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Millburn and Short Hills, NJ

Millburn Short Hills Monthly

Local stories and news for our neighbors

November 2026 issue · Community news

A Thanksgiving Gathering from Millburn’s Past

On November 26, 1912, two days before Thanksgiving, the Millburn Fire Department’s Hose Company No. 1 hosted a banquet at the Vauxhall Inn, 321 Millburn Avenue, in honor of members of the Millburn Township Committee. Many of their descendants would go on to serve the community for generations.

Seated from the left: Joseph Rimback, Charles Wittkop, Josh Ayres, Richard Tichenor, George Reeves, Frank Livingston, Doug MacPhail and Frank Schmidt. Right side: Tom Hayes, John Partington, John Ward, Julius Wittkop, Bob Oliver, Frank Marshall, Bill Chaffee and Charles Reeve. Standing: Irv Livingston, Robert Douglas, Tom Griffen, Charles Mundy, William Stoeckle, Henry Baker, William Spencer, Bob Liver, Jr., Al Van Sant, John Lonergan, Milton Silance and Henry Acken.
Seated from the left: Joseph Rimback, Charles Wittkop, Josh Ayres, Richard Tichenor, George Reeves, Frank Livingston, Doug MacPhail and Frank Schmidt. Right side: Tom Hayes, John Partington, John Ward, Julius Wittkop, Bob Oliver, Frank Marshall, Bill Chaffee and Charles Reeve. Standing: Irv Livingston, Robert Douglas, Tom Griffen, Charles Mundy, William Stoeckle, Henry Baker, William Spencer, Bob Liver, Jr., Al Van Sant, John Lonergan, Milton Silance and Henry Acken. Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society

Guests sat around a long, carefully set table in a room draped with American flags. Firefighters in uniform joined other attendees in suits for an evening that brought together the people helping shape the township’s future.

The photograph of the gathering, preserved by the Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society, offers a glimpse of local community life more than a century ago.

Source and photograph courtesy of the Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society.

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