NJs Weirdest News Stories Of 2021: Waterslide On Fire, Cicada Ice Cream

NEW JERSEY — We've seen a lot of weird things in the new business, but 2021 may take the cake.

For your end-of-year reading pleasure, Patch summed up the funniest, craziest and just plain odd stories we witnessed this year:

1. March brings lots of rain to New Jersey, and now apparently skin-crawling, disgusting worm gatherings, too. The Hoboken "wormnado" occurred when millions of worms formed a strange funnel shape on the sidewalk after a night of heavy rain. The story went viral and even started a scientific debate on Livescience, where even earthworm scientists said they had "never seen them form a spiral before." Scientists Still Trying To Explain Hoboken 'Worm Tornadoes'

2. Remember the brood X cicada craze of late May/June? That was when these little buggers emerged from the ground after a 17-year-long slumber. Well, these Princeton High School students apparently got hungry looking at the smashed guts on their car windshield — and decided to eat them. As members of the Princeton High School Insect-Eating Club, they would collect the bugs and then meet after school to whip up chocolate-covered cicadas, cicadas roasted on skewers, cicadas with soy sauce and ginger, deep-fried cicadas. After the dinner, they would then gauge the nutritional value of the insects. Hey, beats McDonald's. Or the latest TikTok challenge. Princeton HS Students Make A Meal Of Cicadas For Research

3. Not to be outdone, this Princeton ice cream shop then started serving cicada ice cream. The "cicada chocolate chip" at the Bent Spoon sold out in less than an hour. Princeton Gets Buzzy With Bent Spoon's Cicada Ice Cream

4. And really, really not to be outdone with the cicada love was an NJIT professor who performed a jam session with the insects. "Playing along with these guys is like joining into a fantastic trove with millions of singers," mused music and philosophy professor David Rothenberg, who played his clarinet in tune with the buzz of hundreds of cicadas swarming his body. "Once you hear the sounds of nature as music, it becomes ever more beautiful and alive." NJ Music Professor Finds His Zen Jamming With Cicadas (WATCH)

5. New Jersey, home to Capt. Sully Sullenberger's "Miracle on the Hudson," loves some good airplane heroism. And in July an 18-year-old flying a banner plane delivered exactly that. Teen pilot Landon Lucas said he was flying near Steel Pier in Atlantic City when he suddenly had engine trouble. He ditched the banner into the sea and was desperately trying to reach the Ocean City Municipal Airport. Instead, he saw a gap in traffic on the causeway and landed the plane on the Ninth Street Bridge in Ocean City. Luckily, he avoided any cars and was unharmed. Pilot Makes Emergency Landing On Ocean City Bridge

6. Many things can catch on fire, but a water slide? And even more so, a water slide named "High Anxiety" meant to scare the living bejeesus out of riders who visit Mountain Creek water park? That's exactly what happened at the formerly known "Action Park," nicknamed Traction Park in the '90s because of all the people injured on their rides. The water slide remained closed all summer, leaving thrill seekers to look elsewhere. Waterslide Catches Fire In Sussex County's Mountain Creek Park

7. August was a sleepy month, but if you ever wanted to know why there's an Orange, NJ, a West Orange, an East Orange and a South Orange — but no North Orange, well here's your answer: Why Is There No 'North Orange?' Historian Explains NJ Oddity

8. September: We know the good people of Middletown will hate us for this one, but we've got to include it: Many parents — and kids! — were annoyed when Gov. Phil Murphy said masks have to be worn in school every day this year. Well, the Middletown school board tried to get around this mandate by quietly passing a rule that a note from the child's parent — not their doctor — or even a note from the child themselves would get them out of mask wearing. All the note had to read was that mask wearing was "detrimental" to the student. To the surprise of nobody, Murphy said it wouldn't fly and had to issue an entirely rewritten executive order. All because of those pesky Middletown residents. Middletown BOE Backs Off Parental Notes To Exempt Mask Wearing

9. Many home- and store owners had to throw away piles of damaged items when Tropical Storm Ida hit the state around Labor Day. And in Hoboken, that included water-damaged adult toys. Yes, a Hoboken adult store had to lug five boxes of damaged sex toys to the street, which residents promptly snatched up. We thought those things were all water resistant? And yes, FEMA said the store owner could submit the lost sex toys as a claim. Residents Grab Discarded Adult Toys After Flooding In Hoboken

10. In Montclair in November, someone returned a library book that was due in 1978. The patron even included a note in the children's book "Paddington Abroad," which read: "My apologies for the late return. I guess it's better late than not returning it at all." No word on the fine size. Overdue Book Returned To Montclair Library After 43 Years

11. And finally, in a heart-warming end-of-year tale, this Brick woman has been exchanging the same exact Christmas card with another woman for the past 41 years. The two women were friends at first, but then lost touch over the years. But they still doggedly kept sending each other the same exact Christmas card, year over year — no message or family update inside. Just the card. Finally, the two met at a restaurant in Pemberton this December — and spent more than four hours talking and catching up. All together now: Awwww. Christmas Card Is The Tie That Binds NJ Women After 41 Years

Did we miss a great New Jersey story of 2021? Let me know! Contact this Patch reporter: Carly.baldwin@patch.com