By KAYLA J. MARSH
Staff Writer
LINCROFT – The Lincroft Village Green Association will kick off summer with an event sure to bring excitement to music, food and craft lovers from all across the area.
On June 17, the group will serve as the host to its first “LINCROFT EATS Food Truck Fest” from 4:30-9 p.m. on the grounds of Brookdale Community College at 765 Newman Springs Road.
“Our group meets once a month, and last year our board of directors was just brainstorming different community events that we could possibly run … to just raise some funds for things we have in mind and for scholarships that we have just implemented,” said Mary Grant, co-president of the Lincroft Village Green Association.
“[Events featuring] food trucks [are] kind of [becoming] trendy in New Jersey … and we thought if we are going to do it, we should probably do it now because they seem to be very popular.
“Our goal was that we wanted to make sure it was something where it would appeal to all ages — where it would appeal to high school kids, it would appeal to families with smaller children and everyone else in between.”
On June 17, parking lot 1 at Brookdale Community College, which is located near the Monmouth Museum, will transform into a hotspot of live music, popular gourmet food trucks, arts and crafts vendors and family-friendly games and activities.
Admission is $2 for adults, and children 12 and younger are admitted for free.
“We wanted to have it at the Lincroft Village Green Park … but soon learned it was not going to be a big enough venue for an event like this so we contacted Brookdale and asked them if we could use their parking lot,” Grant said.
“One of our goals actually was to reinvigorate the relationship the Lincroft Village Green Association had in the past with Brookdale Community College.
“Brookdale is such an important part of the Lincroft community as well and we’re excited to be able to host this event at their campus.”
The food truck lineup for the event includes Oink & Moo, Empanada Guy, One Potato Two, Luke’s Lobster, Outslider, Cow and the Curd, Cupcake Carnivale, Waffle de Lys, Cold Stone Creamery, Red Light Coffee and Espresso Bar, Cheezen and more.
“My co-chair Lori [Littenberg] just randomly called one of the food trucks she heard was very popular, which was Oink & Moo, and the owner was instrumental in getting all of the other food trucks and just coordinating a lot of the paperwork for us, telling us what we needed to do since we were first time at bat here with this, and [it] was a wonderful liaison between us and the other food truck vendors,” Grant said.
Live music at the “LINCROFT EATS Food Truck Fest” will feature local talent, including headliner Not-On-Call, a band consisting of nine local physicians.
“My co-chair and her husband are friends with one of the musicians and approached them about possibly being able to play and, of course, with their busy careers and having nine musicians in the band they had to make sure everybody was available, and we were very happy to know that it all came together for them as well,” Grant said. “They are going to be a lot of fun.”
The musicians will get hearts pumping with classic rock covers starting at 6 p.m.
Downstream, a young band whose members include a number of Middletown musicians, will kick off the evening at 4:30 with some rock hits.
For those looking for a more creative outlet, several art and craft tables will be available and feature face painting, pottery, jewelry making, aromatherapy, sand art and other family-friendly games and activities to enjoy.
“It’s been exciting,” Grant said. “It is the last weekend before school gets out and it is … something [everyone] could look forward to.”
Established in 1999, the Lincroft Village Green Association is a civic organization dedicated to quality-of-life issues in the village of Lincroft, including traffic calming, safer vehicular and pedestrian circulation, historic preservation and beautification.
The civic association is holding this community event to raise money for its general fund, which supports free community events held at the Lincroft Green, park improvements and the newly established Community Scholarship.
For more information, visit www.lincroftvillagegreen.org.