The Great Chocolate Egg Rescue

By Sarah Beauregard and Johannie Dufour

Translated by Lynette Adams

The residents of Cocoaville were busy one morning preparing for the big Easter picnic. The whole town looked forward to this event, held yearly in a magnificent field of tulips. As was the tradition, each villager brought a dish to share.

Jen the Hen had just put the finishing touches on her succulent vegetable salad when she heard a knock on the door. Opening it, she saw her neighbor, Sonny the Bunny, holding a box of chocolate eggs and looking entirely despondent.

“What’s happening?” asked Jen with a worried voice.

“It’s my eggs,” he moaned, showing her his ruined chocolate eggs. “I left them by the window, and the sun melted them.”

“Oh, I see,” his friend replied. “But they’re not completely melted. I’m sure we can rescue them.”

“Do you really think so?” replied Sonny hopefully.

“Sure! Hurry home and get all your candies and come right back,” directed Jen, already rummaging through her cupboards.

A few minutes later, the rabbit returned with an assortment of sweets, including caramels, licorice and all sorts of allsorts! In her own kitchen, Jen found jujubes, yogurt-coated raisins and pralines.

The two neighbors set out immediately, decorating the chocolate eggs. Their minds turned to the villagers.

“Look!” exclaimed Jen. “With all these colorful bits, this egg looks like Brock the Peacock!”

“And with the yogurt-covered raisins, this one will look like Sam the Lamb!”

After they’d given each egg a personal touch, they put them carefully into a cooler. Proud of their work, the hen and rabbit made their way to the tulip field, where they made a grand entrance. The locals were so impressed with Sonny’s unique chocolate eggs that they offered heartfelt congratulations.

“All the credit goes to my charming neighbor,” he replied, gesturing to Jen. “Her brilliant idea made my eggs turn out so beautifully.”

Ever since that day, Cocoaville has had a new tradition. A friendly chocolate egg competition takes place each year during the Easter picnic.

The End

How Did Easter Get Its Name?

Christians and even many nonChristians likely know that Easter is the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Less widely known may be the origins of the name of this significant holiday. Historians are not certain about the precise origins of the name “Easter.” Some believe the name can be traced to the English monk Bede, often referred to as “St. Bede the Venerable” or “The Venerable Bede.” According to History.com, in his most famous work, Ecclesiastical History of the English People , Bede asserts that the English word “Easter” can be traced to “Eostre” or “Eostrae,” which is the pagan Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. Many historians past and present echo this sentiment and believe Eostre is the namesake of Easter. However, others believe “Easter” comes from the Latin phrase “in albis,” which is plural for “alba” (dawn). That phrase became “eostarum” in Old High German, a language that historians have connected to Old English. Though which camp is correct may never be resolved, there’s no denying that the word “Easter” represents the same spirit of rebirth that Christians celebrate each spring.

Beech Avenue Water Tank to Undergo Rehabilitation in Pemberton Twp. with Plan Temporarily Requiring Powering Down of Cellular Antennas

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—An elevated water tower located on Beech Avenue, also known as the “Beech Street Tank,” which provides service to residents of both the Country Lakes and Browns Mills sections of Pemberton Township, will undergo what has been described as “significant routine maintenance and upgrades” and be put “offline” for at least seven, if not as long as 11 weeks, township officials announced.

The work is expected to commence starting on April 17. To make way for the rehabilitation work, Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel described at recent Pemberton Township Council meetings that cellular antennas on the tower will be “partially powered off.”

“Cellular service will be impaired during working hours only as cellular antennas will be partially powered down during the exterior repairs and repainting,” it was later stated in a township press release.

During the repair work, while township

Friends

(Continued from Page 6) supervised by about 10 staff members all of whom are trained in ABA, Crisis management, first aid, CPR and medication administration. Members of both groups will likely take part in the grounds maintenance and beautification program at the Friendship schoolhouse, she said. The schoolhouse itself, which was last used for the 1917-18 school year for pupils in grades one through eight, was moved to its present location from the Tabernacle Public Works lot, Franzen recalled, at the behest of a one-time teacher there—the mother of the late former Burlington County GOP Chairman Garfield DeMarco. It has since been revamped by the historical society, he said, and although visitors now need an appointment to see it, was at one time part of a countywide tour of historic sites offered on Sundays to the general public, as well as of a tour given to Tabernacle 3rd graders that included other local landmarks like the Carranza monument. officials vowed “there will be no interruptions in water service,” they asked residents to “conserve their exterior water usage,” such as watering lawns and washing cars.

But the idea for cleaning and spiffing up the grounds surrounding it was Kamelia Kameli’s after 16-year-old James Yang, a member of Boy Scout Troop 44 in Moorestown, whose mother was a former business partner of Kameli, reached out to her asking a for a community project. So as a project to qualify him to become an Eagle Scout and “give back to the community,” concluded, Yang got his fellow scouts to join him in clearing debris and old mulch from the site, replacing old lumber, stones and gravel on the walkway, spreading wood chips on the grounds and planting flower beds, including tulips provided by Franzen.

Officials also asked that residents particularly be mindful about conserving water when conducting routine yard and garden activities.

Questions are being directed to the township’s Water Division at 609-894-3373.

Hornickel noted that in order to maintain “sufficient water pressure in the lines” for purposes of any “fire suppression activities,” the township would be “renting a pressure tank.”

Crews are also expected to make repairs and upgrades to Trenton Road and Oak Pines water tanks “at the same time.”

The expectation, according to the business administrator, is that the “project can get completed in three months.”

“This won’t create an issue with the drinking water,” said Council President Donovan Gardner in an inquisitive way, to which Hornickel replied, “Correct.”

