Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • June 9, 2010 Mahwah Farm owners to preserve historical building by Frank J. McMahon A historical barn located on the south side of Masonicus Road in Mahwah will soon be dismantled and reassembled on a farm in the town of Hewitt in Vernon Township. The farm is located adjacent to the Appalachian Trail close to the entrance to Wawayanda State Park on Warwick Turnpike. The barn was built in 1861 according to the Mahwah Historic Preservation Commission, which considers the building a remnant of Mahwah’s past agricultural and rural character. The barn was scheduled for demolition as part of a subdivision of the property, which is currently being considered by the township’s planning board. But a Waldwick couple, Douglas and Marlene Meyer, who bought a 22-acre farm in Hewitt two years ago and plan to move there, read about the Mahwah barn in Villadom TIMES and decided to replace the barn on their farm with the historical Mahwah barn. Douglas Meyer planned to construct a new barn on his farm until he read about the Mahwah barn. He said he has the insurance necessary to cover the relocation project and has reached an agreement with the owner of the Mahwah property to take the pole barn down piece by piece and section by section using an aerial bucket lift. The pieces will be labeled, numbered, photographed, and trucked to Hewitt, where they will be reassembled. The barn will house the horses his wife uses for her non-profit company for therapeutic horseback riding for children and adults with special needs. “I’m really excited about this,” he said, “It’s going to cost me a few bucks to do this, but it is exciting and it is better than seeing it go onto the scrap heap.” Marlene Meyer, a former emergency room nurse who is certified to teach children with special needs, currently runs a therapeutic horseback riding program at the Bergen County-owned Saddle Ridge Riding Center in Franklin Lakes, where she has conducted the program for the past five years. “It’s a wonderful experience,” she said. She said her parents had come to Bergen County because of its rural character and she has great childhood memories of the horse and chicken farms that were located in the area and has an appreciation of history. “When I read in the paper that they were going to demolish that barn, I just couldn’t believe it,” she said. The barn is currently located on property owned by Dr. Gerard Krazinski, who has applied to the planning board for approval to subdivide the property with a double headed L- shaped cul-de-sac that would provide frontage to nine the lots, with the tenth lot having frontage on Masonicus Road. One leg of the cul-de-sac would be 370 feet long and the other would be 350 feet long. Plans call for several waivers and variances in order to subdivide the property into the 10 lots, all of which would conform to the township’s zoning requirements for lot area and size, and would meet all the requirements for front, side, and rear setbacks and lot depth. Presently there are two single-family homes on the site. One is the historical Knight-Goetschius House and the barn that will be disassembled and relocated. The Ramsey Brook meanders alongside the eastern portion of the site and that side of the property contains wetlands and a wetlands transition area. The property is currently used as a tree farm with Chinese chestnut trees and evidence of its former agricultural use and tree service scattered throughout the property. Scouts lend Cubs a hand Troop 50 Boy Scouts from Mahwah recently taught fourth grade Cub Scout boys the necessary skills to earn their readyman and outdoorsman badges. These badges are required to receive the Arrow of Light award, the highest achievement in Cub Scouts. Webelos Day was held at Campgaw Mountain campgrounds in Mahwah.