Maplewood ‘Turning the Avenue Pink’ for October

Maplewood’s Springfield Avenue will turn pink this month as the Springfield Avenue Partnership will help inform residents and visitors to the Springfield Avenue Business District about the importance of early breast cancer detection and treatment as part of the “Turning the Avenue Pink” program.

Springfield Avenue’s center lane will once again be painted pink thanks to a donation of paint from Ricciardi Brothers on Springfield Avenue and services donated from Statewide Striping Corporation of Parsippany. The district’s trees will also be decorated with pink bows, the symbol of the breast cancer awareness effort, throughout the month of October.

 “Statistics show that nearly 40,000 women in the U.S. were expected to die in 2010 from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1990,” said Kathy Blair, owner of the Hair Chalet on Springfield Avenue and a member of the Partnership’s board of trustees.

“These decreases are thought to be the result of treatment advances, earlier detection through screening, and increased awareness and we are proud to contribute to those efforts by involving our community, including the partnership’s business and commercial property owners, as well as their customers, friends and neighbors from the community,” Blair added.

The partnership will also be sponsoring several other fall activities this month including:

■ Fall plantings of mums, cabbage and kale along the Avenue.

■ District businesses will be celebrating HarvestFest with an event or activity at their place of business.

■ Maplewood’s HarvestFest, a one-day festival on Springfield Avenue with family fun activities on Saturday, Oct. 29. Visitors to the festival will enjoy a petting zoo, pony and hay rides, a live children’s concert with Polka Dot and Pals & DJ, a Classic Car Show and food sales from participating food vendors.  

The Springfield Avenue Partnership was established to create a stable, diverse and friendly commercial district that provides for the needs of the local community and brings new visitors to the shopping district.

For more information, including a list of participating Springfield Avenue businesses and restaurants and specific activities, call the Partnership at (973) 763-6011 or visit the Springfield Avenue Partnership’s web site, SpringfieldAvenue.com or follow the Partnership on Facebook.