New Jersey Hall of Fame: The Legends, the Legacy & the Future

Recorded at the New Jersey Hall of Fame at American Dream, East Rutherford, NJ

Host: Mike Ham, Greetings from the Garden State
Guests: Steve Edwards & Bryan Blaney, New Jersey Hall of Fame

Episode Highlights

• The Origins of the New Jersey Hall of Fame – How it started in 2002 and became the first state Hall of Fame in the U.S.
• The Iconic Inaugural Class – Featuring Bruce Springsteen, Yogi Berra, Toni Morrison, and other legendary New Jerseyans
• More Than Just Celebrities – How the Hall of Fame honors everyday heroes, educators, and innovators
• The Mission to Inspire – The role of Arete, an ancient Greek philosophy, in shaping the Hall of Fame's vision
• New Jersey’s Global Influence – From Thomas Edison to Buzz Aldrin, the state’s impact on innovation, sports, and entertainment
• Inside the Hall of Fame Experience – A look at the interactive exhibits, holograms, and educational programming
• What’s Next – Upcoming inductions, live events, and how visitors can get involved

Why You Should Listen

This episode explores the impact of New Jersey’s most influential figures and the Hall of Fame’s commitment to celebrating and inspiring the next generation. Whether you are a lifelong New Jersey resident, a history enthusiast, or someone looking for motivation, this conversation offers unique insights into the state’s rich cultural heritage.

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Website: njhof.org
Location: American Dream, East Rutherford, NJ
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Transcript

Steven Edwards [0:00 - 0:00]: Foreign. 

Mike Ham [0:19 - 0:49]: What's up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Greetings with the Garden State, powered by the New Jersey Lottery. I'm your host, Mike Ham. We are here at the The American Dream. ERC Almost said. I almost said the word you're not supposed to say about American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, N.J. entertainment company. Exactly. It's not a mall, but we are here, and we love coming out here. I did get lost, admittedly, but that's okay. I just had to get my steps in today. But we're here at the New Jersey hall of Fame with Steve Edwards and bryan Blaney. Guys, welcome to the show. 

Steven Edwards [0:49 - 1:03]: Thanks for having me, Mike. Thanks for coming in, by the way. And I meant to tell you this before. When we're giving directions to the place, stare at the theme park, turn around and look up at the top of the escalator, and you're there. 

Mike Ham [1:03 - 1:09]: That's where I went wrong. I went up the escalator right out of Lot A, and we just started walking. 

Steven Edwards [1:09 - 1:09]: Yeah. Yeah. 

Mike Ham [1:09 - 1:18]: Well, listen, it's good for me. I was just telling bryan's medicine. He asked if I needed something, and I was like, yeah, a bottle of water. Because I am fat and out of shape. Got a wedding coming in October, so I gotta. 

Bryan Blaney [1:19 - 1:19]: Well, there you go. 

Steven Edwards [1:19 - 1:19]: Come visit us. 

Mike Ham [1:19 - 1:21]: You gotta fix it. Come visit us. 

Bryan Blaney [1:21 - 1:22]: Yeah, once a week. 

Mike Ham [1:22 - 1:47]: Just, you know, once a week. But then I'll learn, and then I'll just come the most efficient. But whatever. So we're here at the New Jersey hall of Fame, which is very exciting because I came here before you guys officially opened, did a little walkthrough with you, bryan, which was really cool. And there's, like, a lot of cool things happening around the hall of Fame that aren't just here. But I do want to take it back to, like, a little bit of the history of the hall of Fame, so maybe, Steve, you can kind of take us through. When the hall of Fame was put. 

Steven Edwards [1:47 - 2:59]: Together, we started this thing, this journey. 2002. Believe it or not, the idea was born 2002, and then the state legislature created legislation. We created a law around the hall of fame back in 2004. And then I don't know what the hell we did for four years. I look back, I'm like, holy mackerel, man. Four years went by before we had our first induction ceremony in 2008. And then it was just, you know, it's taken forever to get to the museum part of it. But ever since 2008, we've had an Annual induction ceremony. I was just talking to someone yesterday, said, boy, it took a long time to get lift, although this is the first state hall of fame in the United States of its kind. And I thought, yeah, it did. And thank God for the induction ceremony, because that got everyone to look at least once a year at all the celebrities that were showing up, to Bruce, to Bon Jovi, to Toni Morrison, so on, so forth. And so that's been a constant since 2008. And now we've got this magnificent museum, which we're so excited about. 

Mike Ham [2:59 - 3:19]: Yeah, can we go back to, like, in 2002 when the legislation gets passed? So, like, who are the people that are kind of the drivers behind the hall of Fame? And what is the. Because you said, like, nothing like this exists in the United States outside of New Jersey, which I love. I love that we're the only ones that have this. But who. Like, what is the idea? Like, you know what? We got a lot of really cool people from here that people don't know. 

