If you go:
What: Tabernacle Fall Festival and Fun Run for Education
Where: Seneca High School 110 Carranza Road, Tabernacle
When: Oct. 4
Cost: Festival is free. Fun Run ranges from $15–40.
How: Register for the run at runsignup.com/Race/NJ/Tabernacle/5KRunforEducationand1MFunRun.
The first-ever Tabernacle Fall Festival will be a collaborative effort of Tabernacle’s Cub Scout Pack 439, the Tabernacle Rescue Squad and the Education Foundation of Tabernacle to bring the community together and reflect on the core reasons why people moved here in the first place.
“We need to get that feeling back,” said Judy Sailer, the president of the education foundation and bear den leader for the Cub Scout pack who helps with the rescue squad as well.
As a resident who is passionate about the area, Sailer wants to bring back that sense of appreciation for everything Tabernacle has to offer.
“We have some great community organizations in our town, and when I’m out talking to people about these groups, they don’t know about them. They need to be aware of these groups and their events that people might be interested in,” Sailer said.
The only effective way to educate the town is to bring everyone together and allow these groups to attend and raise awareness about themselves, Sailer said, so she invited all local businesses to come out on Oct. 4 to Seneca High School and talk about themselves.
Each year, the Cub Scouts have their “touch a truck” event at which kids have the opportunity to get inside popular vehicles from the fire department, police department and EMS. Kids also get to learn about fire prevention and other emergency services.
Sailer thought it would be beneficial to do something much bigger this year to get a larger turnout, so she got both foundations together and the Cub Scout group and pitched the idea.
“Mount Laurel has Mount Laurel Day, Maple Shade has Maple Shade Day. Most towns do big community events,” she said.
Tabernacle Fall Festival will be a community-wide event that will include a 5k Charity Run for Education, the Scouts’ touch a truck event, as well as a car show, craft fair, food truck food court with local food trucks and a fun zone that includes a dunk tank, sand art, rock climbing wall and more.
The 5k Charity Run for Education is an addition Sailer thought would be appropriate to coordinate with “wellness week” that took place last week in the schools.
“The school is doing a lot for health and wellness, so we wanted to follow that up with the addition of the run to get the support of the school as well,” Sailer said.
She thinks this will provide a great opportunity for the countless folks who run and exercise everyday in Tabernacle to come out and do just that as a community.
There will likely be some competition among the runners as many of them are looking to get timed and enter into larger runs. However, there will also be the choice of a 1M run instead of the 5K for runners looking to run a shorter distance.
Invitations have also been sent to both the Seneca and Rancocas Valley High School track teams.
Folks will have the opportunity to shop with the 50-plus vendors that will be in attendance, providing everything from handmade goods to pre-made materials.
The food truck food court will also be a new idea that will consist of seven vendors making their latest and greatest recipes.
Children will have the opportunity to play in the Nerf Battle Zone or get to touch the vehicles they typically don’t get to go near such as a fire truck, a dump truck and even a helicopter from Virtua Hospital.
The festival will also support the idea of building the community by evenly distributing the proceeds and allowing local organizations to set up and collect donations while spreading the word about their cause.
“This is all about building community, not one non profit doing better than the other. We need to build camaraderie in the community, and that’s not about one organization beating down another; that’s about all coming together and having fun raising awareness while distributing the opportunities and money evenly,” Sailer said.
All proceeds from the run will go to the education foundation, while the business sponsorships are split between the foundations and Cub Scouts.
Visit the Tabernacle Community Fall Festival Facebook page for more information at www.facebook.com/events/1482217042098812/. The event will be at Seneca High School on Oct. 4 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is free for anyone interested in attending and will be held rain or shine.
The 5k Charity Race will be held at 9 a.m. Craft vendors will be available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The car show will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Touch a Truck will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Food Truck Food Court and the Play Zone area will both be available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
