From the Meadowland Park Conservancy and the Community Coalition on Race:
One of the best places to enjoy the South Orange and Maplewood tradition of lighting luminaries for MLK Day is Meadowland Park, where hundreds of luminaries will line the Duck Pond and the park will be illuminated with a professional artistic light and video installation.
The Luminary Project, which was started in 2013 by Patricia Canning (now a South Orange Council member), began with luminaries in front of local homes and businesses and has grown to include public observations like the one in Meadowland Park, where volunteers from the Meadowland Park Conservancy (MPC) and the Community Coalition on Race assemble and place the luminaries.
The luminaries in the park serve a second purpose: each one is weighed down by a can of food that will later be donated to a local food pantry. The canned food drive is underway (see details below for dropping off canned goods).
Community members are welcome at the Skate House in Meadowland Park at 5 p.m. on January 19 for a brief ceremony and the official start of the park illumination, after which they can stroll through the park to see the lights and video installations.
To donate canned food to the effort, drop cans off at the Skate House by the pond in Meadowland Park between 2 and 4 p.m. on January 19, or at any of the following addresses by January 18:
- 69 Harding Dr., South Orange
- 626 Valley St., Maplewood
- 152 Parker Ave., Maplewood
More information can be found at the Meadowland Park Conservancy website.
For general questions about the luminary project, contact Nancy Gagnier at [email protected] or 973-761-6116. For questions about the Meadowland Park Conservancy (MPC), contact Matt Glass at [email protected].
