A sign on the door of the Welsh Farms convenience store on East Front Street in Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
The following are dispatches from the Greater Red Bank Green as we settle into the widespread shutdowns and upheavals of everyday life prompted by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Included: Red Bank’s emergency order; grab ‘n go meals for kids; Catholic Mass dispensations; liquor deliveries; a coffee shop’s open-door policy, and Fair Haven’s next council session.
With a ’boutique’ liquor store now part of the plan, Sickles Market Provisions will take the entire first floor of the former Anderson Storage building on Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After a century-plus of operation, Little Silver-based Sickles Market will get into the liquor business when opens its new store in Red Bank, redbankgreen has learned.
Maria Elizabeth Diaco in her new Broad Street boutique, the Haute Maven. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A long vacancy in the heart of downtown Red Bank ended with the opening of a new women’s clothing boutique this week.
redbankgreen‘s Retail Churnalso has an update on the long-awaited conversion of the Anderson Building, which has been vacant for more than three decades.
Fireworks are scheduled to paint the night sky when Fair Haven Day returns for its sixth annual edition. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
It doesn’t have roots as deep as its sister event, the end-of-summer Fireman’s Fair. But when the first annual Fair Haven Day commandeered Fair Haven Fields for an all-ages, all-invited day of food, live music and fireworks in 2012, it felt immediately like the sort of thing that had been part of local life for generations.
The event, organized by the Foundation of Fair Haven to celebrate the borough’s centennial, established itself as a community tradition that continues when it makes its sixth annual stand this Saturday.
The Anderson Storage building, where ‘Sickles Market Provisions’ plans to occupy the ground floor. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Sickles Market, the Little Silver grocer that traces its roots back 350 years, has partnered with the fast-growing Booskerdoo coffee-shop chain on its planned foray into Red Bank, the two companies announced Tuesday.
Recycled-materials sculptures by Lisa Bagwell are among the art works featured during the Zero Waste Arts Fest, going on September 17 and 18 at Fort Hancock on Sandy Hook.
Press release from Monmouth County Arts Council
On Saturday, September 17 and Sunday, September 18, the Monmouth County Arts Council invites the public to take part in a weekend of free family fun — in which the arts intersect with the wonders of our local environment — during the inaugural Zero Waste Arts Fest (ZWAF).
Going on from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the historic Fort Hancock area of Sandy Hook, ZWAF represents a partnership between Monmouth Arts and Gateway National Recreation Area Sandy Hook Unit. The event also marks the culminating phase of a larger Gateway to the Arts grant project, a $20,000 award that Monmouth Arts received from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in 2016, to honor both the 50th anniversary of the NEA and the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.
Press release from Habitat for Humanity in Monmouth County
On the evening of Monday, May 16, The Oyster Point Hotel will be the host venue as Habitat for Humanity in Monmouth County hosts its inaugural food and wine tasting event, A Taste for Homes. Scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m., the event celebrates the impact and difference that volunteers and companies can make to providing people in the community with a decent place to live.
Over two dozen local vendors and restaurants are slated to participate in the tasting event, with all proceeds going to support the organization’s efforts this year throughout their service territory that covers 83 percent of Monmouth County.
During the event the nonprofit organization will pay tribute to a set of individual and corporate honorees, in addition to celebrating “the many women volunteers that have what it takes to pound nails, frame walls, raise a roof and create HOPE!”
Coffee beans in a Seinfeld-themed Festivus variety can be found at Booskerdoo. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
Still searching for the just-right Christmas gift? How about something that’s as quick a grab as a coffee-to-go for the coffee or tea drinker on your list?
Iconoclastic caffeine lovers might appreciate a jar of Festivus, a Columbian blend of coffee beans from Booskerdoo on River Road in Fair Haven ($12 for 12 ounces).
Named for the Seinfeld holiday parody, it’s both useful and whimsical. Pair it with a single-serve porcelain drip cone to make the gift extra special.
We’ve got suggestions for tea and cocoa lovers, too, just around the read more corner. More →
“Lunch with a VIP,” a yearly event that is highly anticipated by students and their guests, was once again a rousing success at Viola L. Sickles school in Fair Haven.
