 Posted: Fri, Jul 2 2010, 12:28 pm EDT Post subject: Cranbury's 'PorchFest' tradition preserves small-town merriment |
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| Cranbury's 'PorchFest' tradition preserves small-town merriment
Published: Friday, July 02, 2010, 6:02 A CRANBURY — Chips and dips comprise much of the menu. Children play hide-and-seek or chase fireflies, while their parents catch up on the latest town gossip. Strangers are welcome, friends are made, and the party’s over — well, when the last person leaves. "You don’t have to know the host to come," explained Wendi Patella, who brought PorchFest, a moveable neighborhood party, to Cranbury six years ago. "It’s meant to be as inclusive as possible. There are a lot of people here I don’t know.’’ The block party, which has all but disappeared from the American scene, at least in this part of the country, is alive and well in Cranbury. Each Friday from the beginning of June through Labor Day, residents take turns hosting PorchFest gatherings at their homes. You don’t need a porch, just a backyard. A host’s major responsibility? Making sure there’s enough ice on hand. Guests bring the food and their kids, and there’s mingling and modest merriment into the night. It’s all about having fun, building community spirit, maybe even getting an update on the Great American Novel, this one written by a precocious 9-year-old. "It’s called ‘Keeping Peace,’" said Emilia Ferrante, wearing a 60s-style tie-dyed t-shirt. "There’s a girl named Hope and a dog named Peace. In school she stands up to the bully and her house burns down and she has to live in a trailer ..." There are no trailers, of course, in Cranbury, one of New Jersey’s quintessential small-towns, with its wide, tree-lined Main Street and spacious older homes — a community that always has seemed to belong to another county than Middlesex, if not another state. "What distinguishes Cranbury from other towns is that we’ve managed to stay a small town and we’ve managed to save a lot of farmland,’’ said David Nissen, a former township committeeman. Nissen sat on the patio at the 1840s home of Fran and Don Davidson, hosts of a recent PorchFest. The Davidsons, among the town’s newer residents, had lived in a 55-and-over community, and quickly decided it wasn’t for them. Patella brought the PorchFest idea from Newton, Pa., which holds a PorchFest of its own and where she, her husband, John, and their two daughters previously lived. The Patellas hold the first Cranbury PorchFest every summer, while Dave and Angie Cook host the last. The Cook house is the unofficial PorchFest lost-and-found; their barn is home to shirts, shoes and jewelry left from previous parties. Everyone brings something, food-wise, but you won’t find veal medallions or fancy French pastries here; the lineup is more apt to include cakes, cookies and fruit. And Lil Conley always brings her deviled eggs. Peggy Brennan, a realtor, uses PorchFest as a selling point for prospective homebuyers. "I always mention it when selling houses," the township resident said. "It really helps to bring the town together.’’ Emilia Ferrante, having revealed all she intended to reveal of her novel-in-progress, was asked to describe PorchFest. "It’s basically a social gathering," she said. "Most of the kids come; whose backyard doesn’t matter. We just met a French girl; we were trying to communicate with her.’’ Most of the kids at PorchFest, she said, skip the other food and head right to the desserts. Why? "Because they’re better,’’ she said wisely. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/cranburys_porchfest_tradition.html |
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