Its lineup of shows canceled under the near-lockdown we’re living with to slow the spread of COVID-19, the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank has repurposed its marquee.
The marquee now displays messages of “optimism from our local heroes,” the Basie said in a press release. They include quotes from part-time borough resident Jon Stewart and other New Jersey stars.
More below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Laura Kirkpatrick addressing the Red Bank council Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Laura Kirkpatrick has been named executive director of Red Bank RiverCenter, the semi-autonomous agency that manages the borough’s special improvement district.
Love was in the air at the corner of Leighton Avenue and Drs. Parker Boulevard in Red Bank Wednesday morning. And it seems a prominent corner downtown is about to be smitten, too.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
Gilda Rogers, right, led saxophonist Branford Marsalis on a tour of the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center in Red Bank Wednesday afternoon.
Images of William ‘Count’ Basie on display at the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center last week. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center, built to honor a pioneering African-American journalist with Red Bank ties, plans to spotlight the borough-born musical giant William ‘Count’ Basie through 2020.
The occasion is the 85th anniversary of the formation of the Count Basie Orchestra, which is still touring 36 years after its founder’s death.
Jim Scavone, left, with Mayor Pasquale Menna and Visitors Center director Margaret Mass at the opening of RiverCenter’s offices on Broad Street in October, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Jim Scavone, who led Red Bank RiverCenter for the past six years, is leaving the downtown promotion organization.
He won’t be going far, though: he’s taking a job at Hackensack Meridian Health at Riverview Medical Center, just on the edge of special improvement district he managed.
Crisp weather provided an ideal setting for the unofficial start of the Christmas season in downtown Red Bank Friday night.
With Tim McLoone-led Holiday Express working its musical magic for the 27th time, several thousand kids and kids-at-heart crowded a stretch of Broad Street, singing along and counting down to the light-up of downtown trees.
Check out redbankgreen‘s photos below to see if you recognize any smiling faces underneath all those fun hats. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Red Bank’s official Christmas tree has arrived in Riverside Gardens Park and will soon be trimmed in ornaments and lights.
A runner passes one of two new murals on opposite sides of White Street in Red Bank last week.
Created by muralist Bob Mataranglo, at right, they depict Navesink River scenes with bas relief elements, including the Monmouth Boat Club, the Riverside Gardens Park archway and a sailboat.
Robert Rechnitz with his wife, Joan, in 2012. Below, the Two River Theater, where a new plaza was under construction this week. (Photos by Stacie Fanelli and Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Robert M. Rechnitz, who co-founded Red Bank’s Two River Theater with his wife, Joan, died at his home Saturday, the theater announced Wednesday. He was 89 years old.
Sunshine and feels-like temperatures around 80 degrees put thousands of visitors in a dancing, eating and drinking mood at the 10th annual Guinness Oyster Festival in Red Bank Sunday.
This year’s event, held as always in the White Street parking lot, raised funds for three Red Bank-based benefactors: Monmouth Day Care Center, T. Thomas Fortune House, and Red Bank RiverCenter, the event sponsor.
Were you there? Look for yourself and your friends in redbankgreen‘s photos. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Music-lovers may have had to sacrifice their summer beach concerts at Sandy Hook this year to safeguard piping plovers, but the interruption helped ensure “another successful breeding season” for the endangered birds, park officials said Monday.
A golden sunset on the Navesink River, pillow-soft breezes and the soaring sounds of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra combined to create a picture-perfect summer’s evening in Marine Park in Red Bank Sunday.
Were you there? Check out redbankgreen‘s photos below to spot familiar faces, and let us know what you thought of the event, which was organized for the third consecutive year by Red Bank RiverCenter. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
For the past two summers, it’s been a post-solstice peak in Red Bank: the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra making gorgeous music on the banks of our beautiful Navesink River at sunset.
This Sunday, the NJSO again brings its mobile stage to Marine Park. And this year, there’s an opening act of sorts: Kül d’Sack, a local bluergrassy/pop quartet.
First came a ban on booze. Now, the entire series of summer beach concerts at Sandy Hook has been cancelled to protect the piping plovers. And no, that’s not the name of a band. Read More
Strings students at the Count Basie Center’s Monmouth Conservatory of Music gathered last weekend to pay a final farewell to Westeros with a student-and-instructor performance of the theme to HBO’s “Game Of Thrones.”
The 10th and final Hope Concert at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank on December 23 raised $224,000 for two charities, the venue announced Tuesday.
Red Bank RiverCenter brought bit of seasonal sparkle downtown Sunday with its first-ever Winter on Broad Street event, which included a portable ice rink and giant snowglobe for family-sized selfies. Check out redbankgreen‘s photos. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
A synthetic-ice rink will be installed on Broad Street between Wallace and White streets, above. Below, an example of one of the vendor’s giant snow globes. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A stretch of downtown Red Bank will be turned into a one-day winter wonderland complete with skating on Sunday.
Dubbed ‘Winter on Broad Street,’ the plan also calls for a walk-in snowglobe families can use for selfies and a shopping bazaar featuring locally made items.
A proposal by the Dublin House Pub to erect a bandshell made for one of the quickest Red Bank planning board meetings in recent memory Monday night.
A Fair Haven ball carrier looks for an opening against Rumson, and cheerleaders go airborne, below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
A flag-football tournament that grew out of a pickup game in Little Silver marked its 17th anniversary last Friday with gridiron contests for kids, women and men from eight towns.
Along the way, the event, now held in Red Bank, raised $15,000 for Lunch Break, the social services organization based just a block away.
Brisk weather in Red Bank once again made for an ideal Holiday Express start to the Christmas season Friday night.
With the Tim McLoone-led band working its musical magic for the 26th time, several thousand kids and kids-at-heart crowded a stretch of Broad Street, singing along and counting down to the light-up of downtown trees.
Check out redbankgreen‘s photos below to see if you recognize any smiling faces underneath all those fun hats. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Against a brilliant late-autumn backdrop, Ed Matthews of Powerhouse Signs got down to the business of decorating Red Bank’s official Christmas tree in Riverside Gardens Park Wednesday morning.
Jon Bon Jovi at the ribbon cutting for the Hope & Comfort Warming Center, at 166 Shrewsbury Avenue, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With a surprise snowstorm hinting at the need, a new ‘warming center’ for homeless men opened in Red Bank Thursday.
The warmup act for the ribbon cutting? None other than pop superstar Jon Bon Jovi.
The new name, Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre, applies to the historic performance space, officials said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
It may always be best known to locals as ‘the Basie,’ but Red Bank’s oldest and most prominent entertainment venue is nothing if not prolific with monikers.
On Friday, yet another new one went up on the Monmouth Street marquee that bears the name of the town’s most famous son.