Crier Column 6/16: Farewell to class of 2025; WHS senior lunch debt cleared; Rocky Horror auditions; 'Elio' movie night; WHS runners honored for 4x800

    MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2025

Woodstown High School runners Jacob Marino, Cole Lucas, Joshua Crawford, and Karson Chew were honored for this seasons achievements in the 4x800 at the SJCA Banquet. More about them in the SPORTS section below.

Hear ye, hear ye! O yez, o yez!

ORGAN: Your Town Crier will be at the organ this Sunday, June 22, 2025 at First Baptist Church on South Main Street. Hymns are "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," and "Trust and Obey," two of my favorites. Music Director Cindy Winters leads the congregation -- don't miss out!

SUMMER BEGINS: The first day of summer is Friday, June 20, 2025. We made it! Do you have a vacation planned? If my passport arrives in time and other factors fall into place, I'm hoping to vacation in France at the end of the summer -- but that's a long way off. I'm thinking 'tis high time to get to the boardwalk as quickly as I can. 

It's been a few years since I've made it over there -- I love Ocean City, N.J. My grandparents used to get a big house for a week during the 1990s and the entire extended family would stay over. I never cared much for the beach itself, no less the ocean except up to my ankles, but the boardwalk is glorious. The cotton candy, the roller coaster, the Ferris wheel, the trinkets, the hermit crabs, the pizza larger than the moon, the Polish water ice in every flavor.

COMMUNITY

LUNCH DEBT: UPDATE: As I was publishing this report, the fundraiser was still open, but the latest update indicates the fundraiser has closed and all WHS senior lunch debt has been cleared! This means seniors unable to walk at graduation due to outstanding lunch debt will now walk and graduate. AWESOME JOB WOODSTOWN AND AMBER RORRIS-CROW!!!

Original report:

There are, sadly, some seniors this year who won't be allowed to walk at graduation unless their cafeteria lunch debt is paid off before Wednesday. Nevertheless, Amber Rorris-Crow and the Greater Woodstown community are doing right by our seniors and fundraising to get these debts paid off. We love to see it! More than 50 kind community members have donated.

Here is their dispatch: 

Hi neighbors! As graduation day approaches, our seniors are preparing for one of the proudest moments of their young lives—walking across the stage and receiving their high school diploma.

Let's all work together to help pay off the lunch debts of our graduating seniors, so that they can start the next chapter of their lives debt free!

We love the Woodstown-Pilesgrove Regional School District, and we are grateful to them for supporting our kids as they grow and learn.

GRADUATION: The Woodstown High School class of 2025 graduates on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. Attendees must have a ticket. I am really going to miss this year's graduating seniors. They were a phenomenal group of young people -- I got to know many of them through the Drama Club over the past two years. What will we do without Lizzie Hitchner, Colin Schmidt, Brannagh Rattigan, Ginny Messick, Brandon Zukovsky and the many others who contributed so much to our school?! 

PROMO VIDEO: The WHS Communications Academy has released a special promotional video highlighting our school system. To view it, click here or view below:

MOVIE: Salem County In Recovery is hosting a movie night on Monday, June 23, 2025 at 6 p.m. Transportation departs from 184 Elm St in Woodstown (and travels to Regal Cinema in Washington Twp.) The movie will be "Elio" about the cosmic misadventure of Elio, a space fanatic with an active imagination and a huge alien obsession. To register, contact Jackyln Treece at jacklyn.treece@salemcountynj.gov or call 856-935-7510 ext. 8105.

SOUND OFF!: The Oakwood Summer Theatre, which features tons of Woodstown and Pilesgrove talent, is raising funds to purchase microphones for their current season of summer shows at Salem Community College. Here is their dispatch:

If you missed your chance to support the children’s show, you still have a chance to support “Murder on the Orient Express” and our main stage musical “GREASE.” Every purchase gets us closer to our goal of having microphones! 

https://popup.doublegood.com/s/7klgx130 

ENTERTAINMENT

THANKS: Just wanted to send enormous thanks to everyone involved, especially our alumni, students, Curtain Call Board, student organizer Elizabeth Hitchner and co-host Brandon Zukovsky, and director Kahlil V. Gunther in the fourth annual "Night of Dream Roles" at Woodstown High School. The event raised more than $700 which will go directly to theatre education programs in Woodstown-Pilesgrove schools next year. For more information visit www.CurtainCallClub.org.

AUDITIONS: The Blue Moon Theatre is hosting audition for "The Rocky Horror Show," directed by Greg Hammell on Sunday, June 22 from 12 - 2 p.m. Performances run throughout September. Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090548A4AB2CAAFB6-57302178-the#/

SPORTS

RUN WOODSTOWN: Many kudo and congrats go out to Karson Chew, Josh Crawford, Cole Lucas, and Jacob Marino (pictured at the top of this column) for taking home top honors at the SJCA All-South Jersey Awards Banquet. They were recognized for their their season best of 7:54.84 in the 4x800. Even more exciting, their names will be immortalized high up on the walls of our gymnasium.

The Woodstown Athletic Department website, a hub for all things Woodstown High School sports, can be found here.

SCORES

SCHEDULE

WATCH LIVE EVENTS HERE

GOVERNMENT

Woodstown Borough Council and Pilesgrove Twp Committee meet the second and fourth Tuesday of each month.

WEEKEND WEATHER

FRIDAY: Sunny. High of 85F. Low of 67F.

SATURDAY: Sunny. High of 90F. Low of 69F.

SUNDAY: Late night rain. High of 91F. Low of 73F.

FORECAST: Clouds and scattered evening or early morning showers throughout the week. High of only 69F on Monday, but jumping up to the 90sF later in the week. A sunny weekend abounds, but be careful of next week where temperatures will linger close to 100F throughout the entire week. Extreme heat and no rain (which could cause sudden serious storms out of nowhere). Wear that sunblock and hydrate!

♦

Woodstown Crier: Where we look to the fine words of Ralph Waldo Emerson to guide our 2025 graduating seniors: "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

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Want to share your Woodstown-Pilesgrove news in the Crier Column? Email Jim Cook at WoodstownCrier@gmail.com