SummerFest fine-tuned to audience tastes BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer BRICKTOWNSHIP- Doo-wop is back. The 2008 SummerFest lineup includes a mix of offerings designed to appeal to just about anybody, township officials said. "It's kind of an interesting eclecticmix of performances,"CouncilmanDaniel Toth said at the Feb. 26 Township Council meeting. Last year, township officials nixed all doo-wop performances, because there had been a doo-wop overkill in the past. But this year, doo-wop will be featured on one of the five scheduled performance nights, he said. Also planned is a '70s and '80s tribute show; the Billy Joel Band; the Landsharks Band, a Jimmy Buffett-sanctioned cover band; a return performance by Beatlemania; and a country music night, Toth said. It's also possible there will be some type of "American Idol" event, he said. "We have a lot of stuff up our sleeves in order to revitalize it and bring in much-needed revenue," Toth said. Fireworks are also scheduled for four of the five nights so far, instead of just on opening and closing nights, Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis said. Sponsors will cover the costs of the fireworks performances, he said. "It's got to be recreation that will be at no cost to the taxpayers," Acropolis said. "It's [SummerFest] got to be revenue neutral or revenue positive. We've got music for everyone." The council voted unanimously to award a contract to New Egypt-based Global Producers Services, the same firm that coordinated the event last year. Local service organizations like the Brick Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis or the Rotary will work the crowds on different nights of SummerFest, Acropolis said. "This will bring a little bit more of a township flavor to the event," he said. "It will make it a little bit more like a Founder's Day type of event." Former Democratic Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli began SummerFest in 1994. The event used to feature 10 nights of entertainment at Windward Beach off Princeton Avenue. But when the GOP-controlled Township Council took over several years ago, councilmembers voted to trimthe number of performance nights to five. Scarpelli is now serving an 18-month sentence in federal prison on corruption charges. In other business, Acropolis said the township had recently received a $190,000 Safe Routes to Schools grant from the state Department of Transportation to be used in the neighborhoods surrounding the Midstreams Elementary School. Themoney can be used to install crosswalks and improve roadway striping on Midstreams Road, Meridian Drive and Colonial Drive, he said. "We can help the school district build this," Acropolis said. "We can't help them with their operating budget. This will make it a little easier for people to walk to school. It's one of the things we really have to strive for. We have to make it easier for the district to look for efficiencies." Brick also recently received another state grant for $500,000, to put toward recreational programs, the mayor said. "The state of New Jersey, when they give out grants, they want to make sure you actually use them," Acropolis said. "You would be surprised how many districts and municipalities sit on the grants for years, and I mean years."