One year after a carnival seemed to sneak up on Bordentown, Hope Hose Humane Co. No. 1 fire station is aiming to re-launch the event with a little more notice for 2013.
The carnival will be held in the lot next to Retro Fitness on Route 206 in Bordentown City from August 7-11, running from 5-10 p.m. each night. Rich Mercantini, the chairman of this year’s event, said Hope Hose was only asked to supply lighting in 2012, making this the first year that the fire station has attempted to organize the festival.
“Being from Bordentown, I think that most people saw the signs go up on a Monday afternoon [last year], and that Wednesday there was a carnival,” Mercantini said. “So what we’ve been trying to do is make sure that we’ve been getting the word out there a little bit earlier that we’re going to be hosting this event.”
Mercantini said the fire station is hoping to double the crowds they saw at last year’s event in light of their promotional efforts. All funds raised during the event will go support the Hope Hose Humane Co. No. 1 fire station, particularly for equipment and maintenance of the firehouse.
“As with any volunteer organization, we get supplemented from our municipality, but the rest of it is up to us to raise some funds, and that’s not cheap on the fire and EMS side,” Mercantini said.
The fire station has been getting the word out with flyers and a Facebook page, but has also tried to create more of a community effort in this year’s event.
Attractions will include a food court with all local vendors, a Super 50-50 raffle, and emergency service vehicles on display, in addition to classic carnival rides.
The carnival itself will be free to attend, but rides will require either individual tickets for $1 or a pre-purchased wristband for $25, good for unlimited rides for that night. However, different nights will feature discounted $20 wristbands for specific groups, including Emergency Services Night on Thursday, Military Night on Saturday and Community Night on Sunday.
“We’re hoping that the effort that we’ve put in to trying to get more of the community involved with some of the other aspects of the carnival will pay off,” Mercantini said.
For more information on this year’s carnival or to view the event listing, search Hope Hose Humane Co. #1 on Facebook.
—Tom Smeaton
