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Marilyn Vaughn-September 2001
by Marilyn Bullock

Marilyn Vaughn's home mimics her life - conservative, modest, understated - with bold splashes of vibrant color!

Known to her good friends as Muffy, Marilyn is a long-time resident of the New Hope area - in Solebury for over 21 years and in her present home for over 8 years. Marilyn lives with: her 17-year-old son, Kip; her 13-year-old daughter, Tina; her best friend, Gary O'Connor (she doesn't like the sound of "significant other"); the family dog, Finster.

In the early 90's, after having worked for others for several years, Marilyn started a home-based graphic design business so she could spend more time with her children. Four years later, at the encouragement of a friend, she decided to get her real estate license. She liked real estate so much; she gave up graphic design entirely and now works at Coldwell Banker. The only vestige of her "former" life appears during the holidays when she makes hand-made Christmas cards.

Marilyn is a natural nurturer. She loves being a mother and adores her children, whom she talks about whenever she has the opportunity. Marilyn also takes special care of her clients when they are looking for a home in Bucks County. She helps them "find the right fit" no matter how long it takes. Her clients are so pleased with her dedication and honest caring, they send their friends and acquaintances to her - almost all of Marilyn's business now is from referrals.

If being an award-winning real estate maven and exceptional mother weren't enough, Marilyn does volunteer work for the Eagle Fire Company! How many children can say that their mom is a volunteer firefighter? Tina and Kip can! Marilyn always wanted to be a firefighter from the time she was a little girl. When the opportunity presented itself 2 years ago, she took the training and become one of only a few women firefighters at the Eagle Fire Company (currently she is the ONLY woman.) The man who made her custom outfit told her that it was the smallest one he had ever made. Kip and Tina were leery at first about their mom being a firefighter but now think that it's "really neat" that she is doing something she always wanted to do. Marilyn is awed by the bravery and commitment of the volunteers and finds great satisfaction in offering her services whenever the alarm sounds. (There are only 12 active volunteers at the firehouse. If you are interested in volunteering, contact Fire Chief Tom Markey.)

In her "spare" time, what Marilyn likes to do most is row. Yes, row! She has belonged to the Swan Creek Rowing club for 5 years. She likes the exercise and especially the beauty of the Delaware in the early morning mist. Her love of the New Hope area is expressed in most every sentence she speaks and she tries to teach her children to appreciate what we have here - that we live in a REALLY special place.

We can't leave out Gary and Finster. Gary is a talented architect and artist that Marilyn has known for four years. He designed their new house that will be ready sometime within the next year. Twenty years ago Marilyn fell in love with some property in Pineville but couldn't afford it. Three years ago it was for sale again and she and Gary snatched it up. In the new house, there will be lots of room for everyone - especially Finster!

Finster is Burmese Mountain Dog that weighs more than Marilyn ("he's 105, I'm 102.") She says that Finster is really Gary's dog, but you can see that the whole family adores this dog. Friendly and playful, he takes the family for a walk instead of the other way around.

Marilyn is also a member of the New Hope Historical Society and heaven knows what other organizations - but we'll stop at that. Right now, as modest as she is, Marilyn is probably blushing so much you wouldn't even recognize her, which is just the way she likes it!

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Dee Rosenwald-October 2001
by Marilyn Bullock

She's been a New Hope resident for over 30 years, she is the oldest (in member years) member of the New Hope Historical Society, she is married to a famous contemporary sculptor, she has a lovely English accent, she has more energy bundled into her small frame than most people half her age….. We are talking, of course, about Dee Rosenwald. With the sad passing of Francis Curly, some consider Dee to be the "new" New Hope historian.

Born Dorothy Illingworth in Newark, NJ, Dee's father was an English engineer who longed to return to England with his family. When Dee was four years old they did just that and moved to Lancashire, which is located along the northern shore of England and next to two golf courses. Dee never learned how to play golf but got good at "dodging balls to get to the beach!" She grew up in an elegant victorian resort call Southport, 22 miles north of Liverpool. She was in Southport when war broke out.

