Dog park effort continues; security enhanced at lake park with cameras
Page 4 • Wednesday, June 29, 2016 • The Hammonton Gazette
PARKS, from Page 1
league as well as teams from surrounding areas. He currently has
six teams registered for the July 2
tournament and is actively looking
for more. The commission approved his request.
An update on the status of the
dog park was given by Ian Fischer
and Hammonton Public Works
Manager/Business Administrator
Jerome Barberio.
“We’ve been going back and
forth with a few members from the
dog park committee. They want to
know what they can do to try and
get things going a little bit,” Barberio said.
“I attended their last meeting.
Basically they’re at the point
where they need to raise the
money. It was a lot of brainstorming about ways they can come up
with donations,” Fischer said.
The proposed design would encompass three acres of land and
improvements are estimated at
$18,000. There were a number of
ideas discussed at the meeting, including placing a small plaque on
each section of the fence to recognize those who donated towards
the fund.
There will be a number of
changes made to enhance the security at Hammonton Lake Park
following the recent graffiti vandalism. Donated cameras will be
added to the area near the bandstand in order to have footage of
any illegal activity that may take
place in the future.
bERRY from Page 1
The festival began at 6 a.m. with
a blueberry pancake breakfast that
was organized by the Kiwanis
Club.
Councilman Thomas Gribbin
welcomed people to the festival.
“It is my honor to welcome you
to the Blueberry Capital of the
World, welcome to Hammonton,
New Jersey! The Red, White and
Blueberry Festival is an all-American tradition in an all-American
town, and I would like to thank the
Chamber of Commerce, its Executive Director John Runfolo and the
committee for all that they do to
keep this event successful. This is
a very special event for our town in
a very special year for Hammonton, our Sesquicentennial Anniversary, 150 years, and we are so
happy to have you here to be apart
of it. Please enjoy the festival and
enjoy the blueberries,” Gribbin
said.
While flats of blueberries may
be the most popular item sold at the
festival, there was no shortage of
blueberry infused foods and drinks.
Vendors sold blueberry canolis,
blueberry pies, blueberry teas and
much more.
Also being sold by Gregg Silvesti were individual blueberry
plants that could be taken home
and planted in your backyard garden.
“It makes for a great thing at
home, and it’ll come back every
year forever, 30 to 40 years the
growers get out of a plant. They get
about chest high and are a beautiful
red color in the offseason. Me and
my partner, Joe Pino, we sell them
here every year at the festival. It’s
one of the best days,” Silvesti said.
Since this was the festival’s 30th
anniversary, local band Stealing
Savanah played a hit song from
each year that the festival has taken
place dating back to 1987. Hammonton’s own DJ Nick “Nicky G”
Giorno entertained the crowds with
top-40 hits and giveaway prizes.
“I’ve been doing the festival for
a long time. I love coming back to
Hammonton and seeing everyone.
Seeing how big the festival has
gotten is amazing,” Giorno said.
Vendors took advantage of the
huge crowds and lined up tent by
tent to sell their handmade items.
Among them was Nancy Didriksen, a teacher at Atlantic City High
Successful 30th festival
Hammonton
Trivia Questions
from the Town
Sesquicentennial Committee
Q: What do a hay press, a
chick brooder, and a stump
puller have in common?
See FESTIVAL, Page 12
“The increased activity means
we have something going on
every weekend day, which has
helped curb some of the vandalism. The pavilion and bandstand
will now have the lights on at all
times. That deters the kids who
were causing the issues from
hanging out there.