5K Race to Remember Former Basking Ridge Resident

Join family, friends and colleagues on Sunday for the second annual Jon Slusher Memorial 5K Run/Walk and Kids' Fun Run, scheduled as one of the events within the Califon Fall Street Fair on Oct. 6.

Slusher, who was editor of the Hunterdon Review before he passed away from brain cancer, also spent part of his childhood in Basking Ridge. During his career as a journalist, he also covered Harding Township. 

The race, which raises funds for an ongoing scholarship in his name, begins promptly at 1 p.m., rain or shine, at the Califon Bridge within the Hunterdon County borough.

Shirley Slusher, one of the race organizers, said that runners — or those who want to walk — can just show up on Sunday. On-site registration remains $25, she said. Information can be found at www.jonhslusher.org.

For those who want to make donations, checks can be made payable to the Jonathan Slusher Memorial Scholarship Foundation and mailed to 79 Guinea Hollow Road, Lebanon, NJ 08833. Fees for families of four are $45 and kids under the age of 10 are $5.

In 2013, the Jon Slusher Scholarship Foundation awarded six $1,000 scholarships to area seniors at Voorhees High School, North Hunterdon High School, Hunterdon Central, and high schools in Mendham, West Morris and Mount Olive. The Foundation is a 501-c-3 charitable organization and all contributions are tax exempt.

Slusher passed away in 2010. "Come, have fun, and join Jon's parents, brother and sister and friends to  honor a courageous, kind and talented young man," his parents said in an invitation to the community.