BRICK – The township’s 174th birthday party was a resounding success with a constant flow of children and families coming and going for the two-hour celebration.
Township Administration employee Brandi White and high school teacher and anti-bullying coordinator Earl Mosely are the main advisors for the event, with students from the Mayor’s Student Advisory Committee involved with the planning process and coming up with ideas for activities.
“I try to change it every year because we want to keep it fresh and new, so this year we have a lot more – I want to call them vendors – here,” White said from the all-purpose room at the Civic Plaza, where the birthday party was held.
Representatives from the police, fire and EMS departments have always attended, as have other municipal departments, but this year White said there were more businesses involved. The large recreation room was filled with wall-to-wall interactive activities, crafts and games for kids.
“Organizing the birthday party really is a partnership,” White said. “I rely on my co-teachers and advisors to help me, and the [Mayor’s Student Advisory Committee] students play a huge role in it. They’re the ones who went and handed out letters to all the businesses and had that face-to-face conversation. The connections these students made is why the event has grown so much this year.”
The number of students on the Mayor’s Student Advisory Committee, which includes students from both township high schools, fluctuates from year to year as students graduate and new students come in, she said.
Many of the tables surrounding the auditorium were manned by the students, which included design your own cupcake, make your own friendship bracelet, a mapping game, a popcorn and cotton candy table, slime making, paint your own bath bomb and much more.
“We reached out to all of our Buy In Brick businesses to invite them to participate this year, plus other civic organizations like The Historical Society, the Brick Garden Club, we reached out to the MUA, so they’re all new this year,” White said.
All vendors were asked to set up an interactive activity for the kids, like a game or a craft instead of just providing a giveaway, she said.
The party ran from 3 until 5 p.m., and by 4:15 all 100 goody bags for kids had been given away at the entrance.
Brick Township High School senior Desirae Majett, 17, who is the chair of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee for her school said this is her third year of being involved with the birthday party.
“I always enjoy this event because it’s fun – a bunch of different people and a bunch of different organizations from high schools and businesses in the town all come together to not only spread information to our youth but to make the town closer,” she said. “It’s a great way for us all to connect to different people you don’t know.”
Mayor Lisa Crate and Council President Vince Minichino were on hand for the celebration. “I love celebrating anything with our community, and being able to celebrate our 174th birthday with all of these fine people is one of the best things about being mayor,” she said as she cut slices of the birthday cake.
Brick Township was founded on February 15, 1850 when the population was 1,558. The township was made up of small villages, including Bay Head, Mantoloking and Point Pleasant Beach. Over the past 174 years, the population has grown to about 75,000.
