Bears not invited to cranberry fest
By*PAUL LEAKAN
Burlington County Times
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/112-10142004-382603.html
WOODLAND - Organizers of the town's annual Cranberry Festival have a new challenge this year: keeping increasingly inquisitive black bears from gobbling berries and getting into garbage.
There have been at least 10 black bear sightings in town so far this year, according to Lynn Giamalis, Woodland's animal control officer and chairwoman of the festival committee.
Hoping to avoid any encounters with the state's largest land mammal, security guards will carry air horns during the event Saturday and Sunday, Giamalis said.
Air horns emit a high-pitched sound that would hopefully scare off any bears that happen to mosey into festival territory.
Black bears are omnivorous, but their diet consists primarily of vegetation.
They have been known to feast on cranberries.
And there will be plenty of cranberries, both raw and in various concoctions, and other food at the festival, which draws as many as 75,000 people each year.
"We have all those Dumpsters," said Giamalis.
Giamalis said it's highly unlikely the timid creatures will show up during the daytime hours of the festival. However, the more quiet nighttime hours might be a different story, she said.
Most residents are unfazed by the apparent influx of bears in town, said R. Marilyn Schmidt, the owner of Buzby's Chatsworth General Store on Route 563.
"Nobody really gives a damn," she said. "It's just live and let live, as long as people don't come (here) to hunt (the bears)."
Schmidt recalled all the commotion that occurred after a cougar reportedly was spotted in town three years ago. Out-of-towners suddenly found their way to the roughly 2,000-person town.
"People were here at night with spotlights looking for cougars," she said.
The Cranberry Festival is a celebration of New Jersey's cranberry harvest, the third largest in the United States, and a tribute to local culture.
It is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in Chatsworth.
There will be more than 160 vendors, live music, a classic car show and treats such as cranberry ice cream. Admission is free. Parking is $5.
Proceeds from the event will go toward the restoration and preservation of the 164-year-old White Horse Inn, a gray building with cranberry trim at the intersection of routes 532 and 563.
The township-owned inn was once the carriage house for the Chatsworth Club, which was destroyed by fire in 1910.
The club was built by Prince Mario Ruspoli de Poggio-Suassa, an Italian nobleman. It was frequented by the rich and famous.
By*PAUL LEAKAN
Burlington County Times
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/112-10142004-382603.html
WOODLAND - Organizers of the town's annual Cranberry Festival have a new challenge this year: keeping increasingly inquisitive black bears from gobbling berries and getting into garbage.
There have been at least 10 black bear sightings in town so far this year, according to Lynn Giamalis, Woodland's animal control officer and chairwoman of the festival committee.
Hoping to avoid any encounters with the state's largest land mammal, security guards will carry air horns during the event Saturday and Sunday, Giamalis said.
Air horns emit a high-pitched sound that would hopefully scare off any bears that happen to mosey into festival territory.
Black bears are omnivorous, but their diet consists primarily of vegetation.
They have been known to feast on cranberries.
And there will be plenty of cranberries, both raw and in various concoctions, and other food at the festival, which draws as many as 75,000 people each year.
"We have all those Dumpsters," said Giamalis.
Giamalis said it's highly unlikely the timid creatures will show up during the daytime hours of the festival. However, the more quiet nighttime hours might be a different story, she said.
Most residents are unfazed by the apparent influx of bears in town, said R. Marilyn Schmidt, the owner of Buzby's Chatsworth General Store on Route 563.
"Nobody really gives a damn," she said. "It's just live and let live, as long as people don't come (here) to hunt (the bears)."
Schmidt recalled all the commotion that occurred after a cougar reportedly was spotted in town three years ago. Out-of-towners suddenly found their way to the roughly 2,000-person town.
"People were here at night with spotlights looking for cougars," she said.
The Cranberry Festival is a celebration of New Jersey's cranberry harvest, the third largest in the United States, and a tribute to local culture.
It is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in Chatsworth.
There will be more than 160 vendors, live music, a classic car show and treats such as cranberry ice cream. Admission is free. Parking is $5.
Proceeds from the event will go toward the restoration and preservation of the 164-year-old White Horse Inn, a gray building with cranberry trim at the intersection of routes 532 and 563.
The township-owned inn was once the carriage house for the Chatsworth Club, which was destroyed by fire in 1910.
The club was built by Prince Mario Ruspoli de Poggio-Suassa, an Italian nobleman. It was frequented by the rich and famous.
