RED BANK: HOOK & LADDER IS SANTA’S HELPER

With The Big Red Guy and his hard-working crew busy as ever over the coming holiday, a group of borough-based volunteer responders is lending a hand (and a big red piece of heavy equipment) on behalf of Red Bank kids.

From now through Friday, December 16, Red Bank residents can register a young family member to receive a personal “Santa Present Drop” visit at their home the following Friday evening — with Santa Claus arriving through the courtesy of the men and women of the Navesink Hook and Ladder company. A fire truck will convey Santa around town, with lights flashing and siren blaring, as he makes a very special pre-Christmas delivery to each address on his list.

BIG WEEKEND FOR FIRE BUFFS

Liberty Hose Company’s first motorized fire truck debuted in the 1910s. (Click to enlarge)

By STACIE FANELLI

When the Navesink Hook & Ladder Company Number 1 formed in 1872, fire hydrants were a distant dream. Red Bankers were at the mercy of a “bucket brigade,” an alternating chain of residents who would pass buckets of water hand-to-hand from the nearest water source to the burning building.

Marking 140 years since those days, the Red Bank Public Library will pay tribute to the Red Bank Volunteer Fire Department’s storied history Saturday by opening its memorabilia and photo exhibit to the public.

And on Sunday, the department will host its annual fire safety expo Sunday in the White Street parking lot

PASTA, POULTRY & GOOD DEEDS ON THE SIDE

The most eagerly anticipated touch football event of the season takes place on November 26, when the annual Turkey Bowl raises funds for Jason’s Dream for Kids, at Thompson Middle School in Middletown.

Maintaining the available blood supply here in the most densely populated state of the union is serious business which is not to say that the dedicated staff at Central Jersey Blood Center doesn’t get to have a little fun at certain times of the year.

Following a Halloween interval in which they helped Phoenix Productions preview the bloody operetta Sweeney Todd and solicited donations from the thousands who marched and shambled in Asbury Park’s NJ Zombie Walk, the CJBC van returns to Red Bank today, November 11, for a Veterans Day blood drive hosted at the Pearl Street location of Arrow Limousine.

Scheduled for 9am to 2pm, the blood drive offers an additional incentive to registered donors: a chance to win a “Dare to Dream” prize package that includes a chauffered Thanksgiving family excursion for up to six people, with tickets to see Disney On Ice at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford.

Donors can register or obtain additional information at 732-747-4844 and we’re serving up five more full courses of Done Good right around the corner.

Red Bank Green

Serving Red Bank and Greater Red Bank, NJ

RED BANK: HOOK & LADDER IS SANTA’S HELPER

BIG WEEKEND FOR FIRE BUFFS

PASTA, POULTRY & GOOD DEEDS ON THE SIDE