Saturday’s ninth annual Community Family Day of the Morristown Neighborhood House was designed to bring people together. And that’s what it did for the winners of the 2009 Morristown’s Got Talent show.
Aaron Velasquez, who took top prize two years ago with a beat-boxing performance, meandered around Cauldwell Playground with a camcorder documenting his father, Jens, a world-class frisbee player who will be running a frisbee camp with his brother, Erwin, at the Nabe in September.
On stage, Amor performed with three members from the Boys Nyte lineup that took second place in 2009.
That act was followed Saturday by Morristown hip hop band Universal Rebel, the third-place finisher in ’09.
Aaron will be a sophomore this fall at Franklin & Marshall College, where he sings a cappella with The Poor Richards. But he still finds time for beat-boxing every now and then, as this video attests.
Amor, which added singer Arminda Flores of Morristown High School to the mix with middle-schoolers Jaylon and Jevon Jorge and Ryan Skoletsky, has just returned from a whirlwind seven-state “No Bully Tour” that promoted school harmony.
Universal Rebel, meanwhile, has become a club favorite around Morristown with its positive, feel-good hip hop sound. Brandyn “Adeo” Heppard, Matt McCormack, Rich Collins and Steve Honoshowksy were joined Saturday by Myke Rivera, lead singer of The Community, during their short set just before the rain came. (Videos to come.)
By then, everyone had enjoyed plenty of food and fun.
Photos by Bill Lescohier. Please click icon below for captions.
“We’re trying to promote healthy lifestyles and cross-cultural communication,” Steve Neblett, assistant executive director of the Nabe, said while helping to man the food line at the Cauldwell Playground.
The Neighborhood House was established in 1898 to help immigrants and families struggling to make ends meet. Today, more than 1,500 young people receive services daily at five locations in Morris County. Programs include basketball leagues and after-school cultural and tutoring sessions.
When Community Family Day was conceived in 2002, Steve said, the aim was to smooth relations between African-American and Latino members of the Nabe.
At that time, the majority of clients were African-American; today, Latinos predominate. Saturday’s festivities had a mix of cultures, which was reflected in a free menu that offered beans and rice and plantains, in addition to hot dogs and hamburgs.
Food services were donated by Aramark, with an emphasis on healthy cooking techniques–like swapping canola oil for lard and going easy on the salt, according to Steve. Volunteers from Investors Savings Bank also lent a hand with the barbecue.
Mayor Tim Dougherty noted the Nabe’s “deep roots” in the community and said he would like to find sponsors to help disadvantaged families afford program fees at the Nabe.
“It’s incumbent on the Neighborhood House to have an open dialog with the administration and other agencies so everyone can participate in these programs,” the Mayor said.
