Press release from the Red Bank Dreamers
Red Bank-area Dreamers and the Arizona Dream Act Coalition are partnering up for a study-abroad opportunity.
This year, five Brookdale Community College students will participate in the Summer of Dreams 2022 program.
Red Bank’s Molly Pitcher Inn is going on winter hiatus until March, the hotel’s owners announced Wednesday.
The per-car fee would jump to $20, from $15, under the proposed hike. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Four years after a planned entry fee increase was scrapped, Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook will try again.
Under a proposed fee hike announced Wednesday, visitors would pay $20 per day per vehicle, or $100 per season, starting in the summer of 2021.
The Oyster Point will reopen Monday, while its sibling, the Molly Pitcher Inn, will remain closed. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Easing back to life from its COVID-19 lockdown, Red Bank’s Oyster Point Hotel plans to launch a phased reopening Monday.
But amid uncertainty over wedding and business-event bookings, the hotel and its sibling Molly Pitcher Inn now have to “reinvent” themselves, company vice president Kevin Barry told redbankgreen Friday.
Starting today, some visitors to Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook may encounter a detour.
A move by the National Park Service to increase the per-vehicle entry fee at the Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook by up to 33 percent has been withdrawn, according to an announcement Thursday by sixth-district Congressman Frank Pallone.
The per-car fee would jump to $20, from $15, under the proposed hike. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Beachgoers may have to pay 33 percent more to enter the Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook next summer.
A proposed fee increase would boost the daily vehicle rate to $20, from the present $15, and the seasonal rate to $100, from $75.
Rumson-Fair Haven juniors Mariah Parsons, Megan Volker, and Abby Drummond are pictured with new friends, during their volunteer stint at an orphanage in Peru.
Press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School
Between October 31 and November 11, two groups of students and chaperones from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School took a closer look at the culture and languages of two far-off lands — by traveling to China and Peru, as part of World Language Immersion trips organized by RFH faculty member Michel Salazar.
Making the trip to Peru were 30 students and six chaperones – including Salazar, RFH Principal Dr. Tracy Handerhan, and World Language Teachers Christina Gauss, Daniella Goodarz, Seth Herman, and Yannell Maglione. The student contingent included sophomores Juliana Balaban-Kroll, Sebastian Buckley, Julia Handerhan, Brian Incremona Jr., Leo Maita, and Emma Singleton; juniors Abigail Drummond, Olivia Flippo, Julia Gagliano, Giavana Hanna, Mariah Parsons, Emily Ross, Jane Russo, Natalie Santos, Brittany Schmell, Paige Venancio, Isabella Vernon, Megan Volker, and Emily Weis; and seniors Emily Boak, Tess Chandler, Heather Culver, Kelly Danaher, Jordanna Drazin, Maren Gierlatowicz, Meghan O’Connor, Jenna Sandoli, Katherine Sustick, and Christina Tardiff.
RFH students traveling to China included sophomores Jessica Browne, Jenna Hawke, Nicholas Longo, Henry Manelski, Peter Maris, Camryn Pecyno, Lily Perrine, John Presti, Emma Singleton, and Christopher Steinhacker; juniors Katherine Amendola, Amanda Keighron, Julia Klem, Emily Oberlander, Avery Wall, and John Woods III; and seniors Sharon Brownstein, Colin Courchesne, Kevin Gallagher, Willis Manelski, Gabrielle Ramirez, and Isabelle Slavin. The 22 students were accompanied by four chaperones – RFH English Teacher Kathryn Borsuk, Superintendent Dr. Peter Righi, and World Language Teachers Rebecca Wang and Matthew Yang.
Users of Rumson Road in Rumson and Little Silver should prepare for disruption to their routines starting Wednesday. Monmouth County plans to repave the road between Branch Avenue and Bingham Avenue, a job that is expected to take six days, depending on the cooperation of the weather, according to a notice on the Rumson website. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
Plows will roll out of the borough DPU yard on Chestnut Street starting at about 3 a.m. Thursday, says a borough official. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
As recently as Tuesday morning, “we were begging for salt,” Red Bank utilities head Gary Watson tells redbankgreen.
But by the end of the day, his department obtained a load of salt – just enough, Watson expects, to get the town through the snowstorm forecast for Wednesday night into Thursday, when 6 to 10 inches are expected to fall.
“We’re OK for this event,” Watson said Wednesday afternoon, moments after wrapping a meeting at which plowing assignments were given out.
