By Kevin Coughlin
Meet Me in Morristown met with quite a few smiles on Thursday, as the sidewalk festival opened its third season on a summery evening filled with music and art.
It’s a joint production of the Morristown Partnership, which promotes local businesses, and Morris Arts, the Morristown-based nonprofit that supports artistic endeavors across Morris County.
“For me, the Partnership is here to drive people to downtown Morristown. We’ve tried different summer events, and Morris Arts was the right fit,” said Jennifer Wehring, marketing director for the Partnership.
Tom Werder, executive director of Morris Arts, said he met several visitors Thursday who are contemplating moving to Morristown.
“They were so excited to see this happening,” Werder said. “This feels like something people would travel to Montclair or Jersey City to do.”
The evening gave guests a chance to try their hand at painting, or making Lilliputian-sized books, while sampling musical offerings ranging from rock duos to barbershop quartets to ukulele ensembles.
Asked if Morris Arts might want to make Meet Me in Morristown a weekly summer event, Werder said that would be hard to pull off. As a monthly occurrence, he said, it remains more of a happening.
“People make plans around it,” Werder said.
Mayor Tim Dougherty and First Lady Mary Dougherty made sure they penciled it in.
“You couldn’t ask for a better start to the season. I’m happy so many people can come to our downtown,” said the Mayor, strolling down South Street to check out the scene.
He who was honored by Morris Arts in March for stipulating that developers include public art in their projects. “People who want to invest in Morristown see the value in the arts,” he said.
Meet Me in Morristown 2016 continues on the last Thursdays of June (30th), July (28th) and August (25th).