Mayor-elect Billy Portman lights the Menorah in Riverside Gardens Park. Below, Rabbi Dovid Harrison addressing the gathering.
Against a backdrop of growing antisemitism nationally and globally, several dozen Jews and supporters gathered at Riverside Gardens Park in Red Bank for an annual Menorah lighting Tuesday night.
After a short trip from Middletown, Red Bank’s annual centerpiece Christmas tree is up and ready for trimming in Riverside Gardens Park.
About 50 people gathered in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park for the annual Menorah Lighting Monday night.
Rabbi Marc Kline of Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls and Pastor Steve Brown of First Baptist Church in Red Bank led the Chanukkah event, sharing some thoughts on light for the season.
Shown above, from left: Pastor Brown; James Dalton, who provided the music; Rabbi Kline; and Jess Alaimo of Red Bank RiverCenter, who coordinated the event.
(Photos courtesy of Rabbi Marc Kline. Click to enlarge)
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Red Bank’s annual centerpiece Christmas tree is up and ready for trimming in Riverside Gardens Park.
And in a break from most years, this one came from a front yard right in town.
Got a spare blue spruce in your yard? Red Bank RiverCenter is once again looking for a Christmas tree to display in Riverside Gardens Park this holiday season.
The crime and arrest reports below were provided by the Red Bank Police Department for November, 2020. This information is unedited; see below for additional information.
CRIMES
Criminal Mischief: On 11/05/2020 it was reported damage was made by possibly an object thrown to a store front window in the area of W. Front St. The estimated cost in damages are reported to be approximately $800.00-$1,200.00. Ptl. Luke Cahill.
Red Bank’s official Christmas tree, a blue spruce donated by the Jennings family of Little Silver, was installed in Riverside Gardens Park over the past weekend. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lighting of the tree will be a low-key affair.
Red Bank’s official Christmas tree has arrived in Riverside Gardens Park and will soon be trimmed in ornaments and lights.
Against a brilliant late-autumn backdrop, Ed Matthews of Powerhouse Signs got down to the business of decorating Red Bank’s official Christmas tree in Riverside Gardens Park Wednesday morning.
Prince, from Dream Horse Carriage Rides, pulls a carriage through downtown Red Bank in 2014. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Mayor Pasquale Menna thinks having horses pull tourist carriages through downtown Red Bank during the Christmas holiday season is “inhumane.”
He said so at Wednesday night’s semimonthly council meeting, when he formally appointed an Animal Welfare Advisory Committee and asked that it look into ending the annual rides.
What does the owner of the horses think?
“Oh, not this idiocy again,” said Tania Lawson, owner of Dream Horse Carriage Rides in Jackson Township.
Red Bank shifts into the holiday season this week with the lighting of the town Christmas tree, which was installed in Riverside Gardens Park Friday.
A merchant we spoke to at the Galleria of Red Bank didn’t know this, so redbankgreen offers this reminder to all would-be shoppers: parking is free in all municipal spots, both on the street and in the lots, through December 25. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Darlene Love, above, and not-so-secret Santa Brian Kirk, below, return to the Count Basie stage for their respective holiday shows this Friday and Saturday.
A holiday tradition bit the fake-snow dust in 2014, when a retiring David Letterman hosted musical guest Darlene Love in her umpteenth and final annual performance of the soaring “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”
But Red Bank audiences can vouch that Ms. Love and her Christmas-pop signature are alive and well. And when the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer returns to the Count Basie Theatre stage this Friday, she’ll bring along some special friends with a Jersey Shore connection — while kicking off a weekend that boasts another special sleighride from a locally homegrown Santa: Brian Kirk.
Santa Claus appeared to be saving his energy for later this month as an unidentified woman carried him in her arms on Rector Place in Red Bank Monday afternoon. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
A crane lowered this year’s Red Bank Town Tree into place in Riverside Gardens Park Saturday, as seen in this reader photo taken from the Riverview Towers high-rise.
At right, trimming of the tree got underway Monday morning.
The 30-foot tree was donated by the D’Innocenzio family of Middletown, according to Red Bank RiverCenter, which arranged for the donation and installation. (Photo at right by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
Seasonal treats from Red Bank include pumpkin-filled cannolis from Sempre Cannoli, above, and pumpkin truffles from Chocolate Works, below. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
Whether you’re hosting a Thanksgiving dinner or you’ve been invited to a feast, making everyone happy can be tricky.
