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Plays & Players suspends 2020 season

The executive board of Haddonfield Plays & Players today notified its patrons, actors, crew, staff and extended theatre community that it had “made the difficult decision to suspend theatre operations through summer.”

“Unfortunately, this means that all summer programming including our productions of Picnic, Night at the Oscars, Night of 1000 Plays and 24-Hour Play Festival, as well as our OnStage summer camp program, will not go on as planned.”

The board said it will re-evaluate the remainder of the season during its meeting in September.

“We recognize that, now more than ever, we need to stay connected — with our craft and with each other,” the board said. “We are working on creative new ways to bring you performance opportunities and entertainment experiences and we welcome your suggestions!”

The announcement concluded: “This is only intermission. We are appreciative of your continued support as we plan our next act. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.”

Connect with Haddonfield Plays & Players HERE.

A call to shun tee-shirt knock-offs

Organizers of the Haddonfield Here For Good campaign, which is raising funds to support local businesses through the sale of tee-shirts, have identified three websites that are selling bootleg copies of their copyrighted design.

They urge Haddonfield residents and others who are planning to purchase shirts to shop ONLY on HaddonfieldHereForGood.com.

Bob Hochgertel, one of the organizers of the campaign, said “The problem, of course, is that none of the monies paid to these pirate online stores will ever make it back to our downtown small businesses.”

The three sites selling the bootleg shirts are:

In addition to tee-shirts, the sites are selling other Haddonfield Here For Good-branded merchandise, including sweatshirts, hoodies, cell phone covers, and shopping bags. Some are available in a variety of colors.

Teechip.com has a “Report this campaign” link where interested parties can report intellectual property violations. Teecandal.com and Rocktee.store — which are essentially identical sites — have DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) notices that describe how to report intellectual property infringement.

“We are taking prompt and aggressive action to address this egregious infringement of our rights,” Hochgertel said.

Three residents test COVID-19 positive

The Camden County Department of Health today added three Haddonfield residents to its tally of those identified as COVID-19 positive: A male in his 40s, a female in her 40s, and a male in his 60s.

These additions bring the local total to 43: 19 male, 15 female, and 9 unknown. (Eight of the nine unknown were added by Camden County on May 13, as the result of a reconciliation of county numbers with state numbers.) The gender and age breakdown is as follows:

  • 20s — 3 male, 3 female
  • 30s — 2 male, 4 female
  • 40s — 7 male, 4 female
  • 50s — 5 male
  • 60s — 2 male, 1 female
  • 80s — 2 female
  • 90s — 1 female
  • Not known = 9

Police designate pick-up areas for stores

To facilitate curbside pickup, takeout, and delivery for retail businesses and restaurants in compliance with Gov. Murphy’s Executive Orders 107 and 143, the Haddonfield Police Department has marked a number of “stopping” zones along Kings Highway East, between the Speedline and Haddon Avenue.

These zones are identified by red plastic bags on parking meters, and signs reading “No Parking 7am — 10pm. Curbside Pickup Only.”

Shoppers may stop in these zones for the purpose of picking up merchandise, food, and beverages that were ordered in advance. The maximum stopping time in any one spot is five minutes.

Parking paces where the meters are covered with green bags are available for regular parking.

Farmers Market now taking orders

Eight vendors have signed on for the 2020 version of the Haddonfield Framers Market – Order Online / Drive In / Pick Up.

The market will be held, rain or shine, from 9am to 12n each Saturday through October 10, in the parking lot of Archer Law. Enter off Euclid Avenue.

Orders MUST be placed and paid for in advance HERE. Walk-up service is not available.

The vendors who have signed on, so far, are:

Duffield’s Farm Produce

Free Haven Farms

Muth Flower Farms Other Avenues Skin Care

Sara’s Produce

Sorbello Girls Farm

Stillwell Farms

Whispering Orchards Farm & CSA

Stores may resume limited operations

Non-essential retail businesses in Haddonfield and through the state may re-open for the curbside pick-up of goods on Monday, May 18, pursuant to an executive order signed by Gov. Phil Murphy on May 13. The interior of stores must remain closed to the general public, in accordance with the governor’s previous orders with respect to retail operations.

The state’s announcement is HERE.

The full text of the executive order is HERE.

A number of Haddonfield establishments jumped the gun, taking advantage of the pleasant spring weather and increased pedestrian traffic on the weekend to make it clear that they were open for business.