Steven Edwards [3:19 - 5:10]: I was the evangelist early on in 2000, 2002, but I immediately met people like Bart Oates, former center with the Giants, Joe Piscopo, we know him from Saturday Night Live. And George Zoffinger was there in the beginning, and Paul Sorlow, Senator Sarlo Carillo, Senator Krein. The bottom line is that it just sort of picked up like a snowball. The mission's always been the same since we started it, which is celebrate New Jersey, honor our legends. And the soul of this organization, though, is not Jersey pride as important as that is? It is to inspire children and people of all ages to realize their highest, best sense of self and for the greater good. And when you look at our inductees, that is what they have done. And so that's really. That was always the mission from those early salad days. And we've just kept expanding over time. And you talked about, you know, we're the only state that has this kind of a museum. When we first started, one of the first things I did was fly out to South Dakota, Chamberlain, South Dakota. Because South Dakota, believe it or not, had the most mature state hall of Fame concept that dated back to the 1970s. And really, it was them. Alabama and South Carolina has small little things. Not really. We were like the next one to create a Hall of Fame. And then California saw a story in the New York Times about us starting the hall of Fame. And Maria Shriver and governor, you know, Schwarzenegger started the California hall of Fame, and we helped them along the way. And so. But we're still one of only four states in the United States that have a State hall of Fame. 

Mike Ham [5:10 - 5:40]: Yeah. Can we talk about maybe like the. So like, I'm a baseball. We were just talking about baseball before, and I'm a baseball guy. And I remember in my dad's office, he had a picture of like, the inaugural Baseball hall of Fame class. And it was like, Babe Ruth, Connie Mack, Honus Wagner, there's some others that I'm gonna forget. And can we talk about maybe the inaugural class? When you're putting a concept like this together and you want to put a group in that is gonna kind of be like the bell toll for everything that's kind of coming with the hall of Fame. Can we talk about how important that inaugural class is? Yeah. 

Steven Edwards [5:40 - 6:28]: I mean, so where do you start? We've had so much greatness over the years, but I think we started with a lot of logical people. And I want to take you back to the first ceremony at the NJPAC 2008. I'm standing next to Senator Cory Booker. I think he had just become a senator back then, or he was about to, and his jaw dropped. And I was so proud. What we did at the beginning of the ceremony was what we called the dramatic lineup. Nobody knew, are these guys gonna pull this off? Who's really gonna be on the stage? And the light hit the stage and General Schwarzkopf was there saluting the crowd. And then we went from General Schwarzkopf to Toni Morrison, Nobel Peace Prize winner. Then we went to Yogi Berra, Buzz Aldrin. 

Mike Ham [6:28 - 6:29]: That's not. 

Steven Edwards [6:29 - 7:06]: We went to. All on the same stage. Right. And the light keeps popping on each one of them. The B list and Nancy Sinatra representing Frank Sinatra and the grandson of Vince Lombardi and one incredible person after the other. And then, of course, people were figuring out who was the last one standing. And Bruce, they started to chant and it was Bruce Springsteen. And I think that moment kind of solidified us. Okay, this is real. But as a friend of mine said, he goes, you're going to have to do it a second time. And they're going to say it was an. Was an accident. 

Mike Ham [7:06 - 7:06]: Yeah, right. 

Steven Edwards [7:06 - 7:14]: I'm sorry. The first time is an accident. The second time is a coincidence. You say you'll have to do it three times. And that's the charm. 

Mike Ham [7:14 - 7:14]: Yeah. 

Steven Edwards [7:14 - 7:18]: So maybe that's what happened. But that was a great, great night. 

Mike Ham [7:18 - 7:58]: I'll never forget, because I think, like, you know, like you said, that's how, like, you get the buy in at Least initially, but then, you know, over time, like making sure that it kind of has legs. And that's what I like about the hall of Fame. Because obviously, I mean, you mentioned a bunch of, I mean obviously General Schwarzkopf and Yogi Berra and Bruce Springsteen, all these people. But there's like, there's a lot of different criteria of how someone can get into the New Jersey hall of Fame. Like, you know, it's not just celebrities. While there are a lot of celebrities in the hall of Fame, there's people that have done like incredible things, you know, and those are even like kind of brought out in some of the exhibits that you have here, which we can finally get bryan, in the conversation after this answer. But can we talk a little bit about the importance of that to make sure that it's a well rounded hall of Fame? 

Steven Edwards [7:59 - 10:17]: So we were very, very careful when we started the hall of Fame that this would not become the sports, you know, the athlete hall of Fame and entertainers. We wanted to make sure that it was all walks of life. And so we created all kinds of categories, 15 different fields of interest. And that was super important. It still is that every year we put out a balanced class because most people are not going to become a professional athlete. They're not going to become Bruce Springsteen. And. And that's not what makes this world great. What makes this world great is when we have such balanced people, greatness from all walks of life, just productive people that living fulfilled lives and giving back for the greater good. And that's what makes this world go around. It's what I believe is going to make this world go to the next level in a positive way, is everyone's self respecting each other, self respecting themselves and lifting one another. And that's the theme, and I'll let bryan chime in too, but the soulless organization is a concept called arete. It is ancient Greek wisdom that Plato, Aristotle and Socrates sort of referred to as the essence of life. What it essentially means, there's a lot of interpretations, but what it essentially means is the act of actualizing your highest and best sense of self with a moral excellence of character and for the greater good. That is what the ancient Greek philosophers said. We're starting civilization, man. We've got to remind everyone everyone's a part of this journey. And I think, sadly, I think the world got away from that. It became too much about net worth and likes on Facebook and Instagram and not enough of lifting one another, respecting one another. So anyway, that, that's what we're trying to do on a daily basis, and it ain't easy, but it's. You know, my baseball analogy. If the Yankees were going to come back and win in the playoffs, the announcer said they were going to have to grind it out one at bat at a time, one day at a time, and stick with it for the long term. And you can get very far in this world if you follow that. 

