Unofficial Garden State Parkway Homepage

The Garden State Parkway Fan Club was in existence from 1996 until about 2000.
It is planned to reconvene the Fan Club. If you are interested in helping in this
effort, please contact Bryan at gspfan@aol.com.

The Garden State Parkway Fan Club was started in 1996 at Stonewall Jackson High
School in Manassas, Virginia. Members of the Original Fan Club were as follows:

Executive Members:

Bryan Katz, Tommy Liu, Breanna Means, Christina Turner, Amanda Harrah, Jocelyn
Carlson, Debra Kaufman, and Mr. Palese.

Gold Star Members:

Colin Guest, Allison Harvey, Desiree Krebs, Kim Daly, Corey Hatch, Amy Saunders,
Mrs. Comstock, Danielle Davy, Luke Itnyre, Dan Covey, Stacy Smith, Mrs. Roy, and
Shannon Baumgardner.

Members:

Mr. Callaghan, Doc Russell, Jason Davis, Sarah Gluck, Carol Granger, Cammie Ward,
Shawn Johnson, Mr. Phelan, Katie Andrews, Lisa DiPrimio, Cyrus Grady, Jamie
Baugher, Katherine Esswein, Josh Brand, Nathan Boucher, Ben Ryder, Kevin Lawler,
Chris Beemer, Mr. Hersch, Billy Magyar, Michelle Phillips, Samantha Husser, Eileen
Oviatt, Hien Mai, Esther Park, Mark Saylor, Rebecca McKenzie, Erin Arbogast,
Rachel Copen, Pat Gillespie, Antonio Moore, Elisa Lewis, Kyle Stein, Jacob Weaver,
Christie McClure, Rob Rowlett, Elisabeth Williams, Ross Johnston, Omar Parbho,
Dustin Lawyer, Lauren Metcalfe, Heather Sisk, Stephen Carrig, Leo Benade, Mrs.
Wilder, Muzhda Qasemi, Amanda Green, Victoria Crawford, Rich Hefter, Jamie
Liebensohn, Asha Thomas, Amy Smelser, Desiree Ait, Anisha Kim, Clint Walters,
Jeanette Johnson, Kris Saylor, Pam Schultz, Tamika Robinson, Katie Collins, Amit
Sinha, Skeeter Hollenbeck, Rebeca Calley, Brad Terry, Morgan Weaver, Rebeca
Byrd, Kelley Duddleson, Anisha Arman, Monica Lisi, Andrea Hampton, Mrs. Blauvelt,
Byrony Stuart, Rebecca Thompson, Melissa Williams, Amanda Smith, Joe Montagna,
Allison Rankin, Maggie Short, Erin Riley, Tung Mai, Lizzy McDermott, Julia Ramey,
Elizabeth Craig, Anna DeGuzman, and Robin Yachechko.

Fan Club Members in the photo are as follows:

Front Row: Mrs. Blauvelt, Danielle Davy, Allison Harvey, Bryan Katz, Jocelyn
Carlson, Desiree Krebs, Amanda Harrah, Debra Kaufman, Breanna Means, Christina
Turner

Second Row: Elisa Lewis, Christie McClure, Rebecca Thompson, Byrony Stewart,
Cool Member, Jeanette Johnson, Leo Benade, and Dustin Lawyer

Third Row: Tommy Liu, Shannon Baumgardner, Amit Sinha, Mrs. Comstock, Michelle
Phillips, Cool Member, Amy Smelser, Billy Magyar, Jason Davis, Corey Hatch, Matt
Maltman, Clint Walters, Robin Yachechko, Cool Member, and Mrs. Roy

If you know the people described as "Cool Member", let me know so I can edit this
page. Thanks!

GSP Fan Club Info and Mrs. Blauvelt's Story

Stonewall Jackson High School is located in Manassas, VA. The sponsor was IB
Biology Teacher, Mr. Palese. On April 9, 1997, there was a picture taken for the
school newspaper, the Jackson Journal. Jocelyn Carlson aided with the lamination of
the cards and Mrs. Roy, English teacher, helped to gain new members and scored a
top score on the Parkway quiz. The best short reponse to the quiz was given by
English Teacher Mrs. Blauvelt.

One question on the quiz was "What do you know about the Garden State
Parkway?" and she wrote the following short story:

Although many people don't know this, the GSP has notable literary association. Its
173 miles were originally trekked by Walt Whitman as he heard America sing. One of
the ten counties the Parkway traverses is where Whitman finally settled (Camden,
NJ) and penned his immortal work Leaves of Grass. The original title was Plaza
Melody at 55 MPH but his editors did not understand his vision of MPH. He was a
true visionary prophet of the GSP. However an important modern poet William
Carlos Williams from Rutherford, NJ where Troop E is headquartered, has influenced
the notable but cheap (35 cent toll) tollway. His poem "So Much Depends" is a
symbolic interpretation of the GSP and as any literary critic can tell you, the red
wheelbarrow is a strong symbol for the Cheesequake rest-stop which has a
roadside sculpture of a huge wheel of red Gouda cheese in a wheelbarrow. Literary
pilgrims, following the holy steps of Whitman, and trying to avoid the 357 million
driving maniacs, always stop at Cheesequake., preferably after a rain storm to see
the wheelbarrow "glazed with rain water." Of course this is after the white chickens
have crossed the road to get to the other side. (Bet you didn't know this famous
literary riddle originated right there at Cheesequake-everyone's favorite stop.

Page last updated May 21, 2006