EDITORIAL: Unity Day holds promise for everyone

   Woodlot Park will be the place to be for South Brunswick residents on Saturday.
   That’s because the annual Charlene J. Austin Community Unity Day festival will take place, featuring music, games, food and an array of activities designed to appeal to all age groups.
   The festival, which has been taking place for about 20 years, has attracted as many as 10,000 people in the past, according to official estimates, but attendance has been on the wane in recent years with organizers and patrons agreeing that it had grown stale.
   Enter Steven and Diana Reichenstein. The couple has taken over the reins of the festival, which had been organized for the past decade by Arthur and Debbie Rodel. The Rodels did an amazing job pulling the event together, and deserve a lot of credit for its successes.
   But over the last decade, the 21-year-old festival has started showing its age.
   Recognizing this, the Reichensteins conducted what they called an “autopsy” of recent festivals, reaching out to the various constituencies in the community to find out what they thought could improve the events.
   The result is a later festival that no longer competes with events run by South Brunswick’s neighbors and a new focus on what the Reichensteins call “teens and ‘tweens.”
   Oct. 18 is the latest the event has been held in more than a decade, a response to school officials who said that holding it in early September made it nearly impossible to get students involved. It also addresses concerns raised by residents and vendors about what has been stifling heat in recent years.
   The teen/’tween focus — apparent in the addition of rock and hip-hop acts, as well as video games — is designed to bridge a gap that had become glaring in recent years, as the festival concentrated on adults and younger children.
   ”We want to appeal to everyone and have them be part of the community,” Mr. Reichenstein said.
   And to recognize the “global town” that South Brunswick has become, the event will feature Asian dance and music, ethnic food and an array of games and other activities.
   ”We are trying to bring everyone together and put the picture together, have one day where everyone is together,” Mr. Reichenstein said.
   We encourage everyone in South Brunswick to take part.