Council members Juanita Lewis and Ed Zipprich opposed a permit application for the event last month, with Zipprich citing a Virginia law that would require most women seeking abortions to undergo an invasive ultrasound procedure. “I believe religious organizations have funded this attack on women’s rights,” Zipprich said. The permit was approved by a 3-to-2 vote. (Click to enlarge)

On the grounds of the First Presbyterian Church at Red Bank, atop Tower Hill, is a wonder of a nature: a paper-bark birch throwing off its clothes in paper-thin layers to reveal something purer underneath.

Red Bank arborist Bill Brooks tells redbankgreen that the exfoliation process occurs “pretty much year-round” for the trees, also known as white birch and canoe birch, because Native Americans used the detritus to waterproof their vessels.

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As the founder of Nancy Scharff Ministries, Middletown-based Christian music artist Nancy Scharff is a globe-trotting singer-songwriter, choirmaster, music educator, producer, conductor, facilitator and a shepherdess tending her flock — so there’s no question she can be a one-woman show when the situation warrants.

But when the curtain goes up on the Count Basie stage this Friday night, December 16, the celebration entitled Nancy Scharff: Christmas — The Gift of Love teams the diminutive dynamo with an orchestra of 16 players, a six-piece contemporary Christian pop band, an ecumenical choir (featuring, in past performances, some 65 voices), an all-star gospel ensemble, a children’s choir that’s numbered as many as 80 kids — plus “Three Tenors” tenoring, and some two dozen bell choir ringers ringing.

Do the math and it tallies up to nearly 200 performers — a total that doesn’t even take into consideration the expected opportunities for the audience to get into the act.

But in this fifth annual edition of a Red Bank tradition that began in 2007 with Make Room in Your Heart, it’s all about the positive energy and the good things that happen when an all-volunteer interdenominational group of Monmouth County people does something nice for their neediest neighbors.

“We go to Brownie troops, all different church groups — anywhere it’s possible to reach people,” says the lifelong Middletown resident and longtime music director at King of Kings Lutheran Church, who first performed her own self-penned songs in public at the New Monmouth house of worship.

Scharff, who’s also taught at Red Bank’s Monmouth Conservatory Of Music and the Count Basie Performing Arts Academy, has credited the response and encouragement of her fellow King of Kings congregants as the impetus that led her to pursue a career in contemporary worship music — a journey that’s taken her from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to Hawaii, Italy, the UK, Australia, South Africa (where she sang before a mega-congregation of more than 3000 people) and Jerusalem.

The autumn months find Scharff sticking close to home — rehearsing each component of the Christmas program separately as she draws a cohesive presentation together from many disparate sources. It’s a process that she repeats on a slightly smaller but no less detail-intensive scale every July, with her annual Patriotic Concert at her Middletown homebase.

With tenors Tony Buonarro, Thomas Bethman and James Gafgen as special guests, Friday’s program is scheduled to mix such traditional carols as “O Holy Night” and “Joy to the World” with Scharff originals and other contemporary compositions.

As has been the case for the past several years, proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the greater Red Bank area chapter of Love INC. (Love In the Name of Christ), a nationwide organization that helps the homeless and impoverished achieve stability and self-reliance. The show will also benefit local food banks, with attendees encouraged to bring in non-perishable food items. Tickets for the 7:30pm show are priced from $15 to $25, and can be reserved right here.

By MOLLY MULSHINE

Autumn Byrd, 14, may not have a driver’s license, but the Colts Neck resident  still finds a way to shop, eat and hang out in Red Bank whenever she can.

“My daughter is always like, ‘Let’s go to Red Bank, let’s go to Urban Outfitters, let’s go to Funk & Standard,’” Autumn’s dad, Avery Byrd, said as he paid for a purchase at Backward Glances recently.

Autumn eschews the mall in favor of Red Bank because of the town’s artsy feel, she said. “A lot of the styles I’m into, I can find here,” she said. “And I feel safe in this town.”

If any trend is apparent in downtown Red Bank this summer, it’s the return of teens and young adults, lured to modest-priced clothing stores and eateries, including relative newcomers Urban Outfitters, women’s clothing boutique Dor L’Dor and Mexi-Cali chow purveyor Surf Taco, as well as staples like Funk and Standard.

Merchants see the influx of teens as a rebuke to the idea that the town is becoming too upmarket and squeezing out younger shoppers and others with moderate incomes.

Broad Street in Red Bank earlier this week. (Click to enlarge)

“People like to cry that whole ‘upscale’ thing, but I still see a lot of stores that are affordable, more mom-and-pop-ish,” said Funk & Standard owner Patti Siciliano.

