Mark your calendars for 9 – Yes, 9!!  Wednesday night’s beginning June 29^th and running through August for music and dancing under the stars at Michael Debbi Park in Richland.

The concerts begin at 7 pm until 9 pm (weather permitting).  They are performed at the Special Events Center Gazebo.  If it rains, the concert will be rescheduled to another date.  Affordable refreshments will be available.  Flyer coming soon.

Hot dogs, desserts and beverages will be sold. Bring your dancing shoes. Seating is available or bring your own lawn chairs. (weather permitting)

• Wednesday, June 28th – John Clark – Little Big Band
• Wednesday, July 5th – Joe Kelly – Tear It Up
• Wednesday, July 12th – In High Gear
• Wednesday, July 19th  – Poor Mouth Henry
• Wednesday, July 26th – Kenny I Entertainment
• Wednesday, August 2nd- Lonnie Youngblood
• Wednesday, August 9th –  45 RPM Oldies Concert
• Wednesday, August 16th – Ed Rodriquez – Ten Eddy Drive
• Wednesday, August 23rd – Dr. Cheeko
• Wednesday, August 30th – Reserved for Rain Date

This schedule is subject to change.

On Saturday May 27, 2017 at twelve o’clock noon, a special dedication will be made for the Tree Monument –perhaps the most “Unusual Tree” in the state of New Jersey. Located in Saw Mill Park in Richland Village a mighty white oak tree stood for 235 years (approx. 1780-2015) next to a Saw Mill that led the way for the once mighty railroads to crisscross here in Richland, Buena Vista Township. When time took the life of this tree, it still had 125 ft. wing span.

Our community searched for ideas to allow this otherwise dead tree to live on. The idea of a Tree Monument was born with the guidance of Mayor Chuck Chiarello and the Township Committee in honor of the 150th Anniversary of Buena Vista Township. It would be a tree that depicted the Township’s history and yet transformed into a contemporary piece of art. With the help of local tree surgeon Gary Heitz and a talented chainsaw artist by the name of Brian Ackley the Tree Monument was born. After almost a year of planning, the tree will be unveiled at the 3rd Annual Richland Village Festival which also serves as an official Sesquicentennial Event for the Township’s 150th Birthday.

A 600 year-old giant white oak tree recently died in a church cemetery in Basking Ridge, NJ. That tree was cut down except for the stump where a memorial stone will be placed and some of the wood will be used to build furniture to furnish the church it sat next to and the Township Hall in Basking Ridge.
The concept of our Tree Monument was to allow the tree to remain standing and be a lasting memorial for its days of glory.

Over $20,000 was raised from the community to complete the project which included the trimming, carving, paving, fencing, , and planting of seven young white oak trees.

We humbly ask for your presence at the dedication to celebrate the life of this new Tree Monument which depicts almost 40 different carvings that show the past and modern history of what we call home, Buena Vista Township.

Saw Mill Park is just over an acre in size and features a children’s play train, a real Pennsylvania Railroad Steel Caboose from the 1930’s, a gazebo, a Veteran’s and a 9-11 Memorial along with benches. The tree is lit at night and has already attracted hundreds of visitors during the construction phase. Visitors may also stop in to the Patcong Valley Model Railroad Building Lobby and see an original painting of the Saw Mill that once stood on this site and a white oak tree that stood nearby. The painting was done by a family member of the early settlers in Richland Village in the late 1800’s.

Come help us celebrate at 12 Noon Saturday, May 27, 2017. Small samples of the original tree will be given to those in attendance and a special commemorative puzzle will be given to the first 150 people who show up for the dedication (Limit one per family). A special puzzle designed by the Missing Piece Puzzle Company and Photographer Dave Griffin both who are based in Richland Village, will be given away. It resembles a post card, see below.

The ceremony is part of a larger day of family activities including a 100 Vendor Toy Show, Huge Car Show, Classic Car Parade, Train Rides on the Cape May Sea Shore Lines, Live Music featuring three bands, fun things for the children, over 16 food vendors and over 40 other vendors/crafters and much more!

On Thursday, April 6. Buena Regional High School was given a treat as twelve senior boys competed for the Title of Mr. Buena 2017.

The show provided laughter and excitement as the Disney Theme was well known amongst the crowd and made for easy audience involvement.

The contestants competed in Casual Wear, Talent, Formal Wear along with Question and Answer. The pageant showed tremendous school spirit and great team effort in a wonderful production.

