Colony Program at the Senior Center

The Senior Center of the Chathams will offer a free program “The Colony” on Friday January 13 at 12:30 pm.  Former Chatham Township resident, Bert Abbazia will speak about his experience growing up in the immigrant area of Chatham Twp known as “the Colony” and discuss how it helped to shape the area.

Mr Abbazia wrote a book entitled Chatham Township, NJ: Secrets from the Past: the Rise and Demise of America’s Fourteenth Colony in which he relates stories of objection, rejection, suspicion, ridicule and ultimately, assimilation and acceptance based on his personal observations and experiences. He retrieved original documents to verify the people and events of an odyssey that spanned five decades. The story is collaborated by the survivors and the beneficiaries of an experiment, for a better way of life, by a group of predominately Eastern European and Russian Jews with their political “shades of red” philosophy settling into what was a predominately “conservative” Chatham Township.

All are invited to attend this entertaining and enlightening presentation about Chatham Twp’s history. Mr Abbazia will have his book available for sale ($17) for those interested. Please call the Senior Center to register – (973)635-4565. The Senior Center is located in the Chatham Twp Municipal building at 58 Meyersville Rd.  Door-to-door bus service is available to Chatham senior residents.