A very nice person named Shera contacted me in March 2025 asking if I would be interested in an “old” Garden State Parkway shield. When she sent me a photo of the shield, I realized she had one of the truly rare first generation GSP shields that were used in the Parkway’s early years, only until about 1955 or ’56. It’s a gem of a sign that I never expected to come across, but, lo and behold, she had one! It had been hanging on the wall her late grandparents’ garage in Clifton – not far from my boyhood home. We worked out a deal, and my buddy Ed Tapanes picked up the sign and shipped it to me. He also tipped me off that there were other things in the box. See below…

Shera sent me more nifty artifacts that I was not expecting. Shera’s grandmother, Theresa Kaiser, born January 1, 1900, turned 100 the day the world was supposed to explode, Y2K-style. That year, the mayor of Clifton presented Mrs. Kaiser with the Key to the City of Clifton, which Shera sent to me, along with a 1966 Clifton Mustang Band pennant from the World Music Festival in Holland, a NJ Bicentennial novelty plate (I remember these!), and a copy of the Dateline Journal from 2000.

The newspaper I received with the key has a profile on Theresa Kaiser (see bottom of page).

I assume my family and the Kaisers probably bumped into one another at some point in Clifton. Mrs. Kaiser belonged to the generation of “old timers” whom I remember as the original owners of the 1920s homes on my street. The memory of these Cliftonites who preceded me still fascinates me.