Community build at Connolly Park
By ROBERT LINNEHAN
There are still open spots for community members to participate in a unique event that will leave a legacy for Voorhees families and children. The Voorhees committee members urged residents to come out on Saturday, Oct. 9 for the community build of a new playground at Connolly Park.
The township Committee received $75,000 in grant money from the state for the purchase of playground equipment, Township Administrator Larry Spellman said.
Interested participants can sign up for a morning shift from 8 a.m. to noon or an afternoon shift from noon to 4 p.m. with a rain date scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 16. If the project is not completed on Saturday, the work will continue again on Sunday with the same two shift times.
Spellman said professionals from the playground company would be on hand to help with the construction as well. A hot dog vendor, the local Dunkin Donuts, and a smoothie business will be providing refreshments for volunteers, he said.
It will be a community project, he said, with residents invited to come out to the park to help construct the new playground. The community can be a part of Voorhees history and help construct a facility that children will enjoy for years, Spellman said.
The committee was looking for an opportunity to construct a new playground ever since the playground at Main Street had to be demolished, Spellman said. Luckily this funding will go toward the first phase of the construction of a new playground at Connolly Park, he said.
The Main Street playground was demolished after the township’s insurance company decided to not insure wooden playgrounds any longer because of the risk of injuries and splinters.
To volunteer to help, please contact Stefanie Capone at 429–7174 or at scapone@voorhees-nj.com or Mike Marchitto at 216–0473 or at mmarchitto@voorhees-nj.com.
In other township news:
• The township Committee signed an inter-local agreement with the neighboring borough of Gibbsboro to provide leaf pickup services for the municipality. The contract is between $22,000 and $23,000 for each drive, Spellman said, for the township to provide a leaf collection truck and driver for Gibbsboro.
Gibbsboro provides employees to work at the rear of the truck and to collect the leaves, and a Voorhees employee drives the vehicle.
The township typically makes two runs through Gibbsboro, Spellman said. The Voorhees leaf season will officially start on the first week of November, he said, with a courtesy pickup for the final week of October.
• The Committee officially scheduled its annual reorganization meeting for Monday, Jan. 3 Spellman said. The winner of the November election for the one open Committee seat will be sworn into his position during the meeting.
