Family fun in Monroe
By: Stephanie Brown
MONROE Pony rides, pumpkin painting, a petting zoo Thompson Park will soon be packed with fun for the whole family.
The Monroe Township Mother’s Club and Monroe Township Department of Recreation are sponsoring the 18th annual Country Fair, which is set for Sept. 10 from noon to 6 p.m.
"We will have entertainment all day long," said Mother’s Club member and fair Chairwoman Marguerite DaFoe. "I’m sure the parents will have fun and the children will certainly have a ball."
The fair is a major fundraiser for the Mother’s Club, which is a nonprofit, civic organization that helps members of the community on a need-to-need basis, said Ms. DaFoe, who has chaired the fair for the past nine years.
The proceeds from the fair are put back into the community in the form of special events for children, such as an egg hunt, and a Halloween parade, and as donations to various organizations and families in need.
Mayor Richard Pucci will officially open the fair, and township fifth-grader Samantha Widmer will kick off the festivities by singing "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Food, craft, and various other vendors will set up tables throughout the park.
The event will feature pageants for preschoolers and a baby buggy contest.
Boys and girls up to age 5 can participate in the Little Miss Monroe and Town Squire contests. The contestants will answer questions from an emcee, and be judged by the vendors. For the baby buggy contest, Ms. DaFoe said, parents often decorate an entrant’s stroller or carriage. Vendors will also judge this event. Parents can sign up their children at the Mother’s Club tent.
D.J. Wacky Wayne and local band, Sunset Boulevard, will provide music during the day.
A car show and plenty of games and activities for kids of all ages will be held.
The National Guard is a new addition to this year’s fair. Members of the guard will bring military vehicles, like an U.S. Military Humvee and fly two helicopters over the fairgrounds.
Participants can try their luck in two raffles this year.
One raffle is new and prizes include donations from local merchants, like Target, and sports teams, like the New Jersey Devils, Trenton Thunder, New York Giants and New York Mets.
The other is a 50/50 raffle held every year. Half of the money will go to the winner of the raffle, while the other half will go to the Mother’s Club.
For vendor registration or more information call Marguerite DaFoe at (732) 251-3566 or the Monroe Township Department of Recreation at (732) 723-5000

