Weather-permitting, the heart of downtown Red Bank will be thronged on November 28, as it is the night following every Thanksgiving, for the annual tree lighting and Holiday Express concert.

Now, Bob & Liz McKay, owners of a photo studio and art gallery upstairs at 12 Monmouth Street, have decided to throw an additional attraction into the festive mix: the opening of an exhibit of photos and paintings to celebrate the borough’s centennial.

The display will offer a range of viewpoints, from decades-old photos from the Dorn’s Classic Images collection to shots taken in recent weeks expressly for this show.

Artists include “people who have never shown in their lives all the way up to George Tice, an internationally famous fine art photographer,” Bob McKay tells redbankgreen.

Works by more than 20 local artists will be hung, and dozens more examples of their artistry will be mounted and available for sale.

Among the images are some prints made from negatives that Anna-Mária Vág of Belford found in a shop in Ocean Grove, including the one of the cheerleader, above. Taken in 1950 or so, it’s believed to show June Evans of South Street; the McKays are in the process of trying to locate her, if you can be of any assistance.

So is it an art show, or a history show?

“It’s a mixture,” says McKay. “We always try to make a cohesive show. We want what’s on the wall to work well together — historical and documentary photographs along with more quirky, visually interesting detail shots.”

As for the celebration outside, which kicks off at 7p, McKay doesn’t believe the gallery will be competing for attention on opening night.

“Other than the fact that there it’ll be a little more difficult for artists and their families to find parking, I don’t think it’ll be a problem,” he says. “And it’ll give a lot more people an opportunity to see this show than might otherwise be the case.”

In addition to the McKays themselves, the participating artists are:

1. Anthony Almeida (photography)

2. Colin Archer (photography)

3. David L. Brown (photography)

4. Francesco Cenicola (photography)

5. Joyce Chadwick (photography)

6. Sanford Cook (photography)

7. Valerie Craig (photography)

8. Bob Cullinane (photography)

9. Allie Cummings (photography)

10. Dennis Czund (photography)

11. Gary Groves (photography)

12. Nancy Harrison (photography)

13. Sandra Johanson (photography)

14. Bobbie Kingsley (photography)

15. Sarah Klepner (photography)

16. Saori Kurioka (photography)

17. Jennie A. Meares (photography)

18. Jen Megill (photography)

19. Jenifer Rutherford (photography)

20. Bernadette Sabatini (photography)

21. Bill Scaff (photography)

22. Donna Senopoulos (Watercolors)

23. Lorelle Shea (photography)

24. Elizabeth Sowell-Zak (photography)

25. Ambra Talarico (photography)

26. George Tice (photography

27. Fran Waldmann (photography)

28. Valentine (photography)

29. Warner White (photography)

30. Alycia Yerves (photography)

The reception, which is open to the public, runs fom 6 to 10p. The show continues on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 1 to 7p, or by appointment, through January 8; call 732.842.2272 for more info.

BTW, the above photo of the stairs was taken at the Courts of Red Bank, an office complex on Maple Avenue.

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Lest we forget, Red Bank is still in its centennial year, and reminders of that milestone continue to pop up now and again.

The latest is the above video, shot and produced by four students, aged 14 to 17, who enrolled in the Count Basie Theatre’s Cool School this summer.

The kids, who did all the shooting, are Dylan Smart, Jenn Lewis, Mike Hagberg Jr. and Jack Calabro, says Yvonne Scudiery, the Basie’s director of education.

A handful of adults from the borough were involved, too, including, Marybeth Maida, a former television producer who taught the class and wrote the script; George Bowden, chairman of the Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission, who reprised a walking tour of the town that he’d conducted in the spring; Ed Zipprich of the commission, who helped produce it; Chris Ippolito, a video maven from the Red Bank Middle School (check out his work on the school’s latest video); and Kevin Mazza, of Red Bank Post, a production facility.

In March, 1908, the New Jersey Legislature voted to incorporate Red Bank as a borough, thus separating it from its longtime parent, Shrewsbury Township.

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The parade thundered; the skies didn’t.

