BY WALTER ELLIOTT
NEWARK – It appears, as of 3 p.m. Sept. 24, that RWJBarnabas Health Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital’s continuing its annual Alma Beatty Health & Wellness Fair through the COVID-19 global pandemic has borne fruit here at the Marquis “Bo” Porter Sports Complex.
“Local Talk” noticed the difference from just before walking through the Porter Complex’s main gate at 378 Lyons Ave. 3 p.m., Saturday. There were six lunch wagons parked curbside instead of the accustomed two on any other Saturday.
The post-pandemic growth, once “Local Talk” checked in one of the two registration tables just inside the gate, can be counted in the number of tables the hospital staff had set up that morning.
There were 54 tables counted – nearly double the number that were set up along Alma Beatty Way at the hospital on Sept. 22, 2018. Even when some exhibitors took up two tables for their displays, their numbers were greater than those who were seen four years ago.
Saturday’s edition, like in three of the previous four fairs, included registration, the handing of a “passport” game card and the reception of a raffle ticket.
The passport promoted fairgoers to at least visit eight to 16 red tables. Those who get their cards stamped or signed by exhibitors for visiting and participating may return them before 3 p.m. to receive a bag of free items and information.
The raffle ticket was for the drawing of a wide television screen to be done at the temporary stage south of the tables on the basketball court.
Initial registrants also received a Newark Beth Israel bag holding its current issue of “Healthy Together” and hospital handouts.
The 19th annual Beatty fair is also the second consecutive one sited in Porter (formerly St. Peters) Recreational Complex. The Sept. 12, 2020 was held virtually or all-online.
The previous 16 fairs took up a block of Beatty Way – or Osborne Street between Lyons Avenue and Lehigh avenues – between Newark Beth Israel’s wings. That was before COVID and the current hospital construction project had intervened.
“When we chose to bring back the (physical) fair, the City of Newark, through now-Councilman Patrick Council, offered us space at the Porter Center,” said Atiya Jaha-Rashidi, the hospital’s VP of Community Affairs and Chief Equity Officer. “It’s one of several collaborations among the medical center, the city and our community partners.”
The Rev. Council was Newark’s Deputy Mayor of Recreation, Senior Services and Cultural Affairs last year. A majority of participating South Ward voters have since selected him as their councilman.
“Local Talk” nodded in agreement, remembering their joint July 6, 2021 grand opening of a half-scale regulation soccer field in the Porter Center’s southeast quarter. That collaboration was with PDA Urban Initiative, who has gone on to open two similar fields in Belleville.
Jaha-Rashidi doubled as the stage’s MC Saturday, remembering Alma Beatty between reminding fairgoers of particular attractions and, in the last hour, calling out raffle prize drawing numbers.
Beatty, who started the inaugural fair in 2003, was NBIMC’s first community relations veep. Osborne Terrace’s southernmost block was honorarily renamed for her in 2012 – three years before her death.
The hospital complex had meanwhile started a $150 million Newark Strong renovation and expansion project Oct. 20, 2020. The project will feature a new 17,000-square-foot glass fronted main lobby, new drop-off sites, a more visible Emergency Department entrance and new Geriatric and Critical Care departments when completed.
“The renovation will increase our hospital footprint,” said Jaha-Rashidi. “Josloff Glass, a woman-owned South Ward business, is providing the glass. Turner Construction, our general contractor, has gone into our community for school career fairs and for local career preparation programs.”
Jaha-Rashidi, when asked on whether the fair will return to Alma Beatty Way post-construction, shook her head.
“Being at the Porter Center brings us into the community we serve,” she said. “More people are coming into the fair.”
There was no 10-foot-diameter inflatable colon to walk through as in 2018 – but most of the regular exhibitors have returned.
One can expect “The Beth”-provided blood pressure and diabetes screenings, information ranging from nutrition to stroke awareness and making appointments for colon cancer screenings. There was also the Newark YM/WCA’s mobile van on the grounds.
There were, however, some new additions.
NBIMC’s nutrition center, for example, included a single-table farmer’s market. Jaha-Rashidi proudly said that the fruit and vegetables were grown in The Beth Greenhouse at Osborne and Lehigh avenues.
The South Ward Promise Neighborhood made an appearance. Alpharetta, Ga.-based Grace Rose Health Consultants introduced itself to local Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries with its “savings programs.”
The fair at Porter had an apparent neighborhood effect on Hobson Street. Residents of that block held a street party that afternoon. It is not known whether block residents took advantage of Saturday’s warm weather or foot traffic coming from the fair.
Arriving at the Alma Beatty fair at its last hour here at Porter, however, did not carry over from Osborne Terrace.
Some of the exhibitors began to pack up after 3 p.m., making latecomers’ attempts to complete their passports futile. The winning numbers were drawn on stage by 3:30 p.m.
Hospital workers loaded the wide television screen onto a pickup truck for delivery to its winner. They also drained the cooler that once held free bottles of water.
The contracted face painter meanwhile stayed until the last of the 18 children and adults were served.
