Township couple wed, on Election Day, amid Pascack relics

Amy Van Orden Maffei walks down “the aisle” toward her groom, waiting with their minister and witnesses Nov. 7 in the museum’s Victorian display area during the PHS renovation. – Credit Kristen Bonnett Beuscher

TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, NJ—Call it a story of passion, politics, and local history.

Two township residents tied the knot on Election Day, making sure that they raced just after the nuptials to the polling station at the town library, where poll workers cheerfully offered “I voted” stickers for her gown and his suit.

The bride, Amy Van Orden Maffei, and the groom, John Snyder, both of Chestnut Street, were wed at the Pascack Historical Society’s John C. Storms Museum and Ellen Berdais Hall in Park Ridge, 30 years to the day—Nov. 7, 1987—since they met at her college campus, where they were introduced by a mutual friend.

John would leave soon after for the Air Force. He and Amy kept in touch over the years, always with the feeling that they were meant to be together.

Township residents Amy Van Orden Maffei and John Snyder dashed to the Public Library to vote Nov. 7, straight from their nuptials at the Pascack Historical Society’s John C. Storms Museum and Ellen Berdais Hall in Park Ridge. The museum, the former Congregational Church, last held a wedding approximately 70 years ago. — Credit Township of Washington

Their choice of venue, they said, honors the work of the bride’s family, the Van Ordens and Duries, who have been part of the PHS family since its inception in 1942.

Amy’s late great-uncle Howard I. Durie, (1913-1990) whose research and other contributions to the PHS its members celebrate as integral, was with them in spirit.

The museum and hall, at the former Congregational Church, 19 Ridge Ave., is home to collections of thousands of objects, artifacts and ephemera that chronicle life in Pascack Valley from Lenape Indian days to the present.

On site are a vital research library, a huge textile and costume collection, and artwork to admire. The museum is all-volunteer.

Among the treasures on display are ledgers donated by the bride’s mother, Linda Van Orden, and aunt Susan Accardi, documenting local trade in wampum in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The museum boasts the last surviving wampum-making machine—another donation of the bride’s forebears—which automated and made more profitable the turning of Caribbean conch into ornamental and tradable wampum.

This wedding was the first held there in approximately 70 years, according to George L. Sherman Jr., president of the PHS.

Three 19th-century gowns of lace and silk—their original owners could not have imagined them featured in a 21st century wedding—rounded out a small wedding party.

John is a newspaper reporter. Amy is a freelance editor. The two have three boys, 9, 12, and 15, from previous marriages.

A portrait of the bride’s great-uncle, the late Howard I. Durie, who left behind much of the accurate historical knowledge scholars have today about the Pascack Valley. — Credit Pascack Historical Society

The museum was closed to the public at the time of the wedding, which took place in the museum’s Victorian section. An ambitious renovation is under way, though children’s programs are ongoing.

In addition to hosting the small wedding, PHS gave the happy couple a special gift: a lifetime membership.

Sherman wrote the couple that Durie is responsible for leaving behind much of the accurate historical knowledge we have today about the Pascack Valley.

“In many of our hearts and minds he was the Pascack Historical Society. We honor his memory today. We think he would be tickled pink, in his quiet and modest way, to know that you made history by being the first couple to marry here in almost 70 years,” Sherman wrote.

For more information about the Pascack Historical Society, visit pascackhistoricalsociety.org.