Mike Ham [10:17 - 10:41]: That's true. Yeah. We talk a little bit about kind of like the way that the exhibits are kind of set up and it's not just like, I mean, we're here. Let's talk about the exhibit that we're in right now. Sure. Because I think we probably should have done that at the beginning, but that's okay. But then we'll kind of go through the rest of them, and then we're going to talk a little bit about the space and how it got started and all that. But what is this place? And then how the rest of them kind of fall in line. Sure. 

Bryan Blaney [10:41 - 12:09]: So the New Jersey hall of Fame at American Dream is basically, it's our entertainment and learning center. And the whole point of this space is to really be the embodiment of the initial mission of the hall of Fame. So the hall of Fame itself is the source of inspiration. And this is sort of the channel through which we give that inspiration to the world. So we have eight or nine permanent exhibitions, depending on who you talk to and how we group them. But the space that we're in right now is actually our late night Jersey TV studio. And what's actually really cool about this is the experience is really meant to help guests of the space find that hero. So we have these over 250 inductees in the hall of Fame. And the purpose of this space is to help them to connect with that one person that they can sort of use as their inspiration or their roadmap to success. And what we do in this space here is we allow our guests to have an intimate conversation, much like how we're talking right now, an intimate conversation with our inductees. So we have hundreds of hours of footage of us sitting down with our inductees and asking them questions and hearing their life stories and all of that really super interesting stuff, like asking them silly questions like poor Quill versus telling. I'm not going to weigh in because I know that's a hot button issue. But, you know, so it's been beaten to death. 

Mike Ham [12:10 - 12:11]: Honestly, let's just be real. 

Bryan Blaney [12:11 - 13:37]: So, I mean, I have an answer, and it's Right. But yeah, everyone does, but it's silly stuff like that, which is, which is interesting because there's that human kind of funizing aspect of things, but then there's sort of the words of wisdom and those pearls of wisdom that our inductees share. So right where I'm sitting, there's typically a life size hologram of our inductees. And as people come into the space, they have an opportunity to select a couple questions that they like to ask them from the pre selected list. But what's really great about it is you're able to look at them right in the eye. So it's very different than watching an interview on tv, on your phone or computer. It's just very, very different. And the way that the sound system is in the space, it really feels like the person is in the room with you having that conversation. So when you want to find out what inspired Jon Bon Jovi or Danny DeVito and those some of the bigger names that probably everyone knows, but then you have other people like David Mixner, who was a big, a big advocate in the LGBTQ community, or I'm trying to think of like some people that may not know, but like Judy Blume is in the space, a famous author, and, you know, to have that conversation with them and kind of find out like their life story, what drives them, and then silly stuff about like, pork Will and Taylor Ham. It really helps you to really connect with those people and say, like, hey, you know, you know, that's someone that looks like me, talks like me, sounds like me, like I might actually be able to follow that path. 

Mike Ham [13:38 - 13:39]: Yeah, yeah, totally. 

Steven Edwards [13:39 - 14:42]: And I want to echo something that bryan's saying is so critical. If there's one takeaway, whoever's watching this, whoever's listening to it, if there's one takeaway from this podcast interview today is that if you want to achieve, realize your American dream, your human dream, you absolutely can. Just like our inductees did. You're probably not gonna do it, though, unless you find a hero or heroes and their wisdom. The wisdom's out there. It's here. It's also on YouTube, it's in libraries. It's your next door neighbor who may be your hero, you know, and can give you wisdom, but you're probably gonna need a hero. You're gonna probably need the wisdom, and then the rest is the elbow grease. And you gotta stick with it for the long term. But I think people lose sight of that. And it is just my view. I don't want to preach, but if you want to live a fulfilled life, if you want to, when you die, have as little regrets as possible, you're probably going to have to live your life on purpose. 

Mike Ham [14:42 - 14:43]: Oh, for sure. 

Steven Edwards [14:43 - 14:45]: If you're not, you're just meandering around. 

Mike Ham [14:45 - 15:07]: Yeah. And we're going to go down that road right now just because you brought it up. So when we're talking about the people, like you said, 250 or so inductees here in the hall of Fame. But the way that the hall of Fame operates now is like you can nominate your own hero, Everyday Heroes. Right. And I think that kind of goes off of what you're saying. It's like it's bigger than just the people that are, you know, the names. 

Bryan Blaney [15:07 - 16:29]: You know, one of the things that I'm really proud about about this space, and kudos to Steve and the team that came before me that kind of helped to really shape this space. One of our exhibitions is called Everyday Heroes. It's one of the eight exhibits that we have here. And what I really like about it is an opportunity for any guest that comes into the space to nominate someone in their life. It could be a teacher that was particularly impactful, a principal that made a difference, you know, the neighborhood mom that took care of everyone and made sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing. It could be anyone from any walk of life. And it's an opportunity to sort of tell their stories along the stories of, you know, all of the other greats. And we hold them up shoulder to shoulder, you know, with our inductees. You know, like, maybe those people aren't going to win a Super bowl ring or an Emmy Award or, you know, write a, you know, a New York Times bestseller or whatever. But the impact is still the same, and the story is still the same. And to be able to hold those individuals up alongside your Bruce Springsteens and everyone else, I think it's a really remarkable thing. And it's a really. It really drives home the point and really is indicative of what we really. We really mean what we say when we say we want to provide inspiration. Like, it's not just about, like, the celebrities. I mean, that's the cool part, sure, but. But to really have that meaningful impact on people's lives. 

