Gloucester Township Day to take place Saturday, June 3 featuring live entertainment, scholarship presentation and fireworks
The Gloucester Township Day Scholarship Committee joins with Gloucester Township to present its annual Gloucester Township Day
The annual Gloucester Township Day will take place Saturday, June 3 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Gloucester Township Day started in 1984 as a celebration for the township, with the intention of bringing various communities surrounding Gloucester Township together to a central location to have fun.
It is run by the Gloucester Township Day Scholarship Committee, a non-profit corporation devoted to providing college scholarships for graduating seniors from Gloucester Township. The committee was formed a year after the first Gloucester Township Day to find a useful way to disseminate money generated from various activities of the first event. It decided to start a scholarship foundation to ensure those funds would be allocated to graduating seniors for years to come.
The amounts of scholarships available have varied over the years, but the committee is now giving out about 45 scholarships of $1,000 each year. It is netting between $45,000 and $50,000 a year, with the money only being designated for scholarships and directly into fundraising. The Gloucester Township Day Scholarship Committee is 100 percent volunteer.
Since its founding, the committee has done various fundraising to support the scholarships and bolster Gloucester Township Day.
Gloucester Township Day is now a joint effort between the scholarship committee and the township. The committee brings many types of vendors to the events — some commercial vendors providing food or goods, some local crafters and artists, and some members of the community, such as local banks, that promote themselves — who all pay vendor fees that go directly to the scholarship committee. Gloucester Township provides the fireworks, a well-loved event that is provided in lieu of a 4th of July celebration, as well as security and municipal services to clean up after.
“It’s a win-win-win,” spokesperson Richard Hollinshead said. “The committee raises money, the township gets to celebrate, and the kids get their scholarships.”
Hollinshead said he is expecting about 100 vendors this year, as well as rides for kids of all ages.
There will be entertainment all day beginning at 11 a.m., with performers varying from local school-based programs to paid artists. The list is not yet finalized, though there will be a performance by Mainstage.
At 5:30 p.m., there will be a ceremony honoring this year’s recipients of the scholarships.
The evening will be rounded out at 9 p.m. with a firework show.
Vendors are encouraged to get applications in by May 11. The application is available online at www.gtdsc.org/home.html.
