Borough cancels Street Fair
Thursday, July 3, 2008
By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff
Writer
JAMESBURG - Locals will
have to say sayonara to the borough's annual Street Fair, at least for
2008.
"As far as the (Borough) council is
concerned we're not putting it on," said Mayor Anthony LaMantia about the
Street Fair, which typically is held in early September. "The goal is to
have it in 2009."
Township officials had to make
major budget cuts this year and didn't have the resources to fund some of
the major components of the Street Fair, for instance the children's
rides, he said.
"We don't have the funds for some
of this stuff," Mayor LaMantia said. "If other organizations want to take
it over and do it, we'll work with them."
At a
July council meeting Mayor LaMantia will appoint a committee to oversee
the event's organization and search out alternate funding, said Thomas
Bodall, borough historian and councilman.
"Overall, it was a good
thing for the town," said Barbara Carpenter, borough councilwoman. "But
now it could even be bigger and better (in
2009)."
For nearly the past decade the Street
Fair, which was formerly known as Tonkery Day in honor of former Mayor Joe
Tonkery, has been a fall delight for residents and
visitors.
This year fair-goers will miss out on
the festival's many attractions, some of which have included monster
truck rides, car shows, radio disc jockeys, along with a barrage of local
vendors, Mr. Bodall said.
"The idea was to have a
town fair to increase pedestrian traffic and bring the community together
for a day," Mr. Bodall said.
One option borough
officials are discussing is the merger of Buckelew Day, which is also
conveniently held in September, with the Street Fair, Mr. Bodall
said.
"We hope to present a brand new Street
Fair," he said. "We might be discussing tying it into Buckelew Day,
putting more of a history spin on it."
Anyone who
wants to help with the 2009 Street Fair should contact borough officials
at 732-521-2222 or e-mail tbodall@jamesburgborough.org
or bgrimes@jamesburgborough.org.