Back to the Future at the Oceanport Strawberry Festival

"Back to the future" and "more with less" are two phrases Oceanport Lion John Bonforte likes to use to describe this year's Strawberry Festival at , which he played a key role in coordinating.

The annual rite of early summer, which since 1996 had been a larger event featuring carnival rides in the parking lot of , returned to a simpler time and brought the community together in the more intimate confines of Maple Place's cafeterium.

Working closely with Oceanport's Superintendent of Schools Andrew Orefice, Bonforte and the Lions Club offered an event complete with a dunk tank, moon bounce, face painting, baby chicks hatching, student projects on display, and of course, strawberries.

"The kids are off the walls about the dunk tank," said Bonforte in the days leading up to the festival. Maple Place Principal Corey Radisch, Wolf Hill Principal Melanie Shelley, and Orefice all took turns sitting in the tank, and not one of them got away dry.

"I was there first. I tried to hide for a while, but they demanded I went in, and the line was longest to hit the superintendent," said Orefice, who thought perhaps he was a popular target because he has to tell people no a lot. He was dunked 27 times.

"The water was cold, but it was all great fun. I'd do it again in a minute," said Orefice.

The 'SonShine' ministry of Oceanport's Calvary Baptist Church volunteered their time to contribute to the face painting and bounce house.

The bounty of strawberries, and served with shortcake and ice cream, were donated by Delicious Orchards of Colts Neck, Dearborn Farms of Holmdel, and Rooney's Produce of Sea Bright. Caputo's Bakery contributed the cake and whipped cream.

Bonforte says proceeds from the evening's sales will go directly into the Oceanport school system's budget. It's one of the ways he and Orefice believe they're able to offer the children of Oceanport "more for less."

Michael Gianforte, Executive Director of the Two River Water Reclamation Authority (TRWRA) sewage treatment plant in Monmouth Beach, had an information booth set up at the Strawberry Festival where he spoke to children and parents about how the TRWRA is also helping Oceanport do "more with less" by providing students with free tours of their facilities.

"We've got the biology, chemistry, everything is involved in our process," said Gianforte. "On staff, we've got a number of licensed professional engineers, we've got chemists, all people who have got to understand the process, and the children when they have to learn the basics of chemistry, really what we're doing is basic chemistry at the treatment plant."

The Lions, an international volunteer organization, presented Oceanport resident and senior Michael Nogi with a $1,000 scholarship in recognition of his academic achievements and volunteer work in the community. Nogi, who finished first in his class, will attend Rutgers University in the fall, majoring in biochemistry.

Gift certificates to local businesses (including Bonforte's and the Lighthouse), an iPad 2 and a 50/50 were all raffled off over the course of the evening. Bonforte seemed personally determined to see that no one left the building empty handed, smiling and dishing out extra gift certificates left and right.

"The festival this year was a trial balloon to see if we could bring it back to ," reflected Bonforte as he and several other residents pitched in to clean the Maple Place cafeterium at the end of the night. "As far as we can see, its worked out really well, it's very local, a lot of little children, a lot of teenagers, and we were able to raise some money."

The Lions will present the Oceanport school system with a check next week. Stay tuned for that and further coverage on how schools in Oceanport are giving residents "more for less."