Gloucester Township Day Is Here!

Gloucester Township Day is Saturday.

The 27th annual community celebration figures to be one of the biggest and best yet.

Gates for the annual event, which benefits the Gloucester Township Day Scholarship Committee's efforts, are scheduled to open to the public at 11 a.m.

More than 80 vendors, including those selling food and crafts, are signed up for this year's community celebration, which will, of course, culminate with a fireworks show at about 9 p.m., according to Bill Fagan, co-director of the Recreation Department.

In addition to the top-notch playground always in place at Lt. Col. Samuel M. Siler Veterans Memorial Park, the park and adjacent municipal complex parking lot will be transformed into a child's dream, complete with carnival rides and inflatable bounce games.

Gloucester Township Public Schools' middle-school honor band and chorus are slated to kick off the day's performances at 11 a.m. Stick around to watch cheerleaders from all three Black Horse Pike Regional School District high schools join forces for a can't-miss routine scheduled to begin around 5:30 p.m.

Did we mention Miss Teen America 2011 will be at the fair? That's right—Katarina Kneer, a spokeswoman for Soles for Souls, will be on hand to help collect lightly worn or new footwear to be donated to those in need.

At 6 p.m. comes the reason Gloucester Township Day was founded in the first place—the 40 winners of $1,000 college scholarships will be presented with their scholarship awards.

The 40 winners, as well as 10 alternates, were selected during an April Council meeting.

Now in its 26th year, nearly $875,000 in scholarships have been awarded to more than 1,000 college-bound Gloucester Township residents.

In addition to Gloucester Township Day, the committee has hosted the following fundraising events in the past year: teen dances at the three GTPS middle schools, a wine-tasting event at the Democrat Club and a 5K run in April.

With the National Weather Service calling for a high of around 81 degrees and only a slight chance of showers or thunderstorms as of Thursday night, it figures to be a great day to celebrate the Gloucester Township community spirit.

Gloucester Township Patch will be at booth No. 411. Be sure to stop by to meet us and sign up for our free email newsletter. We'll be giving out free water and even Patch swag to anyone who does!

Harry Morgan is chairman, Judy Gore secretary and Dick Hollinshead treasurer of Gloucester Township Day Scholarship Committee. Members are Jessica Botte, Judy Calabrese, Debi Carr, John Custodio, Nicole D'Amico, Police Chief W. Harry Earle, Joan Eller-Hinski, Bill Fagan, Camden County Freeholder Rod Greco, Kris Kitchenmann, Kate Kochanski, Sandi Love, Mayer, Kristina Roehr and Judy Weiserth.

Be sure to check back with Patch later today for a full report on what the Gloucester Township "Green Team" will be doing at GT Day.