Cindy Burnham and Jack Privetera were onsite yesterday talking about where to plant a tree.
Plans are moving ahead for the opening of Whatchamacallit Park in Red Bank.
That’s the borough-owned lot at the foot of Maple Avenue that last year was saved from a possible sale.
Now, it needs a name.
Lot preservationist Cindy Burnham of Fair Haven suggested calling it ‘River Cove Waterfront Access‘ back in January, but the borough council wanted to open the naming effort to kids. So they made it into a contest.
Here’ a press release on the naming contest issued by the borough last month:
Boro to let school children name waterfront property
RED BANK—The Borough of Red Bank Parks and Recreation Department, in collaboration with the Education and Technology Committee, has announced that the Borough will be sponsoring a contest among Red Bank school children to name a recreation area recently created at the foot of Maple Avenue.
The small piece of land allows water access from the foot of Maple Avenue and will be available for public use. Councilwoman [Juanita] Lewis suggested letting the children of Red Bank name the park as a way to include them in the process of creating the new recreation area.
The contest is open to all Red Bank children. Entrants are asked to submit their suggestion to the Red Bank Parks and Recreation Department, 90 Monmouth Street, by April 30, 2009.
The winning entry will be announced at the Second Annual Red Bank Day, scheduled for May 16, 2009 in Count Basie Park.
Please contact Red Bank Parks and Recreation Director Bob Evans at 732-530-2782 or [email protected] with any questions.
The site, which is the borough’s only stretch of riverbank easily accessed by the public, is expected to be used by kayakers and canoeists for launching their vessels, as well as by people just interested in getting their feet wet in the red clay that gave the town its name.
There’s no opening date set yet, though. On Tuesday, Burnham was on the site with Jack Privetera, of Privetera Florists, who is donating a tree to the property— probably a Heritage River Birch, he tells redbankgreen.
Burnham is also working with the Navesink Maritime Heritage Assocation, which is building a couple of benches, as well as other volunteer groups.
Volunteers are being sought to help with the site’s second-annual cleanup, scheduled for Saturday, May 2.
