RED BANK: TRINITY LAUNCHES FUNDRAISER
Using drone video, Trinity Church, Red Bank’s oldest house of worship, took it heavenward to promote restoration work on its 170-year old chapel and bell tower.
RED BANK: BASIE TOUR & MORE ON AN APP
An app-in-development reported on by redbankgreen last September is now available, offering users its first history tour of Red Bank.
The tour spotlights significant places in the early life of William ‘Count’ Basie, the world-renowned bandleader who grew up in a Mechanic Street house on the site of the one shown above.
RED BANK: BASIE ARTS EDUCATOR RETIRES
Press release
The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank has announced the retirement of Yvonne Lamb-Scudiery, founder of the nonprofit organization’s performing arts programs and a member of the Basie Center family for more than two decades.
RED BANK: BASIE LANDS $100K NEA GRANT
Press release from Count Basie Theatre
The Count Basie Center for the Arts has been approved for a $100,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support mindALIGNED, the organization’s collective impact initiative in the areas of professional development for educators, creative teaching strategies, artist residencies and arts experiences.
SHREWSBURY: YMCA HONORS DR. KING
MLK essay winner Alexandra Lewis is a senior at Red Bank Regional High School.
It was an unconventional commemoration to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But the theme of love, perseverance and service shined throughout YMCA of Greater Monmouth County’s first virtual event honoring the civil rights leader. Read More
SHREWSBURY: LOVE TO RECEIVE KING AWARD
Gwendolyn Love, executive director of Lunch Break, will receive the Dr. King Human Dignity Award at the YMCA’s virtual Dr. King commemoration January 15. (Photo by Danny Sanchez.)
Press release from the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County
2020 was filled with uncertainty and canceled events near and far, but the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County is busy preparing for its annual community celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Like so many other important events taking place during the coronavirus pandemic, the commemoration will be a live virtual event hosted on Zoom, Friday, January 15.
Read More
RED BANK: REMOTE LEARNING GETS BOOST
The funding will pay for 500 Chromebooks, according to the announcement. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Press release from the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund
The New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund announced November 20 that it will provide $187,000 to Red Bank Borough Public Schools to help students stay connected via remote learning.
Red Bank is one of nine districts across the state sharing more than $2.6 million from the NJPRF to help bridge the digital divide exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced many New Jersey school districts to switch to remote learning.
SHREWSBURY: COAT DRIVE FOR FAMILIES
Andrew Guage Aliperti from the YMCA’s Counseling & Social Services team prepares to deliver warm coats donated by the community to children.
Press release from the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County
While no one wants to hear the words COVID and Christmas in the same sentence, it looks like the pandemic is going to have a real impact on the holidays and gift drives for needy families in 2020.
The YMCA of Greater Monmouth County’s Counseling & Social Services team has kicked off its annual Adopt-A-Family holiday gift drive, and this year it features a different kind of fundraising effort: a “virtual giving tree.”
RED BANK: LOGGING INTO SCHOOL AT YMCA
While their parents work, the Vaclavik children – Juliana, John and Victoria – log in to their remote classes at the new Y Academy at the Red Bank YMCA.
Press release from the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County
When local districts announced they would start the 2020-2021 school year with a blend of in-person and remote learning for students, working parents like Dr. John Vaclavik and his wife Barbara of Fair Haven were worried. They were trying to figure out how they could balance the new hybrid learning model for their four children in grade school and continue with their professional careers.
RED BANK: DiNIZIO SCHOLARSHIP AVAILABLE
The Basie marquee in 2018 touted a concert in memory of Smithereens’ singer Pat DiNizio, below.
Press release issued Monday by the Count Basie Center for the Arts:
On what would have been the Smithereens’ lead singer’s 65th birthday, details were announced today for the 2021 Pat DiNizio Musical Performance Scholarship, named in honor of the New Jersey band’s legendary frontman, who passed away in December 2017.
RED BANK: BIKING LANDSCAPER GETS ASSIST
Ricardo Paz with Liz Schuber and restaurateur Danny Murphy outside Danny’s Steakhouse Tuesday, and below, in Fair Haven in July. (redbankgreen photos. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A Red Bank landscaper who hauls his equipment around in a trailer attached to his bicycle needed a new set of wheels.
And thanks to a fund drive set up by a stranger, Ricardo Paz now has $3,600 to buy one. But because there’s been a run on bikes triggered by the pandemic, Paz hasn’t been able to find a bike sturdy enough to accommodate his trailer, which carries more than 300 pounds of gear.
So last month, Paz –yes – started pushing his gear to his clients’ homes.
RED BANK: RESOURCE CENTER REOPENS
Press release from Family Resource Associates
A new school year means new beginnings as Family Resource Associates (FRA) reopens its doors. The nonprofit organization, which serves people of all ages who have developmental or acquired disAbilities, has received guidance from the State of New Jersey and is planning to start reopening its facilities in October. FRA is expected to offer two classes per day, alternating between its two locations in Red Bank and Brick, which will allow them to fully monitor the health and safety of its students and staff.
LITTLE SILVER: HALLOWEEN GETS TRICKY
A Halloween image painted by Markham Place School students on a Prospect Avenue window in 2017. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
[Correction: The borough website will have downloadable signs for homeowners to indicate their participation in trick-or-treating, not a sign-up list as mistakenly reported.]
