Salt Water Day likely back
for good, organizers say
By sue m. morgan
Staff Writer
PHOTOS BY FARRAH MAFFAI Vanessa Bennette, 4, of Laurence Harbor enjoys the rides.
OLD BRIDGE — If you enjoyed this past Saturday’s Salt Water Day festival on the Laurence Harbor beachfront, just wait until next year, organizers say.
The "oohs" and "aahs" rising up from a crowd of more than 3,000 spectators as fireworks lit up cloudy skies over the Raritan Bay convinced members of the Laurence Harbor First Aid Squad (LHFAS), who sponsored and organized the festival, that the revived mid-summer event should become an annual event.
"Salt Water Day will be bigger and better in the coming years," said David Merwin, LHFAS president and the lead event organizer.
The 22-minute fireworks display coordinated to popular and patriotic music was the township’s answer to other communities’ July Fourth shows Merwin stated.
Following in the footsteps of her father, a township firefighter, Savannah Moley, 6, of Laurence Harbor (above) learns how to extinguish a fire during the Salt Water Day celebration Saturday at Old Bridge Waterfront Park. At left, Donald Mastro, president of the Laurence Harbor Fire Company, enjoys relief from Saturday afternoon’s humidity after falling into a dunk tank.
"We’re trying to make Salt Water Day the annual Old Bridge fireworks display," Merwin said.
The food, games, community-oriented programs and entertainment that were staged along an asphalt walkway for over seven hours before the 9:15 p.m. fireworks show were a hit with those who came out, Merwin noted.
"From all indications and feedback, people are demanding that this be continued," he said.
Salt Water Day, a celebration dating back to the 1800s, had not been staged in the township since 1989, when officials cited a lack of interest on the part of residents. Prior to that year, the festival was held on Laurence Harbor beachfront between 1976 and 1989, Merwin has said.The township’s support of a revived Salt Water Day was evident as Mayor Barbara Cannon and a handful officials turned out for opening ceremonies on the beachfront.
Salt Water Day is particularly important to Laurence Harbor residents, Cannon noted in her remarks.
"We hope to be able to continue this on an annual basis," Cannon said. "It is special to the people in this part of town."
Police Chief Thomas Collow, who Merwin introduced as the festival’s "special guest," also pledged his department’s backing of Saturday’s event and future Salt Water Day celebrations.
"Thank you for all the support you have shown myself and my staff," said Collow who was sworn in as chief on Aug. 1.
Township police, inside a special operations unit trailer set up in the parking lot behind Hoffman’s Pharmacy, photographed and fingerprinted children throughout the day as a service to parents.
Event organizers also urged festival-goers to donate a pint of blood to the Central Jersey Blood Center whose bloodmobile sat near the police department trailer.
During opening ceremonies, Cub Scout Pack 129 presented an American flag that it received through correspondence with members of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan. The flag flew over the division’s base during Operation Enduring Freedom.
Many community and nonprofit groups set up information booths along the walkway extending from behind Shoreland Circle to the Cliffwood Beach line. The Laurence Harbor Fire Company sponsored a dunk tank while first aid squad members sold commemorative event T-shirts. Face painting and children’s games including potato sack races were run by the township’s Department of Parks and Recreation.
The Old Bridge Human Relations Commission sold water, soda and snacks as did the Laurence Harbor-based Community Covenent Church. Cadette Girl Scouts sold boxes of those famous Girl Scout cookies and handmade jewelry. The Laurence Harbor Little League sold its own snack foods as well.
"Butterfly fries," one of the more popular treats sold at St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church’s carnival in June, were cooked up by volunteers from that church. Several "Old Bridge Idol" finalists who first performed during the church carnival gave encore performances to kick off a day of music and dancing.
The Performers, a 1970s-style band entertained, followed by 52nd Street, a Billy Joel-soundalike tribute band. Both bands came to Old Bridge courtesy of Ralph Albinar, director of the Middlesex County Department of Parks and Recreation Department, Merwin said.
Then there were the fireworks provided by Legion’s Fireworks of Wappanger Falls, N.Y. The fireworks, which ended right before a major rainstorm, were made possible by a variety of corporate sponsors, including Raritan Bay Medical Center, Commerce Bank, Amboy National Bank and Middlesex Water Co., Merwin said.
None of the money collected from the first aid squad’s fund drives is used to pay for the fireworks, he pointed out. The Laurence Harbor Democrat Club also donated $500 to defray the cost of the fireworks, he added.
Both township and county officials have expressed strong interest in continuing Salt Water Day in coming years, Merwin noted.
"We expect to have the support of the township, the county, the first aid squads and other organizations," he said.
Nonprofit organizations, however, made Salt Water Day successful, Merwin said, and he hopes more will participate next year.
Merwin thanked Cannon, the Township Council, Department of Parks and Recreation Director W. Thomas Badcock, Collow and the Police Department, the Laurence Harbor Fire Department and all of the organizations who participated for the support in making the event successful.