Dr. Ryan Brandau directs members of the Monmouth Civic Chorus during a past concert event. The Red Bank-based arts organization will be conducting scholarship auditions for high school seniors, and hosting its annual gala fundraiser, both on April 29.
Press releases from Monmouth Civic Chorus
A set of auditions for prospective scholarship applicants — and a gala fundraising dinner/auction with a Broadway theme — add up to a busy April 29 for the Monmouth Civic Chorus, the borough-based vocal organization that performed its most recent concert at Red Bank’s Tower Hill Church.
More than $2500 in scholarship funds will be awarded by the MCC this year to vocally talented New Jersey high school seniors who plan to pursue higher education. The Chorus now under the direction of Dr. Ryan Brandau will be conducting auditions by appointment on April 29, with an application deadline of the preceding Saturday, April 22.
Press release from Mental Health Association of Monmouth County
On Monday, August 29, the Mental Health Association of Monmouth County (MHA) will present its Annual Golf Classic and Cocktail Party, as part of MHA’s continued efforts to raise awareness and necessary funds for the free mental health services that MHA offers to members of the military and all families in Monmouth County.
Hosted at the Navesink Country Club in Middletown, the event highlights MHA’s mission of promoting mental health and wellness and improving the care and treatment of persons affected by mental illness. This mission is accomplished through MHA’s strength-based innovated program, education, advocacy community partnerships, and the shaping of public policy.
Fans of the sounds and styles of the 1940s are invited to join the Monmouth Civic Chorus on the evening of Saturday, April 30 for the annual Spring Soirée, presented under the theme “From Big Band to Broadway: Music of the 1940’s.” Hosted at the Navesink Country Club in Middletown, the evening includes a gourmet dinner, with entertainment by Chorus members in a cabaret setting. Guests will enjoy cocktails at the cash bar while bidding on the silent and chance auctions.
More than 100 guests attended last year’s gala, which raised over $11,000 to support concert production expenses. Auction offerings included vacation weekends, original artworks, handmade jewelry and scarves, local restaurants and entertainment, gourmet chocolate and coffee, yoga and spa sessions, gift baskets for babies and pets, and more. Early-bird reservations for the 7 p.m. event are $80 per person if received by April 25. Late reservations are $90, and may be accepted if seats are available; no reservations will be accepted at the door. Go here or call (732)933-9333 for reservations and additional information.
The Joe Romanowski Culinary Education Foundation (JOCEF) is currently accepting applications for 2016-2017 scholarships. Monmouth and Ocean County residents enrolled in the culinary or baking programs at the Culinary Education Center at Brookdale Community College are eligible. After completing a written application and essay, selected finalists will move on to a hands-on cooking demonstration.
Scholarships will be awarded to students of the Culinary Education Center, the collaboration between Brookdale Community College and the Monmouth County Vocational School District. Funds for JOCEF scholarships are raised through donations and JOCEF”s annual “Recipe for Success” gala fundraiser.
On Monday, March 14, the gala will be held at the Navesink Country Club in Middletown. The event features tastings from over 25 of the Jersey Shore’s finest restaurants, a chance auction, 50/50, wine pull raffle, the opportunity to taste rare wines by the glass and a display of food prepared by scholarship recipients and students at the Culinary Education Center in Asbury Park.
On the evening of Monday, October 19, the Red Bank-based nonprofit Lunch Break will host its sixth annual gala, “Under One Roof,” celebrating 32 years of dedicated service to the community.
Taking place from 6 to 10 pm at Navesink Country Club in Middletown, the event will celebrate the successful completion of the capital campaign that once again brought all of Lunch Break’s services together under one roof.
Several individuals and groups will be honored at this special event for their steadfast commitment to the mission of Lunch Break. This year’s honorees will be Trudy and Charlie Parton, who will receive the Norma Todd Service Award; Foodstock NJ, the recipient of the Beacon of Service Award; Christian Brothers Academy, honored with the Charitable Youth Award; and Lunch Break’s Homebound Volunteers, who will collectively be honored with the Heart to Hand Award.
(L-R): Red Bank Rotary Club committee members Joseph Greca and Michael Toscano and Past President Denise Benbrook selected David Prown as Honorary Rotarian at a club meeting earlier this summer. (Photo by Anthony Micale)
Press release from Red Bank Rotary Club
During the June 25 meeting of the Red Bank Rotary Club at Navesink Country Club in Middletown, Red Bank business owner and youth advocate David Prown was named an Honorary Rotarian in recognition of his outstanding community service and volunteer leadership.
