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The cleaning up and building of SJI Park
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Hi My Name Is Kevin Lajiness , I am a Naive Artist. I started doing wood sculptures about 12 years ago I was influenced by Father Leonard Carrieri, a local catholic priest and sculpture, who at the time was in his eighties. he had not started doing sculptures till he was fifty four years old. He taught me it was never to late to get involved in art and culture. Then One day(this was most certain in 2007 and continued into 2008 and beyond) i went down to the corner were the had been an old industrial sight, that there had been an oil spill on and had sat empty for 30 years, it was overgrown full of trash and vines, part of it was a field with a gravel and asphalt pavement, a complete mess uneven and potholed. I started cleaning, clearing, grubbing vines and overgrowth, poising ivy, raking stones filling holes,grading with a homemade grader, that i pulled behind my van, leveling. Timing the trees Being careful not to cut any down. pulling weeds and roots . everything by hand. Mulching everything with a homemade riding lawnmower and trailer . spreading mixing hay and straw . that I had watered with a homemade speeder mad from a plastic barrel. The City at times working hand and hand to take away all the trash, asphalt, rotten wood, block, brick, grub, anything and everything that came off the sight. With there support especially of the counsel president, who would later walk her dog there as well as well as many locals. It was cleaned up . While working there for a year i became intimate with the wild life there, I took many pictures of the foliage and the wildlife, especially of a juvenile red tailed hawk that had no fear of me. i was at one time able to get within five feet of it while it was feeding and get many pictures. I was able to also get pictures of box Turtles, once of one laying eggs. another time a abandon baby duck had shown up at my house and eventually bonded with me. I believe that duck followed me home after the nest was destroyed by some landscapers on a adjacent property. The duck is now a pet of one of the local police officers brother, that worked at a zoo and could give her a proper home. He had first took her to the zoo but she flew back to his house so they kept her as a pet. she had six chicks this year. I had collected a mountain of material related to this open Space witch was referred a s the formerly SJI (South Jersey Industries) Property. Prier to being own by the gas company, it was the sight of Hagerthy oil. I Hope i have the spelling right. I was told they where very nice people and extended a helping hand to many especially during the depression when people could not afford to pay there oil Bills. I believe I Was Told Ms Hagerthy was in charge of a senior citizens group that maintained Hartshorne Senior citizen Park behind my house and that it was quite the show case. Anyway i decided to showcase my art on blogs along with the photos of the wildlife, foliage and work pictures of the Open Space. The whole time i was over there and after maintaining along with the city of the now Park (Local residence referred to it now as a park). I Started writhing Songs on the open space, Father Leonard had taught me its never to old to start a hobby. I started Putting my Songs with my art and photo's on blogs and making nearly 100 videos with songs and photo form the opens spaces. Song of nature and the Natural order of Life or the Open Space. as far as i know I am the first to refer to beat matched music that has Looped accompaniments that the vocal melody does not necessarily match the loops as "Naive Music" (not to say other have used that name referring to music), simple Music in its composition but not in its Lyrics. I have around tree hundred Songs. PS The Open Space will all ways be a field of dreams for me that is where i dreamed up my Songs
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