Plenty of food and fun at the Red, White & Blueberry Fest.
Wednesday, July 3, 2019 • The Hammonton Gazette • Page 3
RWB, from Page 1
blueberries.
The festival’s regional popular-
ity has increased greatly over the
past 33 years. In addition to a sub-
stantial turnout of local residents,
each Red, White and Blueberry
Festival also attracts many out-of-
town blueberry-lovers who flock
in to load up on enough Hammon-
ton blueberries to last them
through the season.
Although she doesn’t live in
town anymore, former resident
Faith Margiotti still commutes
from Cherry Hill each year to par-
take in the fun, communal event
and all of its festivities.
“It brings the community to-
gether and invites other people
from outside the community to
come and celebrate blueberries,”
Margiotti said.
When the blueberry-celebrating
had reached its conclusion at the
end of the day, the Greater Ham-
monton Chamber of Commerce
had sold approximately 20,000
pints of berries—most of which
were sold out by 3 p.m, according
to Benjamin Ott, president of the
chamber’s board of trustees.
“I don’t think we’ve ever sold
out this early; just an incredible
day. A lot of people are coming in
from out of town to get their blue-
berries for the year and it’s a group
effort; everybody shows up. So,
it’s pretty impressive,” Ott said.
In addition to the truckload of
fresh blueberries that were for
sale—or the numerous blueberry-
infused baked goods, beverages
and desserts—the multifaceted
festival had something to offer
every member of the family, in-
cluding a blueberry pie-eating con-
test, many kiddie rides and games,
a classic car show hosted by
Cruisin’ Classics auto club, live
music by local band Stealing Sta-
vanah and much more.
“We said on our way in that ‘we
wondered why our town can’t do
something like this,’” Steve Gre-
gory, who commuted from New
York for this year’s event, said.
During the opening ceremony of
the festival, members of the Tri-
Vets of Hammonton’s color guard
were in attendance for the presen-
tation of colors before the National
Anthem was played over a loud-
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speaker. Many local dignitaries
were also present during the cere-
mony, such as Atlantic County
Surrogate James Curcio, Council-
woman Brooke Sacco, Council-
men Joseph Giralo and Thomas
Gribbin and former Burlington
County Sheriff Jean E. Stanfield,
of the office of New Jersey Eighth
Legislative District Assemblyman
Ryan Peters.
Gribbin took to the stage to
greet the large crowd that came out
to this year’s festival.
“Nothing is more all-American
than the blueberry, and there’s no
greater place to celebrate that than
in this fantastic all-American town
of Hammonton, New Jersey,”
Gribbin said.
Gribbin also congratulated the
Greater Hammonton Chamber of
Commerce and its executive direc-
tor, John Runfolo, for their contin-
ually dedicated volunteer efforts
that have allowed the Red, White
and Blueberry Festival to become
an annual summer highlight for
area residents.
“Runfolo said the festival’s sus-
tained success has effectively al-
lowed the chamber to make
significant strides in fulfilling its
mission statement, which he be-
lieves can lead to further invest-
ment in the community.
“We are about quality of life—
improving the quality of life—
keeping the businesses that we
have and promoting new business.
One of the ways we can do it with-
out tremendous investment is to
portray our town in a positive
light,” Runfolo said.
Area man
charged in
ATV theft
case
by Gabe Donio
G AZETTE S TAFF W RITER
HAMMONTON—Michael
Campione II, 31, of Winslow Twp.
was positively identified in a pic-
ture photo array by the victim of
the theft of an ATV on the 600
block of N. Third Street on June
21, Hammonton Police Lt. Kevin
Friel said. The theft occurred after
the accused found the seller as a
result of the use of a mobile app,
then went to the seller’s residence
and requested a test drive of the
vehicle, Friel said. The accused
then left the area on the ATV, Friel
said.
A complaint for the theft of the
ATV was sworn out on June 25
and mailed to the last-known ad-
dress of Campione pending a
court date, Friel said.
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