SANDY HOOK: SUN SETS ON SUMMER ’17

It’s a big tent event, and a last chance to RSVP, as the Sandy Hook Foundation returns to the North Beach area of the peninsula Friday evening for the annual End of Summer Party fundraiser.

Granted, summer doesn’t officially sigh its last for a couple of weeks — and all those familiar with the rites of Local Summer know that there’s plenty of life after Labor Day here on the New Jersey Shore. But when the Sandy Hook Foundation declares the End of Summer, people take notice and listen — to the extent that the nonprofit’s annual “beach chic” outdoor benefit gala remains one of the most glittering events of the sand-in-your-shoes social calendar.

September 1, 2017 - 10:00 am |

SANDY HOOK: BEACH CONCERTS ARE BACK

The season of free Sandy Hook Beach Concerts lets fly its first note Wednesday evening, with the Brian Kirk and the Jirks head back to the beach when the free concert series on Sandy Hook returns Wednesday evening.

If you’ve got sand in your (flip-flop) dancing shoes…picnic provisions in your cooler…the salty sea air at your back…and a classic party-starting song in your head, courtesy of a plugged-in professional band…you just might have found yourself at the Sandy Hook Beach Concert Series, the 2017 schedule of which serves up its first volley tomorrow evening, June 14.

Going up around 6 p.m. at Beach Area E on the Hook, the long-running Wednesday series of free-for-alls is sponsored by the nonprofit Sandy Hook Foundation, and arrives complete with sandy sitdown seating, all-natural A/C, and complimentary picture-perfect sunsets.

June 13, 2017 - 2:00 pm |

ON THE GREEN: BOOMER, BEACH, BOOKS, BUCS

The annual End of Summer Party (above) marks a big-tent bid of adieu for the Sandy Hook Foundation next Friday…while NFL great Boomer Esiason (below) visits Broad Street for a cocktail party fundraiser at Garmany.

A late-summer sendoff out on the Hook…a BBQ kickoff to the gridiron season on the home-team turf…a star-studded celebration of life and fashion at a signature retailer…and a show of support for a hometown resource. All dedicated to raising funds for worthy causes, and all happening in the post-Labor Day interlude to come.

This coming Labor Day Monday, September 5 represents the deadline to reserve your ringside seat for the End of Summer — as declared by the nonprofit Sandy Hook Foundation in its annual casual-attire outdoor benefit gala, which returns on September 9 to the North Beach area of the Hook for a seasonal sayonara that commences at 6:30 pm. With tickets beginning at $150, proceeds benefit the Foundation’s ongoing preservation efforts as well as seasonal activities like the popular Free Beach Concert series, in addition to the environmental awareness and educational campaigns of the Fort Hancock-based American Littoral Society. Promised are “dancing under the stars” to live music from Swift Technique; a buffet dinner featuring seafood raw bar furnished by The Lusty Lobster, and an “amazing auction” of exclusive-experience getaway packages. Take it here for further details; here for tickets, and around the bend for more good deeds and good times.

September 2, 2016 - 12:00 pm |

ON THE GREEN: FUN UNDER THE SUN & STARS

Outdoor movie screenings and canoe rentals highlight a week of outdoor offerings in local parks.

Pay no attention to those displays of back-to-school supplies, and put aside all thoughts of pre-season football, post-season baseball, and campaign-season roller derby. Yes, the summer of 2016 is still a thing (even at the Rio Olympics, where technically it’s winter), and the parks, beaches and portable stages of the Greater Red Bank Green still offer a plethora of open-air entertainments and recreational options in the coming days and nights — almost all of them free of charge.

It begins tonight, as Shore Flicks returns to Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens with an 8:15 p.m. screening of a truly golden oldie, 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz.” Bring a canned food donation with those folding chairs and beach towels, pick up some cooling seasonal treats from Gracie and the Dudes, and enjoy Dorothy and the Dudes as they once again undertake the screen’s most memorable road trip. Follow Shore Flicks on Facebook or Twitter for up-to-the-minute information on weather-related cancellations or other schedule changes (including a recently added batch of fishy features at Sea Bright’s Municipal Beach) — then take it around the bend for more fun beneath the sun and stars.

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August 9, 2016 - 8:30 am |

ON THE GREEN: SUMMER PARK ACTIVITIES

Yoga, Pilates and zumba share a Wednesday night rotation schedule in Riverside Gardens Park. Below, vocalist Layonne Holmes joins the New Standard for a free concert there Thursday night.

