removed from the Medford Circle. Under the direction of George Caruso of NJDOT, the site was planted as a living memorial, with two dogwood trees (cornus florida), an eastern redbud, and inkberry hollies.
A flagpole was placed (no flag was present when I snapped my photos), and also a bluebird house, which happened to have its very first "family" move in just months later!
A rededication ceremony was held on November 8, 2004. The site of the new Blue Star Memorial By-way sits along Rt. 70 West near the Chairville Road intersection.
The rededication of the memorial represented a collaboration between the Pinelands Garden Club of Medford, Inc., The NJ Department of Transportation, and The Garden Club of NJ, Inc.
Veterans, public officials, garden club members and the public were present at the rededication event which began at the Medford Leas retirement community and concluded with a wreath-laying at the memorial site."
I got my information from here: ---> (
visit link) There is a lot more information at the website.
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Additional Garden Club information:
Contact Information
Telephone (732) 249-0947
FAX (732) 249-0947
Postal address:
126 Ryders Lane,
East Brunswick, NJ 08816-1331
I'd honestly never heard of this before waymarking. I learned a lot more about this subject from this site --> (
visit link) and also learned the idea for this started in New jersey...we rule!