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Thousands of Michael Jackson's fans attended his memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday to celebrate the life of the King of Pop. Local fans who could not travel the 2,500 miles, however, came to Pleasantville to pay homage to the icon.

A handful of Jackson admirers stopped by a small shrine outside the Darkchild Studio, where Jackson once recorded with music producer and studio owner Rodney Jerkins.

Jerkins' family had set up the shrine after Jackson died June 25. Since then, fans from the area have stopped by to leave flowers, stuffed animals, balloons and warm messages to show their love for the late musician.

On Tuesday, the shrine attracted new visitors.

Gina Magosin, of West Atlantic City, had tears in her eyes as she placed a bouquet of yellow flowers on the fence that surrounds the Darkchild Studio building. Magosin was at her mother's house when she heard the news of Jackson's death. She said she broke into tears along with her brother and 15-year-old daughter.

"He's universal, he crosses all boundaries," she said. "He's really in everybody's hearts."

Jackson recorded at the studio owned by the Jerkins family in August 1999, making it southern New Jersey's connection to the pop icon. The Jerkins family wants local fans to have a place to come together and remember him.

Lorraine Hamid, of Galloway Township, saw the shrine as she drove by earlier and decided to come back and take a moment to visit it. She is keeping Jackson and his family in her prayers, hoping that "everyone, especially the children, will come to peace with this," she said.

Hamid was shocked when she heard about Jackson's death and gets upset when she hears mention of the controversies Jackson was involved in while he was alive.

"There's nothing you can do," she said. "Just put good memories in your head and block out the bad."

E-mail Samantha Urbanski:

SUrbanski@pressofac.com

See Wednesday's edition of The Press for additional coverage.

More Coverage

• Absecon native remembers Jackson as devoted father

6 comments:

• ConcernedCitizen (170) posts 2:00 pm

  bcfcb38, cccjjn so what have you two done for terminally ill children or the starving in the world? I doubt very much that MJ molested children. The children he invited to his ranch also included the parents. He made a lot of dying kids smile when there was nothing to smile about. He made many families happy. It's a disgrace that people sought to dirty his name after all he has done. And then there are those losers in life that look to make a buck by dragging him to court with false accusations. The people of the world showed the support they had for him. I doubt the death of you two will make the local news or the newspaper. RIP MJ.

• bcfcb38 (15) posts 10:24 am

  Yesterday would have been the perfect time for the 7.0 earthquake to hit Los Angeles !

• jojode (13) posts 9:14 am

  Let the people mourn him if they feel compelled to. You may not feel anything for him, but his music has meant a lot to people. Will we know what really happened between him and his accusers? probably not. Sure, if he was truly innocent, he should have stuck with his convictions and not paid off his accuser's family. But if his accuser's family truly believed he did something wrong, why were they willing to be paid off? No amount of money is worth having someone who harmed your child get away with it. It goes both ways.

• playfun (4) posts 8:58 am

  MJ left his dent in this world and it was his time to move on. He was a great person and intertainer that will never be forgotten. RIP Micheal.

• kin2love (86) posts 8:32 am

  CCCJJN...Just goes to show that some people really do believe everything they read and hear. Too bad it puts your IQ at the level of your dog. I am thankful to be one of the millions of people who recognized and appreciated God's gift of Mr. Jackson. For him to cross borders and touch lives on a global scale is amazing. Rest In Peace friend.

• cccjjn (8) posts 7:16 am

  Seems like a good place to take my dog when he needs to take a leak. The King Of Child Molestors Memorial.

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