Passing the bell and honoring Town Crier LeHew

Ron LeHew, Town Crier of Salem County

Hear ye! Hear ye! O yez! O yez!

I am the Town Crier of Woodstown — a role with big shoes to fill. The first known Town Crier of Woodstown (actually, of Salem County) was the incredible Ron LeHew. I want to make sure I pay proper homage to this 'gentle giant' (as he was remembered).

I still have a lot to learn about Town Crier LeHew. He wore a terrific colonial outfit, buckle shoes, tri-corner hat, waistcoat (among other accoutrements) around town at all the special events, towering high and sharing the lore of the town. My first time seeing Mr. LeHew was at Seven Stars Tavern (now a private residence) in Pilesgrove Twp. Seven Stars was one of the first drive-thrus in America (it was for beer in the 1700s). 

It's also notoriously haunted.

LeHew was the keeper of those fabulous ghost stories, and I am eager to find a record of them. I assume they were passed down word-of-mouth through the town, and I am unsure how many of those tales exist still in our town's collective memory, but I'm confident they're not gone.

Nevertheless, LeHew wrote a beautiful column every two weeks in the local newspaper Today's Sunbeam. As a teen who loved newspapers, I remember never missing his column; and, I didn't think twice about snatching up a copy of Mist over the Meadows, Vol. 1 — his collection of columns from 1989 to 1991. 

He knew how to capture Salem County in words in a way no one else could, and in a way I will never be able to replicate — nor would entertain trying. 

He made us matter. When I re-read his columns, I can still feel Market Street in Salem, Woodstown By Candlelight, the buzzing of churches on Christmas Eve, costumed children politely asking for their treats on Halloween.

In 2004, when I was 16 years old, I had the fun idea to dress up as a colonial for Woodstown By Candlelight — an annual event on the first Friday of December where the town comes alive with open businesses, bustling carolers, and historic homes lit for touring.

As a young performer, I was excited to march my way down to see one of my favorite teachers: the Woodstown High School Drama Director Paul Kranz. I showed up to his house to show off my breeches and waistcoat and tricorn hat. He got a real kick out of it. But, to my surprise, there was someone else with the same clothing in his living room. I wasn't alone!

Kranz introduced me to LeHew that night. LeHew told me about his role as Town Crier, what he did, his passion for art and history and storytelling, and that one day he'd probably have to pass off the torch.

Tragically, Lehew passed away just three years later — far too soon.

Cut to: in 2023, I was working on a show at the Blue Moon Theatre in the historic Woodstown Opera House, and the theater's owner Cheryl Stark kindly asked me to think about taking on the role of Town Crier, as the Opera House would be open for the tour. The offer was overwhelming. It had been nearly two decades since LeHew last rang his brass bell. I couldn't give her an answer on the spot.

That night, I went home and thought it over. I looked through an old book titled O The Great Days (In Distance Enchanted) of photography of Woodstown during the early 1900s, photos taken by the local business-owner, impresario, and legend Edward W. Humphreys. His father had built the Opera House where I'd coincidentally been offered the job of Crier. I thought back to that night when I was a teenager talking to THE Ron LeHew. I enjoyed those Humphreys photos over the years, imagining what the tall swan fountain in the center of Woodstown must have been like, what the dirt roads felt like, what the original Cowtown must have smelled like (I hear it was awful! And wonderful!). 

Halloween, 2023

I accepted the honor of bringing the Town Crier back to Woodstown. I started a little earlier than Woodstown By Candlelight — I dressed up for Halloween and rang the bell from the long wrap-around porch of Mrs. & Mrs. Lance Bird and Kate Dilks, of the First Baptist Church of Woodstown, and we welcomed tick-or-treat'ers with candy and hot dogs. I even made it a point to wander down North Main to visit Paul and Claudia Kranz, who were dishing out candies to Woodstown and Pilesgrove's best-dressed little ghosts and goblins. Since Halloween, I've had a terrific time strolling the streets and welcoming people to the Blue Moon Theatre at Woodstown By Candlelight, and attending Christmas Eve Candlelight service at First Baptist Church of Woodstown.

Yes, Ron LeHew's are big shoes to fill, but as a way to honor him, I promise I will make it my own. He was an artist — one of the best. He made this role an indelible part of our county's history and I can only hope I come a fraction as close as he did to honoring that legacy. There are a few touches of him in my outfit: his shirt was blue and his waistcoat maroon. My long socks are maroon and my waistcoat is blue. I didn't want to copy, but I wanted an homage to his colors.

Town Crier LeHew, if you're out there (in the mist over the meadows), know that you are remembered and still a beloved institution in this community. I shared with the Woodstown-Pilesgrove Historical Society how we met when I was a teenager and they just loved that. I hope I make you proud. Any time I tell someone I'm the new Town Crier, they immediately exclaim your name, and a streak of joy washes across their face — a little because it's exciting to have a Town Crier again, a little because they can feel a special, eternal part of you still here.