PACKET EDITORIAL, June 15
By: Packet Editorial
Looking around for something to do this weekend? You don’t have to look far.
It isn’t often that 30,000 or so people get ready to descend on Washington Road for a good old-fashioned country fair … at the same time a major professional golf tournament is drawing a big gallery of fans off Route 206 … with Father’s Day topping it all off on Sunday. If the weather complies, we can’t imagine a more glorious way to spend the last few days of spring than enjoying the great outdoors in and around Princeton this weekend.
First there’s The Fete. That’s all you need to call it The Fete and anyone who has lived in the area for more than a couple of years will know what you’re talking about. Formally, it is the June Fete: An Auxiliary Benefit for The Medical Center at Princeton, and this year’s event, the 48th annual, is dubbed "2001 Fete Odyssey."
Years ago, The Fete was a small-town affair a couple of tents, a pony ride, some food stalls where doctors flipped burgers and volunteers served home-made hoagies and an entertainment area where a string of amateur acts offered performances on the hour. Then, it started to grow: an auction, a flea market, a used-books tent, a "sports alley" where a well-aimed basketball wins a prize and hitting the bull’s eye with a baseball dunks the high school principal in a pool of cold water.
Today, The Fete has become what the Yale, Harvard and Rutgers games used to be, back in the days when Princeton football was big-time and Palmer Stadium held upwards of 40,000 people. It’s a one-day event that attracts tens of thousands of people to Princeton (or, in this case, more specifically, to West Windsor, where the Princeton University playing fields now known widely as the "Fete Fields" are located).
And it’s all for a worthy cause. Proceeds from The Fete benefit The Medical Center at Princeton, which has grown over the years from a little town hospital to a major regional medical center, mirroring the expansion of The Fete itself. So this Saturday, when you’re visiting the "Lane of Shops," the "Giant Slide," the "Moonwalk," the "Strawberry Patch," the "Little Gym" and all the other attractions The Fete has to offer, you’ll have the added pleasure and satisfaction of knowing you’re contributing to an important community resource.
Meanwhile, over on the other side of town, a much quieter event will be unfolding. Hushed crowds will line the fairways and circle the greens to watch some of the world’s best over-50 golfers compete in the $1.5 million Instinet Classic at the Tournament Players Club at Jasna Polana.
This is the second year the Senior PGA Tour has visited TPC at Jasna Polana. Last year’s inaugural event drew an estimated 75,000 people, despite the absence of several of the senior tour’s top players, who were participating that same week in the British Open. Another big crowd is expected this year, although the Instinet Classic is again competing with a major tournament the U.S. Open depriving local fans of the opportunity to see the likes of Tom Watson, Hale Irwin and other big-name senior golfers in action.
But with course designer Gary Player in the field, along with defending champion Gil Morgan, Bruce Fleischer, Jim Thorpe, Chi Chi Rodriguez and other popular senior tour players, local golf fans should be out in force to follow the competition this weekend, particularly Sunday afternoon’s final round.
Which, of course, coincides with Father’s Day the culmination of what promises to be an eventful, fun-filled weekend. From Saturday’s first flurry of frolicking at the Fete fields to Sunday’s last putt on the 18th green, the Princeton area will be alive with activities that come our way but once a year. Think of it as our last fling before the dog days of summer and maybe it’ll bring out a little bit of the puppy in all of us.