Four Events This Weekend

City parking lots behind stores on East Front Street filled up with amusement rides as workers prepared for two large weekend events.

 Nightclub owner Edison Garcia is putting on his fourth annual fiesta to celebrate Central American independence. His event will take place on Municipal Lots 8 and 8A, between Somerset Street and Watchung Avenue.

On the next block east, Rodney Maree won city permission to hold his first outdoor event in Municipal Lot 1, behind his Watchung Avenue club, Chez Maree.

Garcia's events have featured a Heineken's beer tent, among many other attractions. This Corona banner in Lot 1 makes us wonder whether that will be the featured beer there.

At Wednesday's PMUA meeting, Executive Director Dan Williamson passed an image of this banner to the commissioners and explained that it had not been authorized by the PMUA. In answer to our question regarding another banner naming PMUA as a sponsor of Garcia's event, Williamson said that was also erroneous.

PMUA will have an extra cleanup task at the side-by-side events, however. Both will run throughout the day and evening on Saturday and Sunday,

 As if that was not enough excitement at the city's northern border, another event is expected to draw crowds to Democratic Party headquarters on Roosevelt Avenue, on the next block to the east. Newark Mayor Cory Booker is expected to head a roster of dignitaries at a gathering from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday.

All this means that attendees may be vying for parking spaces, especially when all three events are taking place at once. There will be no parking in Lots 8, 8A or 1. The next closest lots are the one behind Bill's Luncheonette on East Second Street, Lot 5 across from Police headquarters and Lot 4 off West Fourth Street. Fortunately, there is likely to be a lot of foot traffic to the sites from nearby neighborhoods, but the events are being advertised widely and will attract out-of-towners as well.

In addition, the Plainfield Public Library will mark Hispanic Heritage Month Saturday with a reception from 1 to 4 p.m. for an exhibition featuring paintings of Julio Ortiz and photographs of Paola Rached. The library is also featuring Volunteer Day on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., where opportunities to volunteer in various departments will be explained. The library is located at 800 Park Avenue.

--Bernice