The winner was Mr. July Will Murphy and his court 1^st Runner Up Mr. October Adriance Adderley and 2^nd Runner Up Jake Maxwell.

The final touches are coming together for the 150th Sesquicentennial Celebration and Birthday Party!

On Saturday, May 27^th from 10 – 7PM Buena Vista Township will celebrate 150 years of history at Saw Mill Park in Richland! At 12 Noon, a special dedication of our Tree Monument will be presented in front of all. The Chainsaw Carved Tree Monument features over 30 Carvings depicting the Town’s History.

Crafters, Vendors and Merchants of all kinds will be in the park all day. Food trucks of every different variety will line Main Avenue with the smells of smoked barbecue filling the air from The First Baptist Church of Richland Men’s Fellowship.

The Annual Toy Show with over 100 Vendors will be the talk of the town in front of It’s a Toy Store on Route 40.

The South Jersey Mustang Club will have its Car Show with hundreds of cars on display accompanied by Stewarts Root beer and their very own traveling LIVE radio show from WVLT 92.1 Lite in Vineland. There will also be a classic car parade featuring these cars, starting at 9:30am down Cedar Avenue to Saw Mill Park in Richland.

Musical Entertainment will be played throughout the festival all day featuring Ten Eddy Drive 11am-1pm, Pour Mouth Henry 1:30pm to 3:30pm and Jazz Band Eddie Morgan’s Jazz Trio REKD 4 Jazz 4pm-6pm!

Fun for the whole family with Two Bounce Houses, a Rock Wall and Bubble Balls for the kids.

Adult Beverages from the Tombstone Grill Beer Wagon!

A fifty/fifty will take place later in the day giving one lucky winner some Memorial Day Cash! Come Celebrate our Towns 150^th Birthday with us and be a part of History!

For more information, contact Kristie Knapp in the Mayor’s Office at 856-697-2100 Ext. 8.

Its Run4Ricky time again, June 10th! The 14th Annual event being a 5K, walk, and Kids Fun Run for kids 12 and under. This year’s event will include as always, the All you can Eat BBQ – Family Fun Day with your race registration fee!! Come over to Michael Debbi Park after the Run for great food, Basket Auction, A1 Entertainment, face painting, inflatable obstacle course, and a lot of fun!

The Foundation is again seeking Sponsors, donations, BBQ contributions, and baskets for our Basket Auction. Anyone wishing to donate their time or Talent, is also greatly appreciated!

We welcome everyone’s involvement. Hope you all will join the family and community in making this another great day by participating and supporting this event and the students at Buena Regional High School.

Your generosity is appreciated! This event supports the Ricky Wilcox Memorial Scholarships awarded each year in June.  We were happy to award The Ricky Wilcox Memorial Scholarships totaling $14,500.00 on June 2 ,2016 at Senior Awards night. Thanks to everyone that has made these scholarships possible for these students!

Contact Kristie Knapp in the Mayor’s Office at 856-697-2100 Ext 8 for more information on how to donate. Register on line, mail in or day of event at www.run4ricky.org.

On Sunday, March 5, 2017, Buena Vista Township Crowned its newest Queen Amanda Guzman of Landisville. The Villa Fazzolari Restaurant was packed with over 140 in the crowd including the 2015/2016 Miss Buena Vista Township, Ciarra Siking.

A panel of judges were wowed by all 8 of the girls performances which made it almost impossible to pick a winner. Alongside of the winner Amanda Guzman, 1^st Runner Up Megan Burke of Minotola and 2^nd Runner Up Tabatha Dalponte of Richland dazzled the audience with their grace, poise and talent. Two special recognitions were given out to the girls prior to the announcement of the winners.

The title of Miss Congeniality for this years event was awarded to Lillian Nelson of Richland for her unique and humorous personality throughout the pageant and practices.

The second award was given in the name of a past contestant Gina Durham who is remembered yearly at the pageant. The award recognizes one girl who demonstrated kindness, strength and belief in herself and others just as Gina did. This year the award was given with honor to Megan Burke.

The Buena Vista Township Special Events Committee were the host of the event along with Fazzolari Restaurant and Special Guest MC Nor Easter Nick Pitman of South Jersey News Today.

The afternoon was the perfect way to kick off the Township’s 150^th Sesquicentennial Celebrations throughout the year. Also, March 5^th was the actual Anniversary of the 1867 Founding of Buena Vista Township!

Bring your old documents and records out and have them shredded securely. This helps protect you from identity theft while cleaning out unnecessary clutter.

