Springdale Farm Market

     Friday, March 28, 2025: Many years ago, Cherry Hill Township, Camden County, New Jersey, had been called Delaware Township. Then on November 7, 1961, the residents voted to change the name. Before then, in the early 20th century, and as late as 1931, Delaware Township had as many as 82 farms. Nowadays, only Springdale Farm remained. I stopped by recently and did plenty of browsing, and I also did some shopping. Of course this farm market: Springdale Farm Market, 1638 Springdale Road (856-424-8674), has been in business for over 75 years. In addition, it was not some simple produce stand! Instead, this market provided rows and rows of fruits & vegetables, a bakery selling many kinds of baked goods, as well as other foods: jarred food, both sweet and savory, other packaged foods, etc. Both inside the building and outside, I noticed potted flowers, hanging baskets of flowers, and other plants such as herbs & spices. This store also sold garden equipment, outdoor furniture, and kitchenware—almost any thing to do with your kitchen and garden. From late Spring through December, this place played host to different events for the family, and private events that included hayrides. Therefore, if you would like to see what Cherry Hill looked like before it became a built up edge city/sprawling suburb, stop by this farm market, and shop locally. You won’t be sorry, and you might be buying stuff for yourself and your kitchen or garden. 

Clementon Historical Commission

     Wednesday, March 19, 2025: I grew up in Clementon,(Camden County) New Jersey. If you read the entry in this blog called “Early Childhood Places,” I mentioned living in Clementon from 1956 to ‘74. As a child and later, a teen, I remembered the building that I visited on the date above as the former borough hall, library, and police station. Currently it has been the headquarters of the Clementon Historical Commission and included a small museum: Clementon Historical Commission, 195 Gibbsboro Road (856-783-0284). I meant to visit this museum someday, and when I learned that the Commission had been planning to have an open house to celebrate Clementon’s 100th anniversary (1925-2025), I felt this would be as good a time as ever to see the museum. Once inside, I looked at pictures, texts, and exhibit items that presented Clementon’s past: from American Indian arrowheads to items on display from the past 100 years. Of course, I became nostalgic looking at anything to do with the 1960s and early ‘70s! Overall, it is a small museum, but I found it worthwhile to see and reminisce.   

Camden County Historical Society

     Wednesday, March 12, 2025: In the past, I’ve been to different county historical society museums, except for the one in my own county. (Shame on me!) Nevertheless, on the date above, I couldn’t say that anymore because I visited the Camden County, New Jersey, Historical Society Museum, 1900 Park Boulevard, Camden, NJ (856-964-3333). Once inside, a very friendly and enthusiastic tour guide took us around the different sections on two floors of this museum and the adjoining Pomona Hall. Right away, I noticed the historical and genealogical research library. Then our guide took us to an area about African-American history, and it especially covered the subject about the enslaved people who lived in Pomona Hall in the 1700s. This led to a tour of Pomona Hall, a house that the Cooper Family first build in 1726. Years later in the 1780s, the Cooper Family extended and expanded the house. Our guide showed us five rooms and a hallway that the staff furnished to the way it might have looked in the 1780s. Later, back in the museum building, our guide let us observe the exhibit areas on the one floor: 1) a Camden (city) History Mural; 2) Lenape, “We’re Still Here; and 3) the American Revolution. On another floor, we saw Made in Camden. This section displayed tools for trades and domestic work from the 1700s, and it also showcased the industries that were once in Camden, including the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and Campbell’s Soup. Another area presented the Camden Music Hall of Fame. Overall, via pictures, exhibit items, and texts, I learned much about Camden’s past. The only problem I had was that most of the museum covered Camden city and very little about the rest of Camden County. Anyway, I still recommend seeing this museum and getting to know more about the history of this county seat.

Dutch Wagon Amish Farmers Market

     Friday, January 24, 2025: I have been to different Amish markets in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in these last few years, but on the date above, I visited an Amish market in Burlington County, NJ that I have never been to before: Dutch Wagon Amish Farmers Market, 109 Route 70, Medford (609-654-1414). As we pulled in to park, I notice several storage sheds (At last. A house I can afford. HA! HA!), outdoor wooden furniture, playground structures, and small outdoor structures for containing small farm animals. Nevertheless, because it was cold outside, I only glanced around before moving inside the main building. Here, I browsed, and sometimes bought, different kinds of foods, much of it sold by the Amish: fresh meats, lunch meats, and baked goods, as well as salads, jarred foods, fried & barbecued poultry, candies, etc. Toward the back of the building, I saw a cafe with a limited menu. While this market looked smaller compared to the Amish markets I’ve seen elsewhere, the aisles were tight because Dutch Wagon was packed with many kinds of edible merchandise. In fact, during better weather, this location would make a good stop for buying picnic foods on the way to the NJ Pine Lands or the NJ Shore. 

