Civic Association Centennial

After a century of service, the Haddonfield Civic Association celebrated its works both great and small with a public dinner and annual community awards ceremony.

The association was initially established to lend a voice to various community issues overlooked by municipal governance, or that local government had no established mechanism for addressing. Some of its accomplishments are charmingly antique, such as appropriations for a town post office and public lighting. Others were born out of necessity: When the association's health committee reported on births, deaths, and communicable diseases during the 1920s, it was in the absence of an established board of health.

Other initiatives, such as zoning issues and public land use, have had long-lasting impact. The group's conservation committee preserved from development the wooded areas that surround the borough years ago. The civic association is also the reason that Haddonfield is the only town along the PATCO speedline through which the light-rail runs underground.

Matt Skoufalos contributed to this report.