A blue Christmas?
New Jersey and Vaccinium corymbosum –– perfect together.
The New Jersey State Senate passed a bill supporting the highbush blueberry as the state fruit by a 35-1 vote on Dec. 11. Only Gov. James McGreevey’s signature is needed before the blueberry joins the American goldfinch, red oak, horse and others as state symbols.
The lobbyists behind this push were not the fruit’s growers, but a group of persistent students from Brick’s Veterans Memorial Elementary School.
While comparing New Jersey’s symbols to those of other states last school year, fourth-graders in Suzanne Kurasz’s and Gail Damiano’s classes discovered that the state had no fruit to call its own. After researching the matter, the group decided the blueberry was the ideal choice, compiled a list of facts supporting their conclusion and contacted Assemblyman David Wolfe (R-10) in search of support. The students, now fifth-graders, traveled to Trenton twice to lobby state Assembly and Senate committees for the bill’s passage.
At first, some assembly members reportedly debated whether the blueberry was the right choice –– other produce, like the cranberry and tomato, have traditionally been closer identified with the Garden State.
You might have thought so too, until you heard the Blueberry Kids for yourself.
Did you know that the highbush blueberry is indigenous to New Jersey? That New Jersey ranks second in the nation (21 percent) in blueberry cultivation, with 38 million pounds grown annually on 8,000 acres? That the highbush blueberry has become known as the "New Jersey blueberry?"
We wouldn’t have known either without the teachings of the Blueberry Kids.
We hope Gov. McGreevey will sign this bill into law right here in Brick.
The cranberry, the tomato, the blueberry –– who cares? These kids rolled up their sleeves, worked hard for several months and made their mark at the Statehouse against the odds.
What symbolizes New Jersey more than that?