RED BANK: PHARMACY ALL PHRAMED OUT
After a delay, construction of a building slated to house a pharmacy and four apartments on Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank is back on track, according to borough Assistant Construction Official John Drucker.
RED BANK: PARKING FORUM SLATED
Does downtown Red Bank need a new parking garage? If so, how big should it be, what else should it include, and who should pay for it?
Questions like those will be on the table at a town-hall style meeting slated for Monday, February 6.
FAIR HAVEN: A ‘SOUPER’ PARTY FOR THE NEEDY
Press release from Knights of Columbus Council #3187
During Super Bowl 50, young people and groups across the country raised over $10 million in cash and resources for charities through the Souper Bowl of Caring initiative. This national movement is transforming the weekend of the Big Game into the nation’s largest youth-inspired weekend of giving and serving — and here in 2017, America’s young people are working to raise millions more for hunger and poverty-related charities across the country.
The Knights of Columbus – Red Bank Council 3187 will be involved with the Souper Bowl of Caring because it is a simple and meaningful way to unite communities around important issues, such as hunger, poverty and homelessness. The entire community is invited to join the local KofC membership this Sunday, February 5, as we work to reach our fundraising goals during the fun and free-admission event “Minister Steve’s Souper Bowl Party — Help Us Reach the Goal.”
RANNEY STUDENTS LEARN OF UNTOLD HISTORY
Press release from Ranney School
On January 25, the ongoing Distinguished Speaker Series at Ranney School gave students the opportunity to hear from writer, teacher, and Harvard doctoral candidate Clint Smith.
A 2014 National Poetry Slam champion, Mr. Smith (pictured) has focused on the sociology of race and the history of inequality in the United States in his published works, the most recent being the poetry collection Counting Descent. His two TED Talks, “The Danger of Silence” and “How to Raise a Black Son in America,” have collectively been viewed more than 5 million times — and this past Wednesday he shared several of his poems, and the meaning behind them, with nearly 400 Upper School students and faculty on Ranney’s Tinton Falls campus.
RED BANK: SUIT FILED OVER GARAGE HEIGHT
Cindy Burnham, seen here at a candidate’s forum last October, during her unsuccessful council re-election campaign. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A group of Red Bank residents formed by former Councilwoman Cindy Burnham filed suit Monday to derail efforts to build a garage for at least 773 vehicles in the heart of town.
Burnham, who failed in her re-election bid as a Republican-turned-independent in November after one term, said although she supports the construction of a garage, the eight-story structure permitted under a redevelopment plan authorized by the council last week is “just too high.”
SHREWSBURY POLICE BLOTTER
Crime and arrest reports, unedited, as provided by the Shrewsbury Police Department for the period of January 21 to January 27, 2017. For additional information, please scroll to the bottom of this post.
Crimes
Report of Shoplifting in the area of Saks Off Fifth, Broad Street on 1/21/17. Victim reports unknown subject(s) removed merchandise. Damages totaling $1,177.46. Ptl. Tyler Fox investigating.
Report of Shoplifting in the area of Spirits Unlimited, Broad Street on 1/24/17. Victim reports unknown subject removed merchandise. Damages totaling $59.99. Ptl. Mary Ellen Rumola investigating.
RED BANK: PARKS & REC GETS ITS OWN LOGO
Jack Davis with the color version of his logo for the Red Bank Parks & Rec department. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Red Bank’s Parks and Recreation department is getting some new branding, courtesy of a sophomore at Red Bank Regional.
Designed by Little Silver resident Jack Davis, the color version of the department’s new logo features a sun-tinged sky over the Navesink River, as seen through the archway entrance to Riverside Gardens Park on West Front Street.
RED BANK: FOOTWEAR, FRUIT BOWLS, FACIALS
The Doc Shoppe, which moved to Red Bank from Fair Haven in 2014, plans to close at the end of March. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s last-remaining shoe store is closing.
This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn includes news on the departure of the Doc Shoppe; the opening of an exotic-fruit bar and café; and plans by a high-end beauty products retailer to open downtown. Read More
RED BANK: TRIBUTES TO CARPENTERS & MORE
Lisa Rock (center) and her band pay homage to the 1970s pop hits of The Carpenters in the stage show ‘Close to You,’ coming Thursday to the Count Basie. Jenna O’Gara (below) is among the singers going Back to the Eighties with Jessie’s Girl in a Friday night concert.
It’s a non-alternative fact that some of the most legendary names in the music business — the Beatles, ABBA, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead — have plied their trade on the boards of Red Bank’s Count Basie Theatre, represented (in spirit if not flesh) by a bold new breed of note-perfect, big budget traveling tribute extravaganzas.
