Applications are available to enter the 2005 Ocean County Decoy and Gunning Show planned for Sept. 24-25. The applications include the guidelines for participating in more than 30 contests, as well as reservations for vendor and organization booths.
The event will be held rain or shine at three locations: Tip Seaman County Park, Pinelands Regional High School and the Tuckerton Seaport, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The annual event attracts carvers, whittlers, skeet shooters, duck and goose callers, retrievers, artists and photographers.
More than 400 organizations associated with the environment, water fowling, and maritime activities and vendors selling carving supplies, outdoor paraphernalia, antiques and art work consistent with the show’s working decoy and water fowling heritage have booths or exhibits.
Each year, an official “Bird of the Year” is designated. For 2005, it is the scaup, a diving duck common to the New Jersey shore. Four contests will be devoted solely to the scaup: Barnegat Bay Working Rig, Contemporary Working Decoy, Head Whittling and the Cork Decoy Working Rig.
Winners of the open divisions, which attract professional and advanced carvers, will receive a plaque. To encourage the art of decoy carving, novice and intermediate ribbon awards will be presented to those who have carved for less than five years and never won best in the Bird of Prey, Game Bird, Songbird, Decorative Fish, Decorative Shorebird and Decorative Wildfowl divisions.
German Georgieff, coordinator for the event for the Ocean County Parks and Recreation Department, announced changes to the 23rd annual show: the contemporary working decoy rig contest has been replaced with a working cork decoy rig contest, and the gunning boat accessories contest has been eliminated.
In recent years, the show included some venues at the Tuckerton Seaport, which is located within walking distance of the park. This year it will serve as the site for most of the events previously held at the Pinelands Regional Junior High School. The school will serve as a parking area.
For further information, visit www.co.ocean.nj.us/Parks/decoyshow2005.htm or call (609) 971-3085.