Philcon 2024

     Friday, November 22, 2024: It was Philcon or the Philadelphia Science Fiction Conference time again at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and the first place I headed to after registering was 1) the Convention Suite or Con Suite. As in other years, in a living-room setting, I ate some snack foods, drank some soft drinks, and conversed with other science fiction (SF) fans. Meanwhile, similar to other Philcons, this SF con offered many different tracks of programming: animation, art, and costuming, as well as fandom gossip, filk music (mostly folk tunes with SF or fantasy lyrics), gaming, horror, literary SF, media SF, and science. The con also included writing workshops, exhibits, and other fixed functions for three days. Back down on the main floor, I attended my first panel: 2) Let’s Design a New SF Television Show where James Cambias, Bjon Hasseler, Jim (Straton) Reichert, Bob Hrannek, and Christopher Stout gave their opinions and listened to the opinions from the audience on what kind of SF TV show they would like to see. Some of the topics they talked about had to do with characters, settings, and plots, as well as reminding people that there have been differences when producing a TV show with actors vs. an animated series. They also covered the who, what, where, why, when, and how of the stories (the five W’s and H in journalism); and what the viewers would learn at the end of the story. Someone also mentioned how accurate the science should be and how much made up science should be in the story depending on whether it would be a hard SF story, soft SF story, or science fantasy. At the next panel, 3) A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Con… Roberta Rogow, Michael A. Ventella, and Ian Randal Strock told of mishaps, awkward moments, and other unusual stuff that happened at past SF cons. Some of the subjects covered involved fire alarms going off at the hotel (I am well aware of this myself.), trying to talk with SF fans born after 1977 (another thing I'm familiar with), Harlen Ellison stories, as well as stories of hookers looking for “big spenders” at conventions, fanzine stories, costume stories (wardrobe malfunctions), and so on. Some of the stories became very risque. 

     Saturday, November 23, 2024: Just like the year before, I started Philcon’s busiest day by visiting the 4) Art Show. Here I noticed that about 90% of the art presented fantasy art, and the rest showed SF and space art. Around three-fourths of the art on exhibit were paintings and drawings, and the remaining art on display included other mediums: jewelry, sculptures, tote bags, pillows, pottery, etc. Then, I listened in on the following panel: 5) How Real Does the Science in SF Have To Be?--where Barna William Donovan, Melanie Moyer, James L. Cambais, Lawrence Krammer, and Inga Heyer asked what would have made the made-up science in SF believable? If it was a comedy, did the made-up science have to be believable? They agreed that even if the main emphasis were on the characters, the made-up science should be believable, and the rules of this made-up science should be consistent. How much made-up science would be in the story depended on whether the story was hard-SF, soft SF, or science fantasy. (In hard SF, such as stories found in Analog Magazine, most editors only allowed one or two made-up science rules: the rest of the science had to be real. Soft-SF stories, such as Star Trek, allowed for more made-up science, but most of the rest of the science had to be real. For science fantasy, such as Star Wars, much of the science was of the made-up kind.) Next, I sat in on the 6) Bias Automation panel. Thus, Bob Hranek, Jazz Hiestand, Odele Pax, and Gill Cnaan talked about using artificial intelligence or AI in learning. They also mentioned that currently AI could not think for itself. Another topic discussed was ChatGDP and that in legal matters, it was only accurate 40% of the time. Overall, many of the abilities in AI that people have been concerned about, as of the date above, have been impossible—until it does become possible!

     Saturday Night: After I changed for the evening, I went to the following panel: 7) Socialization vs. Privatization of Space. On this panel, Earl Bennett, Tobias F. Cabral, Inge Heyer, Joseph Haughey, and Mark Roth Whitworth conversed about the pros & cons of government backed space missions vs. private companies backing those space missions. One of the pros with government: People have had a better say about the missions, but the cons included the government working slower. Thus with a private company, people had less of a say, but the private company could be quicker. Some missions would be too big for a private company to handle, but many small missions could be run by them. Nevertheless, it depended on the fuel used. Nobody wanted private companies running anything with nuclear power. This panel also talked about using one ship to go into space and then, assembling another, bigger ship in space; and getting rid of space junk in lower Earth orbit (LEO). (LEO is below the Van Allen Belts.) Someone suggested a government-run large space station where private companies could set up their equipment, but overall, perhaps it would be best to have some government control over the private companies in space, especially for worker safety and rights. Later I saw the 8) Masquerade. This masquerade only had 11 entries, and all except for one entry, they wore fantasy themed costumes. The SF entry was a “One Eyed, One Horned Flying Purple People Eater.” Finally, I watched what was supposed to be the half-time show in the Masquerade while the judges decided on the winners. However, because the Masquerade was so short, the judges were quick in deciding who the winners were. Therefore, the winners received their prizes, and the half time entertainment became the 9) After Masquerade Entertainment. I would have preferred a film or a filk singing group or singer, because in my opinion, the comedy was so-so. It was a set of questions given to a group of people as to why he or she was the best person to steal James Cameron’s Titanic. 

