If there is a place in the United States other than Roswell, New Mexico, with a claim to fame being a brush with aliens, it must be central Jersey’s own Grover’s Mill. The little town was suddenly thrust into the public’s imagination after the Mercury Theater performed the radio drama, “War of the Worlds” on October 30, 1938.
Directed and masterminded by Orson Welles (and adapted from H.G. Wells’s 1898 novel of the same name) — as most New Jerseyans know — the plot had Martians landing at Grover’s Mill. On their way to Manhattan, the creatures zapped people with poison gas and generally wreaked havoc, until they were finally stopped by a case of the sniffles.
The radio play scared the dickens out of just about everyone, especially those who tuned in late. To mark the 72nd anniversary of the “War of the Worlds” broadcast, Franc and Mickey Gambatese, co-owners of Grover’s Mill Coffee House and Roastery in West Windsor, are presenting a weekend celebration, Friday through Sunday, October 29 through 31. The festivities will be hosted by Michael Jarmus, a former radio announcer at WCTC in New Brunswick, who, with help from some friends, will also recreate the radio drama, interspersed with the live performances.
On Friday, October 29, the musicians and comedians include D.J. Spoltore, Helene Angley, Chris Jankowski, Greg Nease, John Masseo, C.J. Barna, Dennis Nobile, and Franc Gambatese. On Saturday, October 30, add Gary Taylor, and Rodney and Eve Hargis to that list, when Friday night’s folks return to jam some more.
On Halloween Sunday, October 31, there will be a seance trying to “reach” Orson Welles, followed by a psychic show hosted by psychic entertainer Ted Saint James. Come in a costume tribute to your favorite Martians, since there will be a costume contest, and the winner will receive a $25 Grover’s gift card. You won’t feel out of place: the staff at the coffee house will be “replaced” by Martians for the shows.
“This is our way of celebrating the 1938 event and the fabled attack on Grover’s Mill by Martian invaders,” Gambatese says. “We hope to increase awareness and participation every year, leading up to the 75th anniversary in 2013. We consider ourselves to be the keepers of the flame with regards to the Orson Welles broadcast and its place in American and New Jersey history. It’s our hope that this will eventually evolve into the community’s own annual version of Groundhog Day.”
Gambatese, a manager at Lowe’s and a former West Windsor councilman, grew up near Paterson, where he listened to his grandfather playing bluegrass on the banjo and mandolin. “My grandfather died while playing banjo — literally, he had a heart attack.” He inherited his grandfather’s banjo and mandolin and started playing guitar at about age 18. His grandmother bought him a 12-string when he was 19. Last April, his wife bought him a Martin guitar for his 50th birthday.
In his teens he immersed himself in all the acoustic artists — Crosby, Stills, and Nash; James Taylor; Harry Chapin; Jim Croce, but “Bob Dylan was the father of all folk rock to me, Dylan is the master.” Bruce Springsteen remains a big influence: “My high school buddies and I stay in touch by making annual pilgrimages to the closest Springsteen concerts.” He continued to play until he lost the end of his middle finger in a table saw accident. But when he opened Grover’s Mill Coffee House in 2008 — a dream he’d had since he was 20 — he was inspired to pick up the guitar again. He says the singer-songwriters who perform there “really support me. They say, ‘get up here and do something.’ I enjoy watching the way they express themselves (in their songwriting), how they deal with life as it comes to them. People’s talents just blow me away.”
Gambatese also plays the blues harp (harmonica) and often jumps in to accompany the performers. And he has found his songwriting voice again. During the weekend, Gambatese will introduce his original song, “The Battle of Grover’s Mill,” a tribute to the fabled, fictional confrontation. “It’s kind of a country jam thing.”
He is also inspired by his wife, Mickey, a professional dancer and choreographer. “I just wrote a song for her called, ‘Exit 131,’ her exit on the Garden State Parkway when we were dating.”
For about the last year and a half, Grover’s Mill has been hosting a regular open mic night. For many who have professional careers by day, it’s a way to show their artistic side by night.
Dennis Nobile, 56, of Plainsboro is a rhythm guitarist who prefers to play the acoustic guitar, with a style suited well to bluegrass ballads, country and folkabilly. “Everything from Elvis to the Red Hot Chili Peppers,” he says. “I was at college in the ’70s (SUNY Oswego), and a buddy taught me some guitar fundamentals. One of the big breakthroughs I learned from my friend was to have a good, solid rhythm. He said ‘you don’t start by playing lead, by being Eric Clapton; you start by playing a good solid rhythm.’”
Like Gambatese, Nobile considers Dylan the biggest of the big. “For people who love songwriting, Dylan is like the big bang, the fundamental influence,” he says. “I’ve always liked people like Dylan, Neil Young, Patti Smith, people who are in it for the long haul. They pursue the music where it takes them without worrying about being ‘popular.’ That’s what I admire: fearlessness, creativity, and longevity.”
Nobile is the president of his own company, nth Degree Media, based in his home in the Princeton Collection development. The company produces documentary-style business and marketing pieces, as well as commercials. He graduated from SUNY Oswego in 1976 with a double major in film and history, studies well-suited to his current business.
His wife, Nina, is a safety consultant for the insurance firm, Zurich American. (She is also based in a home office.) The couple has lived in Plainsboro since 1995, and they have two daughters, who both graduated from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North. Daughter Gina, 22, is a senior at Rutgers. Shari, 19, plays the piano and shares her father’s love for music.
CJ Barna of Plainsboro, who is single, has worked in market research for over 20 years but is now a fulltime musician. He has performed as a soloist for the past 10 years, but has also appeared in duos, trios, and rock bands. “These days I concentrate on writing, composing — orchestral and New Age, and playing live.”
Chris Jankoski, 26, has been performing as a singer-songwriter for about seven years, and began by perforing at weekly open mics in Philadelphia while in college. Soon after, he formed a band, Experience Kef, which is still together and active in the Philadelphia music scene. Jankowski, a West Windsor resident and the production manager at Entourage Yearbooks in Princeton, enjoys two monthly “residencies” — performing at Murphs Bar in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia and at Triumph Brewery in Princeton. In addition he hosts the Grover’s Mill Coffee House open mic every Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
All the musicians praise the Gambatese family for all the creative effort they’ve put into Grover’s Mill. They appreciate the casual, welcome feeling, as well as the hipness of the place. “Franc and the team there are wonderful folks,” Nobile says. “When you picture a coffeehouse, say from the ’60s, Grover’s Mill is just like that, with people reading poetry, doing stand-up comedy. Being there is like sitting around the fire, really communicating. Today, when everything is Facebook and impersonal, the human contact is really rewarding.”
War of the Worlds Celebration, Grover’s Mill Coffee House, 335 Princeton Hightstown Road, West Windsor, 609-716-8771.A variety of musicians and comedians will perform, with a broadcast re-enactment by Michael Jarmus and friends. Seance and psychic entertainment on Sunday, October 31. Come in a Martian costume. Free. Friday and Saturday, October 29 and 30, 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, October 31, 7 p.m.
