Lacey Day will be held 12 to 5 p.m. Saturday, August 11 at Gille Park on Manchester Avenue in Forked River. Organized annually by Lacey Township, the day features free hot dogs, hamburgers and ices, entertainment, games, demonstrations and local vendor information tables.
"The food and activities have always been free to residents," said Veronica Laureigh, Lacey Township Administrator. "We want to keep the least amount of impact on the taxpayers. They pay taxes, so this is a give back."
Laureigh said Lacey Day costs the township $12,000 to run, with a third of that recouped through community donations. She said they started planning the event in January and right now, they are accepting donations and selling vendor booths to local businesses and non-profits through the Recreation office.
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Township Recreation Director James Wioland said new this year will be a live band. , made up of Monmouth and Ocean County teenagers, including drummer Billy Nally, a sophomore at Lacey Township High School will perform throughout the day. The five-member rock band performed at the Bamboozle Festival in Asbury Park in May, which featured Bon Jovi and the Foo Fighters. They secured a spot at Bamboozle by beating out hundreds of other bands in the Break Contest at the Stone Pony.
Wioland said the Rotary Club of Forked River will be on hand preparing the food and there will be many of the long-time favorites, such as a disc jockey, children's activities, martial arts demonstrations and fire truck rides. They also plan to have a community vendor game, which took place for the first time at last year's Lacey Day.
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"Four to five hundred people visited every vendor booth to be entered in a drawing for door prizes," said Wioland. "It was great face time and a great opportunity to sell a product or get their word out."
Wioland said attendees were given cards that could be punched by vendors when they visited each booth. Those who filled out the entire card were entered to win. He said it gave people an incentive to talk to the vendors and he received a lot of positive feedback about the game.
"Lacey Day is a lot of fun and a wonderful day for the parks' system and celebrating what it's like to be part of Lacey," said Wioland.
Vendor booths may be reserved by visiting the Recreation Department office at 818 West Lacey Road, behind the police Department, or calling 609-693-1100, extension 2203.
In the event of rain, Lacey Day will be held Sunday, August 12.
A Lacey Day registration form is attached to this story as a PDF.
