A boardwalk on the Rancocas and the woman who tamed the blueberry

Ember rips into the wrapping paper and then lies down in the mess, which is my Christmas morning.

An 8-year-old wrote "Halloweenies" on her dad's shirt in permanent marker, and he's still grilling in it. Moorestown Sun via Moorestown Sun / South Jersey Media, by Michelle Mangiamele

Burlington City asks whether to set up a Municipal Open Space, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Trust Fund, paid for with a property tax of up to 2 cents per $100 of assessed value. The ballot's own example is $30 a year on a home assessed at $150,000. The money could only go to buying and keeping up land for recreation and conservation, preserving historic properties, and paying debt on those purchases, and the tax runs no more than 10 years unless voters extend it. A yes lets the city create the fund and the tax, and a no means no fund is created. The ballot's interpretive statement says the question gives city officials "the sentiment of the voters." Read the full text before you go. Sample ballot (PDF) · Burlington County sample ballots

Bordentown City, Bordentown Township and Fieldsboro · Tue Nov 3 · polls 6am-8pm

The Bordentown Regional school bond question

The Bordentown Regional School District asks voters to approve $86,107,900 in bonds for renovations and upgrades at five schools. The ballot breaks it down as $29,374,000 for the high school, $19,396,500 for the middle school, $9,980,900 for MacFarland Intermediate, $10,690,500 for Clara Barton Elementary and $16,666,000 for Peter Muschal Elementary. It also says state debt service aid covers 40 percent of the annual debt payments on those costs. A yes lets the board borrow up to that amount for the listed projects, and a no means it can't issue these bonds. It's on the ballot in Bordentown City, Bordentown Township and Fieldsboro. Sample ballot (PDF) · Burlington County sample ballots

Delran and Bordentown Township · Tue Nov 3 · polls 6am-8pm

Two fire district questions about new pumpers

Delran's Fire District No. 1 asks whether it can spend up to $1,500,000 on a new foam pumper truck to replace its current one, which the ballot says is 24 years old. The district would pay for it with bonds or other financing, minus any capital money it already has set aside. The ballot's interpretive statement says a yes lets the district spend up to $1.5 million and finance some or all of it, and a no means it can't buy the new pumper.

Bordentown Township's Fire District No. 1 has its own version. It asks whether the commissioners can spend up to $1,200,000 on a pumper and the equipment to put it in service, paid for starting with the 2027 district budget through capital money, notes, bonds or a lease with an option to buy. The ballot says it would replace a 1998 KME pumper engine that has become obsolete and too expensive to repair, and that the old truck would be sold or traded in to offset the cost. A yes authorizes the spending and a no doesn't. It's on the ballot for voters in that fire district. Sample ballot (Delran) · Sample ballot (Bordentown Twp) · Burlington County sample ballots

Pemberton Township voters get this one, word for word: "Shall a charter commission be elected to study the charter of the Township of Pemberton and to consider a new charter or improvements in the present charter and to make recommendations thereof?" There's no dollar amount on the ballot. A yes creates a commission to study the township's form of government and recommend changes, and it doesn't change anything by itself. A no means no commission. The ballot also lists people running for seats on that commission, so read the whole page. Sample ballot (PDF) · Burlington County sample ballots

The Burlington County Farmers Market sets up every Saturday at the Burlington County Agricultural Center, 500 Centerton Road in Moorestown, rain or shine, and the county says the regular season runs through Nov 14. Expect a couple dozen farms plus food and craft vendors, and the Ag Center's site posts each week's vendor list. Go early, grab the Brussels sprouts still on the stalk, and carry them through the parking lot like a club. Ag Center · Burlington County

Medford · through this weekend · check the ticket page for the last day

The last Fall Harvest hayrides at Johnson's Corner Farm

Johnson's Corner Farm in Medford is wrapping up its Fall Harvest season with hayrides and a corn maze. The ticket page runs through Sunday, Nov 1, but another listing says Saturday is the last day, so check before you load up the car. Prices vary by day and whether you add the maze, and the ticket page has them. Do the corn maze before the clocks fall back, because nobody wants to find the exit in the dark at dinnertime.