The municipal boat ramp at Battin Road. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Upgrades to Fair Haven’s public boat launch and two pocket parks overlooking the Navesink River may be set in motion by the borough council Monday night.
About two dozen witches swapped their brooms for self-propelled watercraft in the Navesink River off Fair Haven Saturday.
The aim of the “somewhat impromptu” coven convening was to “to bring a bit of whimsy and fun to an otherwise tricky (no pun intended) and difficult year,” said Rachel Griffin, who organized the event with Cassie Conley. Inspired by a Witch Paddle that takes place in Mystic, Connecticut, Griffin said she and Conley hope to make it an annual outing for charity.
Check out more photos below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
The plan calls for a new parking lot on the former site of the Marine Park tennis courts. (Image by CME Associates. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A new parking lot in Red Bank’s Marine Park is among the topics slated for discussion by the council Wednesday night.
So is an issue put on hold five months ago: increasing the hours of paid parking downtown.
The plan calls for a new parking area on the current site of tennis courts, shown at upper left, and a new entry plaza, at lower left. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Marine Park would lose its clay tennis courts to a parking lot in exchange for new green space under a concept plan informally adopted by the council Wednesday night.
A consultant hired last year by Red Bank to reimagine the future of Marine Park is scheduled to unveil a new concept plan Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Restaurateur Danny Murphy was among the Red Bank residents checking out the newly unveiled concept design plans for Marine Park Wednesday afternoon at the Senior Center.
What do the plans show? Click ‘Read More’ to find out. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Following a brief downpour, a redbankgreen reader with a primo view snapped this photo of a double rainbow over Red Bank and the Navesink River Sunday evening.
The weather outlook for Monday is a pot of gold, if you like it sunny with temperatures in the low 80s. (Reader photo. Click to enlarge.)
Though a bit overcast, Thursday was a good day to fix a streetlamp on Monmouth Street in Red Bank, above, or take in a bit of kayaking on the Navesink, at right, as a group led by Northeast Mountain Guiding did out of Maple Cove.
The weather outlook on the Greater Red Bank Green for the coming weekend, like last weekend, is mixed: some showers Friday, mixed sun and clouds Saturday and rain Sunday, according to the Weather Underground. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
A new water-safety sign was installed Wednesday at Red Bank’s Maple Cove, a popular Navesink River put-in spot for kayakers and canoeists.
With the help of Councilwoman Cindy Burnham, the sign was donated by the parents of David Civile, right, a 26-year-old Tinton Falls man who disappeared while kayaking in the Shrewsbury River off Little Silver in November, 2010. His remains were found two years later.
Signs donated by the David P. Civile Foundation for Boating Safety Awareness have also been installed in Little Silver, Fair Haven, Rumson and elsewhere in Monmouth County.
Read more about the foundation’s efforts here. (Photo above by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
One of the signs that Joan Civile has offered to the town as part of a campaign inspired by the death of her son, David, below. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Four years after a Tinton Falls man disappeared while kayaking in the Shrewsbury River off Little Silver, his mother is on a campaign to ensure nothing like that happens again.
David Civile was 26 years old, “in great shape,” and excited about the kayak he’d purchased just three weeks earlier, his mother, Joan Civile, told the Red Bank council Monday night. The November morning that he put in at Little Silver Point Road, he’d just purchased waterproof pants.
“He just thought he was safe,” she recalled. “He said, ‘Mom, I’m in a river. If it’s bad, I’ll just come back.'”
Rumson firefighters shine floodlights on the Shrewsbury River from the Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge during the November, 2010 search for kayaker David Civile. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The remains of a Tinton Falls man who disappeared while kayaking in the Shrewsbury River two years ago have been found in Little Silver, New Jersey State Police announced Thursday.
David Civile, 26, vanished after launching on a solo excursion on November 17, 2010, a blustery day. He was reported missing that night, when his kayak was found near the uninhabited Sedge Island, which lies between Sea Bright and Rumson on the Shrewsbury River.
The report triggered an extensive, multi-day search that involved state and local police as well as the Coast Guard.
Despite heavy rains for its first hour, Paddle the Paddle the Navesink Day found itself under sunny skies at Red Bank’s Maple Cove Saturday. Nearly 200 people tried kayaks and paddle boards for the first time, said organizer Cindy Burnham. (Photos by Peter Lindner. Click to enlarge)
When the moon isn’t busy waxing and waning, it plays host to the Exit 109 Yakers‘ monthly celebration of the sport of kayaking. The group, which comprises both newcomers looking to meet other kayakers and old friends who paddle together multiple times a week, gathers at Red Bank’s Maple Cove each full moon for a “meet and eat” feast at 6 p.m. before heading out. The group, a product of a Meetup.com page organized by Cindy Burnham, headed west toward Shadow Lake right at sunset Friday, forming a 32-vessel rainbow on onto our beautiful Navesink River. Next one is slated for Sunday, September 28. (Photo by Stacie Fanelli. Click to enlarge.)
Cindy Burnham and her newest water mate, Mayor Pasquale Menna, who spent Saturday morning kayaking on the Navesink. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna is not what you would call a water-sports kind of guy. In fact, he’s nautically challenged, never having learned to swim.
Which is why his arrival Saturday morning at Maple Cove, decked out in a bathing suit and life vest, was so unusual. To then see him take off in a kayak and skim along the water seemed about as likely as Nessie craning out of the Navesink River.
But Menna, keeping a promise to Maple Cove preservationist and kayaking advocate Cindy Burnham that he’d come down and get a first-hand experience of Maple Cove, did just that, Cindy Burnham-style.
Kathleen Gasienica, left, and Cindy Burham, third from left, speaking with Administrator Stanley Sickels after last night’s council meeting.
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
Less than a week after Mayor Pasquale Menna pledged to make their requests a reality, backers of a plan for modest improvements at Maple Cove returned to the Red Bank council last night to keep the pressure on.
They met some resistance. The session became a forum for disputes, not-so-subtle accusations and pleas, and ended with borough officials vowing to review the matter anew.
Kayakers putting into the Navesink River at the Maple Cove Sunday evening. (Click to enlarge)
An ongoing battle over a couple of benches and sign proposed for installation on public property at Red Bank’s Maple Cove may be headed toward a peaceful conclusion.
Then again, it could be that Mayor Pasquale Menna just thrust himself into the middle of the conflict, which has increasingly pitted the borough administration against a group of kayak and canoe enthusiasts.
Today’s Asbury Park Press reports that Menna “committed to getting the sign and benches installed by the end of the year” after being asked about them by the newspaper.
The pledge would appear to conflict with assertions by the borough administration that it is handcuffed by state Department of Environmental Protection regulations regarding the waterfront site at Navesink River terminus of Maple Avenue.
Carl Alderson chats with Gayle Horvath at borough hall Monday night. That’s Doreen Illis, left, and Cindy Burnham in the background.
A contingent of kayakers and others with an interest in river access turned out at Monday night’s Red Bank council meeting to again implore local officials to preserve, and maybe even install a sign at, the Maple Cove property.
Also at the bimonthly session: a nine-year-old girl sought help for pedestrians trying to get across Shrewsbury Avenue; a pair of state Department of Environmental Protection engineers gave a quick overview of the Marine Park bulkhead restoration project; and a resolution calling for the right of gays to marry was tabled.
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