Saturday's event to break a world record for gospel singing and signing did not quite meet the goal of attracting 10,000 participants, according to press reports. As far as engendering peace, ask anybody living within blocks of City Hall how peaceful their day was, with the sound cranked up to full volume all day.
People appeared to be enjoying the fine weather, the food on sale from vendors and the many prizes given out by representatives of WBLS. Watchung Avenue in front of City Hall was closed off, causing bus routes to be altered but creating plenty of room for a major crowd which did not materialize, despite the exhortations of organizers for those present to call friends and put out Facebook alerts.
The city's $100-per-hour videographer was on hand, as was the Mobile Command Center and a contingent of police officers. This writer attempted to be there for the count, but it kept getting delayed in hopes of getting more people out. After a month of pre-event publicity, the location was moved last week from Cedar Brook Park to the plaza in front of City Hall.
By late afternoon, everything went quiet. The noise had driven Mau the cat into hiding and he finally emerged to take a big nap. The shift from a county to a city venue left this writer still pondering the cost. Monday's agenda-fixing meeting is supposed to include a 45-minute session on "fiscal oversight." Maybe lending city resources to such events will come up in the discussion.
--Bernice
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Do to yesterday being my only full day off I was trapped doing Halloween decorating as well as housework. Although I would have passed on the blaring loudspeaker ( but I understand why it needed to be used )but was pleased when the wind was in in the right direction to hear the voices and singing...
ReplyDeleteThe count was way below what even the paper reported. There were no more than about 400 people total. As far as the city's videographer being there, since this was not a city event, I sure hope that the religious organization/non-profit group organizing the Guinness record are the ones paying him, and that he is not using city video equipment to tape this. If not, this is yet another illegal use of our tax money by the administration.
ReplyDeleteI hope the city council will not fund a "videographer" again and will do what the station is supposed to do, get volunteers to submit tapes of these events.
When I passed the event out of Plainfield at 12:30 on Saturday, it looked like a crows of dozens had assembled and though I live over three blocks away, the noise was not appreciated and I'm glad I left town for the day.
ReplyDeleteI also wonder why this event was scheduled the same day as the Fire Department event just two blocks away by the train station. I also hope the City Council will how much this event cost the city, since it should not have cost us anything. Having Watchung Ave. closed down sure didn't seem like a bright idea to me, but I'm used to dumb ideas every time Watchung is closed for a poorly attended City Hall event.