Starting in 1988 and for each year since, the Red Bank Rotary has sought to present an Honorary Rotarian Award to a non-Rotarian in the area, recognizing someone who best exemplifies the true spirit of Rotary’s motto: “Service Above Self.” For many years, third-generation local business owner Prown has demonstrated a strong commitment to ensuring that the youth in greater Red Bank have the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive. He has passionately volunteered his time (on average 2-4 hours a day, every day) and talent in a most unpretentious and often unsolicited manner, thereby exhibiting the true ideals of unselfish service to those in need.
Newly installed president Michael DeNofa accepts the Charter for the Rotary Club of Red Bank from Past President Denise Benbrook, at the organization’s recent officer installation luncheon.
Press release from Rotary Club of Red Bank
In a recent luncheon at Navesink Country Club in Middletown, The Rotary Club of Red Bank marked its 95th annual officer installation ceremony, by swearing in Michael DeNofa as the organization’s new president. The owner of Shrewsbury-based IOP Communications, Inc. will lead the Rotary for a one-year term that began on July 1.
A Rotary member since 2012, and a business leader with 20 years experience as founder of a full-service printing and promotional branding firm, DeNofa also brings a record of public service to his new post, having served as a Councilman in the Shrewsbury Borough for seven years.
Also installed as Red Bank Rotary Club officers for 2015-2016 were President-Elect Kenneth Scaggs, Vice-President Walter Perry, Treasurer Robin Fitzmaurice, Secretary Dr. Steven Sanfilippo, Recording Secretary Warren Tockerman, Past President Denise Benbrook, and Sergeant-At-Arms James Mullevey.
For more than 50 years, the Red Bank-based Monmouth Civic Chorus has brought a selection of the world’s finest choral music classics to area audiences, at venues that include the Count Basie Theatre and Tower Hill Church. Recently the Red Bank-based arts organization announced the awarding of a total of $,3000 to the winners of its 2015 scholarships for vocally talented New Jersey high school seniors.
First Place went to Nicole Toms, Point Pleasant Borough, who was awarded $2,000. Second Place was shared by Mary Roberts of Milford and Selena Siri of Parlin, who were each awarded $500. This year’s scholarship judges were Monmouth Civic Chorus Artistic Director Dr. Ryan Brandau; Director Emeritus William R. Shoppell, Jr.; Marina Alexander, Musical Director of the Arcadian Chorale; and Reid Masters, Artistic Director of the New Jersey Chamber Singers. The accompanists were Neil F. Brown, Director of Music Ministries, First Presbyterian Church at Red Bank; and Allan Robinson, Organist and Choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Church, Red Bank.
Since 1970, the Monmouth Civic Chorus has awarded more than $55,000 in scholarships to New Jersey high school seniors of outstanding vocal promise. To learn more or to donate to the scholarship fund, visit the MCC website — and read on for news about this year’s upcoming fundraiser gala event for the annual scholarships.
Chefs from more than 30 local restaurants impressed guests at last year’s “Recipe for Success” at the Navesink Country Club in Middletown. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
Chefs representing more than 30 Red Bank-area restaurants will be cooking to impress the gourmet-minded for a good cause again this year.
Now an annual event at the Navesink Country Club in Middletown, the Joseph Romanowski Culinary Education Foundation fundraiser will host restaurants, wine and spirit merchants and hundreds of discerning palates with a taste-tempting exposition on Monday, March 23.
Nick Dawes of the PBS series ANTIQUES ROADSHOW is the guest auctioneer — and Brian Kirk and the Jirks provide the soundtrack — as Red Bank’s Lunch Break celebrates 31 years of service during the annual Gala at Navesink Country Club.
Press release from Lunch Break Inc.
On Monday, October 20, Lunch Break will host its fifth annual Gala at the Navesink Country Club in Middletown. Presented under the theme of “Hope Happens Here,” the evening will celebrate 31 years of dedicated service to the community by the Red Bank-based nonprofit, in addition to honoring several individuals for their steadfast commitment to the Lunch Break mission.
Presentations will be made of the “Norma Todd Service Award” to Paul and Margo Hooker, the “Heart to Hand Award” to Inice Hennessy and Pamela Elam, the “Beacon of Service Award” to Carol Ingaro and Leigh Stoecker of Fringe Marketing, and the “Future Charitable Leaders Award” to Katie and Taylor Gill.
The evening will also include a spirited dinner reception, live and silent auctions, and a 50/50 raffle, with live entertainment provided by Brian Kirk and the Jirks. Special guest will be one of this country’s most experienced charity auctioneers — Nick Dawes, Vice President of Special Collections for Heritage Auctions in New York, and a familiar figure to millions through his expert appraisals on the PBS series Antiques Roadshow since the first season in 1996.
All net proceeds from the Hope Happens Here Gala will directly support Lunch Break’s critical programs.
One doesn’t have to look far to see the impact of the lingering economic downturn on the hungry and working poor among us. In fact, the New Jersey Poverty Research Institute concludes in a 2013 report that 25 percent of New Jersey residents are living in poverty. No wonder the demand for Lunch Break’s services has grown dramatically — and, to respond to that increasing demand and better serve the community, in March Lunch Break launched “Step Up To The Plate,” its $5 million capital campaign to enlarge the size and increase the functionality of its facility.
When the two-story addition is completed, the seating capacity in the dining room will be nearly doubled and there will be a new, larger, and more functional kitchen to serve the growing number of clients. The expansion will also provide space for a clothing “boutique,” a “choice food pantry,” reception and waiting areas, private social service and intake offices, a donation drop-off area, administrative offices, a conference and meeting room, data stations, a maintenance office, and restrooms.
Gwendolyn Love, Executive Director of Lunch Break, said at the March groundbreaking for the updated facilty that, “Thirty-one years ago Lunch Break began serving hot lunches to Red Bank residents. Today our reach has expanded and we serve our most vulnerable neighbors who come from every town in Monmouth County, and from many in Ocean County.
“Last year, we served over 61,000 hot meals. Our food pantry provides, on average, groceries to over 750 families every month. Our volunteers deliver meals to the homebound six days a week. In addition, we have a clothing distribution center that includes our Suited for Success Program that provides business attire for job interviewees. We also have an Adopt-a-Family holiday gift program, a Children’s Cooking Class, and a Gardener’s Market every Tuesday morning, year round, that distributes donated fresh produce. We offer internet services, employment information, and social, as well as health and wellness resources.”
All this, and more, is provided under the direction of the Board of Trustees along with Mrs. Love, her small staff, and an army of more than 2,000 devoted volunteers, and is supported through the generosity of residents and many organizations and businesses throughout Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Hope happens here. So, please gather your friends and family and join Lunch Break at their Gala to celebrate 31 years of dedicated service. Our communities need Lunch Break and Lunch Break needs your support.
Tickets for the Hope Happens Here Gala are $160 and may be purchased online here. For additional information, please call Petra Vanderven at 732-747-8577, (732)747-8577, extension 3106, or e-mail her at pvanderven@lunchbreak.org.
Famed Red Bank area rock photographerMark Weisshas announced the donation of a series of classic rock and roll portraits from the 1970s and 1980s, to benefit the borough-based nonprofit Lunch Break and its 2013 Gala and Fundraiser event.
The limited edition prints, assembled under the campaign title “Feels Like the First Time,” collect a set of images dating back to the first time that Weiss had photographed each of the subjects — a gallery of luminaries that includes Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Alice Cooper, Cheech & Chong, David Johansen (New York Dolls), Debbie Harry (Blondie), Paul Stanley (Kiss), Sammy Hagar, members of Bon Jovi, Boston, and many more. Prints are signed by the artists as well as by Weiss, and are being auctioned here through October 8, via the online service CharityBuzz.
The fourth annual gala for the charitable organization under the direction of Gwendolyn Love takes place from 6 to 10 pm on Monday, October 21 at Navesink Country Club in Middletown. Tickets ($150 each; the majority tax deductible) include passed hors d’oeuvres, carving stations, music by the Pat Karwan Trio, a silent auction as well as a live auction conducted by Steve Trevelise of New Jersey 101.5. Also offered are a cash bar and and a 50/50 raffle ($30 a chance).
It was a get-outside kind of day on the Green Tuesday, and locals took advantage of summerlike temperatures in the high 70s.
A biker, above, got some air on West Front Street in Red Bank, above, and a duffer tried to find his way back to the hole at the Navesink Country Club, below. But the blooming forsythia at right above offered a reminder that the start of summer is still more than two months away.
Our sudden-onset spring continues Wednesday with temperatures again climbing to nearly 80 degrees and possible thunderstorms, the Weather Channel forecasts. (Click to enlarge)
Dr. Ryan Brandau directs members of the Monmouth Civic Chorus during a past concert event. The Red Bank-based arts organization will be conducting scholarship auditions for high school seniors, and hosting its annual gala fundraiser, both on April 29.
