The Delran Recreation Advisory Committee’s main purpose is to increase the involvement of the community. The organization strives to achieve this by creating events. These events include the annual Easter egg hunt, Trunk or Treat, the Delran’s Summer Camp at Conrow Park and a winter festival that will be coming in December.
The committee is a 10-member organization with Joe Parento serving as the chairman. Delran Council Vice President Tyler Burrell and Delran Board of Education member Colin Rafferty are also members and serve as the co-chairmen for Delran Night Out, which will be held Aug. 6 at Holy Cross Academy from 6 to 10 p.m.
“National Night Out is a community event that promotes building community comradery with the neighborhood and the police department,” said Burrell. “This is the second year that we’re doing it in Delran, but this year we will be moving it from Delran Community Park to Holy Cross Academy.
“When Colin and I got involved with the recreation advisory committee, we really wanted to do big events,” Burrell continued. “The council and the mayor’s office also really wanted to push community involvement. We look around and almost every other town did a National Night Out. Delran used to have a Delran Day that was run by the Delran Business Association and we kind of took that and converted into a National Night Out.”
According to Burrell, the first Delran Night Out last year saw about 3,000 to 4,000 people in attendance. The large crowd allowed Burrell and Rafferty to search for a bigger venue. This year, Delran’s Night Out will feature live bands, inflatables, face painters, balloon makers, souvenirs, food trucks, funnel cakes, ice cream, fireworks and much more.
“The big thing that we’re adding to the event this year are fireworks,” said Burrell. “Delran hasn’t had fireworks in about 20 years. This event took a lot of planning and hard work, but this event started as a police movement and we wanted to keep that at the heart. This event wouldn’t happen without the police department, the fire department and public works.
“Through the process the police have been fantastic,” Burrell continued. “We met with the police and fire departments multiple times. We first discussed the location and how we envisioned the event. They talked to us about logistics and the planning. We got advice about where we needed to put everything. The fireworks also added another element.”
While the event featured a lot of moving parts, a lot of fundraising and a vast amount of planning, Burrell, Rafferty, Delran’s Recreational Advisory Committee, the police department and the fire department have finally put it all together in preparation for a great community-wide event. Those looking for more information or who would like to become a volunteer or sponsor for the event can visit Delrantownship.org.
