Remember when ... President Reagan ate spaghetti at an NJ Italian festival

It's not every day you'll find the President of the United States in Central Jersey.

President Ronald Reagan visited Hunterdon County for 3½ hours on Friday, Sept. 17, 1982, stumping for Rep. Millicent Fenwick for the U.S. Senate.

In addition, Reagan watched as new citizens were sworn in and he sampled spaghetti and sauce at an Italian festival in Raritan Township.

The festivities, said Sid Benjamin, owner of the Flemington Fur Co., "put us on the map." Local historians could not recall any other presidential visits to the county.

Ronald Reagan stops at the Ryland Inn

Reagan's first stop was the Ryland Inn in the Whitehouse Station section of Readington Township for a fundraiser for Fenwick, where the most visible dissent for Reagan's visit was seen outside the venue.

Gathered along the roadside, about half the 200 people came to protest Reagan's support of nuclear arms, and placards and banners flew their messages: "We love you Millicent, but ditch Ronald," and "Protest Nuclear Weapons."

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Reagan drew 210 guests at the inn to Fenwick's campaign party, which raised an estimated $100,000 for the Republican candidate from Bernardsville, who was running against Democrat Frank Lautenberg.

Although they were not always in political harmony, Reagan said of the pipe-smoking, four-term congresswoman Fenwick, "We can sit down and smoke the pipe of peace. On the direction America must take, Millicent and I stand shoulder to shoulder," proclaiming Fenwick would "be the first woman senator from the state of New Jersey."

Ronald Reagan delivers citizen certificates

Reagan then left for Liberty Hall, the home of the Polish American Citizens Club in Whitehouse Station, where he personally delivered citizen certificates to 75 new American citizens.

In a short Constitution Day speech Reagan told the new citizens to "remember the proud people of Poland on the day you take the Oath of Allegiance to our land of freedom."

Most of the approximately 400 guests were caught by surprise when Reagan appeared on stage with Gov. Thomas Kean.

There was a startled murmur and then several minutes of cheering and applause as the Immaculata High School band from Somerville launched into a quick round of "Hail to the Chief."

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Reagan delivered a patriotic, non-partisan address commemorating the 195th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution.

Reagan led the Immaculata band in a sing-along of "God Bless America," then he waved and vanished again through the door at the rear of the platform, about 20 minutes after his arrival.

"It's all over too soon," said Kathy Nadeau of Whitehouse Station, a member of the Polish-American Citizens' Club, which built the platform and redecorated for the occasion. "We put in a whole week."

Reagan then returned to the Ryland Inn, where he met the state GOP chairmen before going to the San Gennaro Festival at the Flemington Fairgrounds in Raritan Township.

There were a handful of protesters in the crowd carrying signs reading, "If You Think Reaganomics Is Working, Ask the Millions Who Aren't" and "Stop Nuclear Terror."

'Once-in-lifetime opportunity'

Groups gathered along Route 22 and on rural roads in Readington to welcome the President. The Whitehouse Station Fire Company on Main Street pulled out all their yellow fire engines decorated with small flags.

Pam Sharpe of Readington sat in her car in the Foodtown parking lot with her sons, Paul, 6, and Ricky, 18 months, in the back seat.

"It's cutting into this one's nap time," she said, referring to Ricky, "but it's such a golden opportunity."

"Exciting," said Susan Kohler of the Whitehouse section of Readington. "The President saw the real Whitehouse. He saw how real people live."

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"I think," said young Eric Kohler, "that the President should have given me his autograph, because my social studies teacher said if we got his autograph we wouldn't have homework for a week."

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a lot of people," said Assemblyman Walter Kavanaugh, R-Dist. 16, of Somerville. "I've met the president, but I'm not on a first-name basis with him. I don't know if he'd know me. He meets thousands of people."

Diane Shay of Whitehouse Station said, "I think it was terrific. It was the biggest thing to hit Whitehouse in a long time. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing." Shay was able to see the president twice as his motorcade drove by, away from the inn and back toward it.

Secret Service men around Reagan told Elise Della Pello, a seventh-grader at Readington School, she could not give Reagan a picture of her prize-winning Arabian horse, Tayiballanin, but Fenwick guided her up to Reagan anway.

"I gave him the picture, he thanked me and gave me a kiss on the cheek," the youngster said. "I was thrilled and thought he was a terrific man."

"I have to tell you, I arrived a little confused," Reagan said upon arrival at the Ryland Inn. He told of taking a helicopter, Air Force One, and another helicopter, and then "I asked someone where we were, and they said, 'Whitehouse.' I was used to going there in an elevator."

Ronald Reagan invited to Sayreville

Sayreville Mayor John Czernikowski had an invitation for Reagan:

"I understand you will be in New Jersey this Friday to assist with Millicent Fenwick's campaign. After visiting the wealthier Republican districts of the state, I would like you to visit with Sayreville so that you can experience first hand the effects of your economic policies."

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"If you can schedule your arrival for 4 p.m. you can meet and shake hands with more than 400 NL Industries employees as they leave the plant for the last time. Employees who will be left jobless as a result of the fiscal policies of your administration."

"It will give you the opportunity to explain what your administration has termed, 'Our nation's economic recovery,' so these former employees will have something to tell their wives and children when the paychecks no longer will be available," he wrote in a Mailgram on behalf of himself and the Borough Council.

At the Flemington Fairgrounds, Reagan said leading economic indicators, which forecast future economic activity, had been up four months in a row.

"Now these statistics are cold comfort to someone who is still out of work," Reagan said. "And every night when I turn in, I don't think anything is on my mind more than the people who want jobs but can't find them."

"Well, let me tell you, we are going to knock that unemployment rate down, just like we're knocking down interest and inflation. In the meantime, unemployment benefits for those whose payments would otherwise run out have been extended," Reagan said.

What do you remember about this event? Visit This Week in Central Jersey History/Remember When at bit.ly/3IyzE1G.

Brad Wadlow is a staff writer for MyCentralJersey.com

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: President Ronald Reagan visits Hunterdon County NJ: A look back