By JOHN T. WARD
Less than 48 hours after a divided Red Bank council voted to hold a public session on Yom Kippur, the meeting was cancelled late Thursday.
In addition, the three councilmen who voted to hold the meeting walked back from their positions Friday.
Campaign balloons given out at the 2014 Halloween Parade prompted complaints that the event was being politicized. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council may soon take up a proposed ban on mass balloon releases, its members agreed at their workshop meeting Wednesday night.
Newly sworn council members Kate Triggiano and Hazim Yassin flank Council President Erik Yngstrom at the council reorganization meeting in January. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
[UPDATE, October 4: Yom Kippur council meeting canceled for lack of quorum after mayor and council members who voted against having it say they won’t be there, he says on his Facebook page.]By a split vote, the Red Bank council decided Wednesday night to stick to its schedule and hold its next meeting on Yom Kippur.
The 3-2 outcome of a vote at the council’s workshop meeting caught Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, who had argued for a change, off guard.
“We’re going to have the meeting?” she asked. “So we’re keeping the meeting on Yom Kippur?”
Bowing to the prevalence of giant passenger vehicles, Little Silver officials have agreed to make a short, narrow lane into a one-way. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
Church Lane runs alongside the Embury Methodist Church cemetery. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Not for the first time, Little Silver officials have taken up the question of what to do with a short, narrow roadway that’s a vestige of 19th-century life.
Some residents want it turned into a one-way to address the issue of today’s “humongous” family cars.
Red Bank teacher Jonelle Melton was slain in her Netpune City apartment in 2009.
By JOHN T. WARD
Almost a decade after the death of Red Bank Middle School teacher Jonelle Melton, three men were found guilty Tuesday of her vicious torture and murder.
A jury in Freehold found the trio guilty of all charges in the case, according to a Twitter announcement early Tuesday afternoon from the office of Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni.
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.
Rabbi Dov Goldberg addressing the at Congregation B’Nai Israel Monday night. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Pain and insecurity were in the air as hundreds of Jews and non-Jewish supporters packed temples in Rumson and Tinton Falls Monday night to mourn the killing of 11 worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue two days earlier.
Red Bank Lieutenant Juan Sardo and community members discussed policing during a breakout session Wednesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Some two dozen Monmouth County cops and community members gathered in the basement of a Red Bank church Tuesday afternoon to tackle a hot topic: police-involved shootings.
Among the aims: understanding why such incidents are increasingly polarizing.
Mitzvah day participants adorned blankets for special recipients from infants to the elderly thorugh Jewish and Family Services. James Sabo of Matawan, below, was one of many volunteers who donated blood.
Press release from the Monmouth Reform Temple
Premature babies born at Riverview Medical Center will have cozy homemade knit caps to wear, thanks to a set of volunteers who knitted them during the annual Mitzvah Day held at Monmouth Reform Temple (MRT), Tinton Falls, on Sunday October 29.
Mitzvah Day is a day to “make a difference” in the community, says Rabbi Marc Kline. “The work of Mitzvah Day is not a one and done set of projects. Our congregation is committed to many projects of Tikkun Olam (healing the world) throughout the year.
In the wake of 26 murders by a heavily armed gunman in a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church last Sunday morning, Red Bank area religious leaders plan to meet with law enforcement officials to discuss security issues this week.
The front yard of the former Red Bank home of the late Norma Todd, who co-founded the soup kitchen Lunch Break, now sports a “little free library” in her honor.
Erika Sayar (left) and Oksana Sorochan are joined by Jessica Kortenhaus in a “Three for Tea at the Piano” classical recital, Sunday afternoon at St. Anthony’s.
As the calendar strikes October — and those unmistakable breaths of sweater-weather air creep beneath your front door — a spot of tea seems a jolly good idea. This Sunday, the Music Ministry of Red Bank’s St. Anthony of Padua Church brews up a pot of seasonal warmth, as the Bridge Avenue house of worship hosts “Three for Tea at the Piano.”
Sister Bernice Williams, Sister Ann Wheeler and Deaconess Pauline Smith (pictured left to right in above left photo) were honored for their years of service, integrity and wisdom, as Pilgrim Baptist Church hosted its Women’s Ministry Weekend on September 23 and 24. The celebration began with a Women’s Fellowship Breakfast on Saturday, and highlights of the Sunday service included The Women’s Day Choir and sermonic messages by Minister Cheron Whittaker and Minister Diane Watson-Kendal, after which the Men’s Ministry at PBC provided a full course dinner for all Women and Girls in attendance.
Representatives and friends of dozens of faith groups, charitable organizations and more marched through central Red Bank early Thursday afternoon as part of a “Day of Hope” event, organized by the JBJ Soul Kitchen. Volunteers with Holiday Express, Lunch Break and Habcore were among the long list of participants. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
From press materials by Family Promise of Monmouth County
While Monmouth County is considered one of the more affluent counties of the Garden State, the issue of family homelessness remains a very real problem here and throughout the area. Beginning on the evening of Friday, October 15, a local place of worship will serve as host location for an interactive “friend and fund raiser” event designed to raise awareness of this often little-discussed cause — by giving participants the opportunity to experience spending the night living inside a cardboard box.
