Haddonfield Lions Club Mascot K.C. Clement was on hand for the club’s fall festival on Oct. 4.
Hundreds of borough residents came out on Oct. 4 for the annual fall festival organized by the Haddonfield Lions Club.
The event largely took place on the sidewalks along Kings Highway, while Tanner Street was closed to allow for a juried craft show that featured more than 50 vendors representing local businesses. Several performers gathered outside First Baptist Church.
Among them was the Mabel Kay Senior Center’s Golden Kazoo Band. While the group has performed in town before, the festival marked the first time members played their kazoos for a wider audience.
“I think that the crowd enthusiasm was incredibly gratifying and lets us know that this is going to be a great venture going forward,” said band leader Susi Coley.
The band’s set list featured “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” the Eagles fight song and “God Bless America.” For each piece, the group was led by an accordion rendition, then encouraged guests to sing along.
Down Tanner Street, the Markheim Arts Center had a tent set up where children could create a craft using clay and natural materials like leaves, sticks and acorns, while the organization sold their ceramic creations. Vendors offered a range of products, from honey to crocheted plush animals.
On the sidewalks lining Kings Highway, dozens of community nonprofits and civic associations set up booths to interact with residents and raise awareness about their organizations. They also collected donations and provided various activities.
The Haddonfield Japan Exchange also offered information about its program, where borough students travel to Japan every odd year and host students from that country in America every even year. Margaret Gammie is the director of the program and a teacher at Haddonfield Memorial High School.
“We’re gonna have students from Sendai International School coming this coming year, in 2026,” she noted, “so what we’re doing today is just trying to let the town know about us.”
At the Japan Exchange table, guests could decorate a paper lantern; learn origami; or play a game using chopsticks to pick up Cheerios, beans or marbles and lift them from a bowl in an allotted time.
The Haddonfield Outdoor Sculpture Trust was also on hand near its heart piece in Kings Court and solicited community input on the next animal for the Sculpture Zoo.
“We’re getting a whole bunch of different votes everywhere,” said the trust’s founder and chair, Stuart Harting, “from cheetahs to snow leopards to snakes, crocodiles – so many different animals are being suggested that it’s gonna make it very interesting.”
The borough softball program explained its annual Breast Fest event and the creation of care bags for those receiving chemotherapy. The bags were organized on Oct. 12, while the event will take place on Sunday at Mechanic Street.
