red, White & blueberry Festival coming June 30
Wednesday, June 19, 2019 • The Hammonton Gazette • Page 3
bLuEbErrY, from Page 1
will feature nearly 70 food ven-
dors and crafters, inflatable and
mechanical kiddie rides, a classic
car show courtesy of Cruisin’
Classics Auto Club, live music
from local band Stealing Savanah,
DJ entertainment from festival
host and Hammonton native Nick
“Nicky G.” Giorno, of 98.1
WOGL; a blueberry pie-eating
contest, a pancake breakfast (7
a.m. to 1 p.m.) courtesy of the
Hammonton Kiwanis Club and of
course, more than 14,000 pints of
freshly picked Hammonton blue-
berries from six different local
farms—all of which will be
hauled in on a refrigerated truck
and sold throughout the day.
The chamber’s team of dedi-
cated volunteers are currently hard
at work towards preparing for this
year’s Red, White and Blueberry
Festival. John Garrison will once
again be tasked with arguably the
most important responsibility
among the festival’s planning
committee: organizing the deliv-
ery of nearly 14,000 pints of Ham-
monton blueberries donated from
six local farms.
Early in the morning of June 30,
Garrison will pick up all 1,152
crates of blueberries and load
them into a refrigerated truck,
where they will be stored during
the festival. With another fruitful
harvest anticipated, Garrison said
festivalgoers are going to arrive as
early as possible for the chance to
load up on this year’s crop of
Hammonton blueberries.
“It looks like it’s going to be a
good harvest. The berries have
nice size to them, now we just
have to wait for mother nature to
see what’s going to happen there
… We have it pretty much down
to a science now where we know
exactly how many we need and by
what time we sell out,” Garrison
said.
In the event that the fresh blue-
berries sell out, there will still be
plenty of blueberry-flavored deli-
cacies for sale throughout the fes-
tival thanks to the nearly 70
participating food vendors that
will be in attendance.
“We’re doing everything: blue-
berry pie, I know that we do
bagels, muffins and then obvi-
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ously, just cases upon cases of
blueberries,” Greater Hammonton
Chamber of Commerce President
Benjamin Ott said.
Ott and Garrison are among a
dedicated team of about 16 dedi-
cated volunteers with the chamber
who ensure that the festival is a
perennial success. John Runfolo,
executive director of the Greater
Hammonton Chamber of Com-
merce, said the rapid growth of
the Red, White and Blueberry
Festival is a product of the rapidly
growing support provided by
many local volunteers, especially
the festival’s planning committee,
which Runfolo heads and said is
full of dependable, hard-working
individuals.
“It has grown from like three
people in 1987 to approximately
16 people, and every one of them
are professionals. Every one of
them are dependable and every-
one gives of themselves ...
They’re tremendous people, irre-
placeable and obviously, I
couldn’t do this alone; it has
grown too big,” Runfolo said.
The Red, White and Blueberry
Festival has also been greatly
aided by the support from the
chamber’s corporate sponsor,
AMI AtlantiCare, as well as its
several corporate partnerss, which
this year include New Jersey
Manufacturers Insurance Group,
OceanFirst Bank, BB&T Bank
and the Rothman Institute. Due to
the combined efforts of the cham-
ber and the surrounding commu-
nity, Runfolo said the festival’s
success has greatly aided the
chamber in executing its mission
statement of promoting Hammon-
ton as a destination for businesses,
residents and blueberry-enthusi-
asts alike.
“It announces to people what a
great place it is to live, work and
play—and also to do business be-
cause people come in and see
what a friendly group we have ...
Our mantra is to improve the
economy and improve the quality
of life ... This is not an economic
fair, but it does show anybody
looking to re-locate that, ‘Hey,
this is a good place. I like the peo-
ple; I like the atmosphere. I think
I might try to do something
here,’” Runfolo said.
In an effort to add new unique
elements to the Red, White and
Blueberry Festival each year,
Runfolo said he recently spoke
with
Gabriella
Mannino-
Tomasello and Albert Tomasello,
of Mannino’s Cannoli Express,
about baking a giant blueberry
muffin that will be proudly dis-
played near the chamber’s tent
during the festival.
“What I plan to do is mount it
like the Hope Diamond in a plas-
tic container, so to speak ... I’m
see FEstIVaL, Page 8
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