Over the years the hall had lost none of its appeal to Maggie. It was as much a part of Maggie's childhood as braids, cream of tomato soup, and the sound of the freight train clattering through town in the middle of the night. The hall was a place for weddings, Christmas parties, and silver anniversaries. It whispered during the slow numbers and thumped like a heartbeat when the stout ladies came out to polka. The country club in Jamesburg was prettier and any number of area restaurants more comfortable, but the PNA Hall had a paste wax dance floor that was smooth and dusty. The Russian Orthodox women still brought their bread to the church to be blessed, and the Polish National Hall was still booking weddings.Įver since Maggie Toone was a little girl she'd wanted to hold her wedding reception in the Polish National Hall. Five generations later the population had been Americanized somewhat, but Riverside was still a blue-collar town with clean windows. They kept their streets and windows clean, built bars on every corner, and poured time and money into the construction of their churches.
The immigrants settled in the company town of Bigmount, and in the neighboring town of Riverside, building modest brick and frame houses on small lots. At the turn of the century the Bigmount Brick Company hired new arrivals from Eastern Europe to work in the New Jersey clay pits.
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