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When it comes to weddings, everything is in the details. Ian Sherwood, owner of the Riverview Barn in Franklin, NJ, understands completely and works to ensure that this “country-elegant” wedding venue will be just right—and stressless. Sherwood provides a list of suggested local caterers, photographers, DJs, and florists to choose from, and he can vouch for each one.

On the big day, after the ceremony, which is usually outdoors on the one-hundred-acre property, an authentic Victorian carriage, drawn by Titan, a mighty white Percheron, appears. The carriage takes the couple on a threequarter-mile loop around the property to where stunning photo ops await among beautiful vistas of horses, trees, and a walking bridge over the Wallkill River.

Cocktail hour is outside in an old horse shelter, made special with mirrors and flowers, but the star of the show—after the bride, of course—is Nacho, the working mini donkey who shows up, dressed in flowers, with a saddlebag full of libations. Every wedding is a customized affair with the centerpiece being the repurposed horse barn on the property. Inside the barn there are two bridal suites, decorated in tasteful shabby chic by Ian’s mother, Valerie Upp. The gent’s room has the feel of a sophisticated horsemen’s club, where any groom would feel comfortable.

For the main event, a poured mocha-stained concrete floor surrounds a chocolate-brown dance floor. Authentic barn doors open on either side of the barn for beautiful views and a soft cross breeze. Walls boast the original wood planks; wooden posts are elegantly draped in white cloth. The show stopper is an oversized, wooden-rectangular chandelier with hanging Edison lights suspended above the dance floor.

“I wanted a rustic and elegant, open-air feeling that speaks to the bride and groom,” Ian mused. “When they see this beautiful venue, they can see themselves getting married here; then we step in and do our magic and make every wedding a perfect day.”

Father John’s Animal House Cool Cats

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e get attached to our animals.

It had been some time since all three of my cats passed over the rainbow bridge, but it happened in just one year, and it was a very hard adjustment.

Jazz, the mellow and wise king of the tuxedo cats, lived to the ripe old age of twenty. The sisters came from a shelter in Newark where they lived together in one small cage— “bonded” the adoption people explained. Both Blondie, the Zen warrior, chief mouser of the house, and sweet Ruby, personal greeter, with a quirky but fun disposition, lived to be eighteen. Each of the cats had a very distinct personality, and that’s the way it is with our pets. I miss them all.

To quote Ernest Hemingway’s profound sentiment, “One cat just leads to another.” Months turned into a few years, and finally, I was ready to fall in love again. So into the car and down Route 15 I went, heading to Father John’s Animal House in Lafayette, NJ. I’d heard good things about this shelter, and reputation means everything.

I had my checklist ready. Was it clean? Check. No odors? Check. Did the animals look happy and well taken care of? Check. So, who wanted to come home with me?

Garret Barcheski studied Animal Behavior at the University of New England and has been involved with Father John’s since 2015. Now the Executive Director there, he explained to me the different steps that are taken to ready their cats for adoption. Many cats are surrendered to the Animal House as people fall on hard times or their life circumstances change, but some cats are found outside.

Barcheski assured me that all of the cats at Father John’s are treated really well and have the highest quality of care and empathy during their stay. The goal of the shelter is to make the perfect cat to human match.

“When we get a call from a cat owner looking to surrender a cat, they will usually begin with the plea, ‘Hey, I need help,’” explained Barcheski. “We always ask about the cat’s likes, dislikes, if they are good with kids, dogs, etc. This way we know which room to put them in and can usually sense how long they will be here.”

A new cat to the shelter is placed in an intake room that has its own separate airflow. It is observed by one of the two volunteer vets, either Dr. Michelle Hewitt, who also sits on the non-profit’s Board of Trustees, or Dr. Pam Shott, to make sure there are no communicable diseases. For a cat to be adopted, it must be spayed or neutered by the vet, dewormed, and vaccinated. Then the cat is moved to either a free roam room for cats that like other cats, or a caged/partially free room for those that are on special diets, need medicine, or don’t play well with others.

“Most importantly,” Barcheski told me, “the animal needs to be socialized with empathy. We give our volunteers a one-hour training session with our Volunteer Coordinator, so they learn the day-to-day interactions of handling the cats without spreading any cat illnesses and without

Staff is very careful about letting the public in to see the animals, providing hand sanitizer before they walk into the adoption rooms. In order for cats to be on the adoption floor, they need to be as healthy as possible.

Cats that are found outside can be lost house cats, outside cats that have roamed, or feral cats. A cat is considered feral if it was not socialized before sixteen weeks, and it never wants to be around people. Sadly, a lost house cat has only a five percent chance of being reunited with its owner, although social media postings of lost or found cats are helping a lot.

“Someone will usually contact us and tell us that they see a cat outside. We will ask them where they live and ask them to contact the animal control officer assigned to their town,” Barcheski advised. “The officers can tell if the cat is feral or domesticated. Animal Control will hold the cat for seven days for someone to claim. After that, if it’s a house or outside cat, they will bring it to us to be vetted for adoption. If the cat is deemed feral, it can be scheduled for a low-cost spay or neuter, ear tip, and rabies vaccine to be readied for re-release.

“The peak season for kitten births is April, May, and June, with June being the shelter’s highest intake month. One word of advice: People should never do what we refer to as ‘kitten nap.’ A kitten’s chances of survival drop dramatically, (I would say by eighty percent) if they are only a few days old and taken from their mother,” Barcheski warned. “If you see a kitten outside, wait until they are mobile, their eyes are open, their ears are up, and they can start caring for themselves.

“Given the rural nature of our county, it’s hard to get a true count on feral cats, but because cats reproduce at a very high rate, it’s easy for it to get seriously out of control, and it has,” Barcheski emphasized. “We’ve become way more vocal about how Sussex County handles its stray and feral cat population.

“We are a managed intake facility, which means that we can’t bring in what we can’t fit. In other words, we can only

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take the next cat in if one is adopted. The more efficient we are getting a cat adopted, the more lives we will save.”

For years, Father John’s has offered a low-cost spray/neuter program, working with a third-party organization. “We will council people on how to properly trap ferals,” Barcheski said. “Trap, Neuter, and Release, TNR, effectively helps to manage the feral population.”

At Father John’s Animal House, everyone, from the volunteers to the board members, is very passionate about what they do. It’s extremely important that things run well. When it comes to cat care, everyone takes small pieces of the responsibility, including the public.

Ultimately it was a cute, spunky, little calico girl that won over my heart. The day that I was at Father John’s, it was her turn to meander the cat room. I found her cage-free and showing off her socializing skills to the other cats in the room. She knew all the right moves—jumped up on the counter, rubbed against me with some loud purrs, and landed in my arms, begging me to take her home, and, of course… that was that. ....................................................................................... To learn about the Tails and Trails Fundraising Event on May 1st at Camp Sacajawea, Sparta, NJ, or to see current adoptable animals, visit www.fatherjohns.org. Look for Father John’s Dogs, coming in our next issue.