More than 300 youngsters had one last chance to soak up the last moments of summer a week ago Wednesday night when they participated in the third Annual “Summer of the Century” fun night at Weehawken Stadium.
The children were treated to games of chance like horseshoes, a water balloon toss, and a Super Soaker gun-shooting contest, while feasting on free hot dogs, soda and watermelon. Every kid who participated went home with a free prize as well.
The event capped off a summer of activities organized by the Weehawken Department of Recreation.
“I felt when we started this event three years ago, it was the perfect way to cap an endless summer,” said Weehawken Recreation Director Chuck Barone. “All the kids enjoy themselves. It’s really not an expensive event and everyone gets something. It’s just a fun way to close out the summer.”
Barone said that the summer recreation season flew by, especially since the weather didn’t cooperate much.
“We had a lot of bad days with the rain, so this sort of made up for it,” Barone said. “It seemed as if the summer went by so quickly and a lot of kids didn’t get a chance to enjoy it. But they had a lot of fun at this event.”
Barone said that the most popular event was the tug-of-war.
“It seems to draw the biggest crowd every year,” Barone said. “It usually becomes the boys against the girls and everyone gets excited. It became quite competitive. Councilman [Robert] Sosa gets the kids all hyped up and they really enjoyed it.”
The water balloon toss is also popular, although the contest usually turns into a water balloon fight.
“For some reason, the balloons seemed stronger this year,” Barone said. “They weren’t breaking as easily. Eventually, everyone got wet. They were having fun and their parents didn’t seem to care.”
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner loves the idea of the fun day for the kids.
“It’s an inexpensive way to give the kids one last fun blast before heading back to school,” Turner said. “It’s great, fun-filled, and everyone looks forward to having that one last fun night of the summer.”
Barone said that he was happy with the way his summer program turned out.
“There were no complaints and thankfully, no injuries,” Barone said. “Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves all summer. I didn’t receive any negative feedback. We give the kids a lot to do all summer. It really was a successful summer.”