RED BANK: CHRISTMAS TREE WANTED
Got a spare blue spruce in your yard? Red Bank RiverCenter is once again looking for a Christmas tree to display in Riverside Gardens Park this holiday season.
RED BANK: LGBTQ+ SAFETY PLAN LAUNCHES
Mayor Pasquale Menna and Monmouth County Acting Prosecutor Lori Linskey at Red Bank’s National Night Out in August. Below, the decal to be displayed under the Safe Spaces program. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank businesses will soon be able to proclaim their spaces as havens for individuals targeted in bias crimes.
Under a new program unveiled Wednesday by Monmouth County Acting Prosecutor Lori Linskey and local law enforcement officials, the borough will begin offering businesses and institutions decals that designate their workplaces as places of temporary refuge to anyone threatened with a hate crime.
RED BANK: HUNDREDS RALLY FOR WOMEN
About 1,000 women, men and children marched and rallied for women’s reproductive rights in downtown Red Bank Saturday.
In conjunction with hundreds of similar events nationwide, the Red Bank gathering, organized by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey and the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, focused on abortion rights as the Supreme Court begins a new term Monday with pivotal cases on the docket.
Chanting “Ruth sent us” and “my body, my choice,” participants marched from the train station to Broad Street and then gathered in Riverside Gardens Park, where speakers, including borough Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, called for the election of women’s rights supporters.
Check out redbankgreen’s photos, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
SHREWSBURY: HISTORICAL PLAQUE INSTALLED
Forty-three years after the Shrewsbury Historic District attained placement on the National Register of Historic Places, community members marked the installation of a commemorative plaque outside Borough Hall on September 10.
The district, in the vicinity of Broad Street and Sycamore Avenue, won the national designation in July, 1978, two years after the New Jersey equivalent was awarded.
Marking the occasion, the Shrewsbury Historical Society was joined by borough officials, religious leaders, members of Boy Scouts Troop 50 and local history lovers in Colonial-era costumes. (Photo by Shrewsbury Historical Society. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: SCENES FROM TOWN YARD SALE
A revived Red Bank Townwide Yard Sale raised $700 for the Red Bank Public Library Saturday.
It also and gave sellers and freecyclers a means of getting household goods into new hands.
Among them was Monique McSorley, who moved to River Street with husband, Brad, and their son, James, in June, bringing boxfuls of toys they kept so they might get them into the hands of other children, she said.
“We’re just so glad the town is doing this,” she said.
Above, scenes from Harrison Avenue, top, and River Road. More photos from around town are below. (Photos by Trish Russoniello and John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: YARD SALE SET TO SHINE
After five three years in some dark corner, the tarps come off the Red Bank Townwide Yard Sale Saturday.
With 62 (and counting) sellers participating and a weather forecast of sunny skies, it’s looking to be a bonanza for buyers and sellers alike.
RED BANK: DOGS AGAIN FROLIC IN PARK
Like a dog aroused by the smell of food, Red Bank’s pandemic-interrupted Dog Days of Summer series snapped back to life in Marine Park Saturday.
The gathering, organized by the borough’s Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, featured live music by the Wag, displays by pet care organizations and several hundred wet noses.
Check out redbankgreen‘s photos from the event below.
(Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: STREET FAIR RETURNS
Sunday’s Street Fair in downtown Red Bank, a fundraiser for the borough’s volunteer fire department, drew thousands of attendees to Monmouth and Broad streets.
RED BANK: REFLECTIONS ON SEPTEMBER 11
Former Red Bank fire chief Wayne Hartman tolled a bell in memory of 343 New York City fireighters who who died at the World Trade Center. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
On a swath of Riverside Gardens Park lawn emblazoned with a temporary memorial, Red Bank residents and others gathered Saturday morning to remember the 2,996 lives taken on American soil on September 11, 2001.
ON THE GREEN: IN MEMORY
Dozens of residents of the Greater Red Bank Green were among the 147 Monmouth County residents, and 2,996 overall, who died in the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
Information about commemorations in Red Bank and Atlantic Highlands can be found here.
RED BANK: SEPTEMBER 11, 20 YEARS LATER
Red Bank-area residents will mark the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on America with memorial events Saturday.
RED BANK & FAIR HAVEN: SALE DAYS BEGIN
Shoppers found bargains, and some relief from the heat, under a sale tent on White Street as Red Bank’s 67th annual Sidewalk Sale got underway Friday.
Fair Haven is also hosting one.
RED BANK: RALLY DEMANDS VAX/MASK CHOICE
Marchers gathered on the sidewalk outside Riverview Medical Center Monday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
About 150 proponents of “choice” regarding COVID-19 vaccines and masks protested outside Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank early Monday afternoon.
The midday protest followed a rally in Riverside Gardens Park, where god, the U.S. Constitution and the Second Amendment were also invoked.
RED BANK: ZAENTZ DEPARTS DAY CARE CENTER
Heidi Zaentz, above left, who has led the Monmouth Day Care Center in Red Bank for the past 22 years, worked one last, tearful day before retirement Friday.
RED BANK: TWIN PUMPERS DELIVERED
Red Bank’s volunteer fire department took delivery of a new firetruck Tuesday morning, the second in four days.
RED BANK: PARK PULSES WITH LBGTQ PRIDE
Vivid color brightened up Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park under gray skies for the second LGBTQ Pride event Saturday.
Organized by the borough’s Parks and Rec department, the gathering featured line dancing, hula-hooping, juggling and tons of love. Check out additional photos below. (Photos by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: PRIDE RETURNS TO PARK
For the second time in three years, Red Bank’s Parks & Rec department hosts a free Pride event in Riverside Gardens Park Saturday, featuring a DJ, family activities and more in celebration of LGBTQ pride. Check out details here.
As in 2019, the colorful logo on the park lawn was created by the public utilities department. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: YARD SALE MAY BE REVIVED
Stashed away in the back of a garage for the past four years, the Red Bank Townwide Yard Sale may get a dusting-off in September.
RED BANK: CHARTER REVIEW VOTE SLATED
Authorization of the charter study, and all five seats on it, would be on the November ballot if the council follows through on Wednesday’s informal vote. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
[Updated to include borough attorney memo on charter review timeline.]
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council informally agreed Wednesday night to have voters decide whether the borough’s form of government should be reviewed for possible overhaul.
The unanimous action by the council, all Democrats, could eventually lead to nonpartisan elections, watering down the party’s long dominance of municipal government.
RED BANK: COUNCIL TO HIRE SEARCH FIRM
Borough hall remains closed due to the pandemic, so the council will meet again via Zoom. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council will officially start the search for a new borough administrator when it meets this week.
Not on the agenda: a measure to authorize a charter study to review the form of government in place here since 1908.
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.
RED BANK: DEMS’ INFIGHTING ESCALATES
Ed Zipprich, left, with husband J.P. Nicolaides holding a Bible, recites the oath of office in January, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With nine weeks to go in a rare primary race for Red Bank council, a civil war within the Democratic party intensified this week. Read More
RED BANK: DEMS CALL FOR CHARTER STUDY
Kathy Horgan with fellow Democrats and council members Ed Zipprich, center, and Michael Ballard in 2017. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Again taking aim at their own party’s chairman, four Red Bank council members and Mayor Pasquale Menna have called for a charter study to review the borough’s form of government – and possibly, change the electoral process.
RED BANK: STILL NO MOVEMENT ON REFORM
Mayor Pasquale Menna speaking with activist Ben Forest in 2019. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Nearly three years after they briefly moved to the fore, calls to reform Red Bank’s government and electoral process have yet to yield noticeable results.