LONGPORT – Residents so enjoyed the borough’s 125th Anniversary Celebration held July 22, 2023 that they might get to do it again.
Longport Public Library Director Ricky Gerhardt March 19 announced during the Board of Commissioners meeting that the library team is planning a similarly organized Community Day celebration for Saturday, July 26. The event will be held in the same location and welcome about 500 participants. Longport residents and their families and friends will be invited to participate.
The event will be kept simple, much like the summer concerts that drew 200-300 people, and will include some food trucks and an oldies music band, he said.
Gerhardt asked the borough to support it by providing help with securing the food trucks, licensing, and coverage by the Police and Fire departments.
“We need to put a ticketing system in place for it,” Gerhardt said. “We can discuss more but we were looking to get an idea of if the borough would support it.”
The library will market the event to residents in the summer newsletter that comes out in mid-to-late April, through the library’s email list, and by erecting an advertising banner on the fence at the 33rd Avenue recreation center.
To accommodate the free flow of foot-traffic, Gerhardt recommended that a section of landscaping in the park behind Borough Hall be trimmed back or removed.
“In my ideal world, I would like to trim the landscaping near the gazebo,” he said.
Fire Chief Levon “Lefty” Clayton said the landscaping around the fishpond and in front of the gazebo impedes access during the annual tree lighting ceremony held in December.
He said the hedges there are a “stumbling block that impedes free movement” during the event.
“I would really like to open that whole area up. It’s a walkway that’s not really a walkway,” Gerhardt said.
Clayton said the bayfront park has plenty of room for up to 2,500 people.
For the Quasquicentennial Celebration, he measured out the park using the U.S. Fire Code for standing-room-only crowds, which allowed up to 5 square feet per person.
Police Chief Frank Culmone said the event would be “a major undertaking” for the Police Department, because the date coincides with Ocean City’s Nights in Venice boat parade.
“It would require a lot of reporting and may require police overtime,” Culmone said.
However, Gerhardt said the library budget would cover the extra expense, if necessary.
It would also “add immense pressure” to officers who will be dealing with extra traffic during the boat parade,” Culmone said.
Gerhardt said the library would recommend that people walk to the event or ride their bicycles.
Culmone also asked if the event would include serving alcohol.
“We’ll leave that decision to the borough,” Gerhardt said. “My goal is to keep it simple.”
The event will require residents to obtain tickets in advance.
Culmone said he would assign an officer to discuss the event with the library and borough.
Mayor Patrick Armstrong advised Gerhardt to appoint a committee that includes representatives from the borough and to “move forward” with event planning.
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