Were you asked to bring a side dish or dessert? Do you need a hostess gift? PieHole has you covered with a cornucopia of sweet treats and savory sides available in the pumpkin-tinged town of Red Bank.
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Got a spare blue spruce in your yard? Yes, temperatures may still be pushing 80 degrees, but Red Bank RiverCenter has put out a call in the hope that, like the Clay family of Holmdel, who donated the 2014 Christmas tree above, someone will pony up one for the coming holiday season.
The ideal tree is an evergreen at least 25 feet tall and accessible for cutting—not too close to buildings or wires. The tree will be moved at no cost to the donor on or about November 22 for installation in Riverside Gardens Park, RiverCenter said in a news release. For more information, call Jim Scavone at 732-842-4244. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
This week, PieHole shopped the Greater Red Bank Green for Rosh Hashanah eats, and came up with a selection that’s like to appeal to tastebuds of many persuasions. Take it here for the rundown to Sunday’s sundown, when the holiday commences. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
Three light dessert cakes from Antoinette Boulangerie, above, and a box of honeybee and apple cake pops from Lil Cutie Pops make tasteful gifts. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
Delectable and symbolic foods for Rosh Hashanah, a celebration of the Jewish New Year that begins at sundown on Sunday are popping up all around the Greater Green.
Preparing a holiday dinner for a few or many, finding the right ingredients and cooking all day can often take the fun out of the feast. PieHole has done some of the legwork for you, rounding up sources for pre-made dinners, desserts, hostess gifts and basics for a sweet new year.
With the switch to private cartage last week, all homes in Red Bank have now had at least one pickup by DeLisa Demolition of Tinton Falls, which won a three-year, $1.49 million contract for collection of trash, recyclables and household bulk waste last month.
The change, borough officials said in advance, would have been all but unnoticed by residents. But there’s a perk or two, including — as some perplexed residents may have noticed on Labor Day — holiday pickups.
A traditional Irish Coffee at the Dublin House. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
There was a time, not so long ago, when most restaurants would hand their customers a menu of coffee-based, alcohol-laced, sweetened beverages at the end of a meal. But food and drink styles are as susceptible to change as runway garb, and tend to be described in the same way. Does your taste go to something retro or classic? Or are you always looking for the next new thing?
Café mocha double lattes may come and go, but there are some classic drinks that are always in style. And with stores bedecked in shades of green reminding us that the Saint Patrick’s Day holiday is on its way, PieHole went in search of an old standard at the Dublin House Pub on Monmouth Street in Red Bank.
The Holiday Gift Gallery at Monmouth Museum returns on Tuesday — and continues through January 11 — for the benefit of late-blooming gifters.
For something that seems to start as early as Back to School Days, the holiday shopping season never seems to have enough hours and days loaded up on the back end. It’s not so much that “we need a little Christmas, right this very moment” — it’s that we need a lot more moments, right now and on into the new calendar year.
It’s for straggling souls that one of the Red Bank area’s unsung treasures, the Monmouth Museum, maintains an annual Holiday Gift Gallery that offers up eleventh-hour shopportunities beginning Tuesday.
Kiss the kiosks goodbye for the next two weeks:. Visitors to downtown Red Bank will get a pass on having to pay for parking starting Thursday and running through December 25. The annual moratorium applies to lot and curb spaces, according to Red Bank RiverCenter.
The downtown promotion agency will host an “open house” throughout the business district Thursday night, featuring store sales, refreshments, carolers, and the Barbizon Holiday Mannequins. New this year: strolling Santas, available to grace your selfies. (Photo by John T. Ward; click to enlarge)
Rhubarb coffee cake baked in the kitchen of Red Bank resident Sue Davis. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
Like Tevye, in ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ PieHole has tradition on its mind this holiday season.
We’re calling on all home cooks and bakers to share with us the holiday food traditions that grace your table every year.
Tim McLoone, flanked by Rudolph, Santa and Frosty, rocked the gazebo in Victory Park. Rudolph also made the rounds in the crowd, below. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
Victory Park was awash in lights and music as Tim McLoone and the Shirleys headed up Rumson’s Christmas tree lighting Sunday night.
Mayor John Ekdahl nominated a second-grader from the Deane Porter School to perform the task of pushing the button to light the tree and the Tower singers from Rumson-Fair Haven High School offered a selection of holiday tunes while Linda Walton’s catering company helped the crowd ward off the night’s chill with hot chocolate and home baked cookies.
Were you among those singing-in the holiday season? Check below for more pictures.