Driving back the hands of time 19th-century coaches support 21st-century land conservation BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer Was it 2007 or 1907? The lower field of Aulde House on Cooper Road in Middletown was filled with late-model automobiles on Aug. 25, but anyone gazing at the upper field that night would have witnessed a scene from the early years of the last century. PHOTOS BY TINA COLELLA The Rumson Country Club provided a pastoral background for the Monmouth Coaching Invitational Aug. 24. Antique coaches, teams of magnificent horses, whips, grooms and elegantly dressed passengers converged on the Rumson and Navesink areas from all points for the three-day event, which last took place in the area in August 1901. Three nonprofit organizations, including the Monmouth Conservation Foundation, joined together to host the event aimed at raising awareness of the importance of the equine industry to the county. A variety of coaches, dating from the 1890s to the 1900s, each drawn by four horses, sat perched on the hilltop. The vehicles of yore were part of the Monmouth Conservation Foundation's (MCF) "Coaches, Carriages and Conservation Gala," which included a dinner-dance at the Ellis family farm that evening. For 30 years, the nonprofit MCF has been dedicated to acquiring, holding and preserving open space in Monmouth County. Since 1977, MCF has conveyed to the county and its communities over 6,000 acres of land dedicated to open space preservation. The MCF has a goal of preserving another 5,000 acres by 2010, according to the organization's program for the coaching event. The Monmouth Coaching Invitational, which took place over three days, Aug. 24- 26, also featured drives through Rumson on Aug. 24 and through Little Silver and Oceanport to Monmouth Park for the New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival on Aug. 26. Beneficiaries of the event included ReRun Inc., an organization based in Helmetta that finds second careers for former racehorses, and the New Bolton Veterinary Center in Pennsylvania. According to MCF Executive Director Adele Keller, the coaching event raised more than $200,000. The event also raised awareness about the dire need to save open space in the county and promoted the enjoyment of preserved land. The acreage where the 19th- and 21stcentury vehicles parked near the gala tent is known as the Big Field and has an extensive history. The property was once owned by Amory Haskell, a founder of Monmouth Park Racetrack and master of foxhounds of the Monmouth County Hunt Club. Haskell used the property as a pasture for his fox hunters, according to the MCF. Haskell's daughter, Anne Haskell Ellis, along with her sisters Isabella Haskell deTomaso and Hope Haskell Jones, also took interest in the land and once had their thoroughbred racing operation, Lotsoc Farm, there. Lotsoc stood for "Long on tradition, short on cash," according to the MCF. When Ellis died last year, her will stipulated that 39 acres of the land including the Big Field and the woods surrounding the Aulde House be placed in a conservation easement with the MCF. Some of her old racehorses still call the Big Field home, according to the MCF. During the dinner, Judith Stanley Coleman, MCF founder and president since the organization's inception, was presented with an award for her conservation work. Coleman thanked the Ellis family for putting their land into preservation. Coleman called the coaching event a "spectacular" way to celebrate MCF's 30th anniversary. "You can imagine the way it was" at the turn of the century, she said. An emotional Coleman said she has worked hard on land preservation for 30 years, "but maybe it wasn't enough." "Six thousand acres [of preserved land] is very small compared to all we've lost," she said. Coleman told the audience to vote for the open space referendum in the November election. She said county land has been lost due to poor zoning, greedy developers, and politicians who don't care at any level. "Redevelopment is nothing but overdevelopment," she added. Among the other guests at the gala were Frank and Liz Kwasnik of Upper Freehold. Liz Kwasnik said the coaching invitational was a wonderful opportunity to take a few days away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and to remember that life is a journey and not just a destination. "In the 21st century, everyone seems to be in a rush all the time," she said, adding that she and her husband also felt fortunate to participate in a horse sporting event that contributes to supporting land conservation in Monmouth County. Although carriage drivers, or whips, came from all over the eastern seaboard, the coaching event was the brainchild of one prominent local thoroughbred breeder and coach driver, Joe Jennings. Jennings and his wife, Karen, the owners of Walnford Stud Farm in Upper Freehold, drove their private road coach in the event. Brewster and Company of New York built the vehicle in 1895 for a private member of the Philadelphia Coaching Club, E. Rittenhouse Miller. The coach served as a private road coach in the Philadelphia area until 1916, when it was sold, repainted and named "The Yellow Jacket" and put into service carrying passengers between Providence, R.I., and Danielson, Conn. The Vanderbilt family eventually acquired the coach and kept it in Newport, R.I., until the 1940s. The vehicle was later sold and spent the 1950s in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The circus decommissioned it and sold it to a private collection in 1983, where it sat in disrepair until the Jenningses bought it. A restoration completed in 2004 brought the coach back to its original state. Today, the coach is pulled by four hackney horses, traditional coaching horses that are now considered a rare breed. During the dinner, coach drivers and other partygoers danced until midnight to the music of the band Head Over Heels. A silent auction and live auction were also held, during which lively bidding brought in $7,500 for four tickets to the Breeders' Cup, which will be held in New Jersey this year in October at Monmouth Park in Oceanport. For more information about MCF, visit its Web site at www.monmouthconservation. org or call (732) 671-7000.