Wednesday , October 11 , 2023
Volume 27 • Issue 41
Columbus Day celebration
Kristin Guglietti / THG
Assemblyman Michael Torrissi Jr ., Lodge Historian and Financial Secretary Charlie Sbarra holding
Carmella Sbarra , President Dan Sacco , Congressman Jeff Van Drew , Treasurer at the New Jersey State Lodge Dave Scardino holding Maverick Carmella and Assemblyman Brandon Umba stand in front of the Christopher Columbus statue on Columbus Day on Oct . 9 at the Order Sons of Italy in America Giuseppe Garibaldi Lodge # 1658 . See article and more photos in next week ’ s edition .
Family fun at SMMCP Carnival and Fall Festival
by Kristin Guglietti GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
HAMMONTON — With the addition of more carnival rides and beautiful weather , many people came out to show support during the St . Mary of Mt . Carmel Parish ’ s Carnival and Fall Festival at St . Anthony Picnic Grounds located at 285 Rt . 206 from Oct . 5 to Oct . 8 .
Father David Rivera was helping Lou Caruso with the smoker when The Gazette talked to him .
They were smoking ribs , shish kabobs and maple chicken breast .
“ It ’ s a fundraiser for the parish , but at the same time I think the community likes to have something around this time to get
Kristin Guglietti / THG
Bill Doberstein with The Health Tree ’ s mascot Oliver , 3 years old .
them all out . A lot of families have said to me how nice that there ’ s something for kids ,” Rivera said .
Susan Davidow was trying to set up a TV on one of the tables outside to watch the Eagles game .
She said the Fall Festival used to be one day on Sunday usually during Columbus Day weekend , but last year the parish turned it into a four-day festival when they added the carnival .
“ Today is when we have the pumpkin painting , the face painting ; we have a balloon twister out here somewhere ,” Davidow said .
Many people from the community attended the festival to enjoy live music , the
See FALL FEST , Page 14
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St . Joe honoring Dorothy Cartica at 5K and Fall Fest
by Kristin Guglietti GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
HAMMONTON — The St . Joseph Academy 5K and Fall Festival will be held on Oct . 22 at 11 a . m . at 328 Vine St .
President and Head of School Stephen Cappuccio said the race will honor Dorothy “ Dot ” Cartica who was a longtime field hockey coach and teacher at St . Joseph Academy .
“ We are doing it in memory of Coach Dorothy Cartica who is a longtime educator , coach and friend of St . Joseph who has a very storied career I think that spans over 30 years at the school ,” Cappuccio said .
Cappuccio said he and his parents had Cartica as a teacher , and she coached his sister in field hockey .
Paul Rodio , the head basketball coach at St . Joseph Academy , said Cartica was “ a famous field hockey coach and a tremendous influence at St . Joe for a lot of years .”
This is the third year of the race . During the first year , Rodio said the school honored Scott Henshaw , a former science teacher and coach at the school , and there were about 100 runners .
While trying to figure out ways to raise money for the school , Rodio came up with the idea for the 5K after seeing his cousin , Joe Rodio , doing 5Ks for his daughter who died .
“ I ’ ve been the basketball coach there . This will be my 10th season . I just got in the advancement fundraising role a
See SJA 5K , Page 3
Candice Atwell / THG
Cousins , Isabella Gutierrez , 11 , ( left ) and Sandra Aquino-Lopez , 12 , paint pumpkins during the St . Mary of Mt . Carmel Parish Carnival and Fall Festival on Oct . 8 .
Crafts , animals & more at Blueberry Crossing
by Kristin Guglietti GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
HAMMONTON — People enjoyed buying crafts , petting animals , face painting and more at the 10th annual Blueberry Crossing Fall Festival , which was held at Blueberry Crossing , 240 S . White Horse Pike on Sept . 30 .
Bill Doberstein and Chris Giardino of The Health Tree organize the event each year .
“ We started 10 years ago . We were like a little committee for Uptown Hammonton because Downtown Hammonton they have all kinds of things they do down there , not to be jello , but we get nothing up here on the White Horse Pike ,” Doberstein said .
Doberstein and Sharon Bertino , the owner of The Health Tree ,
helped to start a committee called Uptown Hammonton , Doberstein said .
The idea for the fall festival came from the Uptown Hammonton committee .
“ We tried to get a bunch of different things going on but this one stuck . This is our 10th annual . We ’ ve been doing this for 10 years and it just grew . Every year it grows . But it was mainly started to generate business because a lot of small businesses they need something to jump start ,” Doberstein said .
Giardino said every year 500 to 1,000 people visit the Blueberry Crossing Fall Festival .
There are also more vendors and food trucks this year than before .
“ It takes us from January to now to get it together . It ’ s only me and
Bill . We put it together . We always have a good crowd ,” Giardino said . “ We have more vendors this year . Normally we have 45 vendors . This year we have 70 . We normally have five trucks . We have almost 10 this year .”
Food trucks included Mister Softee , Tacos Al Carbon , Big Papa Jai ’ s BBQ , Dutch Funnel Cake , Mary ’ s Mobile Diner , Bake N Bacon and Skippy Dogg ’ s Food Truck .
The petting zoo was new this year , which included goats and bunnies for people to pet .
Another new addition to the fall festival was a vendor who sells plants and pumpkins .
“ We have the plant ladies out here . She ’ s one of our regular customers ,” Doberstein said .
See CROSSING , Page 8
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