For more than a decade, Bordentown’s Peach and Ice Cream Social has aimed to gather local patrons for a leisure-filled activity to enjoy one of nature’s fruits.
Sponsored by the Bordentown Historical Society, the event is set to take place for Aug. 16 and all are welcomed to enjoy their choice of a fresh peach dessert such as peach pie a la mode, peach cobbler and peach sundaes with iced tea, lemonade or water. The event will be held at 302 Farnsworth Ave.
The event is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. There is an Aug. 17 rain date.
Bordertown Historical Society members said all proceeds from the event go toward the restoration and preservation of Bordentown’s treasured paintings and archival documents as well as the Friends’ Meeting House building.
Although the popular event has been primarily headed by the historical society since its inception, this year’s event will have a new twist as it will team up with the Downtown Bordentown Association (DBA) to host an event described as a “peach party weekend,” said the event’s co-coordinator, J. Steinhauer.
Coinciding with the DBA’s “Sizzlin’ Summer Sidewalk Sale,” patrons are encouraged to walk along Farnsworth Avenue as participating Bordentown businesses and vendors will offer limited time “peachy” sales and deals for customers.
The sidewalk sale is scheduled to run from Aug. 16–17 and will begin at 11 a.m. on both days.
“These organizations are coming together to impact the community in a positive way,” Steinhauer said. “[People] will be supporting local businesses in Bordentown as well as the historical society.”
In previous years, Steinhauer said the event is typically preceded by the historical society members receiving peaches from local farms days in advance to be prepared for the community.
“The day before, the group gets together and peels hundreds of peaches, we store them overnight and get them ready for the event and invite the community for peach pies, peach ice cream and cobbler,” he said.
On the day of the event, the co-coordinator remarked that patrons are invited to the Friends’ Meeting House, which “basically becomes a restaurant that night.”
“It’s amazing when you are putting this together for the community,” Steinhauer said. “Everyone is supportive and it also provides us with energy to move forward to say ‘We are doing the right things.’
“We have had people come into these events and say, ‘Wow, this is such nice town to live in.’ That is a part of what we are all about. It’s not only promoting the history of Bordentown, but it’s promoting our community and the great network of people that live in Bordentown,” he added.
Steinhauer also said that this will be his third year co-coordinating the event, and noted that the social’s aim goes well beyond the scope of partaking in the dining of peach cuisines. For Steinhauer, the event encompasses a sense of community.
“The best part of doing this event is seeing our neighbors and the people coming from other communities to have dinner in town,” he said. “It’s not only about forming a community, but it also does two things: we are celebrating the community by bringing them in, but [the historical society] is showing that we are accessible.”
As members of the public are invited to walk into the Friends’ Meeting House building of the historical society, Steinhauer said he hopes that people will be interested to learn and see the depth of Bordentown’s history inside the meeting house.
For more information about the event, contact the historical society at 609-468-3862 or by email at BordentownHistoricalSociety@gmail.com.
