Mary Ann Thompson

[Teegate]

All,

I have found out that Mary Ann Thompson from Birches Cranberry Farm has died. She had been in Massachusetts last week for a cranberry function where she had a stroke. Today she passed away.

Click on "Listen."

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/...iving-week-is-cranberry-crazy-for-this-farmer

Guy

 

[bobpbx]

She was a sweet lady. PBX did a trip in May 2002 titled "Begin the Batsto. We started out along the river below Carranza Road and went upstream until the water ran out. We had to cross their property so I asked permission in advance, and she graciously gave it to us. Up there, you have this strange area where the Batsto watershed meets the Rancocas watershed, and I think they might even mingle. It was a thick swamp, so I'm not sure.

 

[Teegate]

Spung-Man is trying to confirm with family members. I was on the phone with Ted and he was getting calls on the other phone. He told me she had died.

 

[oji]

Very sad news. I enjoyed the day we spent at Birches with her.

 

[Spung-Man]

The passing of Mary-Ann Thompson, a giant but behind the scenes hero of the Pines, has been confirmed through several reliable sources. She owned and managed an incredible certified-organic operation at a one-of-a-kind nineteenth-century farm that is best described as a "Last of the Mohicans" Pinelands relict. She was a dear friend to many of the NJPB members. Those who took the time to look beyond her quirky ways were rewarded by pure genius. I met Mary Ann in the ‘90s when she saved the Weymouth Furnace Pony Bridge from demolition. Her Vincentown property was the site of Peter Wolfe’s 1953 Journal of Geology paper on periglacial basins, which was my first stop during the 2003 Geological Association of NJ field trip. Later we fought hard to save her farm from lawsuits after a freak flood breached the Burrs Mill dams, flooding downstream properties. Mary Ann mentored my daughter during her undergraduate internship on sustainable agriculture, something my daughter truly treasured. Lost Town Hunter and I featured the Birches last year during People, Places, and Sugar Sand – A Pinelands Tour for the 2014 Vernacular Architecture Forum at Stockton University.

https://forums.njpinebarrens.com/th...n-state-forest-a-lost-cause.8145/#post-119879

Mary Ann was a passionate preservationist.
She frequently spoke and wrote on Pinelands and farm issues.​

You and your legacy will be fondly remembered...

S-M

​

 

[Teegate]

It doesn't get better than that Spung-man. Nice!

 

[relayer]

I am very sad to hear this. She was a good steward of a rare and wonderful resource. May she rest in peace.

 

[dskessler]

Very sad news indeed. I had the honor of meeting Mary-Ann only last year but she welcomed me to spend time at her farm and film her while I was there. I spend hours talking to her and I only began to scratch the surface of the depth of experience and knowledge that she brought to the Pine Barrens and this community.
I filmed the video in the original post. It's only a small part of what I captured while I was there including interviews with Ms. Thompson. I feel fortunate that I was able to spend even this brief time with her and that it was documented. I hope that the film will be a lasting memorial to her stewardship and that it may, even in a small way, carry her conservation efforts forward.
This is a great loss. She was a treasure.