The Ad Club’s 36th Annual Jersey Awards competition is drawing strong response from the Garden State’s advertising and communications industry. The call for entries hit the mail in early January and returns started rolling in early February.

Designed, produced, photographed by freelance designer Alex Schiller, the entry mailer featured the famed Bendix Diner in East Rutherford in inviting entrants to “Serve up your freshest creative” in 125 separate categories — ranging from print and electronic media advertising and printed materials to direct marketing, photography and out-of-home advertising.

Once again, entries are invited in a full range of Hispanic and Foreign Language categories.

The deadline for entries was extended to March 10, with judging scheduled for March 20 at Gibbs College by a panel of judges from the Long Island Advertising Club. Winners will be notified in early April. The precise award is not announced until the evening of the Awards dinner, which is set for May 18 at Mayfair Farms in West Orange.

Advertising is available in the dinner program, as are sponsorships for the evening’s events. For $100 you can obtain a table in the exhibition area to promote your agency, business or corporation. Contact Pat Hanley at 201.998.5133 for additional details or if you would like to participate on the Jersey Awards committee.

In addition to Schiller, the awards committee includes: Rick Bonnelli, Sunspots Creative; Robert French, WPBS-13; Allan Gorman, AGCD; John Howlett, Adergy, Inc.; Lewis Kraut, Prism Press; Lana Jackson, WLTW Lite FM 106.7; Suzanne Poor, Miller/Poor Associates; and Pat Tesman, Gianettino & Meredith. Committee Chair is Ralph Gonzalez of Three Rivers Associates.