SWEDESBORO – The sport of equestrian vaulting mixes elements of gymnastics, dance and horseback riding. Alison Gieschen coaches the “Vaulting Visions” team, which includes her daughter and national champion, Katie Gieschen.

PITMAN – Sky and Laura Pelletier are barefoot/minimalist runners. And they swear they will never go back to hi-tech running shoes again.

GLASSBORO – Students at Rowan University have heard rumblings about secret underground tunnels for years.

Danielle Petulla, a senior at Rowan, heard tunnels were once used as a stop on the Underground Railroad for African-Americans fleeing slavery.

Amanda Kaley, a senior at Rowan, heard of a tunnel connecting the Hollybush Mansion to parts of the campus that was used during the 1967 summit between President Lyndon Johnson and Russian Premier Alexei Kosygin to safely move between locations.

Thomas Gallia, who was a student at then Glassboro State College in the 1960’s, said he remembers a rumor that a tunnel started at Bunce Hall, continued to the greenhouse and finished at what were then the all-female dorms, Oak and Laurel.

So what is the truth behind the murky rumors of the underground passage?

There has never been any evidence that the area where Rowan now stands was used as a stop on the Underground Railroad, said Gallia, who is now the Vice President for University Relations as well as the President’s Chief of Staff for Rowan University.

The Hollybush tunnel also seems to be nothing more than a myth. Gallia explained that there is a root cellar that is attached to the building, constructed from a different material than the rest of the building, and that’s what most likely led to the rumor of a second tunnel.

However, there is in fact a tunnel that leads from Bunce Hall to the greenhouse next door.

“Bob Collard and I once walked through the tunnel,” Gallia said. He explained that he and Collard, a friend from school, were able to find their way into the tunnel when they were students.

While the tunnel is more than just a myth, his college-aged self was disappointed to learn that the end point of the tunnel stopped short, not leading them to their destination of the female dorms.

MaryAnn Curtis Gonzales, curator of the Frank H. Stewart Room at Rowan University, said the tunnel was first used as a way for students to go from Bunce Hall (which was at the time called College Hall) to the head house for class in the 1920’s and 30’s, when the college was in its infancy.

Since then, the tunnel has been used for maintenance purposes.

“The greenhouse used to be heated by steam, and the steam would be sent through pipes in the tunnel from Bunce to the greenhouse,” said Andrew McCalley, project manager for the Department of Facilities, Planning and Construction at Rowan University.

Once the greenhouse was renovated however, steam was no longer necessary to heat the building. Since then, the tunnel has gone mostly unused, with just some electrical and other lines running through it.

Today, the tunnel is damp, dark and not somewhere a visitor would want to stay for very long. The ceiling is covered with cobwebs, and the floor has about an inch of stagnant water, clearly indicating that it hasn’t been visited in quite some time.

Contrary to students’ beliefs, Rowan does not have an elaborate maze of underground passageways that would protect its students from the harsh rain of Southern New Jersey. Instead it just has one short tunnel, only about 50 feet long and hardly used these days, that has helped feed the urban legends on campus for years.

The entrance to the tunnel from the head house attached to the greenhouse.

A view from inside the tunnel.

A section of the greenhouse where the steam pipes were set up to warm the building.

The door in Bunce that leads to the tunnel down on the first floor of the building.

VINELAND – With help from local volunteers, the city is reconstructing the Palace of Depression, a tourist attraction described as “the strangest house in the world.”

The structure, which consisted of rusted auto parts, bricks and mud, was built in 1932 by George Daynor, an eccentric man who made a fortune mining gold in Alaska and then lost it all in the stock market crash.

He called the edifice The Palace of Depression. “The only real depression is a depression of individual ingenuity,” he declared.

The palace suffered a fire and was eventually leveled by bulldozers in 1969, five years after Daynor’s death.

The effort to rebuild the palace is being led by Kevin Kirchner, Vineland’s construction official and director of licenses and inspections. Kirchner suggested rebuilding the palace as a park after the city briefly considered using the site for low-income housing.

Daynor left no official blueprints for the palace, so the rebuilding effort relies heavily on old photographs and newsreels. The building materials are either donated or dug up from the site.

Jeff Tirante, who used to visit the remnants with his friends as a teenager, now lives in the basement where he serves the role as groundskeeper while the restoration project proceeds.

With construction having officially started in the spring of 2009, the project is progressing quickly. The work pauses only for the cold weather and should be completed by next winter.

Images 2, 8, 14, 32, 33 used with permission from Ourhero.biz and Jeff Tirante.

LISTEN TO GRANT HARRIS TALK ABOUT THE HISTORY OF COWTOWN RODEO

PILESGROVE – Grant Harris likes to tell people that he is the proud father of 500 children, most of them livestock.