At noon on Saturday, about a dozen business owners gathered on the sidewalk outside The Happy Hippo toy store to call for an immediate lifting of all restrictions. They had responded to a May 14 email from Guy Elzey III, a local real estate broker and landlord of 25 businesses in Haddonfield:

“A newly formed group called ‘Save Haddonfield – Reopen New Jersey’ would like to invite you to a protest rally in the center of beautiful, historic Haddonfield in support of our terrific local restaurants, shops and cafes (the four (4) corners of Kings Highway and Haddon Avenue). All attendees are encouraged to bring American flags, wear their masks, stand 6 feet apart and carry a sign. This historic intersection was often a crossroads of the American revolution and Saturday, Haddonfield business people will be pushing back on a dictator governor who would rather spend time fancying himself as a world leader and speaking to the President of Israel, rather than spending time considering the economic plight of wonderful NJ communities like Haddonfield. Just like the King of England heard America’s voice loud and clear in London, it is our hope that our dictator governor in Trenton will hear loud and clear the voice of Haddonfield business people.”

Four more residents test positive

One female in her 40s and one in her 90s were added on May 15 to the tally of Haddonfield residents identified as COVID-19-positive. A female in her 20s and a male in his 40s were added on May 16.

Those additions bring the local total to 40: 17 male, 14 female, and 9 unknown. (Eight of the nine unknown were added by Camden County on May 13, as the result of a reconciliation of county numbers with state numbers.) The gender and age breakdown is as follows:

  • 20s — 3 male, 3 female
  • 30s — 2 male, 4 female
  • 40s — 6 male, 3 female
  • 50s — 5 male
  • 60s — 1 male, 1 female
  • 80s — 2 female
  • 90s — 1 female
  • Not known = 9

Commenting on the current status of the pandemic in Camden County, Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr said, on May 17:

“Every day that this pandemic continues is an opportunity to strengthen our resolve and implement effective mitigation strategies into our daily lives. We have not yet won this war. While I know that the large majority of Camden County residents have been extremely vigilant during this crisis, I want to again implore our entire community to take this fight seriously. We must all continue to exercise stringent social distancing if we are going to defeat this virus, and as more of our economy reopens, the onus will be on each of us to safely choose when we should be around others and how to protect ourselves those nearby. This is still a real threat, but we can recover if we continue to fight with the tools at our disposal.”

Farmers Market to open May 23

After notching their most successful year to date, organizers of the Haddonfield Farmers Market were looking forward to getting the 2020 season off to a fast start in Kings Court on Saturday, May 16. Then along came COVID-19.

Undaunted, the committee has arranged to hold a call-ahead-for-pick-up market each Saturday in the parking lot of Archer Law, off Euclid Avenue, starting on Saturday, May 23.

Since many 2019 vendors have signed up to participate, shoppers can look forward to a wide selection of fruit, vegetables, flowers, and other locally sourced items. 

Visit the Market website HERE for details.

COVID-19 update

On Wednesday, May 13, the Camden County Department of Health released new data for the 38 municipalities in the county that were the result of a reconciliation of its numbers with those maintained by the State of New Jersey. 

The new tally put the number of COVID-19-positive cases for Haddonfield at 36, and the number of fatalities at 4. 

Two fatalities were recorded on April 18 (one male and one female, both in their 80s) and another two on May 4 (a male in his 50s and another in his 90s).

Before Haddonfield’s total number was adjusted upwards on May 13, by 8, the age and sex breakdown for cases not resulting in death was as follows:

  • 20s 3 male, 2 female
  • 30s 1 male, 4 female
  • 40s 5 male, 1 female
  • 50s 5 male
  • 60s 1 male, 1 female
  • 70s
  • 80s 1 female
  • Not known = 4

Another two cases were added on May 15: One female in her 40s and one in her 90s.

Tennis courts are open

The Borough commissioners have removed the Centennial Tennis Courts from the list of recreation facilities that are closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. There are restrictions, however:

  • The courts will be open from 8am to 8 pm daily for singles play only. Doubles matches, group tennis, and lessons are not permitted.
  • Players must wear gloves, and are encouraged to wear masks.
  • Participants must remain at least six feet apart.
  • Individuals may not congregate at the entrance to the courts or on the courts themselves.
  • Players must schedule their matches HERE. Walk-on matches are not permitted.