Blitzburgers to sponsor annual dance in N.B.
BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK - The township senior citizens will be doing the Mashed Potato while eating mashed potatoes during the eighth annual Winter Wonderland Dance at the high school on Friday.

Blitzburgers Grill & Café, located in Renaissance Plaza on Route 130, will be sponsoring the event, catering for 140 people at no cost to the township.

"It's a very powerful thing, knowing that the seniors and the township mean that much to a local restaurant that they will do that for the community," said Jessica Zink, the supervisor of activities at the North Brunswick Senior Center and the event coordinator for the dance.

Although owners Jimmy and Bill Bliziotis are known for their varieties of stuffed burgers, they will provide a dinner meal of homemade meatloaf, mashed potatoes, pasta, a vegetable medley, salad and a dinner roll for the seniors. Jimmy said burgers are not on the menu because they don't taste the same from a chaffing dish, and because they can't transport charcoal into the high school. "We're very big on charity. We like to give back," he said. "We're taking care of the seniors to give them a nice, happy day, especially since they enjoy it so much and they've looked forward to it for so many years."

In addition, the 12 members of the

Friends of the Senior

Center have

fundraised to provide

the Bill Gerry

Duo band, the decorations and the paper goods. They hold a flea market in the spring and fall to sell donated items, which led last year to the purchase of a new piano and kitchen supplies.

Other funds will come from resident donations throughout the year.

Zink said the Senior Center staff, members of the Department of Parks & Recreation, local Girl Scouts and students from the Robotix team and the Sisters on the Right Path club from the high school will be on hand to set up, serve and clean up during the night.

"It's been such a wonderful program for the seniors," Zink said. "The seniors get so much joy out of the program. It's a night out with their friends, dancing, getting dinner. It's a great way to celebrate the season."

In past years, the dance has been organized by former Councilman Paul Pappas in honor of his mother, Frances, who passed away nine years ago on Christmas Day from pancreatic cancer.