“On our ranch we maintain approximately 500 head of animals,” said Harris, a fourth generation owner of Cowtown Rodeo – and the 13th generation in the livestock industry. “That puts it into context.”

Harris’ grandfather and great-grandfather started the rodeo and flea market in 1929.

“I consider myself fortunate that I’m able to make my living at my hobby,” said Harris.

The weekly rodeos started in 1955 when Harris was just one year old, making it the longest-running weekly rodeo in the United States – and the only rodeo on the East coast. They are coming up on their 58^th consecutive season in 2012.

“It’s one of those bucket list things that everyone should do once,” said Bruce Woodruff, a part-time retailer at the Cowtown Flea Market who has been selling honey and hot sauce every week for 11 years.

Thousands of people attend the flea market, held every Tuesday and Saturday year-round. Local vendors sell homegrown produce, electronics and clothes at reduced prices, and food fresh off the stove. A large sign hangs above the main building that says, “Cowtown: Often imitated, never equaled.”

The rodeo, which runs every Saturday from Memorial Day weekend until the end of September, hosts a variety of competitions including bull riding, bareback and saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, girls’ barrel racing, team roping and tie-down roping.

“The rodeo, interestingly enough, is the old, original cowboys handling horses and cattle on the open range,” said Harris. “Most of the events in rodeo are an evolution of the various skills that a cowboy would have to have developed to handle these animals out in the old West. How fast you can tie a calf down, pretty important when you have a thousand to brand in an afternoon. Many of the events go back to the old cowboy days.”

The majority of the competitors are young, professional athletes who travel across the country to compete in rodeos; some people have traveled from as far as Australia to compete. Cowtown has about 2,200 people attending every week, which is partly from the rodeo’s location.

“One of the advantages that we have being based in New Jersey is the fact that we are in relative proximity to all of the urban areas: New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C.,” said Harris. “And very often it’s just all about location. Access to people has made us successful.”

LISTEN TO THE GIRLS AND MUSIC OF SHORT LIVED AFFAIR

MARLTON— The girls of Short Lived Affair are not your average underground garage rock band. They are young, ambitious, and they intend to prove themselves to be more than just girls who rock next door.

Refusing to be a gimmick, the girls have worked hard to gain the respect of many fans and other local bands from the South Jersey and Philadelphia music scene.

From left, Monica Kelly, Taylor Coigne, Kaitlyn Young, Rachel Visitacion. Photo by Dan Axelson

“We actually want to create good music. We want to make people feel something,” said Taylor Coigne, 18, bassist and co-founder of the band, “I feel like we are real musicians.”

They have performed at the renowned venue The Stone Pony in Asbury Park to compete in last year’s Break Contest and were chosen to perform in last year’s local Bamboozle show at The Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford. They are also making headway into the Philadelphia music scene.

Coigne decided to form Short Lived Affair with former guitarist, Kristen Valenti, in the fourth grade. “I wanted to be in a band ever since I was nine,” she said. “I wanted to be a singer, or a guitarist, or a drummer, anything but a bassist.”

It was when her uncle handed her a bass and taught her “The Kill” by 30 Seconds to Mars that she realized she wanted to be a bassist. “Something just clicked,” she said. “Music’s the only thing I ever really stuck with and haven’t quit.” After trying several sports including basketball, karate, and cheerleading, Coigne realized that music was the one thing she was passionate about.

Rachel Visitacion, 17, is the drummer and was asked to join the band in the eighth grade. Visitacion realized she wanted to play an instrument after watching her father, a saxophonist in a Mummers string band, play in her living room.

After experimenting with several different instruments, she realized she wanted to be a drummer. “It just clicked. I got it within a day,” said Visitacion. “Since then, it’s consumed me. I play every day and if I don’t, I get crazy. Music has really saved me from a lot of stuff.”

Kaitlyn Young, 17, the guitarist, joined the band later in the ninth grade. Young started playing guitar when she was 13. “I loved music and I wanted to be in a band, and I figured guitar was the best way to go.”

Monica Kelly, 17, the lead vocalist, also joined the band in the ninth grade. Kelly was always interested in singing. Musicals were her biggest influence in inspiring her to sing. “I always wanted to be on Broadway. That was my thing in middle school,” she said.

Since the band was formed, the girls have had to learn how to balance school with the band.

“We do the best we can,” Coigne added. “We practice two hours a day, or maybe even three,” Kelly said. “Sometimes on the weekends we practice more,” said Coigne.

For the most part, the girls love practicing, but they do get sick of it sometimes. “It has to be a day when we’re all feeling crazy, but if we’re not feeling crazy forget about it,” Young said.

Short Lived Affair has many influences including New Found Glory and Paramore, but many of their influences are other local bands. The girls frequently play at the Berlin VFW, where they met several of their friends in other bands. They explained that the South Jersey music scene is very supportive instead of being overly competitive.