Whether you’re on stay-cation — or simply navigating your way through daily life here in on the Greater Red Bank Green — there’s no denying that July offers a fairly awesome menu of open-air entertainments and recreational options. We’ve got a rundown of outdoor events — mostly free of charge — designed to entice you out of the house in the coming midsummer nights and days.

It all starts tonight, July 12, as Shore Flicks returns to Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens with an 8:15 p.m. screening of the gleefully anarchic animation “Minions.” Bring a canned food donation with those folding chairs and beach towels, and enjoy some ice cream from the newly opened Gracie and the Dudes stand in the park. Take it to our redbankgreen roundup for details on the entire summer screening schedule and weather-related updates. Then take it around the bend for more fun and adventure beneath the summer sun and stars.

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July 12, 2016 - 7:00 am |

LATE SUMMER FUNRAISING, ‘ROUND THE GREEN

Bayside tables await guests at last year’s End of Summer Party on Sandy Hook. The annual fundraiser hosted by the Sandy Hook Foundation returns to the North Beach area of the peninsula this Friday evening, as one of several events of interest in the coming days.

An earlybird kickstarter for the Rumson St. Patrick’s Day celebration…a late-summer sendoff out on Sandy Hook…and a no-time-like-the-present “Shop and Sip” socializer on behalf of the Middletown Library…all dedicated to raising funds for year-round fun on the greater Green, and all on tap in the September days and nights to come.

This Friday morning, September 11, sees the first in a series of special events keyed to the annual Rumson Saint Patrick’s Day Parade on March 13, 2016, as Rumson Country Club hosts an “Erin Open” golf outing that commences with a “shambles format” shotgun start at 8 am. On-site registration begins at 7 am, and there’s an invitation to convene at the club’s River House for a post-Open cocktail reception and barbeque luncheon (featuring awards ceremony, auction and door prizes) that begins at 12:30 pm. Tickets for the reception and luncheon are $75, and information on event registration and sponsorship opportunities can be had by emailing info@rumsonstpatricksdayparade.org — while more community get-togethers in a “Done Good” vein await, after the break.

September 7, 2015 - 6:00 am |

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 .

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July 20, 2015 - 12:00 pm |

SANDY HOOK: BEACH BLANKET FREEBIES

Brian Kirk and the Jirks head back to the beach when the free concert series on Sandy Hook returns Wednesday evening. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

Grab those beach chairs from the garage and shine up your best dancing flip flops: the season of free outdoor summer concerts is upon us, with the local action keynoted as always by the Sandy Hook Beach Concert Series.

Presented at 6 pm each Wednesday by the Sandy Hook Foundation at Beach Area E, the long-running slate of all-ages, all-welcome celebrations comes equipped with sandy seating, natural A/C and complimentary sunsets. It all begins anew on Wednesday with a season starter starring Brian Kirk and the Jirks.

June 16, 2015 - 10:00 am |

SANDY HOOK: A HAVEN FROM WIND AND TIDE

The Haven takes it to the Hook Wednesday evening as part of a freebie triple-header bill of bands on the beach.

While the Sandy Hook peninsula has soldiered on through the worst that time and tide have to offer, sometimes you just have to pull the plug on those electrified events — as with the short-notice cancellation of the Brian Kirk and the Jirks concert originally scheduled for July 9. But when the elements align, there are few summer music presentations that can compete with the free Beach Concert Series hosted by The Sandy Hook Foundation at Beach Area E — and this Wednesday, the producers have lined up a special bill that offers three times the bands, as well as an extra 30 minutes of music.
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July 21, 2014 - 5:27 am |

SANDY HOOK: FISHING FOR TUNEAGE

After the Reign brings its rocking country covers and “Jersey Strong” originals back to the beach on Wednesday evening, when the free concert series on Sandy Hook returns.

For the second consecutive summertime since Hurricane Sandy tore up the dance floor, the long-running Sandy Hook Beach Concert Series returns to the peninsula for a season of free outdoor events that kick off this week. Presented by the Sandy Hook Foundation at Beach Area E, the 6 pm concerts are all-ages, multi-generational celebrations that come equipped with sandy seating, natural A/C and complimentary sunsets. It all begins anew on Wednesday, June 18, with a season opener that delivers its first pitch, After the Reign.

Relax; the forecast isn’t calling for a monsoon — the band After the Reign is a regional roundup of rocking country specialists who augment their cover sets with originals that include the Sandy recovery rally “Jersey Strong,” an award-winning anthem that’s sure to be a top request out there on the hard-hit Hook. Be sure to take along those beach chairs, blankets and dancing shoes — and take it to the next page for a complete schedule for summer 2014.

June 17, 2014 - 12:00 pm |