Mike Ham [16:29 - 16:54]: Yeah. Like, you need the celebrity side just to make people, like, aware of it almost. And then. Then you get the buy in like we were talking about before, and then now it's like, it's not, you know, you can basically take people and show them, like, hey, you Know, teacher, firefighter, whatever. Like people that make an impact on a day to day basis and have them recognize in some capacity in that everyday heroes type of fashion, because those exist. And that's like you were saying, like, you need people like that and live your life on purpose. 

Steven Edwards [16:54 - 17:29]: You know, celebs hook people in. I. There's no question about it. We live in a celebrity obsessed world for the better or worse. But most of us, myself included, are not going to be celebrity. It doesn't mean that, you know, should fall apart and say, I never had a great life. You know, there's just, there's so much greatness out there to be had. But it begins with really being ready every morning to fight your way out of bed for what feels right, you know, living that life on purpose. It's so important. 

Mike Ham [17:29 - 17:42]: Totally. Can we also. Let's go back to kind of the, the trajectory of the hall of Fame. So we talked about the 2008 class. We were just talking about this physical space here. But for. This space is about a year old now, right? 

Bryan Blaney [17:42 - 17:44]: It's going to be a year in June. So. 

Mike Ham [17:44 - 18:06]: Okay, so a year in June. Yeah, I knew it was like right around. That's when. About when we met. So can we talk about from 2008 to basically 2024, so 16 years of not having a physical space. Can we take me through, like, what it was like trying to generate awareness and make people aware of all the stuff that you were doing with such a great organization and spend, you know, space. 

Steven Edwards [18:06 - 18:15]: The original plan was to have a museum. Naive, Steve. We'll build it in five years, no problem. 

Mike Ham [18:15 - 18:16]: I like how you think. 

Steven Edwards [18:16 - 18:18]: He said, think big and then find out. 

Mike Ham [18:18 - 18:20]: Life, it's gonna take a little longer. 

Steven Edwards [18:20 - 18:21]: Has a different idea. 

Bryan Blaney [18:21 - 18:23]: Steve has no shortage of ambition. 

Steven Edwards [18:23 - 20:09]: Yeah, listen, you gotta start somewhere. Start with a vision and be flexible. Right. And so it became clear that we weren't gonna do it in five years. And so what do you do? So I think after probably five years, what we did, it was probably around five years. In 2013, we created a Michael Graves designed Mobile Museum. A field trip on wheels, 18 wheeler tractor trailer, state of the art. It was about 800 square feet. It was very cool. And we took that from school to school and we went out to the state fair in Sussex county. We got 14,000 people in the mobile museum in seven days. We were averaging 2,000 people a day. Pretty remarkable. And so we did that. And then right around that time, maybe shortly thereafter, there was an opportunity to start creating public exhibits. I think the first ones were at Newark Airport, and that's where a lot of people have seen the hall of Fame. All three terminals of Newark Airport. We have Michael Graves designed inspirational posters with quotes. You know, inspirational quotes our inductees have made to brighten people's day, give them a little wisdom. And then it started to expand. We went to the Garden State Parkway. We have these Hard Rock Cafe exhibits we've created up and down the Garden State Parkway in honor of various inductees. We then went to New Jersey Transit motor Vehicles. So I'm proud to say that beyond this museum, which is so critically important, we're Also, I think 100 million people are seeing one exhibit or the other every year. So that was terrific. 

Mike Ham [20:09 - 21:11]: Yeah. The Mayo Performing Arts center is the heart of arts and Entertainment in Morristown, New Jersey. MPAC presents over 200 events annually and is home to an innovative children's arts education program. To see Impact's upcoming schedule of world class concerts, stand up comedy, family shows, and more, head to mayoarts.org or just click the link in our show notes. And I think that's kind of like what I was talking about, like, expanding beyond just like this physical space. Because before this physical space, you had to kind of be mobile and everywhere and, you know, just like talking about going down the parkway and stopping in, you know, to use the restroom or, you know, grab a burger because I didn't eat before I left or whatever. And I got a long drive, like, you know, you stop and you see, like, the, you know, people like either the photos with, like, the bios and stuff next to them or, like, you know, somebody's jacket or somebody's this or whatever. And to me, like, that kind of was like the first thing that I saw. I remember, like, when I started this show, and I was like, oh, that's. That's kind of cool. Like, I want to learn more about this. And then started kind of going through. And then now here we are with an actual physical space. 

Steven Edwards [21:12 - 21:56]: Thank you, by the way, for what you do, promoting the whole Jersey pride thing. And, you know, it's Governor Keene. This goes back before your time, but Governor Keene was governor in the 1980s. He was a terrific governor, as is Governor Murphy, who's done so much to help us and the first Lady, New Jersey hall of Fame. But Governor Kean used to say that when people feel proud of where they come from, they feel anything's possible about the future. And he did the infamous Jersey and you perfect together in his Bostonian accent. I think he was from the original. But the point is, Jersey pride is an important part of the mission as well, and you do so much for it. So thank you. 

