By Linda Vonderschmidt-La Stella – For this Fifth Anniversary of Metuchen’s Mystical Magical Junebug ArtFest, the very universe chose to join us in the celebrations offering five Fridays of festivity!

At its heart, the event is an opportunity to revel in the creative spirit of every person: from those who make their living as professional artists of every kind, to the youngest child delighting in making colored marks on the sidewalk.

Art makes community: we share images; we share experiences, and so we continue to work to make the ArtFest deeply enriching for all involved. There is an unmistakable community among the artists who participate; an undeniable spirit of community generated throughout Metuchen in the special t-shirt-wearing Hospitality Volunteers. And finally, the comraderie of those in attendance brings together both long-time and new friends in an atmosphere only an arts celebration that takes place on warm June evenings can create.

Now with the final night of Junebug 2012 behind us, we offer a word of thanks to all those who made the events of this month possible:

All our “Facebook Friends!” who followed us throughout the planning sessions

Every person who supported the event through donations
*All those who got involved in our exciting new “Ticket” purchase fundraiser
*All of our sponsors, businesses and organizations who ‘put up the big bucks’

All of the artists, musicians, performers…150 strong!…so gracious and creative to share their work with us
All of our visitors who joined us in this celebration
The Metuchen DPW for the care and assistance they offered every night to set up and break down venues
All of the Photographers who so elegantly documented the event
All of the Volunteers who offered hospitality, gave directions, were overseers of events and were our ‘T-Shirts on the ground’ for the event

And, at the heart of it all, the Junebug Committee, those amazing 20 people, amiable, hard-working, creative, and enthusiastic who willingly put in endless hours of time and volunteered their own professional expertise to make the 2012 Junebug ArtFest a reality. This group began working in January and only six months later did they draw that work to conclusion.

We thank you; we thank all.
You’ve enriched our lives with images and experiences
and we are grateful.

See you in 2013!