EAST ORANGE, NJ — East East EIt seemed as if all of East Orange was in Elmwood Park on Saturday, Aug. 25, at the 10th annual 3rd Ward and 4th Ward Summer Jam concert and House Music Festival, and anyone in the park that day got to see Mayor Ted Green dance on the stage.
In fact, Green even got into a dance battle with one of the house music performers that ended when the latter broke down and did a split from a standing position, causing the mayor to concede the match. Green took his apparent defeat in stride, however, saying it was all good.
“Like I say each and every day, I’m the mayor for everybody. This is our 10th annual Summer Jam Fest House Music party for today and, if you look around, we have hundreds of people that came out to enjoy these festivities,” said Green at the event. “I’m very honored to know that, when I started right here with my council colleague, Quilla Talmadge, we started with just a few people, but this event has grown to gather people from all over — Essex County, Sussex County, even New York. We are driving a charge in East Orange that East Orange is ‘one city one community.’ We have one goal and that’s progress. Progress is bringing people together like today. You see many people out here just enjoying themselves. This is a family-oriented event today.”
Green said he felt good about the festival, and Talmadge agreed that the Summer Jam has come a long way since it first began 10 years ago.
“Look at us now,” said Talmadge on Saturday, Aug. 25. “I said we were going to make it bigger and better than ever. This is one of the best. We have so many people here, this is really a successful and beautiful day for our Summer Jam. This is Ted’s legacy. He started it like 10 or 12 years ago and we really are having a ball today.”
Green’s City Council successor, 3rd Ward Councilman Bergson Leneus, said this was his first year attending and participating in the event as an elected official.
“This is the 10th annual Summer Jam, so you know we had to do it bigger and better,” said Leneus at the event. “Congratulations to Donyale Harris for putting on a great event. Congratulations to Mayor Green, my co-Councilwoman Quilla Talmadge and Councilman Casim Gomez and Councilwoman Tyshammie Cooper from the 4th Ward. This gets bigger and bigger every year. I’m just proud to be a part of it.”
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