Dee came to New York when in her early 20's. Her first job in NY was working for the New Yorker on their miniaturized (minus the ads) European version of the magazine. As it turned out, the ads are what the home-sick military boys wanted to see!

In 1969 Dee was working for the British Travel Association, which created brochures and guide books to steer tourists to Britain. Her friend, the editor of Vogue magazine, invited Dee to a cocktail party. This friend was determined to introduce her to a talented sculptor named Robert Rosenwald. Dee had declined the invitation but her friend hired a limo to pick her up at take her to this party.

Dee and Robert, now married, moved to Waterloo St., in New Hope a couple of years after their first meeting. Living along the Delaware River has not always been easy - they have survived 19 floods over 30 years! Always interested in "how to preserve things and how to make a community livable", Dee joined the New Hope Historical Society shortly after her move to New Hope.

An important piece of the "Dee Rosenwald Story" is a tour of the Parry Mansion. We were walking through the mansion, Dee telling all the stories behind each piece of furniture and painting and how they were acquired. I stopped her "lecture" (not an easy task to get a question or comment in) and asked how she is able to combine her love of history with her passion for contemporary art (she is married to a contemporary sculptor, lives in a contemporary home, and has been for 10 years a contemporary artist/printmaker in her own right).

Her response: As a young girl, growing up in Britain, she toured much of the British countryside with its historic buildings and castles. When English homeowners make additions to their homes, they typically make them in the present style, unlike us Americans who insist on making them of the period in which they were built. So, she was also taught to live in the present while maintaining an appreciation of the past.

Dee's only vice is that she is addicted to reading the NY Times EVERY day. When she is on vacation, out of town, or busy with one of her projects and can't get to the papers, they pile up she will eventually read through each and every one!

Dee is truly one of New Hope's special people - stories will be told of HER in generations to come.

If you read the New Hope Gazette, you've seen photos taken BY Gordon Neiburg. You have probably also seen photos OF Libby Nieburg, Gordon's wife and favorite subject. What you probably have NOT seen are many photos of Gordon himself. Well, here he is …. The subject of this month's Local Color.

Gordon Nieburg has been taking pictures since he was 8 years old. As a college student, he took scientific pictures and actually got paid for what he considers a hobby. The Nieburgs basement is filled with catalogued photographs from around the world.

Gordon grew up just outside of Philadelphia. He was in the Korean war as a US Air Force officer and stayed with the Air Force for 12 years total - 7 years of that in the air national guard reserves. While serving our country, Gordon lived in Japan for 5 years, and, if hard pressed to do so, can still speak a little Japanese!

He came back to the US to go back to school at Illinois State University where he studied engineering. After graduation, he got a job at NASA in Virginia, working on the Mercury and Apollo projects. Part of job was traveling throughout the South Pacific. He also worked at Lockheed Missiles & Space for 1 year working on secret spy satellites.

Tired of traveling with these "boring" jobs, Gordon decided to go back to school again. This time he went to the University of Wisconsin, studied Zoology, and came out with a Masters in Science Education. He moved back to Philadelphia to be closer to his family and to participate in a program call Teacher Corps, where they pay for graduate work in exchange for his working within the Inner City school system.

Near the end of his schooling, he met Libby. Their first date was in a lovely town not too far north of Philadelphia. New Hope! On that date, Gordon and Libby found out that they had actually grown up in the same neighborhood (several years apart) and knew many of the same people. Destined to be together, they married not long after and raised 2 of Gordon's children from a previous marriage. Gordon was then teaching science at Bensalem HS and Libby continued to teach kindergarten in NE Philadelphia.

Libby and Gordon moved one more time, to Newtown, PA. before ultimately ending up in New Hope. They both retired from teaching about 5 years ago. After traveling extensively all over the world for 2 years, they decided they wanted to settle down. Having looked at retirement communities in CA, Florida, and others, they decided that there really is "no place on earth like Bucks County." Here they are and here they will stay.

