Before social media in the 1960s and ’70s, children in Palmyra still had plenty to do: playing sandlot baseball, basketball and football outside with neighbors year-round, skipping stones into the Delaware River and fishing for carp and eels.
More adventurous youngsters swam in the dirty water on a hot summer day, even jumping off the Riverton Yacht Club pier, despite objections from parents. On a rainy day, families would often pass the time by playing board games like Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Risk and Clue, or card games like pinochle, rummy, poker and blackjack.
Through it all was in-person, social interaction between the children.
“We are not nearly as socially connected as before,” observed Palmyra Councilman Anthony Foster, who helped Mayor Gina Ragomo Tait organize the first Palmyra family game night on Feb. 27, in the Community Center meeting room. “I think this is wonderful. It gives people a chance to meet in person and do something physical.”
The new monthly program is the brainchild of borough clerk Rita Jackson, who told the mayor that she would love to see families sit down and play board games. The mayor eagerly endorsed the idea. Joining the effort were Palmyra High junior class volunteers Danica Krstie, Charlie Rosica, Brian Festensting, Joshua Carter and Mason Blandford, who constructed a large tic-tac-toe board for kids.
As parents and children walked into the meeting room, they could see various games on top of long tables. Tait happily greeted them and encouraged them to have a slice of pizza before they started play. Soon, fathers were sitting across from sons and mothers across from daughters playing games, having fun and talking to each other.
Foster was thrilled about the new program and seeing families interact with each other in person.
“It’s a paradox,” he noted, “that social media was supposed to connect everyone, and instead it disconnects us.”
Game night will be on the fourth Friday of every month, with the next session set for March 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the meeting room. Starting April 24, the games will be moved to the larger gymnasium.
“We’re getting things done for the people of Palmyra,” stated Tait, who is in her second term as mayor. She noted that two years ago, the borough started the summer meals program for families facing food insecurity.
“No child should ever go hungry,” she emphasized, pointing out that with schools closed in the summer, many students no longer get a free breakfast and lunch. “We have provided 20,000 meals in the past two years with help from the South Jersey Food Bank.”
The meals program will next take place on Friday, June 26, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Community Center, and continue every Friday through Aug. 21. Families can pick up boxes containing 10 meals for the week – five breakfasts and five lunches.