Following on the heels of a weekend that saw the annual appearance of the ever-popular Elvis Birthday Bash (and a genuinely star-studded, sold-out recreation of The Band’s Last Waltz concert), the Basie keeps the tributes going this Thursday and Friday with some spot-on salutes to the 1970’s pop of The Carpenters, as well as the superstars (Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince) who defined the MTV era of the 1980s.
RED BANK: PBC VOLUNTEERS SHARE THE CARE
On Wednesday, January 25, Pilgrim Baptist Church of Red Bank hosted its “Project Community Cares” event in support of the Monmouth County Point-In-Time Survey of the homeless population. The event featured a winter coats and clothing giveaway, health screenings, meals, resource information and more, with Monmouth County residents who have been under-served and marginalized also given the opportunity to register for social services that are available throughout the Bayshore area. Pictured are the volunteers of Pilgrim who participated in the event. (not pictured: agency volunteers and allied health care personnel who serve throughout the day). For further information about Pilgrim’s Community Outreach initiatives, please call (732)747-2343.
RUMSON: THINKING AHEAD TO FUTURE CITY
Press release from Rumson School District
It starts with the question, “How can we make the world a better place?” To answer that question 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students imagine, research, design, and build model “Future Cities” that showcase their solution to a citywide sustainability issue.
On January 14, Forrestdale School sent eighth grade students Jackson Patton and Lang Daly to Rutgers University to represent their fellow members of the school’s Future City Team, in the 25th annual Future City Competition — an event at which Forrestdale’s future city, named Forrestopia, was granted the “Most Environmentally Friendly City” award.
WHAT’S FOR LUNCH? HOWLING GOOD PIZZA
A “Grandma” pie fresh from the oven at Lupo Pizzeria. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
A sign cut out in the shape of howling wolf hangs at the corner of the building that’s home to the brand-new Lupo Pizzeria in Fair Haven, named in honor of a great-grandmother whose last name means “wolf” in Italian.
So of course, feeling a bit like Red Riding Hood, PieHole had to try the “Grandma” pie.
RED BANK: CLEESE BRINGS ‘GRAIL’ TO BASIE
Monty Python co-founder John Cleese (at lower left in above photo, and below in 2016) makes his Count Basie Theatre debut introducing a Sunday evening screening of the 1975 comedy classic ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail.’
You know you’ve drifted into uncharted cultural waters when the co-founder of the most cheerfully anarchic comedy institution of all time likens your nation’s new presidential administration to a “pirate ship” — with the man who famously brought you the “Dead Parrot” sketch going on to brand the skipper of that ship as “delusional.”
Having returned in recent years to his British birthplace (where he advocated for Brexit-ing the European Union) after some two decades as a resident of the United States, John Cleese comes to Red Bank’s Count Basie Theatre for the first time this Sunday, when the self-described “writer, actor and tall person” hosts a special screening of one of his troupe’s finest celluloid moments, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
RED BANK: CHARTER FOES ALLEGE FALSE DATA
Attendees at the charter school’s graduation ceremony in Riverside Gardens Park last June. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank Charter School engaged in “outright fabrication” of data used to support its pending request for a five-year charter extension, opponents alleged Thursday.
The purported falsification, concerning the numbers of resident white and Hispanic children who attend private and parochial schools, was used “in a deliberate attempt to mislead the state Department of Education and to perpetuate the myth that the taxpayer-funded 200-student school reflects the pre-K through 8th grade demographics of the community,” according to two groups seeking a shutdown of the school over alleged civil rights issues.
The charter school dismissed the allegations.
LINCROFT: BCC HOSTS MINORITY MALE EVENT
Ed Johnson, former Asbury Park mayor and director of Brookdale Community College’s Higher Education Center in Long Branch, hosts a workshop during the 2016 Minority Male Initiative conference in Lincroft. (Photo by Brookdale Community College)
Press release from Brookdale Community College
On Friday, February 17, Brookdale Community College and the Monmouth/Ocean County Pan Hellenic Council will host the third annual “Minority Male Initiative” conference on the college’s Lincroft campus.
Scheduled for 8:30 a.m., the free conference titled “Setting Priorities for Career Success” will be held in Brookdale’s Warner Student Life Center. The event co-sponsored by Hackensack Meridian Health and Brookdale’s Educational Opportunity Fund program will offer career-oriented workshops designed specifically for local high school juniors, seniors and current Brookdale students.
RED BANK: LONGTIME MUNICIPAL JUDGE DIES
Judge William Himelman swearing in a defendant last year. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank municipal court Judge William Himelman died Thursday, according to Mayor Pasquale Menna. He was 85 years old.
The circumstances and place of his death were not immediately available.
