From press materials furnished by Prown’s and Dorn’s Classic Images
It’s that time of year again — that time when thoughts start creeping toward next year, and another 12 months’ worth of little numbered boxes to fill with appointments, commitments, resolutions and reminders.
As has become a recently minted tradition, two of the most time-honored names in the Red Bank community have announced the 2015 editions of their sought-after custom calendars — daily datekeepers that are designed to kindle warm-‘n-fuzzy feelings for anyone with a nostalgic spot for the towns of the greater Red Bank green; even as they help some of the area’s hardworking nonprofits fulfill their mission in the here and now.
Available online and in-store now at Prown’s Home Improvements, the sixth annual Prown’s Olde Tyme Red Bank Area Calendar collects 14 priceless images of local life — this year organized around the theme “Remembering Places of Entertainment.” As David Prown — third-generation steward of the family business that will mark its 90th anniversary next year — put it, “memories will come flooding back” to all who gaze upon the images of good times across the decades. The calendars, which tend to sell out each year, are priced at $12, with proceeds dedicated to the “Number One non-profit entertainmen charity organization,” Holiday Express.
With its second annual calendar, Tides of Times Past, Dorn’s Classic Images (DCI) will again pay tribute to the famed oceanic, maritime and nautical heritage of the Two River area. Alternately titled Beaches & Banks (the 2015 calendar has two “front” covers) the calendar features memorable shots from its 10,000-image archive of Red Bank, Fair Haven, Rumson, Highlands, Atlantic Highlands, Sea Bright, Long Branch, and Asbury Park. The baby shown on the cover in the century-old Sandy Hook beach photo is the late Norman “Dutch” Sickels, Sr., father of Red Bank notable, Stanley Sickels.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the calendar will be going to a number of organizations that will be using the 13-month piece (including December 2014) in their fundraising efforts. The Monmouth County Historical Association, Shrewsbury’s Christ Church, The Monmouth Conservation Foundation, Monmouth Museum, and Poricy Park are among the organizations offering the calendar.
DCI owner George Severini notes that, “This year, I again designed the calendar to include more than one photo per month. There are so many beautiful photos to choose from.”
“We made an important addition this year,” added DCI owner Kathy Dorn Severini. “We included a brief history of the Dorn’s archive under a photo of my grandfather and father — both Dan Dorns — from the late 1920s, when they were documentary filmmakers. Without my dad’s foresight in preserving 2,500 antique glass plate negatives and 70-plus years of location photography by my family and the Dorn’s Photography Unlimited staff, the archive would never have existed.”
The calendars, which retail for $10 (plus sales tax and shipping where applicable) are available directly from DCI in Fair Haven and through a PayPal link posted on the DCI Facebook page and on the dornsclassicimages.com website. They are also available through select retailers: Sickles Market, Little Silver; Bain’s Hardware, Sea Bright; Red Bank FrameWorks; Asbury Galleria in Convention Hall; Renaissance, Atlantic Highlands; River Road Books, Fair Haven; Bahrs Restaurant, Highlands; and New Corner Restaurant, Red Bank.
