Calling food and music lovers!
Although the borough’s October music festival was postponed until next spring, the Haddonfield Educational Trust (HET) will hold its second annual Rally in the Alley on Saturday, Nov. 18.
When HET started the event last year, the idea was to have a fundraiser that would reach more people than the trust’s annual golf tournament in June.
“(Rally in the Alley) gives us an opportunity to have an outdoor street festival on the most picturesque street in town just before Thanksgiving, when people come home and want to support the Haddonfield schools,” said Megan Griffault, HET board member and chair of the event.
” … We were really humbled by how well we did last year.”
That inaugural event raised close to $40,000 for repairs to the Haddonfield Memorial High School auditorium. This year’s rally will be even bigger, with its ticket up from 200 to 250.
“This year, (the proceeds) are going into our general teacher grants and scholarship funds,” Griffault explained. ” … We made an additional announcement last week that any new sponsorships that we get between last week and the event will go toward the upkeep and the maintenance of the (Nicholas) Baker track and stadium.”
Nicholas Baker was a longtime district coach who led the boys cross-country team’s 251-dual meet win streak. He died on Oct. 14 at the age of 70. The high-school’s track and stadium were dedicated to him in 2019.
“I’m still overwhelmed by the generosity of the community,” Griffault noted. “The event itself was so much fun, people were saying, ‘We should do this every weekend,’ which is a bit much. But the feedback was so tremendous that we decided we absolutely needed to do it again … and hope to keep it going on path this year as well.”
The outdoor rally will feature heat lamps, seating and dancing areas, “luxury” port-a-potties, as described by Griffault, and the band the Unstoppable Hack Beats. The ticketed event will include local food and beverages from Kings Road Brewery; Tito’s Handmade Vodka; and Downtown Cookies, among others.
Because alcohol will be served, guests must be 21 and older to participate.
“Sometimes we have very kid friendly events in town, (but) this is a great opportunity for the adults to celebrate,” Griffault noted.
Rally in the Alley hours are 5 to 8:30 p.m. at the parking lot on Mechanic Street. Tickets will include food and five drinks and there will also be raffles.
To learn more about the HET, visit https://www.haddonfieldeducationaltrust.org/