Red Bank’s two-day centennial celebration went off under a cloudless dome of blue Saturday and ended Sunday at 2p with just a hint of a drizzle.

Fairly perfect conditions, all things considered, for the thousands of parade-watchers and marchers who took part in Saturday’s old-timey parade through town, as well as for the estimated 1,700 residents and friends who gathered at Count Basie Field for a picnic, with music by the Red Bank Middle School band.

The threatened rain held off under gray skies Sunday as hundreds of onlookers lined the banks of the Navesink River for the brief flotilla of boats that wrapped up the weekend extravaganza.

As you might expect, redbankgreen was there both days. We took a few pictures. Wanna see ‘em? Read on, and click on each to enlarge. (Thanks to Jessica Paviluk for three photos.)

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Next Sunday, as part of Red Bank’s two-day centennial celebration, rowers from the the non-profit club will participate in a flotilla of boats large and small to honor the town’s riparian roots.

And on June 1, local citizens will clear out an overgrown lot owned by the borough just across the Maple Avenue cul de sac from NRR’s home on the Navesink. Sicilian Landscape Co. and Bostwick Tree Service are lending muscle and equipment for the effort.

The site was recently removed from consideration for possible sale after complaints by canoeists, kayakers and others.

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After a late start, plans for the two-day Red Bank centennial festival next weekend are largely in place, organizers say.

The celebration of Red Bank’s 1908 designation as a borough kicks off with a parade through the heart of town on Saturday, May 17, followed by a free picnic for residents at Count Basie Field.

A day of maritime celebration follows on Sunday, with an armada of boats on the Navesink River, a flyover of ultralight airplanes and activities and displays in Marine Park.

And there will plenty of bunting, says one of the Bunting Boys, George Bowden. He tells redbankgreen that more than 60 buildings on and near the parade route have purchased banners for display.

“All of a sudden, things are coming into pretty fast focus,” says Bowden.

Johnny’s Jazz Market on Shrewsbury Avenue, we’re told, was the first store to get the bunting up. Ralph ‘Johnny’ Gatta “is really excited about the parade,” says planning group member (and co-Bunting Boy) Ed Zipprich. (Knowing Johnny as we do, we half expect his bunting to quickly become scrawled over with the names great jazz artists.)

A centennial newsletter with details of the two-day festival has been printed for mailing to every home in town, and thousands of postcards have been given out for counter display at stores. Posters advertising the event are also being distributed.

Here’s the newsletter: Download RB_Centennial_newsletter4A2701.pdf

All the printed material is decorated with the centennial logo at right, which was designed by Red Bank Charter School eighth-grader Alexis Holiday.

Planning for the order of marchers in the land parade is being wrapped up, as are details of the riverside events, organizers say.

All that’s left is for homeowners to bedeck their houses in red, white and blue — and to start crossing their fingers that the weather cooperates. Because of the logistics involved, no rain dates have been provided for the events, says Mayor Pasquale Menna.

“I’m calling my mother to hang out the rosary,” says Zipprich. “That’s a family tradition when we’re hoping for good weather.”

Among the highlights of the festival:

• Tiffany & Co. has restored a historic silver trophy created in 1892 to commemorate the winner of the match races between the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club and the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club.

The Tiffany silver trophy will be on display in a window of the company’s Broad Street store starting next Friday, May 16.

• The cup was last won by the NSIB&YC’s Rocket, an ice yacht that sailed from 1888 to the 1920’s and was recently restored in exacting detail. This magnificent piece of craftsmanship will be on display at Marine Park Sunday.

• The land parade and picnic. “Four or five floats and lots of people marching” are slated, says Bowden. “We’ll have a guy in stilts dressed as Uncle Sam doing the entire route.” Throw in some antique cars and a marching band, and you’ve got the parade that Bowden has been yearning for.

The parade kicks off at 11a at Globe Court at East Front Street, heads down Broad Street to Monmouth Street, and thence across town to Bridge Avenue. From there, it heads south to Drs. James Parker Boulevard, and then east to Pearl Street and into Count Basie Field, where a townwide picnic will be held. Foodtown is putting on the spread at its own expense.