Nowadays you will find Gordon and Libby riding their bikes along the towpath, volunteering for PiP or Concordia Players or Bastille Day or spending time with their 11 grandchildren. You may also see Gordon taking photos just about anywhere in the New Hope area..

A true Renaissance woman, Sally Stang is the epitome of what we call "Local Color." Sally tries her hand(s) at more artistic ventures in one year than most of us will try in a lifetime!

Sally grew up in Kendall Park, NJ and moved to Lambertville, NJ 12 years ago. Looking for a place to plant her own roots, Sally found Lambertville to have all the qualities she was looking for. "Lambertville was filled with funky, aging hippies, and that fit me!"

Sally had no formal art training yet has made her living from her art and creative talent. She is currently a graphic artist with the Trenton Times. But that is only her "full-time" job. Other ventures include: playwright (sold a full-length play that has not yet been produced); cartoonist (had a cartoon strip called Joodi, Inc. in the Princeton Packet for two years); beadmaker (makes glass beads in her studio that she sells at the Sojourner); teacher of sign language; jeweler; and craftswoman. Sally also designs and creates incredibly beautiful flower "paintings" made with presses flowers that she selects and prepares herself.

One of Sally's other passions is singing. When she first moved to Lambertville, a friend of hers told her about Fred Miller's Copper Penny Players. It took her 2 years to get up the nerve to call Fred about joining his amateur singing group. Sally has been singing ever since! Her sensuous voice and witty sense of humor have made her a favorite at Fred's Copper Penny shows and also at Odette's Cabaret, where she has performed 4 times with Patti Clark, Scott Sutherland, and Suzan Bartels.

There are other interests, too. Like her collection of "little stuff." (She also has a collection of "big stuff.") Sally has a 4" by 6" by 5" box that she calls her "museum of the Tiny and the Unusual." Among its distinct contents are: a 3" plastic tapir, a 2" pack of tarot cards, an "eye of a giant", a miniature peach pit basket that was carved in China, a 2" urn that houses a pinch of her fathers ashes, a tiny Bible, ….. well you get the picture.

Oh, and let's not leave out "dumpster diving" - looking for treasures in other people's trash. Sally's newest addiction is to select broken furniture and reassemble it in unique ways. Almost every corner or wall in Sally's apartment harbors a "project in waiting."

Sally comes from a creative family lineage. Her mother was an accomplished artist, her father an engineer, and her brother is a talented carpenter and wood turner. What Sally likes the most is the creative process. She will spend hours at a time in the library researching her latest idea, which may culminate in a new creation, or, more likely, will be relegated to her endless files of "future projects."

If Sally's passions seem a bit strange to you, you are not alone. She prides herself on being artistically and creatively unique - with no intention of doing otherwise. To reach Sally, call 609-397-8126.

By the way, her cat says hello. The black and while ball of fur doesn't have a name but answers to " The Pinky Kitty of Love.

"To live life, I share life." This is the personal and professional motto of New Hope resident, Louise Decker. Louise enjoys coming up with new ideas, implementing them, and then letting them go. Her life is all about bringing people together and helping them to "re-create." Her creative projects include: the yearly Lambertville - New Hope Winter Festival, the Swan Creek Rowing Club, and the New Hope Nordic Ski Club.

Louise grew up in NE Philadelphia, one of six children. The family visited New Hope on weekends and Louise fell in love with the area. While attending Bucks County Community College, she met her future husband, Larry Decker, author of "The Change of Heart", at Havana's. (They have now been married 16 years and have two children.)

Louise and Larry had sports mindedness in common. Larry, an oarsman at Drexel University, introduced Louise to rowing. Louise, a former Nordic Instructor, brought cross country skiing into Larry's life. Both also enjoy running and swimming. Louise firmly believes that recreation is not only healthy and energizing for the individual but for the community as well.

