My best summer took place in Monmouth County in 1973, Freehold Township. A community very much like Hillsborough circa 1998. A town riding high on a ten year housing boom, but also dealing with all of the problems the come with that - traffic, school construction, and open space preservation. In fact, one of the reasons we moved to Hillsborough in 1993 was because it reminded me of the community where I grew up 25 years before.
In 1973 the best thing about being a 9 year old boy was baseball - and summer was the season for it. We played every day, from dawn to dusk, practically. One of my friends had a near regulation-sized Little League diamond in their backyard. Home runs generally landed in the neighbors pool. Games started out nine a side, but we kept playing as kids left for dinner until there was no one left to pitch or hit.
Why am I writing about this today? If you look at the photos I think you'll have an idea. When I visited Flagtown Park Wednesday, on an absolutely gorgeous summer morning around 10AM - there was no one to be found.
Baseball diamond complete with backstop - empty.
Full size basketball court with goals on each end, in near-perfect condition - empty.
Playground with swings and climbers - empty.
Picnic area - empty.
Flagtown Park (entrance off Equator Avenue at 7th Street, parking available) is a wonderful recreation resource - in above average condition - and there is no one to use it.
Why? There are many answers, all unsatisfactory. Two income families need to have their kids in day care or summer camps. It's not safe anymore to let kids take their bikes and play out across the neighborhood. Or maybe just blame it on the iPod and the Xbox, and the other indoor trappings of the text message generation.
Whatever the reason, I do know this: no matter how many times I think "Ya Gotta Believe" - we can't go back to 1973.
And no matter how much I love living in Hillsborough now, it will never give me a summer as good as the one I had when I was nine.
"Play Ball!"
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