USA Central New Jersey ABJD Meetup, Outdoor Meet At Ken Buchanan Waterfront Park, Saturday, 9/21/2024

Here is the information for the upcoming outdoor Central NJ meet!

Date
Saturday, September 21st
(Rain date: Sunday 9/22, I'll play it by ear for further rain dates)

Time
12:00PM to 2:00PM, maybe past that time if people want to stay. This time worked out great in the spring.

Location
Ken Buchanan Riverfront Park in Sayreville, NJ

Here's a link to the town's website for the park, but there's not a lot to see there. Sayreville Recreation Department: Facility Details

Address
River Rd
Sayreville, NJ 08872

That's the official address. You may wish to point your GPS to 89 River Road. That's a random house at the beginning of the road at the south, so after you turn onto the road from Main Street you'd just go straight north to the park.

Location in park
There's a covered seating area directly next to the boat ramp at the park. It's kind of an open gazebo sort of thing with a long table and bench setup all along the center. This covered seating area will offer some protection from the sun.

Central NJ ABJD Meet Outdoor Location - Ken Buchanan Riverfront Park Spring 2023 - The Location

Concerns with regards to the area
The location is right next to the water. If the wind blows something, it might blow it into the river, and you'll probably never get it back. Hats and other small accessories should be secured or left home. You may also wish to forego small pieces like little magnet parts.

You may wish to bring a towel to lay down on your spot of the table for additional cleanliness for your dolls. I'll bring some spare towels, but please be prepared if you can. You may also wish to bring something flat to lay under the towel since the table is like a metal grate sort of thing. If your dolls are going to be supported by stands with flat bottoms then the grate shouldn't be a factor, but heads up in case you were going to try freestanding dolls with high heels or something. Smart Doll antenna stand parts will fall through the grate. A piece of cardboard cut from an Amazon box or something would help a lot.

With regards to standing dolls up, as we learned in a previous year, the wind may blow them over. (No dolls were hurt.) You may wish to prepare your dolls for sitting down at the meet this year.

The seats at the table are the same sort of metal grate material as the table. If you wish to have a cushion then bring your own pillow or something. Also, if you wish to bring your own chair for setting up as a semicircle around the table seats to have a talking circle going then that would be great. Or someone could sit at the head of the table with their chair.

I can't guarantee restroom access on the day of the meet, but there is usually a port-a-potty at the park, especially in the nice weather. There is a Wawa in short driving distance as well as a Quick-Chek.

I wasn't planning on this being a scenic photography outing, but there may be some nice photo-ops in the area if you wish to trek away from the covered seating area.

After the meet
Nunzio's will be open all weekend. We often went there after meets in the past. It's a favorite for post-meet eats. There's also Rai Rai Ramen which is a short drive west to East Brunswick.

Future scheduled meets
There is nothing set in stone at this moment, but an outdoor meet like this is easy to organize and easy to do. If we get some interest, then maybe I can see about doing something a bit bigger in the future.

Pics from older meets
Here are some pics showing the progression of the meet in a previous year. The wind was a concern. You'll probably want to sit your dolls down. These pics are here to give you an idea of what to expect and how to prepare for it. We had a much better couple meets last year when we had the dolls sat down properly.
Central NJ ABJD Meet Outdoor Location - Ken Buchanan Riverfront Park Spring 2023 - Vinyl Dolls Standing
Central NJ ABJD Meet Outdoor Location - Ken Buchanan Riverfront Park Spring 2023 - Resin Dolls Standing Before The Wind Picked Up
Central NJ ABJD Meet Outdoor Location - Ken Buchanan Riverfront Park Spring 2023 - Resin Dolls Sitting After The Wind Picked Up

Feedback and suggestions
I'm always looking for feedback on meets and suggestions on what can be done to improve them. Please don't be shy! Post about it here or send me a private message. Even if you haven't been to a Central Jersey meet before, I want to hear from you if you've got something to say. Even if scheduling is one of your concerns, please let me know.

By the way, this is technically an ABJD meet, but we're not going to turn away any dolls. I'm going to bring a Momoko doll myself, so don't be shy about bringing your favorite off topic dolls, too.

See you there!

PS: If you're not already part of the Central NJ meet FB group, join us here: Log into Facebook

 

I agree, that would be quite the trip Thank you for the well wishes. I don't know where in Europe you are, but I hope you find something going on near you, or start your own doll meet topic here and see who else might be interested!

 

Hello everyone! The Central NJ doll meet is this upcoming Saturday! The early forecast is looking fantastic, so I hope you can join us! Look above for all of the details about the meet.

 

I'm sorry! Maybe another time. If your plans get cancelled, you can always join us

 

The meet is tomorrow! We're going to have lovely weather, so come out and join us!

 

Please check out the photo topic here: /threads/cen...nan-waterfront-park-saturday-6-1-2024.880210/

 

I updated this topic for the upcoming meet on Saturday, September 21st. Check out the first post!

 

The Central NJ ABJD meet is coming up this Saturday at noon! Check out the main post for all of the details, and I hope you can make it! The early forecast is looking decent enough for a meet. We had beautiful weather in the spring at noon, so I think we'll have a wonderful time this Saturday for the fall meet

 

The Central NJ ABJD meet is tomorrow! The weather looks like it's going to be lovely, so I hope you can make it!

 

We are here and set up so far!

 

I'm sorry I hope you're feeling better today! Maybe next time.

 

I have posted the photo topic of the September 2024 meet here: /threads/cen...an-waterfront-park-saturday-9-21-2024.882994/

Many thanks to everyone who came to the meet, and @Genesblues I hope you enjoy living vicariously through the photos! I wish you could've made it, but thanks for not sharing more than just dolls with us