     Sunday, November 24: The last day of the con has mostly been low-key and this day was no exception. I started the day by going to the following: 10) What the US Navy Taught Me About Starfleet, presented by Christopher Weuve. By way of PowerPoint, Weuve compared how Starfleet differed from the Navy. After telling us the history of the Navy and how its vessels served in the different wars, he explained how battles on water were a lot different from battles in space, or what worked on water (or in water with a submarine) wouldn’t work in space. In addition, it had been mentioned in ST that Starfleet personnel have not been warriors first, unlike the current military. In his opinion, Starfleet has been closer to being similar to the Coast Guard than the Navy. Next, I went to spend some money in the 11) Dealers’ Room. Unlike other years, there were even more dealers selling reading materials: about two-thirds of the dealers sold books, magazines, comic books, and so forth. The remaining one-third sold other merchandise: jewelry, artworks, and t-shirts, as well as tote bags, holiday ornaments, mugs, web design services, games, etc. I ended up buying a book about the craft and business of writing. Before going home, I sat in on one more panel, 12) Set Phasers to Roast. Earl Bennett, Bob Hraner, Chris Weuve, and Jazz Hiestand mentioned examples of the worst weapons in SF and why. For example, in ST, a bolt of energy would come in pulses like the photon torpedoes, not a continuing line like the ship’s phasers. Somebody also said that Gene Roddenberry decided to call the weapons on ST phasers because lasers at that time were still in the early stages of development. Thus, in later years, when lasers developed more, he didn’t want someone looking back and saying that ST’s lasers couldn’t do this or that. By called them phasers, they remain fictional—at least for a long time. What I found most interesting was the panel explaining the differences among the type #1, type #2, and type #3 civilizations: type #1 used the Earth’s resources, type #2 used the resources of the solar system, and type #3 used the resources of the galaxy. Anyway that summed up Philcon 2024 for me. 

Greenfield Hall

      Friday, October 4, 2024: The Indian King Tavern wasn’t the only historical place in Haddonfield (Camden County), New Jersey. Another place has been the headquarters of the Historical Society of Haddonfield: Greenfield Hall, 343 Kings Highway East (856-429-7375). While I have been to the Indian King Tavern many times, this was the first time I had ever visited Greenfield Hall. The founder of Haddonfield, Elizabeth Haddon Estaugh, gave this property to her cousin, John Gill, in 1728. Years later, another Gill family member, John Gill IV, had the current house build in 1841. From then until 1914, the house belonged to the Gill family. After 1914 to 1960, different owners lived in the house. Finally, in 1960, the Historical Society of Haddonfield made it their HQ. Nowadays, the Historical Society has offered tours of different rooms furnished with furniture & items from the 1700s and 1800s. The rooms upstairs usually displayed temporary exhibit themes, but when I was there it wasn’t opened. On our visit, a very enthusiastic guide showed us about a half dozen rooms while she told us the history of Haddonfield, the people who lived in this house, Haddonfield’s past industries, and so forth. Throughout the year, the Historical Society plays host to special events, especially near Christmas, and they offer tours of the town. Therefore, if you are ever in Haddonfield, NJ, in addition to the Indian King Tavern, Greenfield Hall is also worth a visit! 

Barclay Farmstead Museum

      Wednesday, September 11, 2024: Back in the 1990s, I had visited the following place during a Christmas event: Barclay Farmstead Museum, 209 Barclay Lane, Cherry Hill (Camden County), New Jersey (856-795-6265). On Wednesdays and on first Sundays of the month, this 1816 farmhouse has been opened to the public for tours. During my last visit, I didn’t tour the house, but this time I did. Our very informative guide told us about the history of this house and about the families who lived there through the years from the 1816 Thorn Family to later private owners up into the 20th century. In 1974, the Township of Cherry Hill acquired this house and property. Anyway, on two floors, I noticed that the rooms, except for an upstairs bedroom, looked the way it might have looked in 1816. The Thorns were Quakers and the interiors reflected their simple tastes. As for that upstairs bedroom, that was the exception, another owner bought the house in the later—1800s, and he had the house furnished in Victorian-Gothic. Therefore, that one bedroom included most of the furniture and items he owned. In the rest of this house, many of the furniture and items were either from the 1810s, or the restorers displayed reproductions of that decade. Our guide also told us, via the furniture and items in the house, the origin of such terms as “sleep tight,” “toaster,” “gridiron,” and so forth. Overall, I learned a lot more about this house than I did during the last visit. Meanwhile, the special events held throughout the year, especially near Christmas, have been worth attending. In addition to this house, I glanced at other farm outbuildings: a springhouse, a barn, and a corn crib, as well as other sights on this 32-acre property: a kitchen garden, a community garden, some nature trails, a playground, a picnic area, etc. If you are in Cherry Hill, NJ, stop by and see one of the oldest places in this township opened to the public!