By JOHN T. WARD
For more than an hour, Little Silver officials and residents wrestled Monday night with how to safely pull off Halloween in a pandemic.
Without being buzzkills, that is – particularly to residents of one neighborhood where the holiday has become something of a communal party.
RED BANK: HABCORE EXPANSION COMPLETED
The interior of one of the four new HABcore apartments at 119 River Street. (Photo by HABcore. Click to enlarge)
HABcore press release
On Tuesday, September 29, 2020 HABcore celebrated the grand opening of its 4-unit expansion project on River Street in Red Bank. This project was funded through donations by generous community individuals as well as New Jersey Natural Gas, the Lydia Collins deForest Charitable Trust, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ National Housing Trust Fund, and the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation.
SHREWSBURY: YMCA ADAPTS TO PANDEMIC
YMCA members continue to support food drives at the Red Bank Family YMCA.
Press release from Laurie Goganzer, President & CEO, YMCA of Greater Monmouth County
When COVID-19 hit last spring, the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County had to close our doors and lay off 80 percent of our employees. We felt the worry of the uncertainties facing our team, the 35,000 people we serve every day, and our greater community.
But we trusted that our cause to strengthen community would bring us together and make us even stronger as it did in the wake of Superstorm Sandy and in other times of crisis.
RED BANK: TEACHERS, VEEP GET SPOTLIGHT
Red Bank teachers Carol Boehm, left, and Kristen Maiello with nurse Cathy Reardon, right. (Photo by Red Bank Borough Schools. Click to enlarge.)
In March of 2020, we were preparing to celebrate several incredible educators but the health pandemic and ensuing school closure forced us to hit the pause button. Of course, late is better than never and these educators deserve to be recognized for the outstanding work they do for our students. Each exemplifies the “Red Bank Borough is Best in America” (#RBBisBIA) mindset, which is deeply rooted in our school district’s culture. We strive to be the Best In America so we can be certain we are the Best for Red Bank. Moreover, we all know an organization is only as strong as its people. Luckily, here in Red Bank we have some distinguished exemplars.
FAIR HAVEN: VOLUNTEERS HELP PAINT CHURCH
[Press release]
Fisk Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Fair Haven was the recipient OF an outpouring of community assistance on September 12, when local volunteers helped paint the house of worship.
RUMSON: 9-11 MEMORIAL DEDICATED
[Press release]
A 147-pound piece of steel beam from the destroyed World Trade Center was unveiled as the centerpiece of a 9-11 Memorial in Rumson on September 12.
The monument, consisting of what’s identified as “Artifact # I-0004z,” was created by the Rumson Fire Company with the help of borough Boy Scout Griffin Volk for his Eagle Scout project.
LITTLE SILVER: ‘SOURCE’ FUNDING PRESERVED
Funding for school-based youth services programs such as the Source at Red Bank Regional High won’t be eliminated after all, state Senator Vin Gopal said Thursday evening.
RED BANK: GRUNIN TO CHAIR BASIE BOARD
Jeremy Grunin, left, with Basie Center President and CEO Adam Philipson. (Mark Sullivan photo. Click to enlarge.)
The Count Basie Center for the Arts, the not-for-profit performing arts center with a mission to “Inspire, Educate and Entertain,” announced today that Jeremy Grunin has accepted the role of Chairman of its Board of Trustees.
RED BANK: CLUB OFFERS LEARNING SPACE
The Boys & Girls Club on Drs. James Parker Boulevard in Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
With area school districts offering partial- and full-remote schedules this fall, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monmouth County (BGCM) has opened Remote Learning Centers during the school day at its Asbury Park and Red Bank locations to assist children with their remote education.
RED BANK: SCHOOL SUPPLIES DISTRIBUTED
Community members lent a hand Saturday as Pilgrim Baptist Church of Red Bank held its annual Backpacks & School Supplies Pick-Up Day.
More than 400 backpacks full of items for the upcoming school year were distributed. Coordinated by Tyra Priester of Pilgrim, the event was a collaborative effort of Pilgrim, Lunch Break, the Boys & Girls Club of Red Bank and the Red Bank Police Department.
The distribution is scheduled to continue Wednesday, September 9, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Pilgrim. (Click to enlarge.)
FAIR HAVEN: ‘TRANSITION’ CUSTOM ROLLS ON
Delayed three months by the COVID-19 pandemic, Fair Haven’s ‘Transition Day’ rolled down Third Street Thursday afternoon.
As per custom in the borough, where an estimated 75 percent of kids regularly bike to school, a group of rising fifth-graders and teachers from the Knollwood Middle School rode across town to Viola Sickles elementary. There, they picked up the incoming fourth-grade class and rode back, parade-style, for an orientation.
Along the way, the riders – including a suit-wearing Superintendent Sean McNeil – were cheered and showered with streamers and confetti.
“It’s the best,” McNeil told redbankgreen. “I think this was exactly what we needed right now, because everybody’s got these tricky school openings, and so it’s nice to get to a place of normalcy and remember what we’re doing this for.”
See more photos below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: DESTIGMATIZING ADDICTION
Monmouth County Drug Court prosecutor Lindsay Ashwal was among a series of speakers to advocate for destigmatizing opioid addiction when she addressed an audience of about 75 gathered to mark Overdose Awareness Day at Count Basie Fields in Red Bank Monday.