• Monmouth Boat Club and the Maritime Heritage Association, in conjunction with the Red Bank Centennial Committee and other maritime groups, have coordinated the parade of boats, which begins at 1:30p on Sunday, and will be visible from Marine Park and Riverside Gardens Park, among other locations.

A cannon salvo from the Monmouth Boat Club will signal the start of the parade. The boats will be led by rowing shells and canoes from the Monmouth Boat Club, the Navesink Rowing Club, the Red Bank Charter School and the Red Bank Middle School.

• At 2:30p, weather permitting, there’ll be a flyover by eight ultralight planes.

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We call them the ‘bunting boys’ because ‘The History Boys‘ is taken, and one of them is among the most vigorous 80-year-olds you’ll ever encounter (not to mention one of the most colorful wielders of the English language).

Ed Zipprich and George Bowden of the Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission are planning to canvas businesses with an offering of flags, bunting and other decorative accoutrements of old-timey American jublilees next week.

Their aim? To bedeck the proposed route of the borough’s May 17 centennial parade with as much red, white and blue as the facades can handle, and thus revive a sense of the pride and community spirit that was far more in evidence a century ago.

A recent email from Red Bank RiverCenter to its member businesses included a plug for the windowware, but drew just one response, says Bowden, the aforementioned 80-year-old. “That sort of hit the wrong button with yours truly,” he says.

So he and Zipprich will be going store-to-store, he says, trying to enlist merchants to pony up for some patriotic swag. Prices start at about $20.

What time will he hit the streets?

“I’ll walk down Broad Street with a rooster in one arm and an alarm clock in the other, and I’ll be wearing my carpet slippers,” says Bowden.

Translation: as soon as stores open.

Here’s an order form: Download merchant_bunting.doc

The parade is scheduled to start at Globe Court at East Front Street, head over to and down Broad Street to Monmouth Street, and thence across town to Shrewsbury Bridge Avenue.

From there, it heads south to Drs. James Parker Boulevard, and then east to Pearl Street and into Count Basie Field, where a townwide picnic will be held.

Deputy borough clerk Pamela Hughes Borghi is coordinating parade details. Groups that would like to march or have floats in the parade should contact her at 732.530.2797.

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Turns out Red Bank’s centennial did not go completely overlooked this weekend.

River Road resident Ed Zipprich and his partner, JP Nicolaides, threw a little party for neighbors and friends that featured the cake shown above.

In response to our posting earlier today — in which we asked “Where’s the cake?” — Zipprich tells us, via an email, “I have the birthday cake.”

(Doesn’t quite have the dark resonance of “I drink your milkshake,” but hey, it’s a party.)

Zipprich, voters will recall, ran for council on the Democratic ticket last year but came up short at the polls, losing to Grace Cangemi.

He’s also a member of the Historic Preservation Commission and has been involved in the effort to save the T. Thomas Fortune House from demolition.

P.S.: Piece o’ Cake in Shrewsbury made the dessert.

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Where’s Willard Scott? Where’s the cake? Where’s our SILLY PARTY HAT?

Red Bank Borough is 100 years old today!

Or next Monday, depending on which birth certificate you go by.

A century ago, on March 10, 1908, the New Jersey Legislature passed an act to incorporate Red Bank as a borough, “effective immediately.”

One week later the law “went into effect, when a certified copy of the bill was recorded at Freehold,” the weekly Red Bank Register reported in its March 18 edition.

The new law designated the form and powers of the government, which would consist of a mayor and six “councilmen” who, in addition to levying taxes, would have the authority to:

Stop animals from running at large.

Kill dogs running at large.

Stop fast driving.

Not to mention “license pedlers [sic], auctioneers, news stands, theaters, circuses, shooting galleries, bowling alleys, organ grinders etc.”

But it doesn’t seem the designation of Red Bank as a borough was all that big a deal when it happened. By that time, the place was about a century old (in non-Native American terms, that is), having gotten started as a settlement when Barnes Smock opened the first known business: a tavern, possibly on the site of what became the Union House hotel on Wharf Avenue. That structure was torn down just a few years ago and replaced by condos now nearing completion.

