Annual festival draws crowd to Community Center
By: Lacey Korevec
MONROE With her face painted orange and black like a jack-o-lantern, 8-year-old Katlynn Oriole jumped back onto the little train, after her mother gave the OK for a third ride.
She and her family were just one of hundreds who spent Sunday afternoon at the Monroe Township Community Center celebrating the Department of Recreation’s 13th annual Octoberfest.
Children enjoyed pony rides, fought like gladiators in an inflatable ring, raced through a Goofy Gator obstacle course, danced and sung on stage, shot some hoops at a basketball dunkpit and more. Parents mingled, shopped the vendors, registered to vote and talked to community service members such as police officers, rescue squad workers and firemen.
With a zeppole in one hand, Monroe resident Todd Cocorikis watched his children joust in the gladiator ring. He said he and his family look forward to Octoberfest every year.
"The kids look forward to beating each other up on this and then they go over and race down the slide," he said. "It’s great for the kids. They have a lot of good things for them to do each year."
Since so many community members come out for the day, Mr. Cocorikis said, the kids are familiar with most of the people there and feel safe breaking away from the adults for a while.
"We basically let the kids run around on their own as long as they stay together," he said.
For township resident Sharon Aitken, Octoberfest is the perfect day to make memories with the family. She said she comes out with her husband and twin children every year for junk food, prizes and raffles.
"You come for lunch and the kids hang out and play," she said.
She said it’s the perfect family outing, but she doesn’t like to arrive exactly at noon because it’s too crowded.
"It’s better to come late in the day when everyone’s closing up," she said. "The lines are shorter."
East Brunswick resident Keri Galuskin manned her own booth selling homemade baked goods such as cupcakes, brownies, candied apples and lollypops for her business, Kreations by Kerri.
"I think this is a fantastic thing they do for the community," she said, adding that she’s been selling goods at Octoberfest for years. "The kids love it. They do a really good job here."
She said she has worked at similar festivals held by other townships and Monroe’s draws an especially large crowd.
"A lot of people from the community come," she said. "They make it very local."
At another booth, fourth-graders Samantha Fasbach and Sal Profaci, of Monroe, helped raise money for Alex’s Lemonade, a charity that raises money for children’s cancer research. This was the third year they’ve worked at Octoberfest and at about 3:30 p.m., Samantha estimated that they had raised about $130 during the day.
"I think it’s good because there are a lot of people here so we can make a lot of money," she said.
Both Samantha and Sal took occasional breaks to enjoy some of the attractions throughout the day. But their main focus remained selling lemonade.
Sal said the cause is especially important to him because his brother had cancer and he wants to help fight the disease.
"I feel good that we’re helping raise enough money to help cure a disease," he said. "I’m happy that I’m helping other kids."
Monroe Township Public Library Bookmobile Coordinator Lisa Dipierro was at the event signing folks up for library cards, helping kids check out books and handing out pamphlets about the library and some of its coming events.
Throughout the day, she was able to sign up more than 25 people for library cards, she said.
"There’s a lot of new development coming in and a lot of kids and parents don’t get a chance to get a library card," she said. "This allows them the time to sign up for one."
Octoberfest is also an opportunity for different community services to reach out to residents, she said.
"It’s mainly for the people, just to make them aware," she said. "We have so many services that are free of charge. This township really offers a lot."
Families munched on cotton candy, ice cream, giant pretzels and more, but zeppoles and sausage were by far the most popular items sold, Roberto Venditti and Miquel Rojas, who served snacks at the Carnival Concessions stand, said.
"Monroe is a lovely town," Mr. Venditti said. "We’ll be back next year."
The large crowd and the comfortable October weather made for a nice day, Mr. Rojas said.
"It’s perfect," he said. "This is the best weather we could ever have."
Around 1:30 p.m., Bay Bruce, a children’s magician from Lakewood, performed a magic show and shortly after Monroe Township cheerleaders and twirlers performed a routine.
Randi DeGregorio’s twin daughters, Carlee and Nicole, are Monroe Wolverine Flag Cheerleaders who cheered in front of the packed crowd.
"They love it," Ms. DeGregorio said. "They love to come out and cheer for their Wolverine flag football team."
Ms. DeGregorio, who was working at the Mid State Realty booth, said she and her daughters come out for Octoberfest every year.
"I think this year is better," she said. "There are more booths. I think it just keeps getting better and better. It’s perfect. Last year, I was freezing."

