Stafford Sets Sail on a 50 Year Celebration

They will be “Sailing Through 50 Years” at this year’s half century celebration of Stafford’s Founders Day on Saturday
It will be a dawn to dusk celebration of fun for every one starting with the Senior Breakfast at 8 a.m. at the Stafford Volunteer Fire Company, 133 Stafford Ave., hosted by the company’s Ladies’ Auxiliary. The breakfast is free and open to all Stafford residents 65 years of age and older.
The annual parade will start at the firehouse at 10 a.m. and run along Stafford Avenue to Route 9, ending up by the Oxycocus Elementary School.
Everyone should then head over to Manahawkin Lake Park, where festivities begin with opening ceremonies at 11:30 a.m. Mayor John Spodora will welcome all to Founder’s Day followed by a Presentation of the Colors by the Air Force Junior ROTC’s Black Watch Honor Guard NJ 931, the National Anthem and a presentation of the Grand Marshal’s Plaque.
The park will be filled with craft and food vendors, demonstrations, displays, booths and tables hosted by local businesses and organizations. For the kids, there will be a petting zoo and pony rides and a sandy beach with kayaks and stand up paddleboards to take out on Manahawkin Lake.
Live musical entertainment by the Pine Barrens’ and original indie folk-rock quartet Thomas Wesley Stern starts at noon.
At 1 p.m. the parade awards will be announced, followed by a pie-eating contest at 1:30 pm. The Miss Stafford Pageant takes place on the bandstand at 2 p.m.
The fun continues into evening beginning at 4 p.m. at the Doc Cramer Athletic Complex, with inflatable and carnival rides, a train ride, games, more food vendors and more music by Thomas Wesley Stern.
The Little Miss Stafford and Little Town Crier Pageants start at 6:30 p.m.
The then field opens up at 7 p.m. to a DJ dance party culminating with a spectacular fireworks display at dusk.
Rain date is Sunday, June 15. For additional information, call the Stafford Recreation office at 609-489-0910.