36°F few clouds

ON THE GREEN: JUST DUCKY WEATHER

chop 070416 2Chop, aka “Jimmy,” a month-old pet Orpington duck belonging to Tyler DeScenza of Sea Bright, took in some bocce action along the sea wall there on Monday as the family closed out the Independence Day weekend.

Regular life resumes Tuesday with weather ducks won’t mind: rain(Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

 

SEA BRIGHT: BOCCE’S BACK

Dave DeScenza, above, and his daughter Nicolette, below, restoring the family bocce court on Memorial Day. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The most recent interval between summers was particularly trying for the DeScenza family of Sea Bright.

Like their neighbors, the DeScenzas saw their North Beach home of 34 years, and an adjoining cottage, flooded and heavily damaged during Hurricane Sandy.

One week later, Dave’s wife, Nancy, a longtime member of the borough school board, succumbed in her 10-year battle with breast cancer.

But on Memorial Day, DeScenza, his daughter Nicolette, and his brother John put in a full day’s work under the sun restoring their regulation bocce court, across Ocean Avenue from his year-round residence.

“The neighbors kept asking when we were going to bring it back,” a cheery DeScenza said. “Sometimes, they asked without words,” he added, miming with a shrug and upturned hands.

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RED BANK: WHAT, NO PONY RIDES?

Coming soon, if Coffee Corral has its way: bocce and horseshoe courts and a fire pit. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Nobody can say Russ Crosson isn’t adaptable. When the real estate industry took a nosedive a few years back, Crosson schooled himself in the craft of coffee-roasting and transformed his onetime construction office on Red Bank’s West Side into a must-hit place for consumers with a jones for fine java.

Now, just a year after opening his Coffee Corral, at the corner of Shrewsbury Avenue and Drs. James Parker Boulevard, Crosson is feeling his oats and ready to expand the operation.

But not in the way one might expect. Rather than seeking permission for on-premises consumption of joe at his takeout-only store, Crosson wants to supplement the business with horseshoes, bocce, a hot dog cart – and maybe a little live music.

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