By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Susan Conlon was not wearing shoulder pads or carrying a football Saturday at Princeton Stadium, but she and other representatives of local nonprofits were hoping to catch the fans’ attention all the same.
During the Tigers’ home opener, groups like the Princeton Public Library, the Princeton Symphony and others had information tables set up along the concourse of the stadium before and during the game. This was part of Community and Staff Day, something the university has been doing for many years as part of building town-gown relations.
"It’s to invite the community to come and cheer on the Tigers (and) enjoy the game," said Kristin S. Appelget, university director of community and regional affairs, dressed in the requisite amount of orange clothing for the day. "I think we’re expecting a really large crowd."
The school gave away nearly 10,000 tickets to the Tigers’ home opener and also offered a youth sports clinic and children’s activities, she said. At the end of the game-a 56-17 Tigers’ win against Davidson — there was a fireworks show.
For the local and university organizations that had tables set up, they used the opportunity to connect with the public. Representatives of the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab had science demonstrations to catch the attention of children, while Marc Uys, the manager of artistic operations at the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, played the violin.
"Well, I think for all of these organizations, we all do outreach so that we can come out to these community events," said Ms. Conlon, the head of youth services at the Princeton Public Library. "It’s a great chance for us to highlight what we do."
"It’s a face-to-face thing," said Shire Feingold, manager of patron services at the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. "We’re getting to kind of show them who we are at the symphony and talk to people about us (to) let them know what the symphony is, how the symphony is something they might be interested in coming to."
Not far away from her, municipal Health Officer Jeffrey C. Grosser stood at a table where the town was giving out Frisbees, jump ropes and water bottles. He said he was getting a positive reception from the crowd.
"We’re going to start doing Double Dutch here pretty soon," he said.
Ms. Appelget said she was excited to have the public come out and check out sports at the university. Most teams — such as baseball — charge no admission for fans to attend.
"So it’s a great opportunity for people to come and bring their kids for entertainment close to home," she said. "So it’s a way to welcome them in and hopefully they’ll come back."
