New park will help ease Brandywine's burden Charles Abate to appear at facility's grand opening BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer MILLSTONE - The township will host a grand opening of the new Charles G. Abate Park starting at 1 p.m. Oct. 20. Deputy Mayor Robert Kinsey, a liaison to the township's Recreation Committee, made the announcement at the Oct. 3 Township Committee meeting. He said Abate, a former longtime committeeman for whom the park is named, will attend the event. The 25-acre park is located at the corner of Charleston Spring and Young Terrace roads. The township received the park as a dedicated piece of open space from the developer of the adjacent subdivision. Neighboring residents have been enjoying Abate Park, which now has a tot lot, all summer, according to Kinsey. He said the township's Department of Public Works, under the leadership of Supervisor Kenn Gann, has been "phenomenal" in getting the park ready for the grand opening. The department put fencing up and trimmed the fields, he said. Abate Park will be the new home for the girls field hockey team, which will move from the Brandywine Soccer Complex. Kinsey said the team currently has 24 girls and is hoping to expand its membership. With the opening of the new fields at Abate Park, Mayor Nancy Grbelja said, "I hope we can alleviate some of the crowding at Brandywine." She said that it is great to see the township's recreational programs growing and the township developing facilities to accommodate them. For the completion of the park, the township received a $75,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBC) to build restrooms there that are accessible to people with handicaps, according to Kinsey. He reported that the township has also applied for a $250,000 county open space grant, and should know by the end of the year if the funding will come through. Kinsey also noted another recent recreational event, Millstone Day, held Sept. 23 at Frogbridge Day Camp. He said the annual event had the best attendance yet, with over 1,800 people and 44 vendors. "I think a lot of organizations made a lot of money for their causes," he said. The deputy mayor said Frogbridge personnel served as a real help to the township on Millstone Day. "It's a beautiful facility, and they go above and beyond," he said, noting that Frogbridge employees helped with parking and cooking, among other endeavors. Steve Morelli, who tapes the Township Committee meetings for the cable access channel, made a one-hour video of Millstone Day that the township will air on Channel 77.