Est. 1897
November 2, 2000, page 17.
A significant discovery was made recently on the grounds of the Bonnie Brae School in the Liberty Corner section of Bernards Township. Better than oil, dinosaur footprints, or gemstones; they met proof that a loving home can save damaged lives. To a Scotsman, "bonnie brae" means beautiful hillside, or beautiful hills. Judge Harry Osborne named this place so appropriately when he founded The Bonnie Brae Farm for Boys as a haven (is that the Scottish pronunciation of "heaven?") for desperate children in 1916. Since then, nearly 5,000 young men have been lucky enough to call it home. And "the Brae's" legacy of steering boys away from a life long on crime and short on happiness continues to this day. On Saturday, Oct. 14, former residents came back to visit their childhood home when Bonnie Brae hosted its first-ever homecoming. Seems funny, but for all the years the school has been in operation, there's never been an organized reunion event. Individuals might come back unannounced from time to time, (according to Board of Trustees President Ted Osborne, usually one a week comes by in the summertime, just to look around or see a familiar face,) but a reunion of many, all at the same time, was something new. Susan Roth of Warren Township, executive director of the school, didn't know what to expect of it. She only knew this was a unique opportunity to learn, in her words, "What it was about Bonnie Brae that made a difference in their lives. Even though our services have changed since 1916, there are some essential factors that we seek to maintain." But which factors really made a difference over the course of a lifetime? Perhaps the reunion would bring answers. |
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Ted Osborne can sum up the major changes in Bonnie Brae's history since his grandfather's day. For one thing, it used to be a working farm, but now is a residential treatment center. Osborne explained that, "As we started to get state funding early in the 1970's, we became less able, due to regulations, to continue running it as a working farm." And so the mission of the school slowly adjusted. It seeks to do more than simply take a boy out of a bad home, and give him a better one. It now aims to give boys the coping skills needed to survive in the often confusing or bizarre circumstances of their lives. Another change is in the schooling. Brae students used to attend Liberty Corner Elementary and Bernards High School. Now Bonnie Brae is a self-sufficient special education school. The source of funding has also shifted over the years. Bonnie Brae was once completely backed by private donations, but now gets the majority of its capital from state agencies. Private donations enable Bonnie Brae to give its kids the very best in residential treatment. Changes at the school reflect society at large. In our culture now, there's more alcohol and drug abuse at a young age; violence is the preferred mode of problem-solving in movies and on TV; some kids feel lost in larger schools, and adults are less involved in their children's lives. But the problems boys wrestle with in their hearts remain the same. In the words of Bonnie Brae's chief clinical psychologist Dr. Vanita Braver, "violent behavior does not appear out of the blue." That's always been true. Modern day Bonnie Brae boys may not literally be orphans, but most all live fatherless lives. Bonnie Brae's children have always been economically, socially, or educationally disadvantaged. That remains unchanged. |
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The returning alumni spent three to 11 years at Bonnie Brae. Today the average length of stay is 18 months. There are about 100 institutions in the United States with missions similar to Bonnie Brae's, but stays at such places are limited to 60-90 days. There's an enormous price difference between 1-1/2 months and 1-1/2 years. With healthcare now subject to the same cost containment strategies as big business, Bonnie Brae is under pressure to prove the effectiveness of its program. The school must continually quantify not only what it is doing, but also the cost of doing it. The school is currently participating in a landmark study to accurately close this information gap. For its part, Bonnie Brae seeks to discover what happens to a boy after he graduates from the program. For the past five years, graduates have been tracked at the six-month, one-year, and two-year marks. On Saturday, Oct. 14, former residents came back to visit their childhood home when Bonnie Brae hosted its first-ever homecoming. Seems funny, but for all the years the school has been in operation, there's never been an organized reunion event. Individuals might come back unannounced from time to time, (according to Board of Trustees President Ted Osborne, usually one a week comes by in the summertime, just to look around or see a familiar face,) but a reunion of many, all at the same time, was something new. According to school officials, the cumulative data already yields proof of Bonnie Brae's triumph. Preliminary reports show that Bonnie Brae boys undergo significant positive changes in their behavior and life skills. Ted Osborne is well acquainted with the tracking study. He senses that, "our longer length of stay is a big factor in our success. We use that time to slowly gain trust, work on problems, and build self-confidence with each and every boy." Roth also shares that Bonnie Brae is significantly leading in other key areas of the study. She says it's already indicating Bonnie Brae's "measurable reduction in four domains: delinquency, assaultiveness, anxiety, and withdrawal. These changes are not found among youth in residential facilities nationally which had shorter lengths of stay." |
