An estimated 2,000 visitors turned out on a brilliant spring afternoon for the first-ever Taste of Little Silver food and music festival Sunday, according to the Little Silver Charitable Foundation, the nonprofit that organized the event.
Check out our photos below for a taste of the event. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge) More →
Little Silver’s downtown is the scene of a food fest, sidewalk sale and other attractions Thursday through Sunday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
In keeping with its relatively low profile among the towns of the Greater Red Bank Green, Little Silver has tended toward special events of a quieter, more intimate nature: a book sale or charity walk here; a monthly bluegrass jam or biggest-tomato contest there, and of course the big little yearly happening that is Build Little Silver with LEGOs Day.
Beginning in summer of 2016, however, the borough stepped up to the spotlight with the debut of Little Silver Day, a venture organized and coordinated by the Little Silver Charitable Foundation (and punctuated by live rock bands and fireworks). The successful fundraiser is scheduled to return in June 2018 — while here in 2017 the foundation debuts a companion project this Sunday, when downtown hosts its first-ever spring fling known as A Taste of Little Silver.
Music lovers are expected to line the slope at Marine Park to hear the New Jersey Symphony. Restrooms now under construction are visible at top left. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
RiverFest may be off the calendar, but there will be at least one night of music in Red Bank’s Marine Park this summer.
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra plans to christen the newly refurbished park with a free, open-air concert in July.
Ex-Chief MikeWelsh shows off the EMT safety restraints in a new ambulance dedicated by the Little Silver First Aid Squad Monday night.
Councilman Donald Galante, with borough Attorney Meghan Clark, at the workshop session of the council Monday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Little Silver will establish a canine unit with a bomb-sniffing dog, thanks to Mayor Bob Neff‘s first-ever tiebreaker vote Monday night.
But a companion measure to create a fund to accept donations for the operation was pulled before a formal vote over concerns that it didn’t pass “pass the smell test,” in the words of Councilman Dane Mihlon.
Does the Little Silver police department need a dog trained in people-tracking and bomb-detection to help ensure safety at events like Little Silver Day, above?
Live artist demos are just some of the attractions at Thompson Park during Saturday’s Creative Arts and Music Festival.
While it doesn’t really qualify as a “best kept secret,” the annual Creative Arts and Music Festival in Lincroft does keep a bit of a low profile, relative to such parking-lot-packers as last weekend’s Red Bank International Beer Wine and Food Fest.
But if your idea of a mid-spring’s afternoon is to enjoy a comfortably paced introduction to some of the Greater Red Bank Green’s most inspired purveyors of sight and sound — mixed with ample breathing room, free admission, and plenty of free parking — then Saturday’s daylong happening at Thompson Park could be just the pre-season appetizer you’re looking for.
The sky was mostly gray, but the White Street parking lot popped with color, sound and enticing aromas as the Red Bank International Beer, Wine and Food Fest held court Sunday.
Were you there? Check out our photo feast, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
More than 20 local food purveyors will be present when the 2017 edition of the Red Bank International Beer, Wine and Food Fest commandeers the White Street municipal parking lot this Sunday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
While the recent cancellation of Riverfest has left a hole in Red Bank’s yearly segue into summer, fans of strolling smorgasbords and top-down tunes needn’t wait too long to get their festival fix — as this Sunday, the White Street municipal parking lot will be the scene for the 2017 edition of the Red Bank International Beer, Wine and Food Fest.
The event, which often drew tens of thousands of visitors to Marine Park, was revived in 2011 after a 10-year absence. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Scratch another big outdoor event from the calendar: this year’s Red Bank Riverfest is off.
The cancellation followed a dispute over money, with the borough claiming it had been shorted last year, and an event organizer saying the town had “nickeled and dimed” the food-and-music festival until it was no longer viable.
Abundant sunshine and temperatures in the mid-60s made set the mood for an enjoyable Red Bank Street Fair Sunday. Monday’s weather forecast: partly sunny, with highs in the mid-70s.
