RED BANK: COPTER STARS AT NIGHT OUT

Hundreds of Red Bank residents turned out for the annual police-sponsored National Night Out Against Crime festival at Count Basie Park Tuesday night.

In addition to free food and games, this years’s edition featured the dramatic arrival of a New Jersey National Guard Black Hawk helicopter, which kids of all ages swarmed over.

The stop was the second of the night on the Greater Red Bank Green for the Lakehurst-based chopper, following an appearance at Little Silver’s National Night Out at Markham Fields.

Check out the photos below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

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August 4, 2021 - 7:20 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: MURAL LINKS HOMESTEAD TO PAST

Doug Booton, center, and Anthony Jude Setaro with artist Maria Chamra and her mural of Sassano, Italy. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Before they began resettling in Red Bank in 1895, Anthony Jude Setaro and Doug Booton’s ancestors lived for at least 400 years in Sassano, a village in Italy’s Campania region.

Now, a bay window at the family’s Oakland Street homestead frames an idyllic vision of a faraway place that to the new owners still qualifies as home.

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July 23, 2021 - 11:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: FARMER DEFENDS PRODUCE TOSS

Kurt Poehler at the Red Bank Farmer’s Market in May, 2020. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The farmer who trigged a backlash over disposed produce at the Red Bank Farmer’s Market Sunday defended the practice as a normal result of sorting Wednesday.

In addition, an organization that puts surplus produce into the hands of those who need it backed him for donating carloads of fruit and vegetables weekly, including Sunday.

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July 22, 2021 - 7:15 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: LUNCH BREAK REOPENS ITS DOORS

Lunch Break’s kitchen staff stands ready to again serve in-person guests. (Lunch Break photo. Click to enlarge.)

(Press release from Lunch Break)

After 15 months of operating as a take-away facility because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Red Bank’s Lunch Break is again offering its guests seated meals onsite, the food security and social services resource announced Wednesday.

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July 21, 2021 - 11:50 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: DUMPED PRODUCE STUNS SHOPPERS

Customers of the Red Bank Farmer’s Market were alarmed to see good produce tossed into a dumpster Sunday.

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July 20, 2021 - 7:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: LUNCH BREAK PLANS $12M PROJECT

Additional facilities and parking would be created on lots adjacent to Lunch Break’s home on Drs. James Parker Boulevard. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Lunch Break, the food security and social services resource, announced the start of a $12 million capital campaign to fund an expansion of its Red Bank home Monday.

An addition to its facilities at at 121 Drs. James Park Boulevard is needed “to accommodate the growing needs of the community,” the nonprofit said in an announcement.

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July 19, 2021 - 10:45 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: COAT DRIVE FACES BIG DEMAND

Red Bank Schools Superintendent Jared Rumage helps unload coats donated in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Press release from Red Bank-based Knights of Columbus council #525

In 2017 our Council kicked off the first ever ‘Coats for Kids’ program in the Red Bank area. In our fifth year of the program program we have provided hundreds of kids across the community who do not have the means to purchase a new or appropriate jacket for the harsh winter weather we experience.

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July 16, 2021 - 10:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: TEACHERS & PROS HONORED

[Press release from Red Bank Borough Schools Superintendent Jared Rumage]

The Red Bank Borough Public Schools are a proud participant of the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) Governor’s Educator of the Year Program. Each year, the NJDOE recognizes Teachers and Educational Services Professionals throughout the State as part of the Governor’s Educator of the Year Program.

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June 2, 2021 - 11:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: STUDENTS HELP FEED THE HUNGRY

Brigid Hempstead, right, with her twin sister Siobhan and teacher Brian Nesci planting vegetables on the lot last Saturday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

On a vacant lot in Red Bank, students from Red Bank Catholic High School are mixing the ancient lessons of agriculture with new technology to help tackle food insecurity amid a global pandemic.

They’re also hoping to create a new model for food-sharing.

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May 4, 2021 - 7:59 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: BROADWALK RETURNS

Broadwalk, Red Bank’s foremost attempt to bolster downtown business in the COVID-19 pandemic, returns for a second year of mid-street strolling, dining and cone-licking Friday.

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April 30, 2021 - 11:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: LIBRARY REOPENS, WITH LIMITS

Make an appointment, show up and ring the doorbell for admission. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Easing its way out of the pandemic of 2020-2021, the Red Bank Public Library began allowing visitors into the West Front Street institution for the first time in more than a year Monday.

The new reality, however, requires appointments, masks, limits on usage and self-checkouts, among other limitations.

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April 27, 2021 - 7:50 am | Comments ()

VIRUS UPDATES: STATE VAX TOTAL TOPS 6M

Governor Phil Murphy thanked VNA healthcare providers during a tour of the Red Bank YMCA Friday. (Photo by  John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

New Jersey’s COVID-19 vaccine program has now administered more than 6 million doses since it began December 15, Governor Phil Murphy said Monday. Read More »

April 19, 2021 - 4:10 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: LIBRARY NIXES LATE FINES

Late getting that book or DVD back to the Red Bank Public Library? Not to worry. Fines for overdue materials are now a relic of the past.

