Today at the Franklin Parker Dedication

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All,

Today was the official dedication ceremonies for the Franklin Parker Preserve, and anyone who contributed to the acquisition of this preserve along with their guests could attend. I was fortunate enough to be invited to the event by Bob (BobM), and appreciated the chance to attend.

We met at the landing strip near the entrance to one section of the preserve near Chatsworth Lake, and had to walk the 1/4 mile to the event.

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At that location there is a building that was used in some fashion in the distribution of cranberries, a loading dock, and the remains of the JCRR track that apparently was used to ship the cranberries by rail.

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From there we had to walk the 1/4 mile to the event area, and just ahead of us walking was former Governor Jim Florio. He had ditched his black limo and was walking with the rest of us. We caught up to him and I was able to shake his hand, and Bob did likewise.

Bob and Jim Florio.

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The NJ Conservation Foundation who purchased the property, had set up a tent in a cranberry bog, along with a small stage for the band, and around 200 chairs. We were served food, and water, and were able to roam around and visit a few displays.

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From the bog area we were able to see a small portion of the bogs that were purchased.

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On each chair there was a small fact sheet, and a pin attached to it commemorating the preserve.

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This photo does not show it, but at the bottom of the pin is says Franklin Parker Preserve.

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The event started with speeches from the various members and former members of the Conservation Foundation, at times taking about the early years that brought them all together. Most of them were not that bad, with a few stand out speeches, one by Florio.

Then we met Franklin Parker, and a sign was unveiled that was installed right there in the bog. It has a solid metal frame, with a small roof, and the actual sign was some sort of wood.

The first photo shows the crowd standing around in a circle waiting for the unveiling, and the second photo shows Franklin Parker standing next to the sign that bears his name.

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We then were able to meet Garfield DeMarco, who sold the property at half price to the Conservation. Here he is with Jim Florio.

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And with Franklin Parker and another man. Ignore what is behind them :)

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When the speeches were over we were treated to a van tour of the bogs around us. Here are the vans waiting to pick us up.

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To me the most fascinating part of the day, was a brief glimpse of something in the woods along the bog road we traveled on the tour. Bob and I quickly both looked at each other and said what it was. Nobody else in the van I am sure had any idea what it was, and a trip back there will allow me to inform you about it. When that occurs I will post back.

Again, thanks Bob for an interesting afternoon, especially since you got me out of work early.

Guy
 
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I forgot to mention that on the tour today the driver of our van mentioned that there is a bee keeper who comes up from Florida each year to supply the cranberry growers in the area with hives to help pollinate the cranberries. He had always kept his hives on DeMarco's property, and they allowed him to do it again this year.

It seems that a bear broke into them and damaged many of them, more proof that they are in the area.

Guy
 
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It was nice to be able to get out in the bogs area early on, because the tour guide who is in charge of the running the property said they area going to alter all of the bogs. They have already started doing it in some area's.

Hopefully I have this correct....with the bogs being flat only certain plants will grow, and they don't want that to happen. Digging it up also gives a habitat to certain animal.

They are also going to flood many of the bogs to make permanent wet area's, so how it looks now is not how it will look in the future. He said within two years they should be done.

Guy
 
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Jessica and I went looking for what Bob and I briefly saw during the tour, and found it not far away from the Jersey Central line.

Since we could not enter from the main entrance where we were yesterday, we had to find an alternate route. I chose a route where we could drive almost there, and with a short walk through the woods we hopefully would find it.

We started on a side road off of the main road to Apple Pie Hill, and parked our car at the end of it and walked. We soon found a route that apparently surveyors for the Parker preserve had previously used to survey the property. On this route through the woods we found a survey marker. This looks like it most likely has been there since DeMarco's father purchased the property years ago.

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Less than 50 yards away we reached the JCRR and headed west on the tracks. (BTW, we received thousands of chiggers) We tried a few shortcuts and wound up in some really thick woods where we had to crawl to get through.

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We returned to the tracks, headed west some more, and eventually we made our way right to it. Unfortunately, we were incorrect on what it was and I was quite disappointed. We had both felt it was an unknown and abandoned gaging station that DeMarco had gobbled up in his acquisitions, but it turned out to be some sort of pumping station for the bogs. The door looked so much like the ones on the gage stations, that we were easily mistaken.

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Guy
 
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Lorun

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Apr 10, 2004
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Nice pictures.
Did not find what you thought you would but sounds like a nice hike. At least you found out for the rest of us the chiggers are still out. I hope my daughter is still willing to go out adventuring with her old man when she gets older. At two years old she is willing to go anywhere.
Her mom will have no parts of it.
 
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Lorun said:
Nice pictures.
Did not find what you thought you would but sounds like a nice hike. At least you found out for the rest of us the chiggers are still out. I hope my daughter is still willing to go out adventuring with her old man when she gets older. At two years old she is willing to go anywhere.
Her mom will have no parts of it.
Click to expand...


I am quite fortunate that she likes going with me, and you need to do your best to make sure your's does also. When she is able take her with you, photograph her there, and she may one day want to return to see the place again.

With that said, my younger daughter wants no part of it, so I am not an expert on getting my kids to enjoy what I do.

Guy
 
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BobM said:
Guy,

Tell me about the chiggers. When did you notice them, did any of them bite in, and how did you get them off?

No boots on?

bob
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We were walking on the JCRR and Jessica notice thousands of them on her pants. It looked like she fell in the dirt. We just had long pants and sneakers on. I checked mine and I also had them on me. We had the Off in my backpack and quickly sprayed. We only did waist down. They had already scatted into our pants but that Off works well. On the ride home Jessica had them all over her arms and was picking them off and crushing them and throwing them out the window. We exited the car here and wound up the windows and only brought in my camera and GPS. We washed our clothes and showered and doing a quick check in the sun we had maybe 5 on us.

Guy
 
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NewSchoolPiney

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Jun 16, 2003
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BobM said:
Guy,

Tell me about the chiggers. When did you notice them, did any of them bite in, and how did you get them off?

No boots on?

bob
Click to expand...

Just my two cents,

I was the unfortunate recipient of about 100+ chigger bites all over my body from camping Friday night. Went to the doctor today and got some prescription steroid medicine used to treat poison ivy because I react so badly to them.

So . . . yes, they're still out there.

Justin
 
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Did the medicine work so far? Have you used it before. Tell us how they feel later in the week, because when I get them they seem worse after 3 or 4 days than they do the first two.

Guy
 
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