Mike Ham [21:56 - 22:36]: Oh, no, I appreciate that. But, you know, it's. It's. I was forget who I was talking to about this recently. Like, there's a lot of people doing a lot of really great things for the state as a whole. And, like, you're seeing that more and more recently. Like, there's more, you know, content creators creating stuff about New Jersey and just celebrating all the great things. And there's organizations like this, you know, like, I mean, we do a lot of stuff with the guys from weird New Jersey, which is just, you know, its own thing. But, like, they're a blast, and people love them and have been reading them since, you know, basically before I was born, you know, which is. I call them, like, the OG Content Creators of New Jersey. So there's. There's a lot of great people doing stuff out there, and I appreciate that. 

Steven Edwards [22:36 - 23:34]: And there's not. We're a notorious state, for better or worse. We're known for a lot of things. The mobsters and whatever the. But when Bruce came to the inaugural ceremony and he started to make a speech, he's like, you know, I got the letter saying you've been inducted into the New Jersey hall of Fame. And the first thing I thought is, does Connecticut have a Hall of Fame? Does New York have a Hall of Fame? Maybe they feel they don't need one. But he was funny about that. And then I read Edison Einstein. My mother is going to love that part. There are not many states, I think, that could pull this off. New Jersey hall of Fame or a State hall of Fame, like, New Jersey could pull it off. And I'm glad to hear you're running into all these other people, Weird New Jersey and so many others that are promoting the state. I think it was something else that Governor Keene said. Rising tide lifts all boats, man. It helps, you know. 

Mike Ham [23:34 - 24:07]: Yeah, 100%. Okay, so let's. We talked about what was going on. The mobile hall of Fame, the little spots, like at the airport, at the rest stops, all over the place. This vision that you had in basically 2008, to be done in five years, is now becoming a reality. You find this space to use and kind of take me through, like, you know, obviously, without getting into, like, the nitty gritty of what you wanted this space to be for people that were going to come in and actually, like, witness what the vision was, you know, 16 years prior to that. 

Steven Edwards [24:08 - 25:58]: So the reason, one of the reasons why it took so long is we wanted to find the right location. bryan is an expert. He used to be with Liberty Science center and so many other museums and organizations. He will tell you that, you know, you have to find the right location as a starting point. Okay. There were a lot of cities that tried to recruit us to come, and they were all terrific cities, but we just didn't feel the foot traffic was there. Yeah, and that's the operative phrase. And so we found this location. We're adjacent to dreamworks Water Park, Nickelodeon, Universal theme Park. For us, it was sort of like the center of the universe. So that's why we chose this location. And in terms, my hope is this, I'll take it to the level of my daughters. I have a 12 and a 16 year old daughter. What I hope, more and more we're going to see field trips coming through. They've already began. What I hope is, yeah, we want them to come and go on the simulator, which is next to the model T that Henry Ford gifted to Thomas Edison. I mean, talk about a rare artifact. It's right here on display and we want them to go on the Fly Me to the Moon exhibit. It's a 4D motion ride and you feel like you're going off to the moon and it moves around and water splashing at you. All of that is fun stuff. And so that's great. And we have a karaoke stage where we want people to get up, sing with holograms, with people like Wycliffe, John, if I were president and Gloria Gaynor, I will survive. But most people aren't gonna become, including my daughters, an astronaut or world famous singer. What I hope you never know that. You never know that. But they told me they don't want to, so I know it. 

Bryan Blaney [25:59 - 25:59]: Okay. 

Steven Edwards [25:59 - 26:57]: But we have this wall of fame, which is the center attraction and where we showcase all the inductees. What I hope is young kids, including my daughters, will really start to look at this wall. Not one visit, but go back to our website and come back here over and over. Who is my hero? It goes back to what I said and that this place will ignite a passion, I mean, I know for my life because there were years where I was just making money, paying bills. That's a shitty way to go through life. And you're not gonna be happy. Yeah, you're just not. I'm sorry to preach, but you're not. But when you have a passion for something, you can't wait to get out of Bed or there are mornings I'd rather not get out of bed, I'm tired, it's cold, whatever. But okay, this is why I'm doing it. So. Igniting passions within people, because I really believe everyone can find a purpose that they're passionate about. 

Mike Ham [26:57 - 27:08]: Sure. Do you see that on a day to day basis? Because, I mean, being open for eight months now and you've had field trips, you've had stuff come through, so you must have seen, you know, people kind of like see the light bulb turn on. 

Bryan Blaney [27:09 - 28:00]: Absolutely. What? So I've been in the museum world for a little over two decades, and I've seen a lot of people interact with a lot of different experiences. Experiences. And I can say, hands down, I have never seen the types of engagements and aha. Moments in a space the way that I have seen here. I don't want to say 100%, but I would say 99.98% of the people that come into our space really walk away saying, wow, that was so cool. I was never expecting anything like that. And part of that is the nature of the experiences themselves, you know. But you do see a lot of those moments, those light bulb moments. You're like, oh, I didn't know that person was from New Jersey. Or wow, Like, I didn't know, you know. You know, I didn't know that the first. First kiss on film was in New Jersey and. And all that. So stuff. 

