Organizers of this year’s Dickens Festival in Medford are hoping for a solid turnout.
On Dec. 3, downtown Main Street will close for the evening to transport visitors to an English Christmas in the days of Charles Dickens. Santa arrives by horse-drawn carriage at 6 p.m. to kick off the event along with musical entertainment, crafts, foods, and the lighting of the holiday tree at the gazebo.
The event winds down around 10 p.m.
John Converse, who owns restoration company DSA CAT, said last year was the first year he attended the Dickens Festival. He said he got involved because of Rich Lechner.
Converse and Lechner are both members of the Medford Sunrise Rotary Club, the group that has taken the reins from the Historical Medford Village Association (HMVA) and is organizing this year’s festival.
“It was an opportunity for our Rotary Club to actually do something and give back to the township,” Converse said, noting the festival also allows them to showcase the good work Rotary does worldwide.
One major difference in this year’s festival will be ice sculptors working in front of businesses all over town as well as on the street that night.
Converse said he noticed people not only from the town but also from other area towns came out to enjoy the festival last year.
“The hope is to increase the vendors to the community,” he said. “That was one of the main things I was looking at as a business owner.”
Converse is trying to draw potential businesses that want to relocate or actually put another business in town. By participating in the Dickens Festival they would see the excitement it’s generated, he said.
Last year as many as 6,000 people attended the festival. Converse is hoping for a little more this year if the weather cooperates.
Lechner, who was raised in Medford, owns Lechner Funeral Home in town. He is president of the HMVA.
Lechner said the association is changing its focus. Instead of supporting festivals they will try to get people to the shops.
The HMVA has already started tours of the area for businesses.
Lechner said he loves the Dickens Festival.
“It found a great home with the morning rotary,” he said. “No doubt about it.”
Converse said it costs as much as $15,000 to put on the Dickens Festival.
Cornerstone Bank, Murphy’s Market, and Habitat for Humanity are the festival’s main sponsors.
The Rotary Club is raising money through sponsorship from corporations, businesses, banks, and individuals. All sponsors will be given credit in the event’s program.
Those interested in sponsorship should contact Converse at 609–694–1110 or [email protected].
The Medford Township Municipal Alliance will be on hand to present the Teen Dickens Fest special event for the same night.
Plans for 2011’s event call for activities for middle schoolers to be held at Haines School, with a new “Coffee House” for high school age students at Cranberry Hall just off Main Street. The festivities will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Fellowship Alliance Chapel is the co-sponsor of this activity, and will be providing their sound and video systems. Fellowship Alliance Chapel will also be providing pizzas and sodas throughout the evening for a nominal fee.
Both events are free, as this activity is offered as a component of Medford’s Municipal Alliance Program. Funding has been provided in part from a grant from the Burlington County Office of Human Services under the Drug Enforcement Demand Reduction (DEDR) grant program and the Governor’s Council on Alcohol & Drug Abuse.
