Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

SEA BRIGHT: STORM-TOSSED TREASURES

Frank Torock scanning the beach in Sea Bright for hidden metal last month. (Photos by Dan Natale. Click to enlarge)

By DAN NATALE

The beaches of Sea Bright have been given a makeover in more ways than one since Hurricane Sandy. The shift in landscape has attracted a fresh raft of hobbyists.

They’re hard to miss: walking slowly, heads down, sweeping metal detectors over the sand in the hopes of finding some storm-churned treasure.

Interest in the hobby has soared in recent months, according to Alan Placer, owner of Red Bank’s Hobbymasters. He said he’s seen a rough average of seven to ten people a week coming in to buy metal detecting equipment. And some of them have returned with valuable finds, such as gold coins and jewelry, he said.

At the same time, the profile of the hobby has been getting a facelift, Placer said, with the community of metal detectors beginning to shift from retirees to young families.

redbankgreen recently ran into a father-and-son metal-detecting duo who bought detectors in response to the Jersey shore gold rush.

“No we didn’t strike gold, but we’ve thought about it since Superstorm Sandy,” said Rumson’s John Maldjian, accompanied by his son Alex. “We thought it would be a good time to get a metal detector because it turned up a lot of things.”

Alex added that they found a lot of nails, and even a hammer to go with them.

Although more families like the Maldjians have been getting into the hobby, the crusty old salts more commonly associated with the pursuit are still intact. A Pennsylvanian, Frank Torok, out scanning for metal with a friend along the Sea Bright shore, said he traveled here for the potential for awesome finds.

The camo-clad treasure hunter said a lot metal detectors, inspired by television shows Diggers on National Geographic and American Diggers on Spike TV, have been flocking to this area to look for artifacts from a boardwalk built in the late 1800s to early 1900s.

“I like it a lot for the history,” said Torok. “Where I am [in Pennsylvania], we’re on an old camp site. Right before the Civil War, they had these big celebrations out in the woods up on a mountain. We go back there and we find Civil War relics, just old stuff. I have an old breast plate. My son found an old cap badge just yesterday. I mean, that’s history.”

Torok says that it is this thirst for history, and not monetary gain, that has kept him interested in this pasttime. He says that archaeologists, fondly known in the metal detecting community as “archys” (pronounced ark-ees) like to disparage metal detectors for “stealing shit,” which he says couldn’t be further from the truth. “It’s more about collecting than it is about buying or selling anything for scrap,” he said.

Torok’s trip to the shore only yielded a zinc penny, but he said he’s found a copper spearhead that was likely made by Native Americans when they were trading with the settlers.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RED TRUCKS AT RED ROCK
A small dishwasher fire at Red Rock Tap and Grill was put out quickly by firefighters overnight, causing minimal damage. Red Bank Fire Depar ...
CREATIVE COVER UP
The windows of Pearl Street Consignment on Monmouth Street were smashed when a driver crashed their car through them injuring an employee la ...
THEY’RE BACK!
Ospreys returned to the skies over Red Bank this week for the first time since they migrated to warmer climes in late fall. With temperature ...
SPRING IS SPRUNG
RED BANK: Spring 2024 arrives on the Greater Red Bank Green with the vernal equinox at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday.
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...