Mike Ham [28:00 - 28:01]: Yeah, yeah, there we go. 

Bryan Blaney [28:01 - 28:05]: Oh, yeah. So the film industry started in New Jersey. Yeah, it started in New Jersey. Thomas Edison. 

Mike Ham [28:05 - 28:06]: It's coming back, baby. 

Bryan Blaney [28:06 - 28:34]: Yeah, it's coming back. It is coming back. And, you know, you see those moments all the time. So, you know, I don't want to diminish or understate the experiences. Like the gimmick, you know, like just the experiences. Like there's gimmicks and they're sort of the hooks. But really it's those aha. Moments that really. That people walk away with that, you know, that are really impactful. And you realize, like, yes, that was exactly what we wanted to set out to do. 

Steven Edwards [28:34 - 30:41]: And it's gonna take a while, you know. Cause you gotta be around, you gotta get into people's consciousness. But we're connecting through curriculum plans to students and adults too. It's not just about children. This is about igniting a passion in an adult who may be lost in life at the age of 30 or 40, and they think it's too late. And our message is, it's never too late. So curriculum plans are one way that we're connecting with students or adults before they come in and then after they come in, and then, of course, regenerating positive press, especially with our annual induction ceremony with all the celebs that show up. So we're staying connected in that way. But the point is that we're going to have to really work at it. You're not going to hit someone over the head and turn them into the next Thomas Edison overnight. But we're working at it, particularly through our partnership with the New Jersey Education Association. All that we're doing with educators, so important, we're trying to reach parents. They play such a critical role. But the last thing I want to say on this subject is I think bryan and the staff would agree. And we're only one of many organizations that do this around the world. I think we're at this point in history with all these existential threats that exist, from nuclear to the environment to AI. But I'm heartened by something that Stephen Hawkins, the famous physicist, the great physicist, said right before he passed away. He said, we've got all these threats, but don't jump off the ledge yet. What an opportunity to inspire the next Edison and the next Einstein, whoever he or she is, come to help us to overcome these threats. So that's something that drives me, is that on any given day, someone walking through that door we don't know, could be the. And I reminded our staff of that before. Pull them in. You may be bringing in the next Edison. You just needed a little inspiration. 

Mike Ham [30:41 - 30:41]: Yeah. 

Bryan Blaney [30:41 - 30:48]: You know, I always say that spaces like this, like the work that we do, isn't serious. Like on the day to day, it isn't serious, but it is important. 

Mike Ham [30:49 - 30:49]: Right. 

Bryan Blaney [30:49 - 31:23]: You know, precisely for that reason, is because we don't know who we're going to inspire. And, you know, part of the reason why I was very excited to become a part of all of this was, you know, having the opportunity to do that and be a part of this in a different way. You know, my passion is it's stem, and I've worked in that world for a very long time. But, you know, overall, having, you know, having the opportunity to sort of, you know, just make people better, you know what I mean? It doesn't matter how you make them better or find a way to make it better. And I think this space is just one of those places where we're able to do that in a really awesome way. 

Mike Ham [31:23 - 32:04]: Yeah. Can we. So we love stories on this show. And I'm curious because you've pretty Much seen every. Not pretty much. You have seen every induction class that's come through. And I would imagine that you've met all of them. At least the ones that are, you know, were still with us at the time of their induction. Are there ones, you know, maybe outside, like, the obvious ones, Ones that maybe, like, you. You knew that they were important for the hall of Fame, but you weren't quite ready, quite ready when they maybe did their induction speech or when, like, whatever it meant to them from an inductee standpoint, something that impacted you were like, wow, this is it. This is why we put our shoes on every day. 

Steven Edwards [32:04 - 34:09]: Great question. The most surreal moment when it hit me was I had the presence of mind. I produced the induction ceremonies every year, including the first one. And I had the presence of mind to be in the moment and to go out right before Bruce Springsteen's induction, who's always been a hero to me. His music is so amazing, the wisdom he offers. And I went out to the audience. Cause I wanted to enjoy it the way the audience was enjoying it. And the first thing I did is I looked to see the faces were watching. It was Danny DeVito was on the stage to induct Bruce. And so I kind of was like, wow, man, this is really happening. People are watching Danny, listening to every word he says. And Danny actually put it in perspective best when he said, hey, Bruce, you can get another Grammy, you can get an Oscar, but there's only one State hall of Fame that you could ever be inducted into. And that made me feel good. And then Bruce came out and gave a remarkable. One of the best speeches that any inductee has ever given, really putting into perspective. He was funny. He said, even with this wonderful hall of Fame, we know there's another bad Jersey joke just around the corner. All right, he's grounding us. That's cool. But he went out, he went on to talk about who New Jerseyans are, you know, stuck between Philly and Manhattan and having the chip on the shoulder, something to prove. I thought he did a great job encapsulating what it was like, you know, to be in New Jersey. We're unique in that regard. But there's been so many great speeches every year. People are so humbled. I'm always moved by how humble they are. Jerry Eisenberg, the sports columnist, said, I'm in 15 halls of fame. Yours is the most important. It takes him back to his youth growing up in Newark. And he made it in the eyes of his mom and dad that he's there in the same hall of Fame with Edison and Einstein, but some others. 