Sponsored by the nonprofit Family Promise of Monmouth County, the area’s only emergency shelter for families — and presented “rain or shine” on the grounds of Monmouth Church of Christ (312 Hance Avenue in Tinton Falls) — the eighth annual fundraiser begins at 5 p.m., and offers participants an opportunity to raise a minimum of $100 in pledges and contributions, by sleeping overnight as a resident of “Cardboard Box City.”
Something’s going up in prefab pieces on Herbert Street in Red Bank.
What’s Going on Here? Click ‘read more’ to find out.
Everything classic is new again as the Canterbury Fair returns to historic St. George’s by the River in Rumson for an amazing 69th annual edition Saturday.
It’s a local tradition that serves as both a look ahead to a fast-approaching summertime, and a look back to community gatherings that span the generations. Going up for an incredible 69th rain-or-shine edition this Saturday, the event known as Canterbury Fair returns to Rumson’s St. George’s by-the-River Church for a rain-or-shine opportunity to “celebrate friendship, family and summer.”
Pilgrim Baptist Church of Red Bank will host its sixth annual Community Unity & Bike Blessing Festival Saturday, a free and open-to-all event that features food, live entertainment, community safety presentations and other attractions.
With a slate of public-welcome activities that includes the free weekly Sunday Dialog lectures, regularly scheduled social action film screenings, community forums, meditation/Tai Chi sessions and the well-received Earth Room Concerts series, the Lincroft meetinghouse of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County is a resource that leaves the lights on for its neighbors year-round.
This Saturday evening, the UUCMC addresses its lighting bills with an annual event that stands as “the largest FUNdraiser” on its busy calendar.
The Greater Red Bank Green has its share of long-running rites of spring, and gatekeeper events to summer’s threshold, but none sweeter than the annual Strawberry Festival, the 2017 edition of which returns right on schedule to the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury for a morning and afternoon of family-friendly activities, foodstuffs and fundraiser shopping this Saturday.
The artists will commandeer the historic grounds of St. George’s Church once again on Labor Day weekend, as the annual Canterbury Art Show puts out the call to members of the creative community.
Press release from St. George’s Episcopal Church
The historic St. George’s by the River Episcopal Church has announced a call to artists for its annual Canterbury Art Show…a Tapestry of the Arts, the premier local exhibition and sale of juried and non-juried artwork. The three-day event will take place Labor Day weekend, September 2-4, with the preview Meet the Artists reception held on Friday, September 1.
Each year, over 600 works by artists from all over New Jersey and beyond are on display. All proceeds from the event directly benefit St. George’s-by-the-River and its Outreach Grants to more than 30 local agencies serving the needy of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, including Lunch Break, Family Promise, HABcore, 180 Turning Lives Around and more.
Toronto-based folk musicians the Young Novelists (above) and Pittsburgh’s Brad Yoder (below) play the Unitarian meetinghouse Saturday night.
In just one year as a regularly scheduled feature on this planet, the Earth Room Concert Series at Lincroft’s Unitarian Universalist Congregation has managed to make a big noise — in its own relatively quiet, intimately scaled fashion.
Internationally known touring and recording artists who otherwise couldn’t stake a claim at any of the Jersey Shore’s many concert halls, rock clubs and coverband bars have found snug harbor — and connected with passionate audiences of folk/ roots/ Americana music fans — within the welcoming walls of the UUC’s West Front Street meetinghouse.
This Saturday evening, the series that’s spotlighted the talents of singing spouses (the Kennedys), sisters (the Nields), surviving partners (Tracy Grammer) and stalwart solos (Matt Nakoa) introduces the Greater Red Bank Green to another couple of musically minded marrieds: the Toronto-based group known as the Young Novelists.
Press release from First Baptist Church of Red Bank
It’s being called “The Sheepishly Awesome, Amazingly Grand Billy Affair” — a way for families to welcome the coming of Easter Sunday, in a way that offers a delightful alternative to the usual egg hunts.
On Saturday, April 8, the corner of Oakland Street and Maple Avenue will the scene of a Parking Lot Party, as First Baptist Church Red Bank invites young members of the community to enjoy face painting, bounce houses, crafts, welcome gift and goodie bags, and a chance to meet and greet some really cute baby sheep and goats.
Press release from Monmouth Reform Temple
We bear witness to the vandalism of Jewish Cemeteries and the bomb and terroristic threats on Jewish institutions. We bear witness to the burning of mosques and the harassment of Muslims in America.
We bear witness to the violence inflicted upon our minority populations. We bear witness to the community-destroying finger pointing that accuses innocent and guilty alike, for the pain felt because of the growing and unanswered violence that plagues our nation.
Torah mandates that we respond and bring people together in prayer and support of our common dream for peace and equality. And on Monday night, March 13, Monmouth Reform Temple invites the community to come together to pray and share grace and support as people of faith from a spectrum of religious traditions.