Scenes from the December 26, 2010 blizzard that paralyzed Red Bank for days. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
We’ll update this post at the top as new cancellations come in.
• Rumson: No trash collection Tuesday. No school, either. And parks are closed at dusk today.
• Red Bank: The Count Basie Theatre presentation of ‘The Buddy Holly Story,’ scheduled for Tuesday night, has been moved to a matinee performance on Saturday, April 4, 2015 at 3pm. All tickets will be honored.
Broad Street at the New Transit grade crossing in Red Bank will be closed to vehicular traffic two night this weekend for track maintenance and repair work. The closings are scheduled from 9 p.m. Friday to 9 a.m. Saturday and again from 8 p.m Saturday through 8 a.m. Sunday, said spokeswoman Nancy Snyder. Motorists should plan alternate routes. Rail travel will not be affected, she said. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
The long-awaited restoration of the Red Bank train station, named for late mayor and state Supreme Court Justice Dan O’Hern, is on track to wrap up by late August, New Jersey Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said Thursday. Included in the $1.6 million project are the replacement of the slate roof, repairs to the clapboard exterior and historically accurate restoration of windows and gingerbread trim. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Wet weather has delayed completion of the grade crossing reconstruction at Bridge Avenue and Monmouth Street in Red Bank, New Jersey transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said Thursday. The crossing, which has remained in operation for trains since the work began two weeks ago, is expected reopen to motor vehicles by Monday, she said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
The busy intersection of Bridge Avenue and Monmouth Street in Red Bank will be closed to traffic for about two weeks starting the morning of Thursday, April 24 for replacement of the NJ Transit railroad crossing. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
RFH staff and students recently welcomed visitors from Hanzhou Entel Foreign Language School in Hanzhou, China. Pictured from left to right are RFH Chinese Teacher Matthew Yang, RFH Supervisor of World Languages, Visual and Performing Arts, Business, and ESL Michel Salazar, Hanzhou Entel English Teacher Hu Yeubo, RFH Chinese Teacher Rebecca Wang, and Hanzhou Entel Chinese Teacher and Vice Principal Zheng Minfeng.
Press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School
Teachers Hu Yuebo and Zheng Minfeng recently had an unusually long commute to school. They traveled from Hanzhou, China for a week-long visit to Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School.
While at RFH the two observed lessons, interacted with students and teachers, enjoyed dinners in their honor, participated in a bowling event, and even ate lunch in the RFH cafeteria.
“The chicken fingers were highly recommended by the students,” said Yuebo, who teaches English at Hanzhou Entel Foreign Language School, where Minfeng teaches Chinese and is the Vice Principal.
But this visit was about a lot more than chicken fingers. It represented a big step forward for the Study Abroad Program at RFH, which received its official approval by the RFH School Board at a meeting on November 12.
The inaugural study abroad trip for the new language immersion-based program, which took root at the high school in 2007, is planned for April 9-21, 2014. That is when eleven RFH students will travel with two chaperones to the Hanzhou Entel Foreign Language School in Hanzhou, China.
By JOHN T. WARD
A Middlesex County man who injured his leg when he was struck by a moving train in Red Bank on Sunday has been charged with a theft that occurred earlier that day at the Little Silver train station, police said Wednesday.
Oluwatomiwa Adewusi, 19, of the Avenel section of Woodbridge, is alleged to have been caught on surveillance tape stealing a laptop computer from the Little Silver station, said police Chief Dan Shaffery.
Dunkin’ Donuts is back in business, at right, but the adjoining Sea Bright Service Station won’t be coming back to town, its owner says. (Photo by Wil Fulton. Click to enlarge)
By WIL FULTON
Amid optimistic declarations that storm-battered Sea Bright will rise from the wreckage of Hurricane Sandy, one of its more visible businesses has quietly thrown in the towel or the grease rag, in this case.
Sea Bright Service Station owner Rick Hennessey, who’s been operating in recent weeks out of temporary quarters in Atlantic Highlands, has decided not to return to town, he tells redbankgreen.
“The owner of the building doesnt really want any gas sales there anymore, which is the first problem, Hennessey said. “We also have the issues of rebuilding after the storm and this looming bridge construction.” More →
News of the planned closure of the Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge had restaurateur Chris Wood lobbying elected officials for a modification Friday. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Business owners in Hurricane Sandy-walloped Sea Bright were reeling Friday afternoon on word that Monmouth County plans to shut down the Rumson-Sea Bright (Route 520) bridge for up to a month starting as early as January 28.
