Preserving the Traditions of the Barnegat Bay

The Ocean County Board of Commissioners and the Ocean County Department of Parks and Recreation hosted the 42^nd annual Old Time Barnegat Bay Decoy and Gunning Show on Sept. 28 and 29. Located at Tip Seaman County Park and Tuckerton Seaport, the annual show highlights the traditions of the Barnegat Bay while helping to preserve the culture of Ocean County. Contests for decoy carving, duck calling, skeet shooting, and more took place throughout the weekend.  During Sunday’s award ceremony, Ocean County Commissioner Director Barbara Jo Crea joined Mary Jane Bavais, Director of Ocean County Parks and Recreation to recognize the winners, including the Hurley Conklin Award, which is presented to people who have lived the Barnegat Bay tradition. This year’s recipients were Gary Driscoll from Tuckerton and W. Fred Reitmeyer, Jr. from Galloway. In addition, this year was the inaugural year for the Michael T. Mangum Hall of Fame Award. The new award will be given each year to someone who has advanced the purpose of the Old Time Barnegat Bay Decoy and Gunning Show. Mangum, a long time County Parks employee who recently retired as the Director of Parks and Recreation, and was one of the founders of the show, received the award for his commitment to educating the public on the traditions of the Barnegat Bay.