New to the sport of rowing, Louise immediately saw a need for easier access to water and boats. The Delaware River was a natural place to look. And so, with the generous help of Fred Lewis, owner of Lewis Island, Louise started the Swan Creek Rowing Club.

As owner/manager of the former Cross Country Ski Outfitters (she sold it 5 years ago to Mountain River Ski Outfitters), Louise took pride in the breadth and depth of the equipment she offered at the store, ensuring that each customer had the right equipment for his/her needs. She started the New Hope Cross Country Ski Club, which still meets in Langhorne and runs cross country ski trips. Louise no longer participates in the running of either the Ski Club or the Rowing Club.

In 1995, Louise got the idea to hold a Winter Carnival - like the ones held in the ski areas of New England that bring the whole community together. With the help of interested local business owners, the Winter Carnival became a reality. That first year there were, among other activities, ice carving, cross country ski lessons, and a torch light parade down Belle Mountain. By the second year, more people were interested in participating and the event became what is now termed the Lambertville - New Hope Winter Festival. The Festival now includes both sides of the Delaware and includes hundreds of volunteers and sponsors.

When not outdoors or volunteering her time, Louise likes to spend time with her family.

Louise has run the Lambertville - New Hope Winter Festival for six years and is again ready to let go the reins and move on to new projects. What might that be? We're not sure, but it is sure to be "recreational" and something from which the entire community will benefit.

How many of you remember the old TV show, Marcus Welby, MD? That was the show where Robert Young portrayed a caring, veteran general practitioner who became involved in the lives of his patients and who was dedicated to treating the whole patient. He even made house calls! Now, I'm not saying that Dr. Jim Rigney is Marcus Welby - but he's darned close.

Dr. Rigney has always enjoyed nurturing things and people. (When he was a young man, an aptitude test indicated he would make a good doctor or a good farmer!) As an undergraduate at Yale, he studied pre-Med and trained at Harvard during the summer terms. He attended medical school in Georgetown and spent his internship at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City. Here he studied internal medicine and was Chief Resident for a year. At Lenox Hill Hospital he specialized in Nephrology (the study of kidney disease and related disorders)

Upon leaving Lenox Hill, he joined the Park Avenue practice of the doctor who had taught him nephrology. Together, with their competent team of nurses and staff, they handled more than half the kidney dialysis cases in NYC.

Dr. Rigney could have written his own ticket for moving up in his medical career. He had offers from the most prestigious medical institutions in America. Instead, in 1980, Dr. Rigney chose to move to Bucks county and open a private general practice here. A few years before he had met his future partner, Tiffany, a professional horsewoman. The country life and simplicity of an independent medical practice lured him away from the big-time medical establishment.

When Dr. Rigney opened his offices in New Hope on 42 N. Main St., there were three other doctor in town, Drs. Leiby, Shoenthall, and Ricker. Today, as far as he knows, Dr. Jim Rigney is the last remaining general practitioner in New Hope. "I'm a dinosaur, " he says with a smile. He works five and a half days per week and has two assistants, Maria and Tara. His dog, Havoc, keeps him company during "paperwork hours."

For the first two years of his practice, Dr. Rigney did in-patient work with Doylestown Hospital. As his patient list grew - patients come from as far away as Yardley, Stockton, and Frenchtown - it became harder to make rounds at the hospital. So now, Dr. Rigney has consulting privileges at Doylestown Hospital and recommends his patients to well-respected specialists when he thinks his patients require hospital treatment.

When not treating patients in his office or making an emergency house call (can you believe it!), you will find Dr. Rigney in one of three places: at the gym (which is where I first met him); at the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Program in Newtown, where he is the Medical Director; or with Tiffany. And they will probably be riding - perhaps in a Fox Hunt early on a Sunday morning (no, they don't kill the foxes.)

What Dr. Rigney is most proud of is how he had the courage to redefine his life at an early age and follow his dream of being a country doctor. He feels that this is the life he was meant to live! You can contact Dr. Rigney at 215-862-9444.