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Join Bernardsville and Basking Ridge as they kick off the holiday season with our Mr. Local History Holiday cards representing the best of the season for the villages of Bernardsville and Basking Ridge. Designed by our local Liberty Corner resident artisan, Linda Arnold, each card honors the area’s traditions.
Printed locally by Bernardsville Print Center’s Rich Steinberg, there are two versions of the Mr. Local History Project holiday card: one for Basking Ridge and one for Bernardsville. The card symbolizes the local holidays in the area, offering a chance to share a bit of the two towns’ culture and history, according to Brooks Betz, founder of the Mr. Local History Project, based in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
Being from Basking Ridge, there is nothing that speaks the holidays more than the Christmas Eve sing in Basking Ridge. But these cards have taken parents by storm, as they use them annually to share a coloring activity with their children and preserve memories by having them place their Santa’s list in the card. Then on Dec. 24th, they take them to the Christmas Eve sing and it all gets tied together.”
Over the years, the cards have come to symbolize the start of the holiday season, as it is the only set of cards that represent everything local in Basking Ridge and Bernardsville. The cards were introduced in 2017 and have become a holiday classic. Linda Arnold, a dear local friend of the Mr. Local History Project, from Liberty Corner, created the original renderings of the villages of Basking Ridge and Bernardsville.
For the holiday season, the cards are again available as a fundraiser (Available Online via the Holiday Boutique), both showcasing the beauty of Bernardsville and Basking Ridge during the holidays.
December 13, 1776, stands as the most electrifying day in Basking Ridge’s history, when the sleepy colonial crossroads suddenly became the center of the Revolution. At dawn, the infamous capture of General Charles Lee sent shockwaves through Washington’s struggling army…
The town of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, welcomes its 102nd Christmas Eve Sing on The Town Green at 7pm on Dec. 24, 2023. The town’s residents, friends, and guests gather to sing traditional carols and celebrate local history, documented by…
The Mr. Local History Project Volunteers will be at the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church and the Somerset Hills Cemetery in Basking Ridge this Saturday, December 13, 2025. If you’re in the area and would like to help, please feel free…
December 13, 1776, stands as the most electrifying day in Basking Ridge’s history, when the sleepy colonial crossroads suddenly became the center of the Revolution. At dawn, the infamous capture of General Charles Lee sent shockwaves through Washington’s struggling army…
I think I first heard of who I call St. Nick about 20 years ago, gathering on the town green in Basking Ridge on Christmas Eve, as thousands of people before me have done since 1924, for the annual Basking…
The editors of the Black River Journal recently reached out to the Mr Local History Project with a simple request. They wanted to help tell the story of one of the region’s most cherished holiday traditions, the Basking Ridge Christmas…
And on the 25th Day of the Advent Toy History Calendar… Holiday Memories is such great history, and what better way to look back than remembering how Advent Calendars worked, but this time we mix gift memories with some history.…
We all know the feeling. Say the words board games, and something instantly pops into your mind. With the holiday season bringing family and friends together, it is almost guaranteed that a board game will hit the table at some…
Yes, there is sound too. You can mute it if you like.IF you just see the link, the stream is offline. Check back later. How’s life in Basking Ridge? Check in on the Town Green from atop the Presbyterian Church.…
New Jersey has been shaping America’s toy box for more than a century. It began in Cinnaminson with Samuel Leeds Allen’s 1889 Flexible Flyer sled and in West Orange with Edison’s talking doll, the first to speak on its own.…
If you got the word, you get the head start on the End Of Year Holiday News, Specials, Events, and MLH Stories The magazine is free and our gift to you.Please consider making a REALLY BIG YEAR-END DONATION to support…
The Jacobus Vanderveer House in Bedminster, New Jersey, is celebrating Colonial Christmas, an annual fundraiser event that combines history, tourism, tradition, and Christmas spirit. It offers an array of activities including music, reenactments, crafts, and holiday shopping.
ONLINE STREAM: Basking Ridge Christmas Eve Sing on The Town Green at 7pm on Dec. 24th.
One thing is for sure: You can guarantee that each of these businesses in New Jersey will have lines out the door and down the block every Christmas Eve. Most are also “CASH ONLY,” so make sure you have planned…
The MLH Project is proud to be the exclusive reseller of the New Jersey Historic Wooden Keepsake Collection, created by the world-famous Cat’s Meow Village. Made in the USA!!! The New Jersey Historic Wooden Keepsake Village Collection The New Jersey…
…and some of the ways we’d all look for the best toys to put on our list. In the 1960s and 1970s, a Christmas list was something you worked on, not something you clicked. It started while lying on the…
Mr Local History loves history with a social twist. In fact, it’s our motto! So we thought how fun it would be to share some of the most loved New Jersey businesses that have disappeared. We started researching and putting…
The Governor of New Jersey’s Historic Keepsake Village has decreed that a new icon should be added to the New Jersey Historic Wooden Village Collection, expanding the exclusive set of New Jersey collectible icons. Introducing the “Winter and Christmas Eve…
The Mr. Local History Project is probably the “smallest of small businesses” and needs your support. We have great gifts that bring fun and memorable local history to all! Please consider #justoneitem. It makes a big difference and shows you…
We have been told a terrible rumor. Is it true? Do some people bring out their Jersey Cat’s Meow collectibles only for the holidays? Read on…. Yes, we have been told many people bring out their Cat’s Meow Village keepsakes…
Every year, the Basking Ridge Fire Department erects a locally donated 30-foot evergreen tree on the town green. The fire personnel also decorate the tree which becomes a central piece for the town’s holiday celebrations.