Siciliano’s store, where shoppers can find clothing, records, books and tchotchkes, has catered to a younger crowd since it opened in November, 1998. There’s also a new organic and vegan juice bar at the store’s entrance, further solidifying its cred with young shoppers

Located within a few blocks of one another, Funk & Standard, Dor L’Dor and Urban “are like a team,” according to Leanne Navarrette, 20, of Red Bank, who both shops and works locally at Backward Glances. “I’ll get something you can’t find anywhere else at Urban and then I’ll run over to get a shirt to match it at Dor L’Dor.”

Some locals expected Funk & Standard to be threatened when Urban Outfitters, which is part of a popular national chain, moved into town less than two years ago. But Siciliano wasn’t worried.

“You have to have stores that are like you,” she said. “A lot of people, if they were me, would have kind of bowed down and quit when Urban Outfitters said they were opening, but I say that it can only help us.”

The right goods and price points are also key, store owners say.

Ninety percent of the apparel sold at Funk & Standard is manufactured and designed under the Funk & Standard brand, which is unavailable anywhere else. This enables Siciliano to offer goods that are both unique and inexpensive, she said.

“We keep everything affordable and we try to keep it as cutting-edge as possible without going too far ahead,” Siciliano said.

Dor L’Dor, which opened in mid-2010, also emphasizes low prices and singular items. The boutique gets small, frequent shipments, according to manager Chelsea McCain. Thus, “the chances of you seeing another girl wearing [something bought at Dor L'Dor] out the same night are very slim,” she said.

Part of a chain with stores in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Hoboken, and another opening soon in Summit, the Broad Street store is doing “really well,” McCain said. The inexpensive clothing offered at each location is “what people are looking for in this economy,” McCain said. “It’s fashion-forward, trendy merchandise at a low price point.”

Although teenagers of previous generations were known for their love of the shopping mall, some who frequent Red Bank say they prefer the downtown.

“I don’t really go to the mall,” said Kayla Jagusch, 17, of Eatontown. “It’s too cliché.”

Navarette also said she prefers the downtown’s laid-back vibe over the mall’s atmosphere.

“I stay around here,” she said. “If I have a party to go to, I know I can run to Dor L’Dor and get an outfit really quick and I love doing that.”

Navarette, who has lived in town for years, remembers Red Bank as attracting “more punks and skaters” about 10 years ago, she said. The clientele the town attracts now is cleaner cut, but still “with a little hippie twist … Red Bank’s really chill, and it attracts chill people.”

So chill, in fact, that Navarrette finds herself befriending customers, such as Autumn and her father.

When he isn’t dropping her off to hang out with her friends, Avery Byrd frequents some of Red Bank’s attractions, as well.

“I come for the restaurants, I come for the concerts,” he said. “There’s something for the senior citizens, 50-year-olds, 40-year-olds, all the way down to teenagers. And the kids are always going to want music and clothes, so I think they pretty much have a sustainable model.”

Byrd also recognizes the business sense behind attracting a younger demographic.

“Let’s face it – if you get the kids, you get the money, because if they get $20, they’re going to spend $20,” he said.

After spending the day shopping, kids are bound to get hungry — and the Surf Taco, which opened on Broad Street in March is the perfect place for them to go, father and daughter agree.

“It’s like heaven in a burrito,” Autumn said.

The Mexi-Cali eatery brings in tons of teenagers and young families, according to its employees.

“It’s really the only place that they can go where there’s no bar,” said Elizabeth Jaskiewicz, 17, of Middletown, who has worked at Surf Taco since March. “And two people can eat here for like $20.”

Elizabeth and Kayla not only work on Broad Street, but also shop at the lower-priced boutiques.

“It’s kind of like a mini-New York,” Kayla said. “It’s up-and-coming and trendy. You can always walk around and everyone has cute outfits.”

Kayla and Elizabeth and their friends also enjoy hanging out around town even when they aren’t shopping. According to Elizabeth, there are a lot more teenagers in town than there were in years past.

“Since I’m here I just go shopping before I come into work,” Elizabeth said. “It’s easy and convenient.”

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

The Red Bank Human Relations Committee must’ve thought it had all its bases covered when it drafted a diversity statement and sent it along to the borough council for adoption last week.

But even though it was a “wonderful gesture,” said resident Stephen Mitchell, the statement, which highlights the borough’s acceptance of diversity, was missing one contingent to make it fully embracing: non-believers.

Mitchell, an atheist, pointed out that 15 percent of Americans are religious non-believers, and thus the statement should reflect that.

So the council amended the statement to include the group.

