Hard times will cancel July Fourth fireworks because the town can't afford it, he said.
In nearby Clementon, the story is much the same. With construction hit hard - unemployment in that sector rose 36 percent in Camden County in the last two years - many of the electrical workers and pipefitters who populate the town are out of work, said Mayor Mark Armbruster.
An Asian market that opened in January closed in a month, in part because so many customers were unemployed, Armbruster said.
Meanwhile, at Clementon Lake Grocery, which sells Indian specialties among the usual staples, business is down 50 percent in the last three months, said owner Sam Pandya: Customers who once spent $40 to $100 per trip now spend $20 to $50.
Unemployment helped push up the rate of shoplifting, burglaries, and strong-arm robberies in Clementon Borough more than 50 percent between September 2007 and September 2008 - from 205 to 310 out of a population of around 5,000, said Police Chief David Kunkel.
If there's some good that comes out of the growing misery in Marlton and the Clementon area, it's the grace that bartender Debbie Love sees, at least in her world.
"I think many people are nicer because of hard times," she said. "It's like a death in the family. Everyone stops and takes a step back to get perspective. It's a good thing."
Then Love added, "But it doesn't last."
More information on job loss in the region at go.philly.com/jobbing:
Interactive map: By zip code, of the change in jobless claims in Pa. and N.J. from 2007 to 2009.
Video: Joe Bisicchia on his struggle with unemployment.
Blog: The latest on Jane Von Bergen's "Jobbing."
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