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April 16, 2021 - 10:40 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: BALLARD DECRIES ‘TRAGEDY’

Councilman Michael Ballard during a council meeting in May, 2020. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank Councilman Michael Ballard spoke with anguish Wednesday night about the police killing of a Minnesota man earlier this week.

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April 15, 2021 - 3:15 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: DALPRA TO HEAD PARKS & REC

Louis ‘Del’ DalPra at Red Bank Regional in 2009. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Former Red Bank Regional High athletic director and coach Louis ‘Del’ DalPra was named director of the borough’s parks and recreation department Wednesday night.

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April 15, 2021 - 7:45 am | Comments ()

FAIR HAVEN: COMPAÑEROS GETS $5,000

The owners of Fair Haven’s Dunkin’ coffee shop presented $5,000 Monday to Compañeros de Comida, a student-run volunteer organization that has provided more than 144,000 meals to children and families in need since April, 2020.

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March 26, 2021 - 10:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: HOFFMANN LEAVING REC JOB

Charlie Hoffmann with parks attendant Celestine Woods at Riverside Gardens Park in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Charlie Hoffmann, who has directed Red Bank’s parks and recreation department for the past five years, is leaving town.

The announcement of his departure at the council’s semimonthly meeting Wednesday sparked a “pile-on” of praise for Hoffmann’s work, which included organizing everything from sports and cultural offerings to this weekend’s Spring Egg Hunt.

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March 25, 2021 - 1:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: SENIOR CENTER EXPEDITING VAX

About 500 Red Bank residents have received COVID-19 vaccinations over the past month under a program coordinated by the borough’s Senior Center, an official said Wednesday.

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March 17, 2021 - 12:15 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: CENTER BACKERS RALLY AGAIN

Marian Quinn of Manor Drive speaking at the rally. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Invoking “demolition by neglect” and the prospect of “apartments” on the site, several dozen Red Bankers rallied Saturday to demand that the mothballed borough Senior Center be repaired.

They also momentarily drowned out the grandson of the center’s founder when he took issue with one of the handmade signs posted on the building.

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March 15, 2021 - 7:55 am | Comments ()

VIRUS UPDATE: MONMOUTH DEATHS TOP 1,300

More than 90 individuals braved a cold rain for COVID-19 vaccinations at Pilgrim Baptist Church in Red Bank February 27. (Photo courtesy of Pilgrim Baptist Church. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

New Jersey averaged 65 COVID-19 deaths per day over the past year, Governor Phil Murphy said Wednesday, as he noted the one-year anniversary of the first.

In that time, Monmouth County has lost more than 1,300 residents to a pandemic now being battled with a trio of vaccines. Read More »

March 10, 2021 - 2:45 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: CENTER BACKERS PLAN RALLY

Supporters of a drive to repair and reopen Red Bank’s Senior Center plan to rally at the facility Saturday for the second time this year.

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March 9, 2021 - 7:10 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: RACIST SLUR, OR SLIP OF TONGUE?

Sue Viscomi, right, with Hazim Yassin and Kate Triggiano at borough hall in April, 2018. All three ran for council that year. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A Red Bank board of ed member faced sharp criticism Thursday for a purported racist rendition of the borough business administrator’s name the night before.

But Sue Viscomi vehemently denied referring to Ziad Shehady as “Mr. Jihad.”

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February 12, 2021 - 7:59 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: CENTER DEBATE CONTINUES

Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, center of bottom row, prevailed on a resolution regarding the Redevelopment Agency. (Zoom screengrab. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Sarcasm and insults flew Wednesday night as the Red Bank council yet again clashed over the future of the mothballed Senior Center.

This time, residents provided much of the ire. Read More »

February 11, 2021 - 1:30 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: BROADWALK II ON AGENDA

Visitors dining on (and in) Broad Street in June. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

An effort to spark downtown business activity as the pandemic nears its second year is among the items on the Red Bank council’s agenda for Wednesday night.

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February 10, 2021 - 7:30 am | Comments ()

VIRUS: MONMOUTH DEATHS HIT 1,200

Atrium resident Audrey Haimowitz receiving a vaccine shot Friday. (Photo courtesy of Springpoint Senior Living. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Amid rising numbers of vaccine shots statewide, Monmouth County recorded its 1,200th death from COVID-19, the New Jersey Health Department reported Monday.

The grim milestone was passed as a Red Bank senior facility reported three more pandemic-related fatalities, though all three victims were considered to have recovered from the virus, a representative said.

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February 8, 2021 - 3:30 pm | Comments ()