That, however, wasn’t all he thought about doing.

In completing the cleanup, it occurred to Yang that yet “another thing that would make this special” would be to assign the task of caring for the exterior of the Friendship School to the Friends of Cyrus, especially given that his parents have been working with the disabled population for over 25 years and spent the last five working with autistic individuals. That, he told this newspaper, was what led to the plan to coordinate with the group” to do maintenance of the plants, the greenery and the flower beds,” which he thought “would be a great addition to their program.”

“This ended up being something that not only will benefit the Friends of Cyrus, but will be a place where local students can come and learn about the history of this place,” said Yang, adding that he wanted to thank his troop, his parents, the historical society, and AZ Landscaping, which donated some of the materials used in the project, for their roles in bringing it about, as well as the Friends of Cyrus for making the connection and its anticipated one.

In referring to that organization, Franzen, a former Tabernacle mayor and deputy mayor, emphasized that “We welcome them to the community, and we’re glad we’re able to partner with them and their program in the use of the schoolhouse.”

“I’d like to stress that it’s a good relationship and we get along fine together,” he added. “It’s a pleasure to work with them.”

Kameli reciprocated that sentiment, pointing out that “the Township of Tabernacle has welcomed us from day one, and Friends of Cyrus remains committed to strengthening our culture of inclusion, diversity, belonging and giving back to the community.”

Trail

(Continued from Page 2)

Hornickel during the March 1 Pemberton council meeting. “We are very happy and appreciate the Pinelands Commission working with us to relax some of their standards.”

Grogan, during the March 10 commission meeting, however, described that “all kinds of things could happen along the way that could change that” tentative “goal” of the commission, with her pointing that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), which is the lead agency that oversees the state Division of Fish and Wildlife, is “not here today” but is “going to be a partner and signatory of this agreement,” one she announced would be drafted by the commission’s longtime attorney, Stacey Roth, who will be working with both the township and NJDEP.

As for the commission’s own MOA issuance process it was moving ahead with, Roth described it as one that will be a “very robust public process” with Maton noting that it would allow for multiple opportunities for public comment.

While the plan for improving the trail at Pemberton Lake inches forward, concern has recently been expressed by two township residents, Laura Borschel and Rita Yelda, about a “trash problem at Pemberton Lake,” with the “biggest issue” at the “back entrance,” or the portion of the tract the state is responsible for maintaining, while the township portion of the tract, she maintained, “is well maintained” with trash there being picked up regularly.

Borschel – who described to Pemberton council trying to work with the PPA to address the matter as best as possible even though the ”excellent” organization is “underfunded,” described to Pemberton council on Feb. 15 that since this past September, she and her spouse have been “hauling out trash” from there, estimating that, to date, they have “hauled out over 200 pounds of trash.”

Most of the trash they have collected, she contended, has been “dumped by people casually using the trail,” and is the result of the state’s “carry-in/carry-out policy.”

“I have been in touch with Fish and Wildlife, and they won’t do anything about it because of their policy,” Borschel declared.

Yelda, who called the “Pemberton Lake Wildlife Management Area” a “really popular location for fishing, kayaking, hiking, hunting and really taking in nature,” including birds and turtles, maintained that not only did representatives from the state Division of Fish and Wildlife point to the carry-in/carry-out policy, but also maintained it was a matter of staffing.

“It is an important place to safeguard the wildlife,” she declared. “The fauna and flora are really incomparable, and that is why it is such a popular spot. I enjoy visiting the lake and that is why I want to see it protected. It is estimated that thousands of people visit each year, including out-of-state tourists, but it does have a significant trash problem because it is so popular.”

After having “picked up pounds and pounds of trash,” Yelda attested to it being “concentrated on a trail behind Pemberton Lake and at the Coleman’s Bridge parking lot.”

“It is just shameful Pemberton is letting such a treasure become filled with trash,” Yelda declared. “It is clear there hasn’t been a trash pick-up there in years given we found 40 to 50-year-old cans. People are taking municipal trash and throwing that behind the woods as well. It is such a popular location, yet it only has two trash cans.”

And those two trash cans, according to Yelda, are positioned on the township portion of the reportedly some 45-acre tract, which is closest to the Magnolia Road entrance to the wildlife management area.

Borschel and Yelda both expressed that they see the “solution” as placing added “no littering” signage as well as “more trash can facilities,” in addition to the town entering into an agreement with the state to “maintain that backspace.”

Hornickel, in pointing to working with the PPA and state on the trail project, noted that the PPA “actually offered to fence off portions of the parking lot, at their expense,” to curb the illegal littering and dumping problems at the site, but called the non-profit organization having to do that “ridiculous,” noting that the offer ended up being something he “protested” because “the state needs to come up with the funds to discourage illegal dumping.”

“We will take a look at whether we can put a couple of trash cans in there to make them available,” said the business administrator, noting that permission would have to come from the NJDEP. “But my problem is how much more is the state going to take advantage of us? They either own or control 24.4 percent of the land in this town and give us $27,000 a year, and now they want us to clean up their portion of the park! We will see what we can do, but it is very angering to me that we have to bear this added burden because the state is like ‘carry-in/carry-out.’ Good luck with that! If your dog poops on the ground, do you want to bring that in your car?”

Following the council meeting, Hornickel, also a lawyer, told this newspaper that “the superintendent over Lake Pemberton informed us that as a Wildlife Management Area, the NJDEP has a strict carry-in/carryout policy for garbage,” but “notwithstanding, he authorized the township to install two trash receptacles on the state’s side, which the township is now servicing (for trash pickup only).”