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Posted by NJParenting.com on 05/17/2022

SubFest To Honor USS New Jersey Navy Submarine at Benefit Family Festival on Saturday, June 18th

SubFest To Honor USS New Jersey Navy Submarine at Benefit Family Festival on Saturday, June 18th

The Montgomery News is proud to present SubFest on Saturday, June 18th (2pm-6:30pm), a benefit family festival and concert in celebration of the newest submarine in the Navy’s fleet. SubFest will take place at the Princeton Airport on Route 206 in Montgomery Township, NJ and will help raise money for the USS NJ Commissioning Committee to be put towards quality of life improvements for submarine crew, scholarships for their children, and commissioning festivities (the submarine, now under construction, will be named after the great state of New Jersey)

Headlining the event is Slippery When Wet, the Ultimate Bon Jovi cover band, who gained notoriety as a cover band after competing in and winning the E! network’s reality TV show, Clash of the Cover Bands. Their performance will follow local, folk rock musician James Popik. The event is being catered by several food trucks such as Beniamino’s Pizza, Empanada Guy, Peaches and Ice Cream, and Your Sister’s Balls (An Italian-themed truck specializing in ball-shaped foods). Beer, wine, and sangria will be served courtesy of the Tiger’s Tale restaurant. Also included in the event are free rides on a mechanical rodeo shark and a 25ft. rock climbing wall. Helicopter rides will be available for an additional fee. A dunk tank will feature prominent members in the Montgomery community available for dunking. 

Montgomery News Publisher Norman Silverstein spoke with fellow Montgomery resident Paul Blodgett about his boot camp days in the US Navy in 1999. Paul Blodgett talked about his career as a Naval Submarine Officer and Nuclear Engineer at their Montgomery / Rocky Hill Rotary Club meeting one day last year. Blodgett, a US Navy veteran, is now the fundraising chairperson for the USS New Jersey — a nuclear powered Virginia class attack submarine that is currently under construction by Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding Division. It will be the third US Navy vessel named for the state of New Jersey

As the fundraising chairperson, Blodgett is looking to raise at least $500,000 to $700,000 from corporate and individual sponsors. “The funds go to the ceremonial celebrations when the ship is commissioned, efforts to build connections between the ship and the state, habitability upgrades for the ship to improve quality of life and seeding a scholarship fund for the families of crew members,” Blodgett says. Publisher Silverstein, who also resides in Montgomery Township, NJ and has experience in fundraising, wanted to help Blodgett with his worthy cause. As a result, The Montgomery News is sponsoring SubFest. 

“I think it is a point of pride to have a submarine named after our state. It connects people, and makes the sub feel like more of a home, less of a sterile environment,” says Blodgett. The crew goes underwater, off the radar, literally, with no cell phone or email, for six to eight months at a time. So the naming of the vessel is important, in that it becomes a home with actual character. A large part of the commissioning committee is to imbue the character of the namesake into the submarine. “And, I hope this one will have a Jersey attitude,” Blodgett says.

Parts of the submarine will be named after parts of the state. For example, the tunnel that leads to the nuclear reactor compartment will be named the Holland Tunnel, the state rooms are named for different exits off the New Jersey Turnpike. Decor could include a portion of the famous painting of Washington Crossing The Delaware. Or, there could be devil horns, tail, and wings as a reference to the Jersey Devil, the legendary creature said to inhabit the Pine Barrens, and also the namesake of the New Jersey Devils hockey club. “And I would love for different cities to sponsor different divisions,” he said. “Montgomery could sponsor the machinery division. That is one of my fundraising ideas.” The USS New Jersey, under construction in Norfolk, Virginia, will be delivered to the Navy later this year. It will be commissioned in 2023.

The submarine will have the capability to attack targets ashore with highly accurate Tomahawk cruise missiles and conduct covert, long term surveillance of land areas, littoral waters or other sea-based forces, according to NavalToday.com. Other missions include anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare; mine delivery and minefield mapping. They are also designed for special forces delivery and support. 

SubFest Standard Adult Tickets are $30. Kids age 5 to 12: $10 and are available for purchase at www.subfestnj.com.

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