The Third Annual Buena Vista Township Free Shredder Event will be held on Saturday, May 6th from 10 am to 2 pm (or until the truck is full) in the parking lot of the Buena Vista Township Municipal Building, 890 Harding Highway, Buena (Rain or Shine).

Event is open to Buena Vista Township residents only with proof of residency required.  This event is on a first come-first served basis with a limit of three (3) boxes per resident or business.  Empty boxes (average size is 12” x 12” x 18”), bags or containers must be taken back by the resident once they are emptied.

We will NOT accept newspapers, magazines, phone books, binders or accordion folders.

Also take this opportunity to clean out your medicine cabinets and bring your unused medication to our disposal box located in the municipal complex during shredding hours.

Small electronics (keyboards, monitors, mouse devices, computer towers, TV’s and VCR’s) will also be accepted during shredding hours.

This three in one event will be greatly attended so make sure you pack up your stuff and come on over!

In 2017, Buena Vista Township will be celebrating its 150th Anniversary.  We are reaching out to businesses and residents in our community in hopes that you will help us achieve a very special “one-time only” request for funds that is outlined in the paragraph below.

In the Richland Village section of our town, we have a giant white oak tree that reached the age of 235 years old.  It died last year.  It was a beautiful tree.  We are making an effort to fund raise to make a carving out of the tree trunk and lower limbs featuring highlights of our Township’s 150 years in existence.  The tree is huge and we need the funds to hire a well-known chainsaw carver to make a permanent memorial out of this historic old tree located in the center of Saw Mill Park on Route 40.  It will be lighted and capture the spirit of the fine tree this once was.  It will feature a semi-circle of young white oak trees that will grow in the future behind the huge carved tree.  There will be new walkways and fencing required also.

Sample Pavers

Donors for this special project can make a donation or purchase Brick Pavers.  Preserve your name or that of a loved one well into the next millennium with a personalized Brick Paver.  Order forms can be found on our website www.buenavistanj.com or pick one up at the Township Hall.   All funds raised will go directly to this project.  We would truly appreciate any help you would consider.  For further information, contact Kristie in the Mayor’s office at 856-697-2100, then press 8.

The photos below show the work performed by local Tree Surgeon Gary Heitz of Richland who trimmed the tree back removing all the dead branches and giving it shape to be used as a monument in time for the 150th Anniversary of the Township.  The pictures show the tree trimming project which will be followed by chain saw carving in late November.

CLICK HERE for Order Form

If your dog or cat is not currently protected against rabies, please take advantage of the Free Rabies Clinics scheduled for the following dates and locations:
Click HERE for Cat License Form
Click HERE for Dog License Form

SATURDAY, MARCH 4^th at the Newtonville Fire Hall 10 am to 12 noon and the Richland Fire Hall 1 pm to 3 pm.

SATURDAY, MARCH 18th at the East Vineland Fire Hall 10 am to 12 noon and the Collings Lakes Fire Hall 1 pm to 3 pm.

An adult must accompany the pet and vicious dogs must be muzzled.

Cat Licenses are $7 for spay/neuter or $9 for non-spay/non-neuter and Dog Licenses are $12 for spay/neuter or $15 for non-spay/non-neuter and will be sold at all clinics.  Licenses are also available at the Clerk’s Office, Monday through Friday 9 am to 5 pm (Tuesday evening until 7:30 pm).  There will be a late fee of $7.00 applied for each license renewed after March 31, 2017.

Rabies Facts:
Rabies is a deadly disease caused by a virus.  Only mammals, including people, can get rabies. The virus is found in the saliva of a rabid animal and is transmitted by a bite, or possibly by contamination of an open cut.  Left untreated, rabies attacks the nervous system and causes death.  For you and your pets sake, please take advantage of the free clinics listed above.

The 2017 Miss Buena Pageant will be held on Sunday, March 5^th at The Villa Fazzolari at 1 pm. If you are a young lady in grades 9 to 12 and a resident of Buena Vista Township,  you are eligible to enter.

Applications are now being accepted and can be obtained at the Municipal Complex, 890 Harding Highway.  Contestants will be judged in four categories:  Casual Wear, Formal Wear, Talent and a Question/Answer category.

Look for more details soon. For questions, please contact Kristie Knapp, Mayor’s Office at (856) 697-2100 ext. 8.

You can cheer on your favorite contestant and enjoy an afternoon of fun and entertainment.

The application is available by clicking HERE.