Glassboro Unity Day

In celebration of the cultural diversity present in Glassboro, the borough held the 14th annual Glassboro Unity Day along College Avenue last Saturday.

The festivities were largely made up of numerous vendors and informational booths from the area, ranging from an animal cruelty prevention booth to a girl scout troop raising money for an upcoming camping trip. To compliment the booths, there was live music and an assortment of games for children to play.

Many local stands showcased their goods, including John Taylor and his wife, Sharon. “My Uncle John’s Sweet-N-Hots,” is a family-run business that utilizes fresh ingredients to make hot sauces as well as sweet and spicy snacks. His most well-known is the original flavor hot sauce, which has been around for over 17 years, according to Taylor. Some of the other hot sauces included pumpkin, roasted garlic with ginger and soy and sage and black pepper. He was also selling honey sticks, fresh Jersey tomatoes and honey infused with naga jolokia pepper, one of the hottest peppers in the world.

Others stands were utilizing this opportunity to help out the community or to promote specific fundraisers, like the Gloucester County Seeing Eye Puppy Raisers Club who sold bandannas for $1 each. The proceeds went to “Forward to the Future,” a puppy raising fundraiser.

There was a candy sand-art stand which bore a sign that read, “Help support the ‘Angels Clothing Closet.’” Everything was handmade, and their mission was to provide clothing and more to those in need.

The Mount Olive Church, of the Christian Community Circle, was also in attendance, with a banner that read, “Write down your prayer request and receive a free gift.” The church would then pray for them and for their prayer to come true.

However, one of the most interesting booths belonged to the “Roughnecks” Motorcycle club, based out of the local VFW. According to Ed “Big E” Barton, the president, they were there to raise awareness for their upcoming beef and beer fundraiser.

Barton explained that the fundraiser was to benefit a little girl named Emma. Barton said that Emma has stage-four brain cancer, a very serious illness, and that the club was doing everything they could to raise money for Emma O’Brien and her family. For more information on the beef and beer fundraiser, call 609-929-5707 or 856-889-9530.

The Animal Rights Activism of New Jersey was present as well, showcasing a wide display of pamphlets and stickers for anyone interested. Their focus was more on what the community can do to fight animal cruelty and included plenty of informative pamphlets to promote self-awareness to the community.

The Glassboro/Pitman/Clayton Girl Scouts, a branch of the Girl Scouts of the South Jersey Pines, hosted several carnival games for children. They also sold ring pops and made s’mores in order to raise money to go on their annual camping trip in the spring.

Verdict, a reggae band who performed at the celebration, paused in their music for a moment to allow Senator Loretta Weinberg to make a brief speech.

“No one is supposed to tell [Governor Corzine] about my dancing,” Weinberg said. “It really is a wonderful town. I want to thank the parents and the young people in Glassboro.”

Weinberg went on to implore residents to tell Governor Corzine to continue funding and believing “in these kids.”

Contributions made by Josh Gager