SOMERS POINT — Families and friends crowded into John F. Kennedy Memorial Park on Sept. 9 to take in the live music, children’s activities, food and drinks, classic cars, an art show and sale, civic organization displays and craft vendors during the Good Old Days festival.
Walking down Broadway toward the beautiful bayfront park, Joe Regan and Mike Smith were ready for a good time, she wearing a flowing tie-dye dress and he a Grateful Dead T-shirt.
Sporting a stove-pipe hat, restaurateur Greg Gregory, who helps organize some of the many events hosted by the city each year, said this year was the biggest festival ever, encompassing the entire park.
“We’ve got the great music like always but this year we really blew it up,” he said. “It used to end at the swings but now we’ve got Art in the Park taking up that space.”
Traditionally held in June, the art event was canceled this year due to rain and fog but the Somers Point Arts Commission got a chance to join with Good Old Days.
City resident Alexis Flack, 41, was displaying her unique work. She owns Wild Grown Art, which she described as “nature-inspired art and workshops bringing the outside in.”
Flack makes stamps from woodcuts and prints them on paper, book covers and other ephemera.
“If a tree falls down — insects brought this ash tree down — I take a cut of it and I blowtorch it because then you can feel the tree rings. Then I roll on acrylic paint and press paper to it and when I peel it up, you can feel the texture of the tree rings,” she said, noting acrylic paint is durable enough to last.
“I can reuse this over and over again until the grooves get clogged with paint, then I just sand, blow torch again and I’m ready to go. It allows me to reuse and repurpose things that have gotten a little beat up in nature,” Flack said.
She said she had some formal art training but is mostly self-taught, although she always enjoyed the support of her family, which “encouraged curiosity and creativity.”
Megan Smith, 20, who recently moved to Northfield from Bethlehem, Pa., was selling her colorful and whimsical paintings, while Caitlin Diehl, 22, of Somers Point, looking classy in a floppy sun hat, was selling her self-portraits and bath bombs.
There was plenty to do for children. Chris and Maria Lewandowski brought their daughters — Sofia, 5, and Emma, 4 — from Egg Harbor Township. They were taking in the sights as the girls spent time on the swings.
Watching the magic show and cooling off with a popsicle on a hot, muggy day were the McCarthy brothers — Leo, 7, and Henry, 3 — along with Sequoia Hodak, 7, and sister Coral, 4, of Egg Harbor Township.
Debra Tarby of Galloway Township was helping grandson Maverick Murray, 18 months, at the pony rides.
Food trucks from local establishments were selling their most popular sandwiches, while volunteers Chris Gitsas, Jon Beamer and Jay Turcotte were working the grill as lines of hungry festival goers waited, mouths watering, for a hamburger or hot dog.
Dan and Kathi Clayton of Egg Harbor Township were enjoying a bite to eat from the Josie Kelly’s Public House food truck, as were Victoria Cuevas of Somers Point with children Matthew, 6, and Mia, 5, along with friend Johnathan Connor, 12.
There was live music on two stages throughout the day. Taking in a performance by The Notion and wearing cool green glasses, Dani Dimacale of Somers Point was showing off her new plant to Shane Willard of Egg Harbor Township. She just bought it from one of the craft vendors.
Civic organizations also set up booths to advertise their offerings. Shore Medical Center was conducting free health screenings, and Councilman Sean McGuigan took advantage of the opportunity to get his blood pressure checked by nurse Jennifer Pero.
At the other end of the festival, Todd Lund and Bill Murphey of the Sea Scouts, part of Boy Scouts of America, had a display including a four-oared row boat and replica of their ship. They were spreading the word about the benefits of membership and hoping to sign up those interested.
Murphey, the skipper of the ship, said they meet at the VFW post in Tuckerton over the winter but in the summer they go sailing weekly off Mystic Island.
He said there are two active ships in the Jersey Shore Council, which covers Atlantic and Ocean counties, theirs in Tuckerton and the other in Point Pleasant. Membership is for boys and girls age 14 to 21.
Off the boat ramp, the Great Egg Harbor River Council conducted a seine net demonstration in the morning and afternoon to show off some of the sea creatures in the area.
There also was a classic car display, where Gabrielle Petry and son Declan, 2, were checking out the rides. Declan had his eye on a hot rod and his hand on the door, hoping to get inside.
Petry and her husband Joe, who also have a 4-month-old son, Rylan, serve in the U.S. Coast Guard and recently moved to the city from Norfolk, Va.
“This is our second year living here and second year here,” she said, noting she likes the neighborhood feeling of the festival.
“It’s almost like everyone knows everyone,” she said. “Which is really nice.”
Following a karate demonstration in the afternoon, the crowd was treated to some old-fashioned three-legged and sack races.
“Just like the good, old days,” Gregory said.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff