RED BANK: NO PLANS FOR LUNCH BREAK LOT
A long-vacant house next door to Lunch Break in Red Bank was razed in recent days.
RED BANK: A LITTLE LIBRARY FOR NORMA TODD
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.
RED BANK: ‘HOPE FOR HUMANITY’ VIGIL SLATED
Inspired by an interfaith breakfast held at Brookdale College in the spring, members of Red Bank’s Lunch Break community plan to host a “Hope for Humanity” candlelight vigil Thursday, September 21.
RUMSON: ARTISTS RETURN TO CANTERBURY
The annual Canterbury Art Show unfurls its Labor Day weekend “Tapestry of the Arts” festival beginning with a reception and preview sale Friday.
It’s an event that regularly draws the participation of nearly 100 area artists, and a display that boasts an inventory of more than 600 creative works in a myriad of media.
Going up in Rumson this weekend for its sixth annual edition — the fourth since making a well-received move to the Labor Day holiday interlude — the festival known as the Canterbury Art Show…a Tapestry of the Arts is also a forum in which several of the artists put themselves on live-action display, and in which the grandest work of art just might be the host venue itself.
RED BANK: HOLIDAY SHOWS ROCK THE BASIE
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Darlene Love, above, and not-so-secret Santa Brian Kirk, below, return to the Count Basie stage for their respective holiday shows this Friday and Saturday.
A holiday tradition bit the fake-snow dust in 2014, when a retiring David Letterman hosted musical guest Darlene Love in her umpteenth and final annual performance of the soaring “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”
But Red Bank audiences can vouch that Ms. Love and her Christmas-pop signature are alive and well. And when the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer returns to the Count Basie Theatre stage this Friday, she’ll bring along some special friends with a Jersey Shore connection — while kicking off a weekend that boasts another special sleighride from a locally homegrown Santa: Brian Kirk.
RED BANK: A CUPFUL OF $$$ FOR LUNCH BREAK
Friendly competitors from Little Silver and Shrewsbury took part in the 15th annual White Road Cup game last Friday, with the flag football contest raising $10,000 for the borough-based nonprofit Lunch Break.
Press release from Culinary Communications
The recent Black Friday marked the 15th Anniversary of the White Road Cup, the annual flag-football fundraiser that pits players from Little Silver against their neighbors from Shrewsbury Borough.
First played in 2002, the event has grown to become a festive, well-attended community tradition, featuring contests for children, men, and women. These hard-fought games are exciting for all (and of course, bragging rights are important), but the true winner is Lunch Break. This year over $10,000 was raised for the organization, which helps to put food on the table for thousands of families in need (the charity flag football event raised $10,000 in 2015 as well).
RED BANK HOSTS ‘WHITE ROAD CUP’ ON FRIDAY
It began as a friendly flag-football rivalry between communities based at either end of White Road’s east-west artery — a “symbol of bestowed superiority” in which “one town’s dream is realized while the other’s is pushed to a shattering state of sorrow.”
This Friday, November 25, “The White Road Cup” marks its milestone 15th anniversary with a series of games for children, women and men, hosted on the turf at Red Bank’s Count Basie Field.
Kicking off at 9 a.m. and continuing into the early afternoon, the match-ups between “The Shrewsbury Tigers” and “The Little Silver Warriors” will be generating the expected volume of “playful trash-talking” and passionate partisanship among spectators on the sidelines — as well as a substantial fundraising effort for a worthy community-based cause: the educational/vocational programs and charitable endeavors of Red Bank’s own Lunch Break.
LINCROFT: CURCHIN CHIPS IN AGAIN
Once a year, the Curchin Group in Lincroft, a CPA practice, moves its desks and files aside and transforms its Half Mile Road office into a miniature golf course, where it hosts a fundraiser called the Curchin Open.
This year’s edition, held last Wednesday, generated $18,000 for two charities: Mary’s Place by the Sea and the Monmouth County SPCA, which brought two rescues (including a pup named Coco, right) to the event.
redbankgreen was there to document the fun, which included a packed clubhouse bar, a buffet and games. Be sure to click the “read more” for additional photos. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
RUMSON: A CANTERBURY TAIL ON SUMMER
“The Women” by Ellen Gavin (above) and “Pear Box” by Mary Beth Ober (below) are among the works represented at the annual Canterbury Art Show, the three-day “Tapestry of the Arts” that returns to St. George’s Church this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
It’s a local tradition of relatively recent minting, despite the historic setting and a name that evokes the lore and legend of centuries. But when the Canterbury Art Show…a Tapestry of the Arts event returns to St. George’s by the River Episcopal Church in Rumson for a fifth annual edition (the third since making a well-received move to Labor Day weekend), it will take its place as one of most eagerly anticipated harbingers of “local” summer on the Greater Red Bank Green.
MIDDLETOWN: SHARING SUMMER’S BOUNTY
Children of five families from the River Plaza section of Middletown have been using their summer vacation to grow, and collect from neighbors, produce that they donate weekly to Red Bank’s Lunch Break.
Dubbing their effort “Fresh Start,” the members of the Brett, Carson, Passo, Pipercic and Grissom families have delivered more than 270 pounds of fresh produce to the 33-year-old free kitchen. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
RUMSON: A TRADITION MINTED ON THE GREEN
The bagpipes will blow and the leprechauns will leap when the fourth annual Rumson St. Patrick’s Day Parade commences this Sunday afternoon.
It seems like one of those traditions that’s been a part of community life for generations, but the Rumson St. Patricks Day Parade is but a wee chiseler of just four years of age.
Still, the minty-fresh event has very quickly taken a place of prominence here on the Greater Red Bank Green as a signifier of a year-round local love affair with Celtic culture, even as those Shamrock Shakes may come and go. Read More
RED BANK: LUNCH WITH HOLIDAY EXPRESS
It’s more than just music when Holiday Express pulls into Lunch Break, one of 81 stops the organization will make this holiday season. The Grinch, below, is always along for the ride. (Photos by Kate Beckett, above, and Susan Ericson, below. Click to enlarge)
With the Turning Point restaurant providing food for 400, volunteers from Holiday Express plan to make a special stop in Red Bank Saturday.
The non-profit purveyor of music, food, gifts, financial support, and human kindness during the holiday season has scheduled a full-band visit to Lunch Break from 10 a.m. to noon.
RUMSON: ALL ROADS LEAD TO CANTERBURY
The annual Canterbury Art Show returns to St. George’s Church this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Works by painter Lee Jamieson, including one below, are included. (Above photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge.)
Returning to St. George’s by the River Episcopal Church in Rumson for the fourth consecutive year — and making its sophomore stand on Labor Day weekend — the annual Canterbury Art Show… a Tapestry of the Arts event commandeers the historic landmark house of worship for a three day event that’s become something of a best-kept secret among locals, and a harbinger of the season beyond the beach-traffic throngs.
RED BANK: PAGING THE DOCS OF ROCK
The Docs of Rock — a band of moonlighting medical professionals and educators, led by Dr. Lawrence Sykoff, Ed.D. (fifth from left) — take it back to the Downtown on Sunday for a fundraiser for Lunch Break.
They’re called the Docs of Rock — a classic-rock combo of medics and academics, one that collectively boasts more legit degrees than Bruce or BonJo can claim honorary doctorates. And when the pager sounds for a good and worthy cause, the members of this sheepskin’d showband lose the white smocks and suit up for action — as will happen this Sunday when they return to the Downtown in Red Bank for a fundraiser for borough-based Lunch Break.
RED BANK: GET OUT AND STAY OUT
Layonne Holmes (right) and the Motor City Revue roar into Sandy Hook as the up-next act in the summer beach concert series. Weather permitting, Tuesday night marks the twice-scheduled debut of Red Bank’s Dog Days of Summer.
[UPDATE, July 20, 2 p.m. Once again, the Dog Days event is being postponed, this time because of high temperatures, RiverCenter announced. The event is tentatively scheduled to be held Wednesday, July 22, at 6 p.m.]
Gripe all you will about summer traffic, summer crowds, summer expenses: the season for warm-weather diversion can seem especially fleeting when viewed through the frosted panes of our extended polar-vortex winters. And between Tuesday evening and Thursday afternoon, we’ve got a whole range of excuses for getting out of the house, beginning with the latest in the 2015 series of Red Bank Dog Days of Summer .
RED BANK: A PLACE AT THE TABLE, FOR CHARITY
Top interior designers and favorite local restaurants join forces for The Giving Tables, an exhibit of themed table settings on display at Town & Country Kitchen and Bath, with proceeds going to benefit the borough-based charity Lunch Break.
Press release from Town & Country Kitchen and Bath
On the evening of Thursday, June 4, Red Bank’s Town & Country Kitchen and Bath Showroom will host an opening reception for The Giving Tables, a fundraiser event featuring the work of participating designers and catered by local eateries. Remaining on display through June 12, The Giving Tables spotlights 12 table settings, each incorporating a seasonal theme and crafted by area designers.
RUMSON: ‘TIS A MARCHING ON THE GREEN
The third annual Rumson St. Patrick’s Day Parade commences this Sunday afternoon, March 8, capping a season of celebrations that extend into the week to come.
Those minty Shamrock Shakes may come and go, but Celtic culture on the greater Red Bank Green is a year-round affair that traces a path through Irish Tenor concerts and Riverdances; Green Christmases and the appearance of Guinness Oysterfest in September.
That said, the recently minted flagship fleadh of the calendar year has got to be the Rumson St. Patricks Day Parade, the third annual edition of which commences this Sunday.
RED BANK: SANTA BASIE, HURRY DOWN
Clockwise from top left: Jinglebell fundraiser concerts featuring Tim McLoone’s Holiday Express (December 18), Brian Kirk and the Jirks (December 20), Darlene Love (December 21) and Bobby Bandiera (December 22) provide the driving soundtrack to the holiday homestretch in the nights ahead.
The countdown to Christmas 2015 represents anything but a wind-down at Red Bank’s Count Basie Theatre, where a fast-moving flurry of high-profile benefit concerts promises to keep the place buzzing like Santa’s workshop-slash-fulfillment center during the holiday homestretch.
From the most big-hearted of local music mainstays, to the vintage hitmakers whose records landed on many a Boomer-era wish list — and on into the next generation of Shore scene stalwarts — the Basie boards will resound with a Wall of seasonal Sound, every note of it dedicated to a great cause and an all-’round generosity of spirit.
RED BANK: COATS, BABY ITEMS NEEDED
Winter coats for people of all ages — and essentials for infants — are among the most-wanted items this season, as local businesses and nonprofits distribute food, clothing and toiletries to the neediest neighbors in our community.
This Thursday, December 11, has been designated as the date for a Winter Coat Drive on behalf of Red Bank-based Lunch Break; hosted by Health in Hand Chiropractic and sponsored by One Warm Coat. Between the hours of 8:30 am and 6 pm, coats can be dropped off at the office of Dr. Chris Storti (410 Pine Street in Middletown, off Route 35 North), with other cold-weather necessities — hats, scarves, gloves and mittens — appreciated as well.
From now through the winter season, the management of Resources Real Estate has announced a partnership with Jersey Cares and Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini (pictured) to collect coats for families in need throughout New Jersey, as part of their 19th Annual Jersey Cares Coast Drive. The four Resources locations have been designated as official collection sites where members of the community can drop off their “gently used” coats. Donors can stop in at any time during regular business hours to the offices in Red Bank (4A West Front Street; Monday-Friday 10-6; Saturday-Sunday 10-4) or Rumson (112 East River Road; Monday-Friday 9-5; Saturday-Sunday 10-4). Donations will also be accepted at the Resources locations in Atlantic Highlands (65 First Avenue) and Monmouth Beach (36-3 Beach Road).