“I’ve become best friends with the people in this scene,” Coigne explained. “I go to school, I don’t really get along with a lot of people. I just go, and I’m kind of there floating around school. I’ve spent all my time waiting for the weekends, because that’s when we get to play shows. It’s the only place I’ve ever felt like I belong.”

The girls write their music based on the things happening in their lives, such as relationships and struggles with friends. “Write about what you know,” Coigne said. They use their music to get through struggles.

Lately, in writing their newest music, they’ve helped each other get through the loss of former guitarist, Valenti, who left the band in late July. “It was a really hard time in our lives,” Coigne explained.

After graduating from Cherokee High School, the band mates plan to attend online classes at Burlington County College so they can pursue their music career further. They hope to tour in the summer, and like most bands, eventually make it big.

“The time for the band is now, because we’re still young,” Young said.

ABSECON – At “Three Humps,” a BMX track built in the woods by local teenagers, there is one rule: No Dig, No Ride. Each rider must help build and maintain the jumps if they want to show off their sick, nasty tricks.

Ron R. hits a dirt ramp at Three Humps.

Some trash litters Three Humps, the teenage made bike park hidden in the woods of Atlantic County.

Greg C. falls off his bike in mid-air while attempting a trick.

Greg C. falls off his bike in mid-air while attempting a trick.

Ron R. and Greg C. plan which jumps to hit at Three Humps.

Three Humps has been around for years. Nobody know who originally built it. Over the years, bike riding enthusiasts help repair the jumps and build new sections.

Greg C. rides the dirt trails hidden in the Atlantic County woods.

SOMERS POINT – For the last seven years, Donnah Marvel has maintained a roadside memorial to her son Nickolas “Nikk” Marvel, who was a victim of a deadly hit-and-run accident on November 16, 2004. For Marvel, the shrine on Route 9 is more than just a tribute; it’s a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving.

PITTSGROVE – What’s black and white and read all over? The South Jersey DEVILer – “South Jersey’s #1 Funny Paper.” And with 20,000 copies printed each month and 900 subscribers, it’s no joke.

Ken Camp, 63, has been operating the paper by himself for nearly eleven years. The content is primarily jokes, humorous made-up stories, and satirical political articles that resemble The Onion.

Camp works almost all day, coming up with jokes or reading through the ones readers send to him and making any necessary changes. Then his wife proofreads everything, and contributor Ron Lizotte writes the sports page, called “Sports Rap.” Camp puts everything together on the two computers in his office and creates files of the pages to be printed.

While it’s a full-time job, mostly the DEVILer is about not taking anything too seriously.

“People need a laugh, especially today,” said Camp.

Advertising generates the revenue for the DEVILer, which is free to readers. Camp keeps advertisers in mind for the jokes and stories he includes in the DEVILer as well, focusing everything to a very local audience.

“We don’t go into the tourist areas because it doesn’t do our advertisers any good, with the exception of Wildwood because they have a pretty big base of year-round people there,” he said.

The DEVILer is Camp’s retirement job.

Previously he was an army helicopter pilot in Vietnam, but was shot down and injured. After leaving the army on permanent disability, he started flying as a commercial helicopter pilot for Petroleum Helicopters International (PHI) for a while but had to be on call at any time of the day. PHI had an underground newspaper of its own for the company and included funny stories.

“That’s sort of where the whole idea came from,” Camp said. “I started writing my own stuff … [it] gave me the opportunity and the confidence, because now I’m getting feedback. It’s like being up on stage. If people are not laughing at you, you probably won’t go back up there again.”

How to work an audience is something Camp understands; he is also a stand-up comedian, ventriloquist and magician. The paper hosts an annual comedy show at the Centerton Country Club, which sold out for the last ten years, and Camp does some smaller shows throughout the year.

In other words, he immerses himself in jokes for a living.

“I don’t want to bust my ass and work, even though I do work seven days a week,” he says. “But I work when I want to work, and it’s fun. For me, it’s enjoyable to sit there at the computers and write jokes.”

The paper’s target audience is mostly male, specifically because, as Camp puts it, a male is producing it. Each issue features a centerfold.

“We try to get the local girls,” said Camp. “We’ve had professionals that wanted to get in it at a price that I could afford. We’ve had Playboy bunnies in it.”

He regularly receives feedback from readers, including one family who said they buried their uncle with a stack of DEVILer’s in honor of his love for the paper.

But not all his fans are men. One day, Camp received pleasantly surprising phone call from a woman.

“She called me up and she says, ‘You should put this paper in every one of the doctors’ offices.’ And I’m thinking ‘oh my God, this is one of those calls.’”

“Then she says, ‘I’m undergoing chemotherapy and it’s the only relief I’ve gotten from my chemotherapy.’”

Click to see some pages from the most current issue.