The event will take place on Oct. 7 from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. at 400 Tuckerton Road in Medford.
As the weather cools down, it’s time to spice things up at the Katz Jewish Community Center’s fourth annual Fall Festival.
On Oct. 7, JCC Camps at Medford will be hosting a variety of fall activities from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. The community is invited to partake in pumpkin picking and decorating, hayrides, tailgate games, Jewish fall holiday themed arts and crafts (run by local synagogues and other local organizations), live music, miniature golf, boating, rock climbing, zip lining, inflatables and a petting zoo. There will also be vendors and food trucks.
For the first year, the Fall Festival will open the archery range and have tailgating games for the older attendees to enjoy.
Sara Sideman, assistant director of JCC Camps at Medford and coordinator of the Fall Festival, expressed her enthusiasm toward this year’s event — hoping to see another year of about 1,500 guests at the festival.
“The community has been very receptive, and we get people of all ages and backgrounds together for a great fall day,” Sideman said. “It has morphed into a larger event than we have ever expected, and we love the growth over the last few years.”
Sideman has coordinated the Fall Festival since its inception in 2015, and she stated it initially started with two goals in mind. One was to celebrate the Jewish fall harvest holiday of Sukkot, and the other was to bring new people onto the campsite.
Stephanie Dworkin, marketing director, has been with JCC Camps for five and a half years and said attendees can expect fun more than anything else at this year’s Fall Festival.
“I love the Fall Festival because it brings so many people together. We see countless faces of JCC families that we know well, as well as the faces of many others who we don’t know. It’s a wonderful opportunity to bring these groups together to what has become one of my favorite places,” Dworkin said. “Kids will love it and so will mom, dad, grandma, grandpa — everyone will leave with a smile on their face.”
Along with the Fall Festival, JCC hosts numerous educational, social and entertaining community events throughout the year. Sideman said the nonprofit is based in Jewish values, but the values are universal, and encourages individuals of all faiths, cultures, ages and abilities to be a part of their dynamic and vibrant community.
She said she loves seeing the community come together at camps that JCC hosts.
“JCC Camps at Medford is such a special place, and it is so much fun to watch new families experience camp for the first time, as well as watching our current campers pulling their parents along showing off their favorite places in camp,” Sideman said. “I grew up in South Jersey and worked at camp as a counselor in high school and college, and now to be working full-time as part of the leadership team and as the organizer of the festival is so rewarding for me.”
The Fall Festival will be held at 400 Tuckerton Road in Medford and the cost of the event is $20 per vehicle for parking, which includes all the activities offered. JCC is asking for each person in attendance to donate a book for BookSmiles.
