Cranford Celebrates Itself (Videos)

CRANFORD, NJ - In honor of Cranford being named as top downtown, businesses celebrated with discounts, music and a sloppy joe eating contest on Sunday.

The event featured a Kid Zone, Fit Fest, Music, and the aforementioned Sloppy Joe Eating Contest. The event was sponsored by Downtown Cranford, Cranford Community Connection, Cranford Jaycees, Cranford Area Chamber of Commerce, Hanson Park Conservancy, and Cranford Municipal Alliance.

During the day, a number of downtown businesses offered special sales and promotions. Cranford's TV35 was there and captured some of the action.

TV35 also caught the winner of the sloppy joe eating contest, Raj DeSouza, who won with 7.5 sandwiches down the hatch.

Not to be outdone, Downtown Cranford caught some shots of the action.

Twice in 2018, Cranford was recognized for their stellar downtown. NJ.com crowned Cranford the Best Downtown in NJ a month after being awarded 2018's Great Downtown by the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association.

In the NJ.com contest, Cranford was in a tight voting contest with rival Westfield and perennial powerhouses Cape May, Morristown, and Somerville. Cranford ended up winning the final round of the weeks-long contest with 30 percent of the vote.
Vitality, walkability, dining, shopping, art, history, architecture, and transportation were listed as reasons that Cranford's downtown was awarded 2018's Great Downtown by the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association.

According to the APANJ website last month, Cranford's downtown is the heartbeat that feeds all its residents and visitors. Cranford's train station is the centerpiece of downtown and is the engine that brought population growth, investment, created its network and built its architecture.

For their part, the NJ.com story called attention to retails shops Rogue Comics, Milk Money, Anthem Style and Gift Shop and Periwinkle's Fine Gifts. It also mentioned Cranford Hotel, Urban Burger, Kilkenny House and Vanilla Bean Creamery.

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