Greetings, Easton & Phillipsburg Area Macaroni Kid families!
This is your new Assistant Editor, Melissa Bigelli, reporting for duty!
Growing up in the area, I really took for granted how lucky we are to not only have one great state to live in and explore but two. This became very clear when I became a mom and was desperate to find things to do with my kids. Whether you are a Pennsylvanian or New Jerseyan, the sky the limit when it comes to close-to-home family fun! Seriously, since stumbling on Macaroni Kid a few years back we, as my mom says, “Don’t let the grass grow under our feet.” We are always on the go, which is exhausting, but I love it.
This weekend, in addition to one of our favorite activities in Easton, we get to attend two family fun events in Phillipsburg that not only provide a fun outing, but also an opportunity to help support two great causes.
Music for a Good Cause, in P-Burg!
Our first stop will be a visit to our family friend Julianna Sweeney One-Stop-Tour 2018. This is a wonderful night of music consisting of mostly Phillipsburg High School current and alumni students. Everything is student-run, and Julianna includes the students as much as possible so they can learn what it is like to run a concert in the "real world". Through the process, they learn about live sound, lighting, and being a part of the stage crew, as well as other aspects of live performance. As singer, songwriter, producer, and headliner, Julianna feels it’s important to spread awareness about the music industry as a viable career choice, with a plethora of specialized fields. It is incredibly valuable to be exposed to experience opportunities at a young age.
This year’s proceeds and donations will go toward making care packages for a local US Marines Unit (Golf company 2nd Battalion, 25th marines, 4th Marine Division), which happens to be Phillipsburg alumni, Tom DiGiovanni’s unit. Tom was a performer in last years One Stop tour. After being informed about his deployment to Afghanistan, Julianna felt it was the perfect cause for this year.
We will be bringing our four-year-old, Molly, to this event. She loves music and concerts of all kinds. (Although we know our just-turned-three-year-old would also enjoy the music, we can't promise that she wouldn't try to get up onstage and command the spotlight, so she will stay home with her fun aunt for a night of board games and junk food.)
It's a wonderful event for families - especially for families looking for something to do with tweens and teens - but all ages are welcome.
Lyle The Crocodile at Book and Puppet Co. in Easton!
After what promises to be a fun night out, we will get a good night sleep before heading across the river to one of our favorite FREE family-fun Saturday events -Book & Puppet Co's Story Hour. This weekend, they will have Lyle The Crocodile there to meet and greet the kids. I know my girls will both love this event!
Lemonade and Yard Sale to help Kids with Cancer
After the Story Hour, we'll head back over the bridge to support our second great cause of the weekend, the Sandt Girls' 7th Annual Lemonade Stand. These four Phillipsburg sisters - Catie, 11, Tori, 10, Maddie, 4, and Charley, 1 - have been raising money for childhood cancer research for seven years, starting with the oldest, who was inspired by the story of Alex's Lemonade Stand founder, Alex Scott, and begged her parents to have their own lemonade stand when she was only four-years-old. They haven’t stopped since.
This year, they have set a goal of $1,000, which will help fund research. The Firth Youth Center has hosted the lemonade stand for the past three years, and this year they will include a yard sale from 8 am-12 pm and are graciously donating 50% of their proceeds to ALSF. So not only will we be filling up on tasty lemonade but most likely bringing home some new treasures to help support the cause.
I am so happy that I can introduce my children to all the wonderful events our area has to offer and the amazing local families who are giving to such wonderful causes. I think it is so important to enrich our children about the arts--especially the art of giving.
Wishing you a weekend full of sweet music, friendly crocs, and lemonade! See you out and about!
About Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation
Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of cancer patient
Alexandra “Alex” Scott (1996-2004). In 2000, 4-year-old Alex announced that she wanted to hold a lemonade stand
to raise money to help find a cure for all children with cancer. Since Alex held that first stand, the Foundation
bearing her name has evolved into a national fundraising movement, complete with thousands of supporters
across the country carrying on her legacy of hope. To date, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a registered
501(c)3 charity, has raised more than $150 million toward fulfilling Alex’s dream of finding a cure, funding over 800
pediatric cancer research projects nationally. In addition, ALSF provides support to families affected by childhood
cancer through programs such as Travel For Care and SuperSibs. For more information on Alex’s Lemonade Stand
Foundation, visit AlexsLemonade.org.
