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Brick Library Gears Up For Thanksgiving With Parade, Food Drive
By Catherine Snipe
The Ocean County library system has Thanksgiving on its mind, with the Brick branch both collecting food and having a Thanksgiving parade this week.
The Brick branch of the Ocean County Library, at 301 Chambers Bridge Road, kicked off what it hopes will be a new tradition for the library, a Thanksgiving parade.
It wasn't to the scale of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, but it was designed to have plenty of floats, all handmade by the participants. The parade was held Tuesday, November 21.
As a children's event, the parade had the youth creating their own floats and then marching around the library.
The Brick branch, as well as the 18 other branches of the Ocean County library system, also collected Thanksgiving food items through Monday, November 20. Each of the branches collected nonperishable food, which was donated to the Foodbank of Monmouth and Ocean counties. The food will be distributed to more than 270 feeding programs that in turn will deliver it to needy families.
In addition, two Brick spots accepted donations of frozen turkeys: the Wind- Mill and ShopRite on Route 70 70.
Most of the donations were the unfrozen, or nonperishable variety, such as canned goods. Bins were piled high with stuffing and gravy, canned sweet potatoes or yams; cranberry sauce; instant potatoes; rice; ready-to-eat canned meals; tuna; macaroni and cheese; peanut butter and jelly; canned juices and sip-sized juices; canned and dry soup; and hot and cold cereal.
Each of these items are collected year-round by the foodbank. Many of the dropoff sites are in area financial institutions, such as the Investors Savings Bank on Route 70 and Brick Boulevard.
Each of the branches is closed for the Thanksgiving break beginning 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 22. All locations are closed Thanksgiving. However, the Brick branch - along
with Barnegat, Jackson, Lakewood,
Manchester, Stafford and Toms River - are open on Friday, November 24.
Next week, the children's programs at the library will resume with a birthday celebration for the late Charles Schultz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip.
The 3:30 p.m. program, "We Love You Charlie Brown & Peanuts!" will celebrate Schultz's creations, including the characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy, with puppet making.
The Brick branch of the Ocean County Library System can be reached at 732-477-4513.
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