Historic amusement and water park closes | Inquirer South Jersey
And the woman keeping her friend’s memory alive by helping children with disabilities.
Good morning, South Jersey.
Clementon Park & Splash World closed its gates, and the century-old amusement park will soon be for sale once again.
And a local woman keeps her best friend’s memory alive through a nonprofit created to help children with disabilities.
Plus, first responders and survivors are being diagnosed with deadly diseases 25 years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, two New Jersey Congress members appeared with EMR scrapyard’s CEO to call for more oversight on lithium-ion batteries, and more news of the day.
— Taylor Allen (southjersey@inquirer.com)
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Clementon Park & Splash World has closed, again.
The amusement park’s owner announced the shutdown of the longtime regional attraction for South Jersey families on its website and social media accounts Wednesday, just five years after it was bought at a public bankruptcy auction.
IB Parks & Entertainment, the owner, shared the news after its final day of operation on Labor Day. The park will soon be put up for sale.
The company bought the century-old park in 2021 for $2.37 million after financial struggles led to the previous closure in 2019.
The Inquirer’s Lacey Latch has more on the history of the park.
Alexus Mackenzye Dick and Trinity Jagdeo quickly became best friends at 5 years old while at a Franklinville elementary school.
It began with a game of hopscotch, when Jagdeo was amazed how Dick zipped through the squares in her wheelchair before she fully understood her soon-to-be friend’s condition.
Inspired by Dick, Jagdeo founded the nonprofit From We Can’t to We Can while the two were teenagers. In the years since, she has self-published comic books about local kids with disabilities who transform into superheroes, hosted fashion shows with models with disabilities, and gifted thousands of medical devices.
Dick died earlier this year at 25 due to complications related to spinal muscular atrophy type 2, a disease that causes progressive muscle weakness.
Now, Jagdeo is dedicated to running the charity to honor her friend’s wish to help people.
What to know today
U.S. Reps. Donald Norcross and Frank Pallone Jr. appeared with the CEO of the EMR scrapyard in Camden Thursday to call for more oversight on lithium-ion batteries, which the recycling plant blames for causing fires at the site.
About 145,000 first responders and survivors of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are getting treatment through the World Trade Center Health Program. The program at Rutgers University in Piscataway is one of six clinics created nationally to provide care to responders.
Cooper University Hospital in Camden has one of the nation’s leading military medical training programs, and it was established by a surgeon who was part of the crew that saved a police officer trapped in the World Trade Center rubble during the 9/11 attacks, CBS Philadelphia reports.
Burlington Township’s Kelly N. Moore, the award-winning clinical psychologist, Rutgers professor, and mental health activist, has died at 46 of kidney cancer.
A new Sprouts Farmers Market will open in Washington Township on Saturday.
Cherry Hill Zone PTA will host a forum on Sept. 15 for residents to meet the district’s board of education candidates, 70and73 reports. Submissions for questions are due by 9 p.m. tonight.
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🧠 Trivia time
Which Sixer launched his own sneaker brand called 741 Performance?
A) Jaylen Brown
B) LeBron James
C) Joel Embiid
D) Tyrese Maxey
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re …
🍎 Planning: An apple-picking trip to Duffield’s Farm in Sewell.
🦅 Previewing: The new food items coming to Lincoln Financial Field for Eagles games.
🐈 Following: The Rock Cats, the (almost) all-cat band on Instagram.
📸 Photo of the week
✏️ One last back-to-school thing: Follow a class of kindergartners as some brought jitters — but mostly excitement — during the first day of school at Cinnaminson’s New Albany Elementary.
Enjoy your weekend! I’ll be back with more South Jersey news on Monday.
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