There will be a lot of excitement this weekend in Delran, Riverside and Delanco as the three towns have joined forces for a three-day Triple Towns Festival celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.
The highlight will be a patriotic parade on Saturday morning that kicks off at 10 a.m. from the VFW Post 3020 on Fairview Street in Delran and winding its way to Scott Street in downtown Riverside.
The celebration will continue at 3 p.m. with Delran’s “Freedom Fest: A Star-Spangled Spectacular” at Community Park on Hartford Road featuring live music, family activities and a fireworks display. Shuttle buses to Delran will be available in Riverside and Delanco.
Besides commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the festival will also mark Riverside’s 175th anniversary and Delanco’s 100th.
The opening ceremony for the weekend will be in Riverside, with activities on Friday evening from 6 to 9 p.m. on Scott Street, between the Firehouse and the police station.
“There will be a bounce house, karaoke and giveaways for the children,” said Joe Peditto, a member of the town’s Historical Preservation Committee, adding that there will be a beer garden at the firehouse, a movie for families and refreshments provided by local Boy Scouts and Explorers.
After the parade concludes at Monument Park on Saturday, the Riverside Historical Society will give a short presentation about the founding in 1851 of Progress, the town’s original name, and then launch its new History Hunt and tour.
Parents and children can answer 11 clues and find the locations of buildings in town, noted society archivist Alice Smith, adding that one of the clues is: From here to eternity: Will you too be consumed by fire. Where did I stand?” Members Tom Rust and Joanne Mongon will make Revolutionary War-era three-corner paper hats for the kids to wear while they look for answers to clues.
The Triple Towns festival will conclude on Sunday from 4 to 8 p.m. with a community festival along the Delaware River in Delanco. The patriotic celebration will be held at the Historic Waterfront Park, 501 Delaware Ave., and feature live music by the Legacy Band, family activities, games for children and a variety of local food trucks.
Delran Township was officially incorporated in 1880, and its name is a combination of the Delaware River and the Rancocas Creek. Originally the home of Lenni Lenape Native American tribes, the town evolved from Colonial farmlands into a suburban community.
Riverside was named for a steamboat resort town in 1851 named Progress, and became a manufacturing powerhouse driven by the textile industry and the Philadelphia Watch Case Company, famous for its massive eight-story clock tower.
Delanco started out as a neighborhood in Beverly Township, which was created in 1859. In 1926, residents voted for a referendum to officially establish an independent Delanco Township.
Tom Rust (left to right), Alice Smith and Joanne Mongon display a plaque honoring John Hart, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, while getting ready for the Triple Towns 250th anniversary of America celebration this weekend.
