Mayor’s Message: Enjoy Voorhees Township parks
Voorhees Township offers plenty of parks to its residents to enjoy during the year
Daylight Saving Time returns Sunday, March 10, and is followed closely by the arrival of spring. This time of year offers a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the fresh air and our Voorhees park system.
Connolly Park, located on Centennial Boulevard, is a 49-acre oasis. Acquired by the township in 2001, it contains two dog runs, one for large dogs and one for small dogs, a half-mile lighted walking and jogging track that includes workout stations, a large grass field for multi-sport usage, a cricket pitch with synthetic turf, an open-air picnic pavilion and a comfort station with restrooms, a playground with picnic tables and a tot-lot. Connolly Park is also the home of our Summer Concert Series and National Night Out.
Lions Lake Park is located on Dutchtown Road off of Route 73. Our community banquet facility can accommodate up to 100 people. Recently a new picnic pavilion was installed adjacent to the playground. It is also home to the Voorhees Girls Softball Association, with four fields which are fully lit. New dugout enclosures were added to all four fields. Recently, the National Softball Association named Lions Lake as one of three “Outstanding Parks” in the northeast and the only facility in New Jersey to receive the award.
Kirkwood Park, located along Laurel Oak Road behind the Hampton Inn, has a lighted softball field, paved walking path, a full basketball court, two tennis courts, a children’s playground, a multi-purpose field, two bocce ball courts and restrooms. The walking path, basketball court and tennis courts were recently resurfaced through grants received from both the state and Camden County. Last year, the parks handicapped parking lot was expanded and repaved. The township also permanently preserved the adjacent 14-acre Kirkwood Forest, enhancing and ensuring the beauty of this natural setting.
The Maiaroto Sports Complex, located on Echelon Road, is home to the Voorhees Soccer Association and host to the Annual Memorial Day Soccer Tournament, one of the largest in the country. The complex includes seven fields with newly installed artificial turf and recently expanded and improved lighting. It also offers two tennis courts and basketball courts which were recently resurfaced with a county grant, as well as a fully operational snack bar with restrooms.
Home to the Gibbsboro Voorhees Athletic Association is the Rabinowitz Baseball Complex, located along Kresson Road, with six fenced baseball fields. “Sprinturf Diamonds” have been installed on the Babe Ruth and Majors fields. Three of the fields are fully lit. The complex also includes a recently installed children’s playground with swings as well as a snack bar and restrooms.
Eastern Junior Vikings Football and Cheer, as well as Voorhees Lacrosse Inc., use the Giangiulio Recreation Complex along Victor Boulevard. There is a lighted athletic field with synthetic turf which is used year-round. In addition, there is a baseball diamond with lights and a fenced tot lot. Giangiulio also includes a snack bar and restrooms.
Stafford Farm is our largest piece of preserved land. The 140-acre parcel includes a one-mile walking path that follows an old stagecoach trail through the woods. The township also purchased the 5.5-acre parcel of land adjacent to Stafford Farm known as Stafford Woods to be preserved as open space. A disc golf course was constructed and is accessible from Evesham Road. The Stafford Woods Disc Golf Course has been named one of the 50 best courses in the country.
John Hale, Sr. Memorial Park is at the site of the former Voorhees Township Department of Public Works sewer plant on West End Avenue in the Ashland section. In partnership with the Ashland Residential Coalition and with a grant from the Camden County Open Space Advisory Board, a playground with swings and a picnic pavilion were installed. This park connects to Ashland Woods, a 20-acre tract of forest permanently preserved by the Township.
The township maintains neighborhood playgrounds on Round Hill Road in the Green Ridge neighborhood, Elliot Playground on Elliot Drive in the Beagle Club, Sandpiper Playground on Willowbrook Way in the Avian Section and Cornell Drive Playground in Lake Villa. During the past year, new playground equipment was installed in the Lake Villa, Kirkwood Park and Sandpiper Park Playgrounds. Voorhees also maintains two half-court basketball courts at the Sheppard Road Basketball Park located off of Centennial Boulevard.
The Township Committee will continue to work to improve our park system. All of our parks are smoke-free and maintained without the use of pesticides.
Enjoy the outdoors in Voorhees!
• The Alicia Rose Victorious Foundation Wine and Food Tasting will be held on Friday, March 22 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at The Mansion in Voorhees. Ticket donations are $50 per person in advance or $60 per person at the door. For reservations, call (856) 784–0615 or visit www.victoriuosfoundation.org. The foundation installs Teen Centers in hospitals throughout the country to bring hope, excitement and entertainment to teens facing difficult conditions while receiving hospital treatment.
• The Voorhees Business Association’s Annual Bowling Fundraiser will be on Friday, April 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Big Event located in the Ellisburg Shopping Center, 1536 Kings Highway N. in Cherry Hill. This year, the event will benefit various community causes. Bowling lanes will be available for individuals and groups with a maximum of six bowlers per lane. For $20, an individual bowler will be teamed up with other bowlers. A $95 donation gets one lane for six bowlers and includes pizza and a pitcher of soda. For $100, a corporate sponsorship, the group gets one lane and signage. A $150 corporate sponsorship gets one lane with signage, bowling for up to six bowlers, a free pizza and a pitcher of soda. There will also be a basket auction and a 50/50 raffle. For more information about the event or to register, visit www.voorheesbusinessassociation.org or send a check to the VBA, P.O. Box 349, Voorhees, New Jersey 08043 with “Bowling” and your sponsorship level in the memo line.
