The coordinates above
are for Blue Star One. The coordinates for Blue Star Two are
written in yellow paint marker on the inside of the top cover
of the Blue Star One cache container.
Note: Blue Star Two has been
MOVED. To get the correct coordinates for BSTwo, take
the coordinates from the inside of BSOne and add the following
offsets: N +0.269, W -0.256. This is another location along the
Blue Star Highway, not very far from the original BSTwo location,
but hopefully more secure.
Sign the both logbooks, please. You should leave the bigger
items in Blue Star One if you wish, and save the good for very
small stuff for Blue Star Two, which only has room for a few TBs,
coins, etc.
Although these caches are close to Route 22 (a Blue Star
Memorial Highway) you do not need to go near Route 22 to find and
retrieve the caches. One of them appears to be very close to Route
22. Nevertheless, do not park on Route 22. To do so is illegal and
life-threatening. There are several thousand parking places within
a few hundred feet of the first location, and a few hundred near
the second one. There are restrooms and burgers available close to
the second location.
Below is a short description of the Blue Star Highways:
The History of New Jersey's Blue Star Memorials
Highways
A living tribute to the Men and Women of New Jersey who served in
the Armed Forces
A project of the Garden Club of New Jersey,
under the guidance of the Blue Star Memorial Highway Council,
in cooperation with the state Highway Department
After the allied victory in World War II, thoughts
turned to ways to remember and honor America's service men and
women. Memorials had always been made of stone or bronze, or were
buildings named for a war hero or battle. During the spring of
1944, while Eisenhower and his troops were preparing to land on the
beaches of Normandy, Mrs. Lewis Hull, president of the Garden Club of
N.J., Mrs. Vance Hood, roadside chairman, and Spencer Miller,
Jr., N.J. highway commissioner, came up with what then Governor
Walter E. Edge called "an inspired idea." The group envisioned a
"living memorial to these veterans.
The proposed plan sought to protect the beauty of
the countryside for the return of the men and women from N.J. who
where at war defending the safety of the nation, rather than build
stone monuments. It called for a five-mile planting of flowering
dogwood trees in a landscaped area along US Route 29 (now Route 22)
between Mountainside and North Plainfield, where all who traveled
that road might share in the beauty and homage. No billboards would
be allowed on the memorial stretch. The project was named the Blue
Star Drive, for the blue star in the service flag. During the war,
families would hang an Armed Forces Service Banner in the window
for each family member on active duty. The banner, or service flag,
featured a blue star on a white background framed in red.
In June 1944, with the slogan "a dollar plants a
tree on the Blue Star Drive," the project was launched. With the
cooperation of nurseries, citizens were invited to plant dogwood
trees for the members of their families in the Armed Forces. The
flowering dogwood was selected as the featured tree because it is
the state's most beautiful native tree. It has two seasons of
beauty; snow white blossoms in the spring, brilliant red berries in
the fall. Service clubs and corporations made contributions for
those whose names were on their honor rolls. In November 1944, the
first group of trees was planted on Chapel Island in Mountainside.
The Garden Club gave the first planting of 1,000 trees from funds
raised at the First Annual Garden State Flower Show and in a six
month campaign which raised $25,000. In January 1945 the state
Legislature commemorated the Blue Star Drive by joint resolution,
and, through subsequent legislation, provided for the acquisition
of all undeveloped land bordering the Blue Star Drive for
plantings.
At the semi-annual meeting of the National Council
of Garden Clubs in New York City in October 1945, the Blue Star
Drive project was proposed as a "ribbon of living memorial
plantings traversing every state," to be called the Blue Star
Memorial Highway. Mrs. Hull and Mrs. Hood assumed responsibly for
implementing the program for the National Council. The project was
organized as a demonstration of roadside beautification; to show
what could be accomplished through united strength; as a protest
against billboards; to educate the public to higher standards of
roadside development; and to determine how the National Council of
Garden Clubs could best work with the civil authorities for major
achievement. In 1951, the tribute of the memorial was extended to
include all men and women who had served, were serving or would
serve in the Armed Forces of the United States.
Garden clubs from across the nation petitioned
their state legislatures to designate a section of highway as a
segment of the Blue Star Nemorial Highway. Once designated, the
garden clubs would then purchase a commemorative marker and
plantings of diversified indigenous trees and shrubs to beautify
the existing landscape. The state of New Jersey memorialized the
entire length of Route 22 as the state's link in the national
chain.
The Blue Star Highway Marker was designed by Mrs.
Frederick Kellogg, one of the founders and early presidents of the
National Council, in 1947.
In 1948, a seven-member Blue Star Advisory Council
was established by Legislative action in New Jersey, to safeguard
and promote the national and state memorial highways. The council
is composed of four Garden Club representatives and three state
representatives.
The Blue Star Memorial Highway was one of the most
extensive projects ever undertaken by garden clubs and the first
ever attempted on a nationwide scale. It crosses the nation east
and west and north and south. Every state is crossed by at least
one such highway. The plan did not call for an un-interrupted
planting across the country, but rather national road beautified at
intervals with memorial plantings appropriate for the location and
featuring the state trees or other plant material native to the
area. The success of the program paved the way for the anti-litter
drive and other national projects.
In New Jersey, US Route 22, Inter-states 78, 80,
287 and 295 are dedicated as memorial highways. The program has
been extended to include smaller roads and garden settings (Blue
Star Memorial By-ways), and veterans cemeteries or facilities (Blue
Star Memorials).
The Blue Star Memorial Council in New Jersey is the
link between the Department of Transportation and the Garden Club of
New Jersey. Together their efforts have served to maintain and
improve the image of the Garden State.
Text from the Hunterdon County Cultural and Heritage
Commission.