Moreover, Red Bank had secured its own identity exactly 38 years earlier. According to Helen C. Phillips’ 1974 history, “Red Bank on the Navesink:”

Red Bank, part of Shrewsbury Township since the 17th century, became an entity on March 17, 1870 by an act of the New Jersey Legislature. By that time it had developed into a town with railroads, steamboats, sewing machines, steam-powered engines and store-bought clothes. The people felt they had their own identity. They had witnessed economic, political, and industrial growth and change. In the good old American tradition they wanted self-rule.

When the Register published a special 38-page combination centennial/harvest edition in 1911, Red Bank’s incorporation as a borough wasn’t even mentioned. Rather, the event that was called out was an 1879 effort to rename the town “Shrewsbury City.” The ability to change the name had already been cleared by the legislature. Here, though:

There was a good deal of fun over the election, but the people of the town, by a vote of more than two to one, decided to keep the old name.

The episode caught the attention of an unidentified scribe at the New York Times, who wrote, in a somewhat purple column published on May 23, 1879:

The people of Red Bank are to be congratulated upon this result. The proposed change is in no respect desirable, is in every respect undesirable, and indeed, ridiculous. For Red Bank is a good name in itself. It is short, easily remembered, easily spoken; it is pleasant in sound, characteristic, and peculiar; and these qualities do not pertain to a large number of the towns and villages in the United States…

The name Red Bank has the prime good quality of describing the place by which it is borne. It was given to the place because the bank of the creek there is red.

Download cityfied_rb_1879.pdf

To mark this latest centennial, borough officials are planning two days of celebration in May, with a townwide parade on Saturday the 17th that ends at Count Basie Field, where a picnic will be held, and a celebration on the “creek” — once the North Shrewsbury and now the Navesink River — the next day.

As for today, Red Bank Historical Preservation Commission head George Bowden tells us nothing special is planned. But there is a council meeting tonight at 5:30p. Maybe somebody will bring cupcakes, at least.

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The winner of a contest for a logo to commemorate Red Bank’s first hundred years is a 14-year-old Charter School student who only recently began dabbling in Adobe Photoshop, the computer application in which she created her design.

Her entry was the unanimous choice of a panel of judges from among 30 or so designs by professional and amateur illustrators, “from very tender-aged people to those who are not-so-tender-aged,” Mayor Pasquale Menna said in a ceremony at Borough Hall last night.

But Alexis Holiday’s logo seems all the more fitting given how closely her own heritage is tied to that of her hometown.

Alexis’s great-grandfather was a borough fire chief, said Menna. So was her grandfather. So was her father, Bob, who is a supervisor in the Public Works department.

And her paternal grandmother, Arlene Holiday, who was present last night — along with a smattering of Holidays and a gaggle of kids from the Charter School — was for many years a borough court administrator. Prior to the ceremony, Arlene explained to her granddaughters where the defendants sit when the council chamber is used as a courtroom.

“We’re honoring someone who has her roots and love and affection” for Red Bank reflected in her design, said Menna.

The design incorporates the already existing image of an ice boat into a a golden frame. It will be printed on stationery, posters and t-shirts, among other items.

Alexis tells us she’s been admitted to the visual and performing arts academy at Red Bank Regional next year.

“I work in Photoshop just for fun, but this is the first time I’ve ever done a logo,” she tells redbankgreen. Considering that, she adds, winning the contest “feels good.”

Click on the logo to enlarge it.

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His pick: Peter Reinhart, a borough resident who’s senior vice president and general counsel at the publicly traded homebuilding company.

The company’s year-old headquarters is located at the river end of Maple Avenue, a primo fireworks-watching location. The grass amphitheater next to the building is the site of a big-ticket “Light Up the Night” catered party.

While the committee is independent of the borough government, “it has been a long-standing tradition that the chair is appointed by the mayor,” Menna said in a press release.

He said he believes Reinhart will work with the other citizen volunteers to create the best fireworks display in the metropolitan area and a fitting display for Red Bank’s centennial year in 2008.

Reinhart replaces former chairman James Wells, who took a job out of the area, Menna said in a press release.

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