The 16th annual Drug Free Fair to be held Saturday will show kids healthy and fun alternatives to drugs.
By: Jessica Beym
Any way you slice it, life is better without drugs.
This phrase coined by Cranbury School seventh-grader Andrew Coleman was printed on more then 800 T-shirts that will be worn proudly by any student in Cranbury who chooses to sign a pledge Saturday, promising to lead a drug-free life.
The students will have a chance to sign those promises and explore all of the fun and healthy alternative lifestyles at the 16th annual Drug Free Fair, which will be held outside of the school from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
The free event, which is hosted by Cranbury School and the Municipal Alliance Committee on Drugs and Alcohol, will be held rain or shine and is a communitywide effort to educate children about drug resistance and highlight the aspects of staying clean.
Cranbury School nurse Beverly Gerberich, who has been organizing the event since January, said the afternoon would be full of music, entertainment, food and games that are fun and educational for the whole family. She said she is expecting over 1,000 people to attend the event.
"The purpose of the fair is really to celebrate being drug free," Ms. Gerberich said. "It’s really to show kids alternative activities and to encourage them to use resistance. We want to show them that drug education goes beyond the classroom and how it translates into life.
The T-shirts, which boast Andrew’s creative slogan and a picture of pizza slices to represent drug-free lifestyles, were selected as this year’s theme and will be given to the students after they complete six activities and sign their pledge. A schoolwide design contest is held each year in which the students come up with a picture and a saying to represent the theme for the fair.
Ms. Gerberich said students were encouraged to wear their previous Drug Free Fair shirts to school all week so that they could enter into a drawing to win a gift card.
"It was a way to get them motivated for the fair and it’s fun to see all of the old T-shirts come out," Ms. Gerberich said.
The fair is also a way for the community to show its support, Ms. Gerberich said. Dozens of businesses and organizations from Cranbury and surrounding towns have either donated money for the event, or have volunteered to be apart of the activities in some way.
Some organizations involved are the Police Department, the Cranbury Arts Council, the Cranbury Historic and Preservation Society, the PTO, the Friends of the Cranbury Public Library, the Lions Club, the Mothers’ Club and the Scouts.
Cranbury Pizza, Hot Wok Café and the PTO will also be selling food such as pizza, Chinese food and hoagies. The school percussion band, led by music teacher Tommy Nichols, will perform, as well as the First Presbyterian Youth Band, a trombone duet performed by sixth-graders Abby Gordon and Ivy Miller, the Cranbury Scout Band led by Jerry Yochelson and a group of students who do Irish dancing.
A number of businesses will also be contributing to the activities. Cranbury Gymnastics will be doing a demonstration, the Fitness Zone from East Windsor, which will have a kick-boxing demonstration, and the East Coast Martial Arts of East Windsor will be showing tae-kwon-do moves.
There will be many activities for younger kids, such as games and balloon animals, and this year, Ms. Gerberich said, the older students will have more activities under the teen tent.
"We wanted to give them their own area where they can see that there is so much more to be involved in than drugs," Ms. Gerberich said.
At the teen tent there will be a game called Dance Dance Revolution. The Drug Enforcement Agency and the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence of Middlesex County will be providing information pamphlets for students as well as parents.
"It’s really for everyone," Ms. Gerberich said. "The strollers come in, the parents come in, the whole community is there. We want to show them that they have support now and through high school and college."