Vernon - Three Vernon residents were among the people Wawayanda State Park officials honored for their contributions as park volunteers during the past year. The June 11 awards ceremony took place in conjunction with the opening of the dam and millrace at the ruins of historic Double Pond Village, a mid-19th century iron-smelting hamlet within the park borders. “The services these volunteers have donated to the park have topped $10,000 in hours of labor the park otherwise would have been obliged to pay for,” said Steve Ellis, regional superintendent of the northern region of the state park system. Delores Dobbs, president of the Vernon Historical Society, received a pin in honor of the designation of the society as an “officially recognized friends’ organization.” When presenting the award, Ellis said that Dobbs had given him the momentum and enthusiasm to keep pursuing various historical preservation projects. “Delores, you are a burst of energy,” Ellis said. Dobbs said that it had taken five years and reams of paperwork for the state to accord the society the official recognition that is key to its ability to apply for state grants to renovate High Breeze Farm (also known as Barrett Farm), one of the treasures of the Vernon landscape. The N.J. Division of Parks and Forestry owns the 168-acre property, which was designated a National and State Historical Site 1989 and is part of Wawayanda State Park. The Historical Society members have long dreamed of restoring the farm as a living museum. Working with the Division of Parks and Forestry as “Friends of Wawayanda,” the society is exploring all the alternatives, including writing grant proposals and sponsoring fundraisers and membership drives. In 1990, New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry received a $421,716 grant under the New Jersey Historic Preservation Bond Program. The funds were used to help stabilize the buildings. But far more needs to be done to restore the buildings, which include the two houses, two barns, a corncrib, two chicken coops, a summer kitchen and a privy. Honored as volunteer of the year was Vincent Scardato, longtime Vernon Historical Society member and volunteer. Scardato, who also served as grand marshal of the Memorial Day parade in Vernon, has been faithfully keeping up the grounds of High Breeze farm and of the Vernon Historical Society Museum, also on Barrett Road. The museum building, which is owned by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, was opened to the public in August 1999, and now needs a new roof. “Just as soon as it snows,” Dobbs said, “Vince is there with his truck and snow plow, and he cuts the grass and keeps up the garden too.” When accepting the award, Scardato urged others to pitch in when help is needed, and to leave the world a little better for their having been there. Two bicyclists also received awards for their work maintaining and patrolling the park trails. Tom Flynn of Vernon, and Tony Marino of West Milford both were honored for their efforts in keeping the trails free of fallen limbs and in patrolling the trails to scout for cyclists in need of help. “We simply don’t have the staff to patrol and maintain the trails,” the regional superintendent said, “and we have to count on the work these bicyclists so generously give.” Present to watch Flynn receive the award were his wife, Anne-Marie, and his two-and-a-half-year-old son, Sean, already an ardent bicycling fan. Sean had arrived at the awards ceremony in a goldfinch yellow trailer towed behind his father’s off-road Trek bicycle and couldn’t wait to get back on the trail. Marino said that he lives near the park and spends a great deal of time on the trails there. Both cyclists agreed that the trails are one of the parks glorious assets. “I love to ride back here,” Marino said. “The trails are worth keeping up.”