Mike Ham [34:09 - 34:13]: Writing about what he loves, you know, purpose. You know what I mean? 

Steven Edwards [34:13 - 34:37]: That's right. He's so passionate about what he does. But a lot of great speeches that stand out. Jason Alexander gave such a humorous one and a funny one. That induction ceremony was taking too long. So the first thing he did was throw me as the producer under the bus. Maybe he moved the podium a little bit, I don't know, maybe a little bit stage left, a little less movement. 

Mike Ham [34:37 - 34:37]: Yeah. 

Steven Edwards [34:37 - 35:04]: But he went on to talk about growing up in New Jersey. That was terrific. Dick Vital, the legendary sports announcer of basketball, did so passionate. Talking about New Jersey and his parents and doing what you love for a living. And bryan Williams gave a very funny speech. Bruce inducted him that year. And there's been just so many. 

Mike Ham [35:05 - 35:34]: And what I like about it too, and we were joking off mic that you don't live in Jersey currently, but you love Jersey and that's why you do this. But what I also like about it, people have asked me just because we've been doing this show now for three and a half years, so we've done this is going to wind up being like 160something episodes. The prerequisite is not necessarily that you're like from New Jersey. It's that you have a deep connection to the people and places. 

Steven Edwards [35:34 - 35:42]: Explain that. And by the way, in the interest of full disclosure, I spent Covid in New Jersey. I have a house down along Beach Island. I have my offices in Woodbridge because. 

Mike Ham [35:42 - 35:44]: I want to expose you more money. 

Steven Edwards [35:44 - 35:58]: On Easy Pass than anyone out there in your podcast. Okay. And. But we do have an apartment in New York as well. What was the question? 

Mike Ham [35:58 - 36:02]: Well, I was talking about how it was for us. It's not necessarily a prerequisite that you're. 

Steven Edwards [36:02 - 36:45]: From New Jersey originally. So you have to have lived here for at least five years. At least five years. And what we did, the few halls of fame that are out there, we noticed that in their bylaws it said if you lived any portion of your life. So I mean, somebody could have been here for one year. Like Paul Simon, the musician, famous musician, was born in Newark, but he, his family moved out like three months later. He's not a Jersey guy. I don't probably be awkward for him to induct him. So we decided, well, let's have the strictest criteria so that nobody could be cynical about who we're inducting. And so five years or greater is the criteria. 

Mike Ham [36:46 - 37:01]: Yeah, well, Because I remember, I was listening. I listened to the fan a lot. And I heard you with Evan and Tiki, because Tiki's obviously like someone that played. Tiki Barber, played with the Giants and then has made Jersey his home, really, since his playing career till now. And he's not from. Is he from Virginia? 

Steven Edwards [37:01 - 37:20]: Right, he's from Virginia. And I'm always, like, very impressed when somebody, Tony Bennett, for example, is from New York, I think Long island, something like that. But he moved to Jersey and he raised his family here, and he was here for 30 years. So we inducted him. And that's a great story. 

Mike Ham [37:20 - 37:21]: That counts. 

Bryan Blaney [37:21 - 37:22]: That counts, exactly right. 

Steven Edwards [37:22 - 37:44]: And Tiki, same thing. Born and raised in Virginia, but he came to play with the Giants and then he stayed and he made the point on air that day. He says, I'm so proud of the state when I see the posters when I come in at Newark Airport. And I said, okay, if you're that proud, let's change it to New Jersey Giants. And he has no say in that. It's the New York Giants. 

Mike Ham [37:45 - 38:07]: Yeah. So, okay, we're here. We're talking about the hall of Fame. We've gone through the history, we've gone through what's happening now. Like, we talked about the space. What's next? Like, what is on the horizon. Like you said, Steve is a man with ample ambition. So kind of like, what are you hoping to see for the hall of Fame? What are you hoping to see it grow, to do all that kind of stuff? 

Bryan Blaney [38:07 - 39:24]: So what I would say, and Steve, please feel free to disagree. I feel that the space that we have right now, I think it is a beautiful space, beautiful experiences, but we really need to get people here. I don't think that how to say it. So I feel that the spaces, we need people to come and experience what's going on here and making it a place that is not necessarily just where you're coming to see an exhibit. It's a place where things are happening and to live and programming and helping to support the communities. And I know that sounds like a lot of buzzwords and stuff like that, but it's to use this space as sort of like the jumping off point place for really fulfilling the greater mission. Fulfilling the greater mission. So where we are right now and where this entertainment learning center is today and where it is five years from now, I think it's going to be very, very, very different. The exhibits might be here, maybe some of them will be changed out, but really we want this space to be sort of Like a inspiration. And again, I know I keep saying that, but it's really to kind of, you know, that evolution, the next step of where we're gonna be. 