Now it reads, with the amendment in bold:

Diversity, when it is accepted and respected, is a tremendous strength and asset for any community. It encompasses an understanding that each individual is unique and valuable to the welfare of the community. It recognizes and celebrates the differences amongst individuals, and capitalizes on the strengths resulting from these differences. Diversity works best when a community explores these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. The Human Relations Advisory Committee of Red Bank, NJ, in an effort to set an example for inclusivity, adopts the broadest definition of diversity with the following statement: The dimensions of diversity shall include, but are not limited to the following: race, ethnicity, persons of faith and non-believers, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, disability, socioeconomic status, cultural orientation, physical abilities, political beliefs, age, and national origin and status.

Simple enough. And now, with the adoption of the statement, Red Bank has on the books a document that Mayor Pasquale Menna called a “no-brainer” and, along with the pending completion by council members of a diversity survey, helps earn the borough points in the Sustainable Jersey program.

When the council was first asked to review the statement in April, Menna said “Diversity has been our credo forever, since Moses came down from the mountain. We haven’t deviated from that at all.”

Sunday was ‘Jerseys for Jesus’ day at Pilgrim Baptist Church in Red Bank, where congregants were encouraged to sport their team colors. (Photos by Peter Lindner. Click to enlarge)

More than a dozen of the faithful marked the Jewish celebration of Chanukah with a menorah lighting and songs Saturday night at the Red Bank train station.

On Sunday, members of Congregation Beth Shalom on Maple Avenue gathered for a Chanukah celebration with a menorah lighting, kids’ crafts and activities, including Dreidel spinning games, and traditional holiday fare such as latkes and chocolate coins. (Photos by Peter Lindner. Click to enlarge)

After months of contentious hearings that prompted a lawsuit against the Borough of Red Bank, the Community YMCA finally won approval to increase the size of its 40-year-old Maple Avenue health facility.

After a four-and-a-half hour hearing that was light on objections from the public, all seven members of the zoning board voted to approve the plan, which would increase the size of the facility by 56 percent, to 86,000 square feet.

It would also, for the first time, allow traffic to exit the facility directly onto busy Maple Avenue, which doubles as state Highway 35.

But not on the Sabbath.

YMCA attorney Marty McGann reviews plan documents while engineer Jeromie Lange testifies at Thursday night’s zoning board meeting. (Click to enlarge.)

As a result of a hasty deal struck with the neighboring Congregation Beth Shalom during a break in the hearing, the Y agreed to close the proposed Maple Avenue exit from Friday evenings to midday Saturdays, as well as on 12 days of Jewish holidays, so as not to create noise during prayer services. Instead, motorists would have to exit the property as they do now, via the Pearl Street side.

The Y also agreed to move the new two-way driveway so that it is no closer to the temple than the existing one-lane, one-way driveway.

Last February, an earlier plan to build the facility out to 96,000 square feet fell short of a supermajority vote required for the type of variance the Y sought. That led to a lawsuit filed in May. The plan presented Thursday night emerged from settlement talks with the board to address objections that included the appearance of the building and other issues.

The approved plan calls for liberal use of red brick, replacing an earlier design that one board member said made the structure look like “a spaceship.” Board member Vince Light called it “a vast improvement.”

Nearly all of the objections raised had to do with cars. Dentist Joe Buzzanco, whose Maple Avenue office is nearby, complained that the new exit would encourage, rather than discourage, on-street parking, which would “make it impossible” for his patients to get out onto the street. He also said it would make it harder for pedestrians to cross the busy roadway.

But board members rejected his logic. “I think the right-turn [exit] is one of the most important things in this plan,” said vice chairman Tom Williams. Not only would it encourage use of the Y lot, but it would alleviate traffic flow through the Pearl Street and Chestnut Street residential area, he said.

Y member Andrew Homack of Middletown, however, said one concession to the temple was a mistake. “Blocking the exit on high holy days creates a greater danger,” because it forces traffic through that neighborhood, where there are many pedestrians, Homack said. ” I think it would be a danger to the community as a whole to blockade that,” he said.

Y officials said the settlement talks resulted in an improved plan, one that shaved 9,800 square feet off what was to have been a 40,000 SF addition and eliminated plans to develop a vacant parcel to the south of the synagogue for parking and highway access.

Lisa Christian, who became the nonprofit’s executive director five months ago, after the lawsuit was filed, said the expansion would enable the Y to consolidate its “wellness” gym offerings while adding lanes to “oversubscribed” swimming pools.

“This plan really eliminates square footage that was comfortable but not really needed,” she told the board.

Afterward, Christian told redbankgreen that the approved plan would cut the estimated cost of the expansion from $16 million to $10 million, reducing the sum that would have to be raised from donors.

She said the Y had raised about $2 million so far, but no timetable for construction has been set. “We really got stymied” by the battle over the proposal, she said.

The facility will remain open throughout construction, she said.