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Bonnie Brae was the returning alumni's main childhood home. Some hadn't seen the campus in 40, 50, or 60 years. One remembered how when he and his brother first came to live at the farm, they were scared and confused. They had come from a happy home after all, and couldn't understand why they were sent away. It wasn't until much later that he learned of his father's suicide, and mother's breakdown. Gordon Verge came to live on the farm in 1939, and now says, "We were the poorest of the poor from Harrison, New Jersey. Plenty poor. When I got here," he continued, his voice beginning to fail him and tears welling up at the recollection, "I got my first glass of milk. I was 11. This is the best place in the world to me." His brother John went on to become a chef after Bonnie Brae, and added, "I wasn't a bad boy, but I was no goody-two-shoes. If it wasn't for Bonnie Brae, I'd've wound up in jail." Walter Tharp of Pennsylvania recalls how he came from a family of "seven children, one mother, and no father. My brothers and I were put in a children's home, and were sent off to the farm here solely at the state's discretion. Our sisters were older, and stayed with my mom and got all switched around with relatives. They didn't stay together much." But thanks to Bonnie Brae, Walter and his brothers Art and Bob did stay together. They all came back to the reunion as a family, each of them with his wife. Jim Murray has had a successful career in photography, a trade he learned on the farm. He says that living there, "Gave me some stamina, the kind that doesn't seem to come to a lot of people easily. This place gave me a way to get through life's hard spots, and there were plenty of those. This place taught me how to work." These men came back to see each other, to see their childhood home, and in the words of returning alumnus Don Carton, "To measure ourselves up with one another." Now in their retirement years, with military, scientific, and careers of skilled labor behind them, they can say with certainty they owe their success to Bonnie Brae. |
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You'd have to read Mark Twain to come up with more charming and mischievous tales of boyhood escapades than these men have to tell. They all quickly fell into discussions about finding the old "Indian graves" on the property. Everyone seemed in agreement that no job was worse than cleaning the smelly old henhouse. The men strolled the grounds in search of the exact spots where old barns, pigs, boardwalks, and chickens used to be. As Ike Keay stands in the former study hall of Osborne Cottage (now a Thrift Shop), he recalled watching National Velvet and falling in love with Liz Taylor. His youthful plan to meet her hinged on his purchase of a horse. He remembered how, "just about every morning in summer I'd go out galloping around, slapping my thigh like I was riding a horse. My buddy would tie a string to his wrist and throw it out the window, and I'd come round from my cottage before dawn and pull the string to wake him up. And we'd go out galloping. And I had a money belt, and we got up to $12 in savings to buy a horse. But we weren't allowed to have money and I was found out. The school made me hand over the $12, and that was the end of my horse and Liz Taylor!" John Verge stood in that same room and recalled something else. In the main room of the thrift store, a grand fireplace hides its face behind racks of neckties and clothing. Its mantle is loaded with brass candlesticks and bowls. Verge recalled, "I was house boy, you know washing the floors and stuff, and Mrs. Poole was the house mom, and she'd get me gathering pine branches and decorating. I decorated that mantle so many times! My gosh, Christmas was the time of year around here. We got $5 for one gift. Didn't matter how big you were or small you were, five dollars is all. You could ask for something and you'd get it. One year I asked for a sleigh, a good one too, one of those Flexible Flyers. It was only five dollars. Can you imagine that!" Thrift Shoppe manager Alex Carell was quick to add that the tradition of giving each boy a Christmas gift is still in place. |
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The returning men expressed regret that the boys no longer get a farm-style work ethic at Bonnie Brae. Or do they? Life at Bonnie Brae remains rooted in structure and responsibility. Dr. Braver says, "The boys' days are very regimented. Some of them rebel against this new structured way of living, but deep down it's something they crave, and something that has been missing from their lives." While the boys of yesteryear enjoyed the freedom of outdoor life on the farm, today's Bonnie Brae boy also gets plenty of fresh air. The lure of nature remains an effective catalyst for healing, especially for boys. Dr. Braver explained that Bonnie Brae uses Adventure-based Programming. It's the kind of thing where someone falling backwards has to trust everyone else to catch him. There are also ropes courses where boys must work together to navigate tough obstacles. Outward Bound programs are part of the curriculum too. These programs give the boys real problem-solving skills, which help them approach their steep personal challenges with confidence. The entire school also takes a vacation together once a year. Students, administrators, and teachers all travel to a faraway camp at the end of summer. Bonnie Brae gives the boys time to hike, fish, and have a family vacation that they might not otherwise experience, ever in their life. Ted Osborne paused to reflect on how Bonnie Brae has changed his own life, saying, ŅI don't yet know how the farm has influenced my life, because I grew up with it. I remember coming out to the farm from Cranford on weekends as a boy. It was always just "the farm' to me. The horses, the bulls, and the cows were all there. I met a man once who lived here in the `40s. He told me that my grandfather was the only "father" he ever knew. I know my grandfather spent a lot of time here, especially later in his life. I'd like to hear about him from some returning men who might have met him." He continued. "My family has always believed in giving back to the community. I think the Winston Churchill quote about "what we leave behind' sums up my feeling toward the farm. It's a legacy. It's an honor." Winston Churchill also said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." Could there be a better motto for the Bonnie Brae School? |
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