“It’s cutting off our lifeline as we’re recovering from a massive heart attack,” said Woody’s Ocean Grille owner Chris Wood, who just took delivery of $50,000 worth of liquor and food in preparation for a planned reopening in the desolate downtown next Wednesday.
“We’re just trying to get ourselves back open,” said Frank Bain, owner of the recently reopened Bain’s Hardware, “and a very large portion of our customer base comes over that bridge.”
After wading waist-deep into churning water on Ocean Avenue during the storm on Monday, photographer Peter Lindner returned to Sea Bright on Saturday, along with redbankgreen‘s John T. Ward, to document the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Here are 150 of Lindner’s shots. Some of Ward’s pix on are redbankgreen‘s Facebook page.
Lindner and Ward were permitted into town by local officials, who were in their second day of ferrying Sea Bright residents into town, by dumptruck, to give them just a few minutes to collect pets, medicines, clothing and other personal items from their homes.
Woody’s Ocean Grille owner Chris Wood sent us these photos he took in Sea Bright at the first light Tuesday, just hours after Hurricane Sandy all but obliterated the town. From left: the demolished remnants of popular oceanfront bar Donovan’s Reef; Ocean Avenue looking north from downtown; and Ship Ahoy Beach Club. (Click to enlarge)
Town officials said Thursday that Sea Bright would be off-limits to residents and visitors for seven to ten days as crews work to halt natural gas leaks and inspect structures for safety. As for the 14-month-old Woody’s, the owner says the restaurant came through the storm and will be back.
There was barely an unused square foot of ground at the Oceanic Marina Sunday afternoon, as all vessels were pulled from the water in advance of the storm. (Click to enlarge)
Though a mandatory evacuation order was in effect as of 4 p.m. Sunday, redbankgreen saw lots of lights and televisions glowing after 8 p.m. in homes along the streets that Rumson authorities warned are in danger of severe flooding as a result of expected storm surges.
A motorist stopped at a sign reading “Turn Around Now” at the foot of the Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge around 8:30 p.m. Sunday (Click to enlarge)
With a mandatory evacuation order in effect and a roaring storm expected to put the town “under water,” in the words of Mayor Dina Long, Sea Bright shut itself to the outside world Sunday evening, barring traffic across the two bridges that provide access. From the south, Ocean Avenue was reported to be flooded in Monmouth Beach as a result of ocean water overtopping the sea wall.
Filmed in June before a Count Basie Theatre screening of the blockbuster summer hit “Jaws,” the above video is an example of Driving Jersey’s storytelling style. Steve Rogers at work, below.
By DANIELLE TEPPER
In the hands of mainstream media, New Jersey has been not been treated kindly. With shows like Real Housewives and Jersey Shore purporting to offer sneak peeks into the Garden State of mind, residents are rarely seen as they really are, and are instead depicted as “pornographic cartoon characters, in the words of Red Bank videographer Steve Rogers.
That was the injustice Rogers set out to rectify when he embarked on his Driving Jersey video series in 2007.
After losing a media industry job in New York, Rogers stepped into the roles of writer, producer, and director to start telling true-to-life Jersey stories through raw interviews with real residents. Driving Jersey, he says on the program’s website, “represents and reflects the most misunderstood and misrepresented place and people in all of America.”
Since the show started, Rogers and his partner, Ryan Bott of Manahawkin, have dipped into their own pockets for funding. But now, after four years of creative success, theyre asking for help. Via Kickstarter, theyre hoping to raise $10,000 by November 1.
The intersection of Broad Street and Shrewsbury Avenue is one of two under consideration by borough officials for red-light cameras. (Photo by Rebecca Desfosse. Click to enlarge)
By REBECCA DESFOSSE
Despite lingering questions, Shrewsbury officials have not abandoned their pursuit of traffic cameras that would automatically issue summonses to alleged red-light violators, borough Council President Tom Menapace tells redbankgreen.
While borough officials have been talking for more than a year about installing the controversial devices at two heavily traveled intersections, “we have not made a decision, and we want to look at all sides of the issue before we make a decision,” Menapace said. “There is still a lot up in the air.
Meanwhile, 12th-district Assemblyman Declan OScanlon, of Little Silver, continues to rail against red-light cameras, calling a state Department of Transportation pilot program allowing their use in 25 towns “a disaster since it was initiated.”