The prize for correctly answering the question was a gift certificate for a pizza graciously donated by Long Valley Pizza.
Eileen Reilly was the first person to correctly supply the answer to the quiz, and will be given her gift certificate. The question was:
The historic section of Washington Township currently referred to as "Long Valley" was once referred to as "German Valley". On what date was "German Valley" first referred to as "Long Valley" in the minutes of Washington Township? . . and, for extra credit . . What specific event may have precipitated the change?
Answer:
Eileen's Answer: ' "German Valley" was first referred to as "Long Valley" in the minutes of Washington Township on July 20, 1918. The name change was precipitated by the ill feelings toward Germany caused by World War 1.'
Several people associated with the project behind the scenes have searched for a resolution passed by the committee, but have so far been unable. The minutes of the June 7th Committee meeting refers to Washington Township at the start of the minutes as German Valley.
The minutes of the June 15th meeting again refers to Washington Township at the start of the minutes as "German Valley" with German Valley in quotes. The minutes of the 27th again use German Valley, without quotes, and the July 20th meeting simply says Long Valley. There is no mention in any of the minutes as to the details of the decision.
It is interesting to see what was occurring at the time. There was primitive wireless communications at the time of World War I. June 15, 1918 was the beginning of the battle of the Marne. In the previous month, US forces saw action in the battles of Chateau-Thierry which occurred from June 3 to 4, followed by the battle of Belleau Wood from June 6 to 26. Communications took longer to reach their destinations than they do today.
The battle of Belleau Wood resulted in almost 9,800 US casualties and over 1,800 US deaths. July 15 marked the beginning of the last major offensive the Battle of Reims, or the second battle of the Marne. The offensive would result in over 12,000 US casualties.
