As most of the town knows, Bob Schenk and John Runfolo along with the rest of the Town Clock Committee did a wonderful job revitalizing the town clock. Clocktoberfest, which will be held on the grounds of town hall on October 9, will celebrate the end of the project with an afternoon of fun and the dedication of a donor plaque inside town hall.
It all got me to thinking: With the town clock project at an end, what’s next for Schenk and Runfolo?
In the spirit of Runfolo’s humorous emceeing of the annual Greater Hammonton Chamber of Commerce Awards and Installation Dinner, which was unfortunately canceled again this year, I’ve decided to present a few tongue-in-cheek potential “projects” for the dynamic duo of Schenk and Runfolo to work on in the coming months. Good luck guys!
Build a walking bridge that links one side of the lake from Hammonton Lake Park to another shoreline. (Whichever shoreline works best.) It can be a toll bridge to help raise funds for maintenance efforts at our local park areas.
Create a statue of Amerigo Vespucci and place it downtown. You can also start an event celebrating “Amerigo Vespucci Day” on March 9 (the explorer Vespucci’s birthday).
Erect a third water tower. This one can go in the Hammonton Business Park, but it absolutely must be twice as tall as the two other towers. Bigger is always better, right? Paint something tasteful on it, like a big likeness of Amerigo Vespucci.
Sell commemorative plaques on all the solar panels at the Hammonton School District as a fundraiser. Dedicate them to a family member, a friend, a teacher, an advisor, a coach or a student. Each plaque can read “This solar panel is dedicated to…” If they’re going to block the view of the high school from Old Forks Road, the solar panels should at least be good for something besides catching sunrays.
Finally, build a minor league baseball stadium in town. Hey, I couldn’t do it. Why not give it another shot?
There you have it. While I can’t hold a candle to Runfolo’s jokes during the Chamber dinner, I figured this little homage to his brand of humor would make us all smile even though we won’t be gathering for the annual Chamber Dinner this year.
Seriously, though, Schenk and Runfolo deserve a lot of thanks and respect for all their hard work on accomplishing something we never thought we’d see: the revitalization of the town clock, which looks fantastic and tells excellent time.
And remember, Clocktoberfest will held on October 9 at town hall from noon to 5 p.m. Come out and celebrate the town clock with food, fun and music.
Now that the hard work on the town clock is finished, I just figured that Schenk and Runfolo would have a lot of—pardon the pun—time on their hands now. I have a feeling that even if these projects aren’t up their alley, they’ll be putting their talents to other projects locally soon.
When they do, I look forward to covering their efforts on actual civic projects in The Gazette.
Gabe Donio is the publisher of The Hammonton Gazette.
CORRECTION: The Philadelphia Eagles won NFL Championships in 1948 and 1949 in addition to 1960 as well as the Super Bowl in 2018.