Believed to have been New Jersey’s longest-serving local court jurist in modern times, if not state history, Himelman presided on the borough bench for 38 years. Long past the age at which others in his position retired, he doled out justice to everyone from cellphone-gabbing motorists and drunk drivers to a pair of men who squared off while naked.
LINCROFT: A SPIKE IN ATTENDANCE AT UUCMC
The “Earth Room” of Lincroft’s Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse is the setting this Sunday, for a free winter’s afternoon jazz concert featuring pianist Mike “Spike” Wilner.
Its “Earth Room” sanctuary has served for years as the greater Red Bank green’s go-to venue for guest lectures on progressive causes, in addition to regularly scheduled Social Action Film screenings of hot-topic documentaries — and, beginning in 2016, a slate of concert events that’s placed some internationally acclaimed modern folk music artists in front of Monmouth County audiences for the very first time.
This Sunday afternoon, January 29, Lincroft’s Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County becomes a jazz club, albeit one that trades the candlelit-cool night owl vibe for the streaming light of the stained glass windows and the afternoon delights of pianist Spike Wilner.
RED BANK: PARKING PLANS SOLICITED
Count Basie Theatre security worker Dennis O’Keefe working the entrance to the borough hall parking lot Wednesday night. A restaurant owner cited theater activity for creating parking issues last weekend. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
An effort to coax a 773-vehicle garage into the heart of Red Bank cleared another speedbump Wednesday night.
At its semimonthly meeting, the borough council authorized a request for proposals, or RFP, from developers interested in building on the 2.3-acre municipal lot on White Street.
But first, it tweaked the requirements to be more environmentally friendly.
Read More
RED BANK: TENNIS COURTS STILL IN LIMBO
The new tennis court retaining wall and sidewalk along Union Street, as seen last week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
No, Red Bank’s red clay tennis courts overlooking the Navesink River aren’t being restored — not yet at least.
LINCROFT: HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE AT BCC
Press release from Brookdale Community College
On the evening of Monday, January 30, the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights and Genocide Education (Chhange) at Brookdale Community College will host an International Holocaust Remembrance Day Program on the Lincroft campus.
Scheduled for 7 p.m., the program is held in memory of Dr. Seymour “Sy” Siegler, a former Red Bank teacher and Brookdale psychology professor who co-founded Chhange in 1979. Siegler passed away on October 4, 2016.
RUMSON: A HISTORY LESSON FOR RCDS KIDS
Storyteller Len Cabral address students at Rumson Country Day School in January 17 assembly. In addition to learning about Dr. King, the students learned about their school’s history during a special Scavenger Hunt event on January 20.
Press release from Rumson Country Day School
On Tuesday, January 17, the students of Rumson Country Day School attended a special assembly to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A gifted orator, Dr. King used the power of words to inspire others and to achieve seemingly impossible goals. The overall theme of the assembly focused on the values that Dr. King’s legacy upholds, specifically kindness, which parallels the qualities of character that are the cornerstone of the RCDS experience.
The main event featured Len Cabral, an internationally acclaimed storyteller who has been enchanting audiences with his storytelling performances at schools, libraries, museums and festivals since 1976.
LINCROFT: A WINTERFEST OF SEASON’S BEST
When life gives you winter, make Winterfest, the third annual edition of which returns to Lincroft’s Thompson Park Saturday afternoon.
First of all, there’s little to no chance of any snowy stuff (or really much precip of any kind) in the forecast for this coming Saturday. But even if the season of bare trees and bundled-up people makes itself felt exclusively through the expected chill factor, there’s still plenty to celebrate over at Lincroft’s Thompson Park, where the third annual Winterfest event takes center stage Saturday.
SHREWSBURY POLICE BLOTTER
Crime and arrest reports, unedited, as provided by the Shrewsbury Police Department for the period of January 14 to January 20, 2017. For additional information, please scroll to the bottom of this post.
Crimes
Report of Vehicle Burglary in the area of Glorney Street on 1/16/17. Victim reports unknown subject(s) removed property. Damages totaling $120.00. Ptl. Derek Myers investigating.
RED BANK: PARKING CHANGES ON AGENDA
On the agenda: a change to the ordinance on overnight street parking in winter. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A possible 773-vehicle garage on White Street isn’t the only parking issue on the Red Bank council’s agenda Wednesday night.
At its semimonthly meeting, the governing body is expected to take action on a number of matters that would tweak parking downtown as well as in residential neighborhoods.
RED BANK: DONATED HOUSE COMING DOWN
Two years after the death of its owner, the house at 27 Linden Place in Red Bank is slated for demolition this week.
Doug Cavanaugh, seen at right in 2009 painting a hitching post he installed outside the house, left the property in his will to Saint James Roman Catholic Church, whose schools he’d attended.