Images of East Brunswick's Past (VIDEO)

Left over headlines and old newspaper clippings. Some old photos, programs and posters. To some, these seem like a recipe for a spring-cleaning, but for others, they are a window into the past.

“I’d always been interested in history, and I had this box of stuff that I just couldn’t part with,” said Historic Society member Rosalee Littlefield one afternoon at the .

Inside that box were some of the makings of the historic display that Littlefield created for the mall depicting life in East Brunswick as far back as 150 years ago. The display includes photos, newspaper clippings and posters, pamphlets and programs all collected by Littlefield and every bit with an interesting story to tell.

Photos of the East Brunswick High School when it first opened are one such item. According to Littlefield, East Brunswick sent its high school students to another town at the time, and the building was used for fifth- and six-graders. The building was eventually transitioned into a high school as more elementary schools were built and as the children got older.

The exhibit also has information on the township’s celebration of the Bicentennial. One of the festivities included a 200-inning baseball game with 30 or 40 teams taking part.

“What happened was somebody got the idea to have this, so naturally the Baseball Managers Association (they’re the East Brunswick Baseball League now, but at the time they were separate from the town) thought it was fantastic idea,” she said. “It grew from that and they made a little brochure and the first game started probably like 6 p.m. on June 25, I think it was, and then everybody was alerted to what time it was they were going to come, and so it went on inning, after inning, after inning, and it went on three days until Sunday, when a TV crew came for the end. I live close to the high school so I ran home and watched it on the 11 o clock news.”

Littlefield said putting the display together brought back a lot of memories of a time when she was younger.

“I came here when I was, like, 35 years old, maybe younger than that, and I’ve been here for 55 years in the same house, so I’ve seen neighbors die or go away and all new people have moved into Summerhill Park. It’s like starting over again, except for me, because I don’t have kids,” she said.

The exhibit is sponsored by East Brunswick Historical Society an the mall. It can be seen n the hallway near the East Brunswick Square Mall's management office, near JC Penney.