NJ Hall Of Fame Goes From Virtual To Physical
TRENTON, NJ (AP / WCBS 880) - Jack Nicholson's second-grade report card. Susan Sarandon's Edison High School cheering jacket. An original Les Paul guitar. Those items and more will be on display when the New Jersey Hall of Fame opens its first exhibit on the boardwalk in Asbury Park this week.
LISTEN: WCBS 880's Levon Putney reports
The display, at 1200 Ocean Ave. in the 5th Avenue Pavilion, will be on view yearlong until the hall can move into permanent exhibition space at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton.
Until now, the 3-year-old Hall has honored inductees, including Albert Einstein, Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen, but its exhibition space has been restricted to the Web.
Superbowl champion Bart Oates will cut the ribbon for the new exhibit Wednesday.
"The Hall of Fame brings out Jersey pride in everybody,'' said spokesman Don Jay Smith.
The exhibit includes 30 large-scale photographs of famous New Jerseyans in the arts and entertainment industry, drawn from the works of celebrity photographer Timothy White. An early Thomas Edison phonograph is on loan to the hall for display.
Also, the hall is still collecting items. For example, Jon Bon Jovi is shipping a denim jacket and Frankie Valli has promised to lend memorabilia from his long music career.
Thus far, the hall has elected three classes of inductees from the fields of sports, entertainment, and the arts and sciences. The public helps elect inductees through online voting. Smith said teachers have been using the hall's voting process to teach children about elections and civic duty.
In May, Springsteen performed with actors Danny DeVito and Nicholson at an induction ceremony at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.
LINK: New Jersey Hall of Fame (Official Website)
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