THANKSGIVING: TWO PLACES TO EAT FOR FREE
Volunteers will once again serve a traditional spread at Lunch Break, above, while Surf Taco is offering food from its menu of Mexican dishes. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
At least two Red Bank institutions are going out of their way to make Thanksgiving inclusive for all, even those who can’t pay.
Details are below…
RED BANK: LUNCH BREAK GETS $1 MILLION
The donation will ensure completion of a major expansion of the soup kitchen now underway, officials said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Lunch Break soup kitchen has landed a $1 million donation from a philanthropist who asked not to be publicly identified, the organization announced Monday.
The donation, already in the bank, pushed Lunch Break to 80 percent of its $5 million capital campaign to pay for a sizable expansion of its facility on Drs. James Parker Boulevard.
FAIR HAVEN: GARDENERS SHARE HARVEST
Master gardener Cindy Skoe in the Fair Haven Community Garden. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
Among the plots in Fair Haven’s community garden is an area with two small signs. One reads “UMW,” and the other declares that Master Gardeners worked here.
The UMW stands for United Methodist Women, from United Methodist Church on Broad Street in Red Bank. The master gardener is UMW member Cindy Skoe, who along with five other gardeners from the group, is growing vegetables with the intent of sharing half the bounty with Lunch Break in Red Bank.
“They have a program on Tuesdays to drop off produce.” Skoe said, adding, “They are very excited to get whatever one can bring.”
ST. GEORGE’S ART FAIR MOVES TO LABOR DAY
SUNFLOWER NEST by Avery Brighton was among the prize-winning works displayed at last year’s Canterbury Art Show…A Tapestry of the Arts. The three-day festival returns on Labor Day weekend to St. George’s by the River in Rumson.
Returning to St. George’s by the River Episcopal Church in Rumson for the third consecutive year, the annual Canterbury Art Show…a Tapestry of the Arts event moves to Labor Day weekend for the 2014 edition of the local exhibition and sale of juried and non-juried artwork.
Hundreds of attendees have enjoyed the Canterbury Art Show, at which more than 600 works by artists from all over New Jersey and beyond are displayed and sold. Event times for this year’s show are Friday, August 29 from 11am to 6 pm; Saturday, August 30 from 10 am to 6 pm, and Sunday, August 31 from 12pm to 4pm. A special Meet the Artists reception will be held Friday evening from 7 pm to 9 pm. All proceeds from the Art Show 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.
TOYMASTERS HOSTS CHRISTMAS IN JULY
This July, kids can celebrate Christmas at Toymasters in Red Bank.Voted “New Jersey’s Best Toy Store” by New Jersey Monthly magazine, Toymasters is partnering with the borough-based nonprofit Lunch Break to raise funds for underprivileged children.
During the entire month of July, customers can make a donation and in return receive a customized ornament that will be hung on the Lunch Break Holiday Tree in the shop. All proceeds will directly support Lunch Break’s Adopt-A-Family Holiday Gift Program at the close of this year.
Last year, Lunch Break provided over 1,500 children with toys and gifts during the holiday season, a fact that prompted Toymasters owner Denise Zappoli to partner with the community resource, which has been serving neighbors in need since 1983.
A COMMUNITY HEALTH FAIR IN RED BANK
Press release from Lunch Break of Red Bank
This Saturday, June 28, the Red Bank-based nonprofit Lunch Break and The Community YMCA are co-sponsoring a Community Health Fair, at CYMCA’s facility on Maple Avenue. Scheduled to be held between the hours of noon and 3 pm, it marks a natural collaboration between Lunch Break — an organization whose mission statement says in part, “our mission is to alleviate hunger and lead those we serve to self-sufficiency and healthier lifestyles” — and the YMCA, a 140-year mainstay of local life whose mission is to promote healthy living and support the health and well-being of the entire community.
Health care, mental health care, social service professionals, military veterans resources, and Pawsitive Action will be on hand at the health fair to provide information. There will be exercise demonstrations and games, as well as giveaways and refreshments. Everyone is welcome, and attendees are encouraged to bring family and friends.