06/27/2020
MAYOR CAROLYN BLACKMAN AND BOARD OF ALDERMEN ANNOUNCE FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION FOR DOVER HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2020
Mayor Carolyn Blackman and the Board of Aldermen will host a congratulatory event for all Dover High School graduating seniors at the King Field Baseball Complex. The evening will include food, recognitions, ice cream, and prizes and will culminate in a fireworks display held at the highest point in our municipality, so it will be visible to virtually the entire Town. This event is neither connected, supported, nor endorsed by the Dover Public Schools administration and Board of Education.
A donor who wishes to remain anonymous has pledged $500.00 towards the prizes for seniors. Information for anyone wishing to donate will be forthcoming on the Town of Dover official page and Twitter account. Please check often for updates. Prize winners must be present at the event to collect their prize.
Students must pre-register for the event via the internet. The link to the Google Form will be on the Town’s official page and Twitter account over the coming weekend. Per Governor Murphy’s Order, the event will be limited to 250 people total, so this is open only to members of the Dover High School class of 2020, unless special circumstances apply.
All CDC Guidelines will be in effect and participants must minimally wear a mask or face shield for entrance. Students who have their own personal protection equipment are encouraged to bring their own, but the Town will have these items available.
The fireworks display will not be held at Hamilton Field this year due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and there will be no public entrance to the venue. Residents are encouraged to watch the display from their homes. More information about the fireworks will be available on the Town’s social media outlets. Members of the Board of Aldermen and others donated personal funds to offset the cost of the fireworks due to the Town’s ongoing serious financial issues inherited from the previous administration.
Mayor Blackman stated, “This pandemic has been challenging on many levels, and with so much emphasis on our sick, our healthcare system, and our economy, our young people have been struggling without a voice and without the rites of passage that define us as a culture. The Board and I feel it is imperative to congratulate our seniors on their accomplishment of graduating from high school; it is a wonderful achievement that must be recognized. I firmly believe that celebrating our high school students’ educational milestone on the Fourth of July is especially meaningful, as public education is inexorably intertwined with the furtherance of our democratic experiment, which is the United States of America.”
Blackman, who is no stranger to achieving what many thought was impossible or improbable for a black woman in both her personal and public lives, told the class of 2020 in her graduation message to them, “You must go after goals even when it seems impossible—you can only get to the stars, by reaching for them first.” The Mayor stated, “the fireworks this year are dedicated to you, Dover High School Class of 2020, as a symbol of the hope that you represent for our Town, state, and nation to innovate how we reach for the stars to rise above the strife we now face.”
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