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Gloucester Township brought elected officials, first responders, healthcare partners, and a crowd of neighbors together at Veterans Park to open a space that belongs to all of them.
Veterans Park in Gloucester Township already carries meaning before you set foot in it. It is named for the people who served, maintained by a community that takes that obligation seriously, and now home to something new: a free, seven-station outdoor gym that any resident can walk up to, any day, and use without a membership, a fee, or an appointment. That the township chose this park for its Fitness Court was not incidental. It was a statement.
The July 20 ribbon cutting made that statement loudly. Mayor David R. Mayer had spent the days before the launch filming a personal video invitation to the community, not a press release, not a social post from a staff account, but the mayor himself, on camera, asking his neighbors to come out. They did. And by the time the Gloucester Township Police Department and the Chews Landing and Blackwood Fire crews were halfway through their Battle of the Badges, burpees and box jumps timed to the second in front of a crowd that had picked sides, it was the kind of morning that a park remembers.
Honoring the park and the people it represents
The ceremony opened with Mayor Mayer and presenting two proclamations: one recognizing Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey for the partnership that made the Fitness Court possible, and one marking the second anniversary of the Gloucester Township Veterans Affairs Office. Robert DiCesare and Anthony Santanello from the Veterans Affairs Office were in attendance, and their presence brought a layer of significance to the morning that went beyond a standard ribbon cutting. The township was not just opening a gym. It was adding something to a park that already meant something, and the ceremony acknowledged that.
“We are proud to partner with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and National Fitness Campaign to bring this exciting outdoor Fitness Court® to Gloucester Township,” said Mayor Mayer. “This new amenity will provide residents with free access to fitness and wellness opportunities right here in our community. Encouraging healthy, active lifestyles is an important part of building a stronger Gloucester Township, and we are excited to offer another resource that supports the wellbeing of our residents.”
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Recreation Supervisor Diane Jones served as emcee, and she was joined by Councilwoman Helen Albright Troxell, Councilman Ciri Castro Jr., Chief Anthony Minosse, Deputy Chief John Stollsteimer, Dennis Paris of the GT Economic Development Corporation Partnership, and Brigitte Hickey of Horizon BCBS. The breadth of representation in the room, elected officials, law enforcement, healthcare, economic development, veterans services, reflected a community that had genuinely rallied around the project rather than delegated it to one department and moved on.
Much of the credit for that coordination belongs to Aja Brunten, Gloucester Township's Director of Communications, whose work pulling together the logistics, the community outreach, and the day's many moving parts made the launch as seamless and well-attended as it was.
A morning of competition and community resources
Once the formalities wrapped, the Fitness Court took center stage. Ambassadors moved through all seven stations demonstrating beginner and advanced variations, giving the crowd a real sense of what the equipment could do across different fitness levels. Then came the Battle of the Badges.
Two three-person teams, Police versus Fire, ran the same circuit back to back: ten burpees, ten box jumps, ten push-ups, ten jumping lunges on each leg, ten ring rows, a quick-feet agility drill through the squares, and ten reverse crunches, all against the clock. The specificity of the challenge mattered. This was not a vague demonstration of the Fitness Court's capabilities. It was a workout, a real one, performed by people the community knows and respects, in front of neighbors who came out specifically to watch. That combination does more for long-term adoption than any brochure.
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Off to the side, informational tables from Recover Physical Therapy, Jefferson Health, NovaCare Rehabilitation, Horizon BCBS, and the GT Recreation Center gave attendees a chance to connect with local health resources while the competition played out. Chick-fil-A provided food and brought the Chick-fil-A Cow, which did not compete in the Battle of the Badges but was a welcome addition regardless. Saladworks donated water bottles for the crowd.
The Campaign in New Jersey
Gloucester Township is the 15th partner in the Horizon BCBS of New Jersey and NFC statewide campaign, and part of a network that now spans more than 30 communities across the state. That number did not build overnight. The campaign closed out 2025 with four new partners joining in the final weeks of the year alone, a signal that communities are committing to this infrastructure on their own timelines rather than waiting for a particular season or cycle to feel right.
That same energy is carrying into 2026. Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District, Eastern Camden County Regional School District, Bethlehem Township, and Sussex County Community College are all preparing to join the network. They come from different corners of the state and different kinds of institutions, but the thread connecting them is the same one that brought Gloucester Township to Veterans Park on a July morning: a belief that their residents and students deserve free access to quality outdoor fitness, and a willingness to do something about it.
The Fitness Court at Veterans Park is open now and free for anyone to use. Scan the QR code on site to access guided workouts through the Fitness Court app and move through all seven stations at your own pace.
