Moorestown has approved installation of a floating dock for Strawbridge Lake that will be located near the parking lot on Haines Drive, closest to Kings Highway.
The “L-shaped” dock will extend 20 feet into the water and is manufactured by EZ Docks. Funds raised by the Strawbridge Lake Beautification Committee from its third annual 2021 Moorestown Paddle Board & Kayak Race and Family Festival financed the dock.
Moorestown residents George and Amy Gravenstine started the committee in 2018, after joining a group that cleaned overgrown brush at the lake.
“My husband had the idea of forming a nonprofit so that we could raise the funds to have professional landscapers come down and do this work,” Amy Gravenstine said.
Funds raised for the dock were also used to clean Haines Drive, with help from the township itself.
“The landscapers would cut everything back, following guidelines from the township, make these huge piles, and the township would follow up behind them and gather that up and take it away,” Amy Gravenstine explained.
Since then, the committee has kept the areas surrounding the lake intact. Two additional docks will be installed, one by Church Street and one at the middle of the lake, which will be ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible.
“The township will be clearing a path … so that it’s easy for folks to walk down to and they can fish there or launch their paddle board or kayaks … whatever they want to do,” Gravenstine said.
The fourth annual Moorestown Paddle Board & Kayak Race and Family Festival on June 11 will feature vendor booths, food trucks, live music, a silent auction and a beer garden, along with electronic results.
“We’re going to either have racer bibs, sort of like when you run a road race, which has a little tiny chip inside of it, or the chip would be mounted somehow on the craft,” Gravenstine noted. “But then there would also be transponders, one on each side of the lake, so as the racer crosses the invisible transponder line … it would record their results.”
Last year’s race raised close to $30,000 and had more than 90 volunteers.
“Those were high-school students, they were community members … helping with everything from directing parking to helping vendors bring their goods down and set up,” Gravenstine said.
The Gravenstines are thankful for their neighbors’ efforts.
“We wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for members of the community that have stepped up and really gotten involved in many different areas,” said Amy.
“We might’ve been the people that just (got) this thing going, but the real work has been done by the community, and it’s really been fun to watch.”
