Medford resident Justin Gibbs has only lived in the township for a few years, but he has been visiting Medford Village since he was a child.
Gibbs described how the village used to be very clean about a decade ago, with flowers and plants lining the walkways.
Today, Gibbs feels the area is lacking that charm.
“It always looked much better,” he said. “It looked more maintained.”
To help the township, Gibbs formed the Medford Village Crew, a group dedicated to beautifying and promoting Medford Village.
Gibbs’ mission for the group is very simple: He wants Medford Village to look the same way it used to look when he was younger.
The Medford Village Crew is in the very preliminary stages. Gibbs formed the group on Facebook on Sept. 7. In two days, he had 52 likes and had already contacted local businesses about getting started.
The group’s first project will be planting mums and flowers in pots along Main Street. Gibbs acknowledged the project is low key, but he hopes the impact will be huge.
“We’re going to do mums in the big pots, and we’re going to make brochures and hand them out,” he said. “Right now, we’re basically just trying to help with maintaining the flowers.”
Gibbs has been in contact with the Medford Business Association and the Medford Village East subcommittee. He said the MBA was open to him forming the group, but could not help with money or manpower for projects.
“They both said there’d be no problem doing anything, but no financing is available and the help is lacking,” Gibbs said. “Otherwise there’d be no problem.”
In response, Gibbs is trying to get the backing of a number of businesses. He has contacted Braddock’s Tavern, Refined on Main and Lulu’s Lunchbox to get support. One hurdle has been financing. Gibbs is hoping each business in Medford Village will donate about $10 toward the project. So far, the reaction has been mostly positive.
“A couple businesses contacted me and said they’d be giving out donations,” he said. “We’re going to see if we can talk to each of the businesses.”
Gibbs is confident the group will have enough volunteers. He has received a lot of interest on Facebook since starting the group. He hopes to get a steady membership so the group can focus on multiple projects in the future.
“If we can, three people will focus on this part of the village, three in another part,” Gibbs said.
The focus of the group will remain on beautification to make Medford Village more attractive for prospective businesses and customers. Gibbs is hoping to plant flowers by the end of September. Later in the fall, he wants to do other projects such as picking up trash and raking leaves along the sidewalk.
Gibbs is also talking to the Woman’s Club of Medford to partner on a few projects. He said the groups might do a cleanup of Cranbury Park in the near future.
For now, the focus is on building a strong volunteer base and restoring the look of Medford Village.
“We could set up a table at the Dickens Festival or any type of event that is in downtown Medford,” Gibbs said. “Right now, we’re just in the process of just getting the small things together for the fall, and I’ve been sharing the link.”
Resident interested in joining the Medford Village Crew can like them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Medfordvillagecrew.