Click “read more” to see additional fair photos. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
The spring edition of the Red Bank Street Fair returns this Sunday, when the downtown is transformed into a merry midway for the benefit of the PBA Local 39. (Photo by Peter Lindner. Click to enlarge)
[CORRECTION: The original version of this post reported that the spring Street Fair benefits the volunteer fire department, when in fact it’s for the Police Benevolent Association. The fire department fair is held in the fall. redbankgreen regrets the error.]
It’s a strolling/rolling smorgasbord of eat-on-the-go “fair fare,” a merry midway of rides, games and activities for the kiddies, and a bustling bazaar of retailers, crafters and service merchants. Even if the majority of vendors aren’t local, proceeds go to the worthiest of hyper-local causes: the charitable works of Red Bank Police Benevolent Association Local 39.
The organizers of last summer’s five-day Indie Street Film Festival in Red Bank, promoted above on a mural at Monmouth Street and Maple Avenue, plan to return next July, and are accepting film submissions, they announced Monday.
First came the “freezemob,” as hundreds of orange-clad participants stopped in poses of kindness on a stretch of Broad Street in downtown Red Bank. Then came the “flashmob,” as music was cranked up and the mob broke into joyous dance.
The occasion was the fifth annual ‘Dance for Kindness,’ a campaign to support random acts of kindness that involved 100 locations around the globe Sunday. redbankgreen trained its lens on the local edition; please check out the additional photos below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.) (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge) More →
After two postponements over the past month, Fair Haven’s inaugural Trucktoberfest finally livened up Fair Haven Fields Saturday, bringing a Halloween egg hunt, horse-driven hayrides, live music and food by the truckload. Check out redbankgreen‘s photos below to see who you know. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
The annual Red Bank Halloween Parade takes to the pavement this Sunday for another colorful display of cosplay and community pride.
It came in on the leading edge of the Baby Boom wave, way back in 1948 — and when the Red Bank Halloween Parade presents its 69th annual edition this Sunday, October 23, it will represent that rare local custom that’s claimed anew by each succeeding generation of miniature monster, licensed pop-culture character, or float-riding reveler.
A presentation of the borough’s Department of Parks and Recreation, this most enduring (and endearingly nutty) of civic events offers a much-needed fixed point of reference to regular readers of redbankgreen‘s “Retail Churn” and other chroniclers of our ever-evolving town. Together with additional long-running attractions like the warm-weather Riverfest and holiday-season Town Lighting, it’s an all-ages, real-world chance to connect with the community — with an option to dress up, decorate the kiddie stroller (or pet carrier), or simply trick-or-treat yourself to a chance to cheer on the people in your neighborhood.
Strollo’s Lighthouse is among the seven food trucks slated to anchor Fair Haven’s Trucktoberfest Saturday, an event that was rescheduled over the threat of rain earlier this month.
Featuring live bands, games and more at Fair Haven Fields on Ridge Road, the event runs from 3 to 9 p.m. For ticket and other info, visit the event’s Facebook page. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
The annual scarecrow contest and pumpkin painting are just two of the family-friendly fall fun activities on tap this Sunday as the annual Thompson Park Day festival lights up the Lincroft headquarters of the Monmouth County Park System.
The all-too-brief Local Summer may be morphing into warm and fuzzy memories by this point, but as long as the daylight-savings sun continues to shine, the waterways and wooded paths of the Greater Red Bank Green continue to find ways to tempt residents away from the sedentary pleasures of TV sports and other great-indoors diversions.
As evidence, we offer up this Saturday’s Classic Boat Show on the Navesink (see story here) — and on Sunday, the annual return of Thompson Park Day.
Friday night’s homecoming game at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional will be the first in memory not to feature a king, queen and attendants. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
[CLARIFICATION: Some of the quotes that appeared in the original version of this article were mistakenly attributed to Superintendent Pete Righi.]
