This Sunday, Cropwell Friends Meeting, a Quaker community in Marlton and Cherry Hill, N.J., hosted a Halloween party from 1:30-3:00 p.m. Around 45 neighbors visited and enjoyed pumpkin decorating, games, snacks, a truck-or-treat, and tours of the meetinghouse.
Publicity before the event including flyering the neighborhood behind the meetinghouse, hanging posters in local establishments, and creating an event page on Facebook. When asked how they heard about the event families mentioned all of these. Inquiries revealed that the information on one of the print flyers was shared on a parents’ group text associated with Sharp Elementary, a public school in the Cherry Hill School District around the corner.
Most of the visitors came from the neighborhoods surrounding the meetinghouse and had always been curious about the building and graveyard.
As always, tours of the meetinghouse itself were popular. Visitors enjoyed the roaring fire and the historical pictures in the social room, especially one from 1909 that was full of carriages and Quakers all dressed up (it was the centennial celebration of the meetinghouse). Lots of questions were asked about Quaker worship. Many families said they planned to come back for the Dec. 22 Christmas Caroling, with a few signing up for the meeting email announcements list.
The meeting held a similar family outreach event in 2022.
After the last families left meeting members wished an early happy birthday to Earl Evens, who more than anyone else is responsible for the recent rebirth of the Cropwell community.
