EAST BRUNSWICK — The township Department on Aging is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation with a series of programs and events centered on the theme of freedom.
A proclamation was read at the Jan. 28 Township Council meeting recognizing the yearlong effort by the department.
After the reading, Mae Caldwell, a member of the senior center’s executive board and the township’s Commission on Aging, invited the community to attend the series and learn about the Emancipation Proclamation and freedom in general.
“The senior center is privileged to be looking at the concept of freedom all this year,” Caldwell said. “We hope that you will join us for programs that are being planned.
“New Jersey was very important in the history of Civil War,” she continued. “Some of it may surprise you. It took us a while to ratify the agreements that President [Abraham] Lincoln signed. However, we are hoping that the events, which we will hold at the center, will capture your attention and that you will join us to celebrate this year.”
After the meeting, Sharon Reilly- Marosy, assistant director of the department, said a variety of new programs and activities have been planned for the yearlong celebration.
“The programs will be both educational and entertaining, serving as a reminder of the importance of the freedom we embrace as citizens of the United States of America,” she said.
The activities include a lunch-and-learn event with gospel singers, and educational presentations by the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission and the COPSA Geriatric Services of University Behavioral Healthcare from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
Dates and times for these events are yet to be finalized, she said. All events are scheduled to take place at the senior center, 3 Jean Walling Civic Center.
In addition, the anniversary and the theme of freedom will be incorporated into normal programming.
“This May we will have our sixth annual Heritage Day at the senior center,” Reilly- Marosy said. “This is a wonderful afternoon of sharing in the diversity of cultures we have here in our senior-center community. Freedom will be our theme this year.”
She noted that the Veterans Day celebration in November will similarly focus on freedom.
Some of the year’s programming has already begun, as the center honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 17.