Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 22

Sunday, August 29, 1999 COURIER-POST 111 owns DATELINE: South Harrison Agnes Marchione of Haddonfield will enter the Curtis Institute of Music this fall to study clarinet. Marchione, 20, previously attended Temple University and the University of Southern California. Among other accomplishments, she has performed with New Jersey's Allegro Society as a member of a wind quartet and as a member of Temple University's Orchestra, Opera Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. Like all Curtis students, Marchione holds a full-tuition scholarship on merit The Ambrusters have entered entertainment farming with a cornfield maze, hayrides, party barn and more. L- I f.vn?- 'v.

3 I' -Tlir' I'lHi i -V Photos by PARIS L. GRAY Courier-Post Buttercup and Petunia are two Jersey calfs at the Creamy Acres farm off Lincoln Mill Road in South Harrison. ft pier 1 ,1.. fu rui ai aoOSni uu .7 Creamy Acres is not just a dairy farm anymore. It now features a cornfield maze, party bam, haunted hayrides and a haunted house.

Richard C. Strobel of Cinnaminson has been reelected to a fourth term as chairman of the state Board of Human Services in Trenton. The panel oversees operations of the state Department of Human Services and makes policy recommendations. Strobel, who has served as chairman since 1996, is also chief counsel to the Burlington County Board of Social Services in Mount Holly. The Jersey Sound Chorus of Voorhees has presented the Betty Albrecht 'Memorial Scholarship Award to Meara Lebowitz of Cherry HilL The award is presented annually to a female vocal music student who plans to study music in college.

Novelist Christiane Heg- gan of Medford has received the National Reader's Choice Award for Best Romantic Suspense for her seventh novel. Suspicion. She received the award earlier this month during the annual conference of Ithe Romance Writers of America in Chicago. She now has won four Reader's Choice Awards. Klmberly Karaska of Southampton has accepted membership in the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

She will be honored during a campus ceremony nhis fall at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and I State University. Founded I in 1994, the NSCS recogniz- es first- and second-year undergraduate students who excel academically. A Shawnee High School graduate, she is the daughter of John and Marlene Kar- aska. Meaghan Reess of Man- tua recently participated in the Summer Challenge business workshop at Sus- quehanna University in Se-; linsgrove, Pa. A student at Clearview Senior High School in Har- rison, she is the daughter ot John Bratton and Bonnie Room of Mantua Got an item for South Jersey People? Send it to the Couri-' er-Post at P.O.

Box 5300, Cherry Hill 08034; fax it to (856) 663-2831; or e-mail cpmetro(acourierposton-; line.com. GOT A NEWS TIP? Call the Courier-Post. Camden County editors Bill Shralow and Laura Gery (856) 486-2402 Burlington County editor Jim Namiotka (856) 486-2407 Gloucester County Bureau Call Bureau Chief George Clark at (856) 845-6520, fax (856) 845-8823 or visit the bureau at 39 S. Broad Woodbury 08096. LTU Acres now supplements its income through a wide range of commercial activity.

Among the offerings: a party barn, haunted hayrides, a haunted house and an imaginative maze cut into a 10-acre cornfield. Coming in October will be a 3-D haunted alien house, believed to be the only such attraction in South Jersey. Each year, the Ambrusters come up with a different theme for their maze a three-mile network of narrow paths, many of which lead nowhere. This year's is the top 10 attractions in New Jersey, and the objective is By LYFORD M. MOORE Courier-Post Staff SOUTH HARRISON In farming, market conditions can change by the minute and there are no guarantees when it comes to weather.

To protect themselves, Ron and Kim Ambruster have plunged headfirst into entertainment farming. No longer is Creamy Acres, their placid little farm off Lincoln Mill Road, solely a dairy and greenhouse operation. Roosters may strut about and cows may graze contentedly in the distant fields, but Creamy The maze has been open every day in August but will be open only on Saturdays starting In September. I I I Pi fi "It's fun getting lost. I never got scared though." Bobby Gardner, 11, who walked through maze the Elephant, and Cape May, known universally for its Victorian architecture.

Admission to the maze, a popular activity for people of all ages, is $5 for adults, $4 for children 4 to 12. The maze has been open each day in August, but will scale back to Saturdays only in September and October. Once the weather cools, Ron Ambruster said, it's not uncommon for several hundred people to head into the maze on any given Saturday. Customers are encouraged to bring picnic lunches with them and water stations are provided throughout the maze. The party barn, which has a wood chip floor, costs $25 to rent for two hours.

Alcoholic beverages are prohibited. South Harrison Population: 2276 (1994) Area; 15.82 square miles Largest employer: Garden State Freezer Incorporated: March 2, 1883, after splitting from Harrison Township Origin of name: Named after former President William Henry Harrison Total households: 626 Median household income: $43,347 (1989) Median value of single-family homes: $145,700 Fees for the haunted houses and haunted hayrides have yet to be determined. As August fades into September, Ambruster has been preparing for the haunted activity. Up to 1,000 people have been known to visit the farm on a Saturday, and the 32-year-old wants to make sure they get their money's worth. "It's time-consuming coming up with new ideas, but our customers wouldn't want to come see the same maze or same haunted house year after year," he said.

"It takes quite a while to set things up, and I work on my ideas year round." Not everything at Creamy Acres, however, costs money. A petting barn stocked with calves, bunnies, ducks and goats is free, as are a children's playground in front of the party barn and a butterfly garden awash in the fragrance of ornamental sweet potato vine and butterfly bushes. Creamy Acres Farm is highly recommended for children. Not only will they find the cornfield maze a real challenge, they'll also get to see what a real farm is all about even though this one is a far cry from the dairy farm Ambruster's parents, Larry and Jeanne, created back in 1960. ir's.

N. 'ft j'. i 1 ii-iit to travel through the state and visit all 10 without becoming hopelessly lost. Before heading out, participants are given maps with stars marking each attraction's location. It's up to them to read the maps and find the locations, all of which are marked with posts.

Getting lost is easy, and some people have been known to spend hours trying to find their way out. Fortunately, two bridges several feet higher than the corn lets panicky visitors get their bearings, and employees know when to start looking for anyone who's been out in the maze for an unreasonable amount of time. "It's really tricky out there," said Renee Gardner of Clayton, who walked through the maze last week with her son, Bobby. "Just when you think you're headed in the right direction, you find out you're not. It's well worth the money." Said 11-year-old Bobby, "It's fun getting lost.

I never got scared though." He might have sung a different tune had he and his mother been able to find more than just two of the attractions before rain forced them to retreat. They found Margate, the home of Lucy Mary Previtera, an employee at Creamy Acres, works In the greenhouse at the South Harrison farm..