Steven Edwards [39:24 - 42:10]: And it is. It's a process, and nothing's easy in this world. I just say all your listeners, life is so tough. Yeah, it's really tough. And you just gotta keep going and stick with it. But there's two areas why I think this place is gonna be really, really successful. One is field trips, and we've just begun that journey. And bryan reminded me of this. When an educator comes here with their students and they see it's connecting with their students, and they themselves love the karaoke stage and the Fly Me to the Moon simulator, they make a decision pretty much in the moment, probably. I want to keep coming back here. I need ways to inspire my students, to get them to listen to me and to do their homework. So I think field trip's gonna take off. You know, it's just gonna grow like a snowball. Like the hall of Fame grew like a snowball over the years. The second thing and bryan could attest to this is no museum, which is. We call this an entertainment learning center, but it's a museum. Right. It doesn't work without programming. Robust programming throughout the year almost. You can call it 365 days a year. So March 30th, we're really kicking off with the first. We've had a few homecomings to, you know, to test things out, but March theory is going to be kind of a stake in the ground. We're honoring James Gandolfini, who I went to college with, by the way. He was my bartender. He was intimidating back then, too. I'll tell you that story. We're going to be honoring James for his amazing. You know, he peaked in the acting profession. Not just Sopranos, but his whole body of work. His wife Deb, a very lovely woman, and his daughter Lily, who were here about a month ago, they're flying back in for this special day. We'll have some VIP Sopranos there and other VIPs. And that we're also the same day, going to go take a look at the service area that we just unveiled on the Garden State Parkway for James Gandolfini. We've got Harlan Coben coming in in April to hopefully inspire the next Harlan Coben. You know, that's what this is. It's about the next Gandolfini, the next Harlan Coban. We have a variety of former Giants players coming in in April or May. Tiki Barber, you mentioned Juan Bardow, it's Harry Carson, hopefully Phil Sims and others. We're going to keep having these VIP centric, you know, these celeb centric programs that I think will bring more and more people out. They're open to the public. You can meet these people. And I think that's going to help us become more and more successful. 

Mike Ham [42:10 - 42:23]: Yeah. And I know we mentioned some of the people that are involved and everything, but I know that there's partners and people like organizations that have been really supportive of the hall of Fame. So I want to make sure before we kind of wrap this up that we do touch on them. 

Steven Edwards [42:24 - 42:47]: We have first of all, the state of New Jersey, starting with Governor Murphy, First Lady Tammy Murphy, Senator Nick Scutari, Senator Joe Cryan. We've got. Senator Degnan's been so helpful. Once you start mentioning names, then you get Senator Paul Sarlon. 

Mike Ham [42:47 - 42:48]: That's why I wanted him to. 

Steven Edwards [42:48 - 43:13]: So the state of New Jersey has been entire legislature so instrumental in lifting this thing. Hackensack Meridian, Bob Garrett and his Angels, that got us through Covid along with Barnabas and other. Barnabas is another sponsor, but Hackensack Meridian is a lead sponsor, pscng, a major sponsor. And then we've got so many others too. I won't remember all their names. 

Bryan Blaney [43:13 - 43:16]: Dnc, Horizon, Blue Cross, Blue Shield. 

Steven Edwards [43:16 - 43:17]: Well, now that you started. 

Bryan Blaney [43:18 - 43:22]: Well, no, well, no, if I started talking. No, if I started talking, I gotta. 

Steven Edwards [43:22 - 43:24]: Have that list in front of me. 

Bryan Blaney [43:24 - 43:25]: I would have never had that down, you know. 

Steven Edwards [43:25 - 43:34]: But you're listening. Your listeners hopefully will come here and they'll see right on the main wall, next to the wall of fame are our beloved sponsors who make this possible. 

Mike Ham [43:34 - 43:59]: Yeah, yeah, because I mean, that's. That's how things go, you know. Well, this has been amazing and I really appreciate you guys giving me some time and chatting with me for a little bit. And I appreciate everything that you do with the hall of Fame because as one Jersey lover to others, you know, I think this is a great place that more people need to know about. And then whatever we can do on our end to, to kind of help promote that, we're in for it. Awesome, man. 

Bryan Blaney [43:59 - 44:00]: You're always welcome here. 

Mike Ham [44:00 - 44:09]: Thank you. I appreciate that. So before we wrap it up, I do want to make sure that if we can give people links, social handles, where would you go should you do that? 

Bryan Blaney [44:09 - 44:38]: So our social handles are all over the place, but Our website is njhof.org or njhallofame.org either one works. Our social handles you find us on Instagram. New Jersey hall of Fame spelled out. I believe our TikTok is also the same. We're revamping our social content. There's going to be a lot of really fun stuff there to kind of give you a sense of what we're all about here. But that's where you can find us. 

Mike Ham [44:38 - 44:49]: Absolutely. And we'll make sure we put all those in the show notes. People just go click them, check it out, come out. Visitmericandream. Steve, bryan, thank you so much for everything and for doing this with us today. 

Steven Edwards [44:49 - 44:51]: Thank you for your passion, Mike. We really appreciate it. 

Mike Ham [44:51 - 45:09]: Absolutely. Yeah, for sure. Okay. Those links will be in the show notes along with greetings from thegardenstate.com where you can get all of our other episodes that we've done over the last. Like I said earlier in the episode three and a Half Years, this has been the Greetings for the Garden State podcast, powered by the New Jersey Lottery. I'm Mike Ham. We were here with Steve Edwards, bryan Blaney. Thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time. 

Steven Edwards [45:09 - 45:10]: Peace. 

Bryan Blaney [45:10 - 45:25]: See you next time. Tell me before you go on. 

Steven Edwards [45:25 - 45:27]: We do all.