May & June 1967 Centennial Events

More than 20 bands thumped their way down Main Street and more than three dozen units marched.

Marching band marching in street

It was a glorious day, balloons with “Happy Birthday Boonton” on them were bobbing in the light breeze. A sunny, summer day and thousands of people. And all here Saturday in Boonton. The weekend wind-up of Boonton’s Centennial Celebration was underway.

Centennial Parade

On Sunday, five hundred children marched in a special parade.

But only a handful of women pushed their  menfolk down Main Street in wheelbarrows. The Sisters of the Swish lost  the membership contest to the Brothers of the Brush and had to suffer  the consequences.

An estimated 6,000 persons turned out at Pat Marotta’s Boonton Township estate for the Centennial Family picnic.

Womean in white dress carring a man in a wheelbarrow

To add to the nostalgia, dozens of antique cars putted along the route.

Man and woman with umbrella driving a vintage car

Centennial Capsule

The Centennial Capsule was buried with official ceremonies and will be exhumed in the year 2067.

Items in the capsule:

  • 1966 Income Tax Return
  • 1967 Local Municipal Budget
  • 1967 Morris County Manual
  • Ballpoint Pen
  • Beard Descriptions
  • Boonton – The Past 100 Years.
  • Centennial Buttons & Pins
  • Centennial Map of the Town of Boonton
  • Centennial Program of Events
  • Clippings from County Newspapers of Centennial Events
  • Copy of the 1867 Jerseyman
  • Dedication of the New Town Hall Booklet
  • Edition of the Boonton Times-Bulletin
  • Information about the Rotary Club Ancestor Cards of Boonton Townspeople
  • Letter from the 1967 4th grade to the 2067 4th grade of John Hill
  • Letter from Mayor Scerbo to the Mayor of 2067
  • List of Town Officials
  • Lyon’s Historical Disclosure
  • Master Plan of the Town of Boonton
  • Pack of Filter cigarettes
  • Set of 1967 Coins
  • Slides through the Century
  • T.V. Guide
  • Tape recordings of Radio Broadcasts
  • Wooden Nickel
  • Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Control Ordinance



Boonton's Centennial Ball with details of the event
4 men and one of them holding a metal cylindrical capsule.

The stainless steel capsule, four feet, six inches tall and costing $1,500 was buried in Mayor’s Park. A two-ton puddingstone will mark the burial spot. Pictured are Centennial Chairman Jack Wootton, Pat Marotta, whose firm donated the capsule, Mayor Scerbo, and Bernard Sheplin, president of the Rotary Club which sponsored the project.

Shave-Off

Not too many men were brave enough to bare their faces in public. Those who were, took part in the shave-off contest in Boonton Sunday. Sisters of the Swish had a “this hurts me more than it hurts you” look on their faces as they raced through the brush with electric razors. James Hodgings had his beard shaved off in the shortest time and won the prize. Above, Mrs. Val Onorati does some cutting up on her husband.

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