Watch The Replay Of Chatham Fishawack Festival's Livestream Event From Saturday

CHATHAM, NJ — After COVID sidelined the Fishawack Festival in 2020, the 50th anniversary Fishawack Festival returned this past weekend, with both in-person and virtual components.

Shirly Wu, part of the Chatham Chinese Association and a Chatham Borough resident, hosted the livestream broadcast, anchoring from the Library of the Chathams, while Chatham High School volunteer student reporters were on the ground, interviewing business and organizational representatives at the festival, this past Saturday.

Wu interviewed locals involved with the Fishawack Festival, including Janice Piccolo, Community Services Director for Chatham Borough, who coordinated the event.

Chatham Borough Mayor Thaddeus Kobylarz had a special message before heading out to the festival himself, complimenting Piccolo’s efforts in bringing Fishawack back after its hiatus during the pandemic.

He shared about Fishawack’s origins, as the name the Lenni-Lenape Indigenous Americans gave to the Passaic River hundreds of years ago, with Chatham located at the narrowest part of the river, Kobylarz recalled. He said the tribe passed through Chatham for a “summer sojourn to the Jersey Shore,” to fish; and bring their food back north for the winter months.

He compared those early Americans to those from Chatham today, who venture to the shore themselves during the summer.

Kobylarz revisited the history of the Fishawack Festival from 1971, which started as a bake sale named “Fishawack Day.” He said it was “intended to be a one-off thing,” but instead “captured the imagination of a lot of folks.”

Normally held around June, the “Retro Fishawack Festival” was deferred until Sept. 24, 25 and 26 this year, to accommodate the lifted COVID restrictions.

Kobylarz told Wu and viewers that volunteers created the biennial Chatham Fishawack Festival after 1971, which became a yearly event in 2011. A decade later, Fishawack is much like it was in 2011, Kobylarz said, with booths for businesses, non-profits, food, children’s games and more.

“It became a real centerpiece to the annual calendar here in Chatham Borough; and the two Chathams actually,” Kobylarz said.

He called the Fishawack return a “high point of the year,” with it expected to be back on during its normal time of year in June 2022.

The celebration is two-fold, he said, with it a time for attendees to celebrate with people closest to them; and to reflect on Chatham’s place in history with the Lenni-Lenape many centuries ago.

Carolyn Dempsey, Chatham Borough Councilwoman and Council President, also took part in the virtual segment, remarking that the Fourth of July parade brought her family to Chatham, with events like the parade, Fishawack, the Farmers Market and the Summer Concert Series, as events that make Chatham an ideal place to live and bring neighbors together.

Borough Councilwoman Irene Treloar called Zoom a “silver lining” to the pandemic, both she and Dempsey thanking Wu for hosting a virtual broadcast for people who may not feel comfortable heading out yet. Treloar remarked how special Chatham is to come home to, after working in the city for the day, with her return from work on Friday greeted by the joy of the festival.

Representing Chatham Township, Deputy Mayor Kathy Abbott was there as well for Mayor Stacey Ewald, who wasn’t available on Saturday during the broadcast. Abbott complimented the volunteer efforts behind Fishawack each year from the Borough and Township.

Abbott shared some happenings in Chatham Township, such as the Senior Center Membership increasing with “record numbers," including support groups, table tennis and fall programs. She talked about the new lighting at Nash Field. She told Wu that during the remnants of Ida, Chatham Township mainly held up well, having replaced pumps just prior to it at the sewer treatment plant.

She recapped the township’s affordable housing for the Chatham Family Apartments, with the developer likely being approved for the nine percent housing tax credit. She addressed the Rolling Knolls Landfill and the Memorandum of Understanding, among the township and other groups with plans to make it a site for passive recreation.

The township, Abbott said, has three electric car charging stations. Another accolade is Chatham Township Police Department’s second-level accreditation, which places the department with only about 12 percent of departments statewide, in terms of its best practices, she said.

Many interviewed complimented Wu for the new virtual component, which they said could likely be a part of Fishawack Festivals in years ahead.

Watch the full Saturday morning broadcast here.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.