By JOHN T. WARD
The king is dead. The queen, too. In fact, so is their entire court.
Officials at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High have killed the longstanding tradition of a homecoming king and queen because it had turned into a form of mass bullying.
So there will be no fanfare for student royalty when the 3-1 Bulldogs host undefeated Saint John Vianney Friday night.
Joe Ruffini in the salon of the Naval War College, where a photo of onetime visitor John F. Kennedy hangs. The”admiral’s barge,” below, will be among the wooden boats on display at the Monmouth Boat Club Saturday. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A year later, Joe Ruffini is still in the “pinch me” phase, not quite able to believe his good luck.
After a brief online bidding war, the Red Bank roofer ended up owning a well-maintained, 50-foot wooden yacht, built for Navy admirals, that has hosted at least two American presidents.
On Saturday, the public will get a chance to step aboard, when Ruffini’s prize goes on display as part of a wooden and classic boat show in Red Bank.
Johnny’s Pork Roll is among the food trucks slated to anchor Fair Haven’s Trucktoberfest Saturday.(Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
[UPDATE, September 29: Because of rain in forecast for Saturday, this event has been rescheduled for Saturday, October 22, and starting and ending an hour earlier than originally planned.]
OK, so the name turns out not to be as original as organizers thought, given than there was a Trucktoberfest at Monmouth Park less than two weeks ago.
Still, when the Fair Haven version of Trucktoberfest rolls into Fair Haven Fields this Saturday, it will mark the borough’s debut food festival, one with the hipster cred of chow served through a stainless-steel trimmed window.
Blue skies and early-fall temperatures drew thousands of hungry music lovers to downtown Red Bank for the seventh annual Guinness Oyster Festival Sunday. And once again, redbankgreen prowled the midway to document the merriment.
Check out the dozens of photos below to see if you or someone you know was caught slurping, sipping or dancing like nobody’ looking. (Photos by Trish Russoniello and John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
The Guinness Oyster Festival returns Sunday for a “shuck and awe” day of food, beverage and entertainment that includes Tinton Falls pop singer Taylor Tote and band, below. (Top photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
As open-air diversions go in Red Bank, it’s the undisputed pearl of the season. And making its seventh annual stand, the Red Bank Guinness Oyster Festival returns to the White Street municipal parking lot Sunday for an event that, as the name suggests, pairs the fabled allure of the briny bivalve and dozens of other culinary seductions with the “Irish aphrodisiac” known as Guinness.
The kids are in the driver’s seat once more this Saturday at the annual Touch-a-Truck fundraiser in Red Bank, while Middletown Day offers an opportunity to get hands-on with a NorthSTAR emergency helicopter (below).
“Every kid stops and watches when a police car or fire engine races by,” says Monmouth Day Care Center exec director Heidi Zaentz — and this Saturday, they’ll have an opportunity to get up-close and hands-on with various trucks, tractors, and emergency vehicles — even an emergency Medevac helicopter at a couple of big yearly events that have become major fundraising vehicles in their own right.
Recycled-materials sculptures by Lisa Bagwell are among the art works featured during the Zero Waste Arts Fest, going on September 17 and 18 at Fort Hancock on Sandy Hook.
Press release from Monmouth County Arts Council
On Saturday, September 17 and Sunday, September 18, the Monmouth County Arts Council invites the public to take part in a weekend of free family fun — in which the arts intersect with the wonders of our local environment — during the inaugural Zero Waste Arts Fest (ZWAF).
Going on from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the historic Fort Hancock area of Sandy Hook, ZWAF represents a partnership between Monmouth Arts and Gateway National Recreation Area Sandy Hook Unit. The event also marks the culminating phase of a larger Gateway to the Arts grant project, a $20,000 award that Monmouth Arts received from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in 2016, to honor both the 50th anniversary of the NEA and the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.