Sponsored by the Fair Haven Parent Teacher Association, the event offers students the opportunity to enjoy lunch, treats, and fun activities with a special guest “Very Important Person” from their life. This year’s “Lunch with a VIP” was held from March 11-13 for first, second, and third graders respectively.
Amelia Caverly, below, and at center above with fellow Booskerdoo bakers Carolyn Kroeper, left, and Diana Richter preparing the day’s bread and pastries. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
For the past 16 months, the sleepy town of Fair Haven has awakened to the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee wafting from Booskerdoo, at the corner of DeNormandie Avenue and River Road. Cars start pulling up as early as 6 a.m. as customers run in to grab a cup of French Roast or Jersey Diner.
Now, they can pick up something sweet and baked on-premises for breakfast or dessert, too.
Having made a transition from teacher to baker, Amelia Caverly – who owns the three-store chain with her husband, James – is there to start the day’s work at 4 a.m., overseeing a small baking crew in the back of the store. More →
PieHole knows that local foraging is the best foraging. For the food lovers on your gift list we have assembled 12 Days of PieHole’s First Annual Shop Local Holiday Food & Drink Gift Guide. This is the 2nd in the series.
For the coffee AND diner lover in your life, ten bucks will get you a 12-ounce bag of fresh-ground “Jersey Diner” coffee at Booskerdoo on River Road in Fair Haven. “It’s a blend of Colombian and Brazilian beans that are typical of American diners,” says the company’s Mike Teti. “It’s like the classic coffee taste.”
“I feel like I should sign the wall or something,” said Josh Epstein of Rumson, the first customer in the door when Booskerdoo opened Friday morning. Below, owner Jim Caverly shining up the equipment. (Photos by Jim Willis.)
By JIM WILLIS
Like riding a fixie or putting a bird on it, micro-roasting coffee beans sounds like a possible merit badge requirement out of the hipster handbook. So its a bit surprising that James Caverly, owner of newly opened Fair Haven micro-roastery Booskerdoo, sports none of the trappings of hipsterism: no tattoo, no handlebar mustache.
No way, says Caverly, thats not what were about. Our logo says, ‘Fresh Roasted Coffee For All.'”
Caverly goes for inclusivity, and gets excited helping coffee drinkers discover how much better the experience can be by drinking coffee brewed with fresh-roasted beans.
We use the term micro-roaster like you would use the term micro-brewer for beer, says Caverly. Its the same concept. If you mass produce in any business, what ends up happening is efficiency is your number one priority, and quality becomes second. In micro-roasting, youre working on quality with small batches. We dont do a ton, we dont have a warehouse. We roast it and ship it.
Caverly, 31, is originally from Princeton but after graduating from Rutgers and living in New York City, hes decided he wants to live and die in Monmouth County. He and his wife, Amelia, and their four-month-old daughter, Claire, live in Interlaken.
During pre-opening preparations at the River Road shop formerly the home to the Java Stop redbankgreen took the opportunity to talk with Caverly about beans, siphon brews and why theres no Booskerdoo in Red Bank.
Nature’s Emporoium is closing after 40 years in the same location, and will be replaced by a women’s clothing boutique displaced from Sea Bright. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
As though hit by an economic hurricane, Fair Haven’s historic downtown is reeling from the abrupt loss of four well-established River Road retailers.
Eclectic gift and clothing shop Nature’s Emporium is closing after 40 years. A women’s clothing boutique is expected to take over its space by early spring.
Gourmet Picnic closed on Monday after a sale, according to a notice posted on the 10-year-old bakery’s front door.
Eight-year-old Java Stop closed two weeks ago, and its cozy space will be taken over by two-year-old coffee roaster Booskerdoo, in its first expansion from Monmouth Beach.
Write Impressions, a custom stationery and wedding invitation shop, packed it in after 32 years this weekend and downsized to a corner of a florist shop in Middletown.
Owners of three of the outgoing businesses cited the effects of a seven-month closing of the Oceanic Bridge, ending last May, among the reasons for shutting out the lights.
“There’s just no traffic,” said Write Impressions owner Christine Ancona.
A sign on the door of the Welsh Farms convenience store on East Front Street in Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
