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FAIR HAVEN: A ‘YELP’ FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

alex-skove-cathy-goldin-kidgooroo-102616-1Alex Skove and Cathy Goldin, founders of Kidgooroo, at Booskerdoo in Fair Haven last month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Hoping to turn frustration into gold, two women from the Greater Red Bank Green have taken on the challenge of helping parents identify the best available extracurricular programs for their children.

Think of their online service, called Kidgooroo, as a kind of Yelp for harried moms and dads.

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redbankgreen: A DECADE AFTER THE QUAKE

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You don’t really know a place until you’ve walked it, right?

Well, redbankgreen has had the good fortune of walking, biking and driving the streets that comprise the Greater Red Bank Green, camera and notebook in hand, for a decade now.

Yes, 10 years. This site launched on June 1, 2006.

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RED BANK: OLD YEARBOOKS GET PIXELATED

rbhs 1956A screengrab of a “popularity poll” page in the 1956 Red Bank High School yearbook. And hey, do you recognize the graduate shown below? (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

rbr gradHistory lovers and those prone to the siren song of nostalgia: prepare to fall into a rabbit hole.

The Red Bank Public Library has digitized the yearbooks of the former Red Bank High School and its successor, Red Bank Regional High, from a broad swath of the 20th century.

Forty editions of the annual known as the Round Table and, later, the Log, chronicling changes in hairstyles, fashions and media from 1922 to 1980, can now be downloaded, paged through and word-searched via the Internet, minus the musty aroma.

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SOAPMARKET SLIPPING INTO THE ETHER

Soapmarket owner Ellen D’Amore is closing her store to focus on its online component. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The ever-churning face of Monmouth Street in Red Bank losing another stalwart.

Soapmarket, which survived a head-on challenge from chain retailer Bath Junkie when it opened down the street and closed not long afterward, will itself close next month.

But owner Ellen D’Amore says this is not a surrender story. It’s also “not a rent issue,” she says. Rather, her business has found its footing online, and it’s time to make a shift to a web-only operation.

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