Page 4 • Wednesday , May 24 , 2023 • The Hammonton Gazette
This year ’ s Cruisin ’ MainStreet one of the biggest ever
CRUISIN , from Page 1 the success of the event .
“ I think it happens a lot of times when the weather and the forecast is good , the people make plans to come and it does make a difference how many people you get . Also , the Cruisin ’ Classics guys give out flyers wherever they go and we covered a lot of territory with our posters and stories so it was a wonderful turnout ,” Donio said .
Donio calls the contests during the event “ simple fun ” as she jokes that the prizes weren ’ t very elaborate , but seeing the children and their families spend an afternoon having some fun and enjoying the festivities brought a smile to her face .
“ I just get a big smile on my face watching the bubble gum blowing contest and the hula hoops . It ’ s a fun thing and it is good to see the young people coming out and their parents probably came to the event when they were young and that ’ s what we ’ re always hoping for so I hope they like to come downtown normally and enjoy it ,” Donio said .
Atlantic County Clerk Joseph Giralo showcased his two classic cars , a 1925 Ford Model T and a 1928 Ford Model A . The Hammonton Volunteer Fire Company No . 2 showcased Tom Brown ’ s 1946 Ward La France Fire Truck and many other classic Ford and GM car models were on display .
Raymond Leps is a Corbin City resident who came to the event with his girlfriend after his friend told him to come out to the event because his friend had his car on display at Cruisin ’. Leps believes that being able to show their cars helps start conversations on many topics , including cars .
“ It ’ s just a fun thing to do , it ’ s not as much to show off as it is more to start conversation , it opens up a dialogue for different people and everyone is cool with it , everybody ’ s in . I ’ m looking forward to spending time with my girlfriend at the event and getting something to eat and then talking to folks here ,” Leps said .
Joey Giacobbe came to the event with his children as his stepfather had an El Camino on display as well as his boss having an event at Annata Wine Bar so him and his family walked around downtown . Giacobbe said that being at an event like this gives the town a deeper appreciation for the foundation that the town was built on and then gave a shoutout to the Hammonton Hawks .
“ It ’ s the core blood of the town and that ’ s the era of this town being built and probably established its roots so let ’ s keep it going and ‘ Go Hawks ,’” Giaccobe said .
Hammonton resident Jacqui Foy was at the event as her five year old son participated in the hula hoop contest . Foy enjoyed the event as she got to watch her son participate in the contest and remembered her daughter , who is now 14 , doing the same thing at the event when she was his age .
“ What I love about this town is there is something for somebody , whether you ’ re older , you can remember reliving the ‘ 50s and then you can bring your grandkids out and watch them hula hoop and tell them how you did it when you were younger . I hope one day I can come and watch my grandchildren with my kids doing the hula hoop contest and I can pull up the pictures and the videos and show them and say ‘ look , I
Student art on display in Waterford
HMS , from Page 3 about what she learned in art class , her takeaway was learning how shading and adding highlights for details make her work look better as well as the importance of planning and preparation behind a project . When her artwork was selected , she couldn ’ t wait to share the news with her mom .
“ I felt really proud of myself ! The other day , I took my mom to see it and she also said how proud she was of me ,” Rivera- Vazquez said .
Kimberly Saucedo created an acrylic painting of a monochromatic sky and silhouette of swans and learned a lot of new ways to blend colors . When describing the feeling of seeing her artwork get recognized by people , she couldn ’ t believe her artwork was going to be seen by so many people .
“ It feels great to be noticed . I never thought I ’ d be showing my artwork to people ,” Saucedo said .
Faith Ostrander ’ s artwork is an acrylic painting as well although her silhouette is of a howling wolf while like Saucedo , she learned how to blend colors and shades . When describing the feeling of seeing her artwork being recognized , she couldn ’ t believe it .
“ It was crazy to think that people would see it ,” Ostrander said .
When describing what it ’ s like seeing their students ’ artwork being displayed at a public setting like a public library , both Abate and Judge felt a sense of pride for their students .
“ Mrs . Judge and I agree that seeing our students ’ artwork on display evokes a sense of pride . We know how hard these students worked and how much effort they put into making their art the best they possibly could ,” Abate said .
The HMS eighth grade art display is on display at the Waterford Township Public Library . The library is located on 386 White Horse Pike in Atco . brought your mommy or your daddy to do this and their mommom and pop-pop was here , now your mom-mom and pop-pop are here ,’” Foy said .
Zack Brown was the event ’ s host and disc jockey and has been the disc jockey for the event for 15-plus years dating back to when he was a teenager .
He called it a pleasure to watch the town grow and develop throughout the years .
“ Crusin ’ MainStreet used to be twice a year and now it ’ s once a year because there ’ s so many other events in town , which is a good problem to have . It ’ s nice that we still keep this consistency while continuing to add on new businesses , partners , events , all
these other great things that the town does so it ’ s fun . The hula hoop and bubble gum blowing contests are pretty silly but it ’ s also fun to see the kids have fun ,” Brown said .
Brown noted that what makes this event extra special is that the event has always attracted the older demographic with the classic cars but seeing the kids come out with the contests and the younger generation keeping it alive makes it a cross-generational event .
“ At this point , it ’ s getting to be very far into the history , the 1950s and ‘ 60s cruisin ’ culture , we ’ re talking 75 years ago . There ’ s still a lot of people here and keeping that alive and maintaining the cars because most of the people weren ’ t even alive when these cars were on the road . They ’ re buying and restoring them because their grandpa had one and they want to see it again so you get the older people coming out with the heritage and then you couple it with the kids here who are hula hooping who don ’ t understand any of that stuff but it ’ s really a cross-generational event , which is important to have because other events are more for kids and more for adults but this one really brings out kind of a synthesis of different age groups to come out and appreciate it and I think it ’ s important to maintain what it was like back in the day ,” Brown said .
THG / Mohammed Fuad . To purchase photos in The Gazette , call ( 609 ) 704-1940 .
Cruisin ’ MainStreet disc jockey Zack Brown ( left ) and chairperson Angela Donio ( right ) with an Elvis Presley cardboard cutout .