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RED BANK: SCOTUS DECISION DRAWS PROTEST

About 150 supporters of women’s reproductive rights gathered in downtown Red Bank for a “community speak-out” on the the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade Friday evening.

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RED BANK: HUNDREDS RALLY FOR WOMEN

About 1,000 women, men and children marched and rallied for women’s reproductive rights in downtown Red Bank Saturday.

In conjunction with hundreds of similar events nationwide, the Red Bank gathering, organized by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey and the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, focused on abortion rights as the Supreme Court begins a new term Monday with pivotal cases on the docket.

Chanting “Ruth sent us” and “my body, my choice,” participants marched from the train station to Broad Street and then gathered in Riverside Gardens Park, where speakers, including borough Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, called for the election of women’s rights supporters.

Check out redbankgreen’s photos, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

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RED BANK: ANTI-KAVANAUGH RALLY SLATED

brett kavanaugh, scotus, red bank nj, greater red bank women's initiativeOpponents of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the United States Supreme Court plan to rally in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park as part of a “walk-out” movement Thursday afternoon, redbankgreen has learned.

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RED BANK: WOMEN UNITE AGAINST (UNNAMED)

rb rally 012117 4Several hundred participants flowed into Riverside Gardens Park for the Greater Red Bank Women’s Initiative Rally Saturday.  (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

rb rally 012117 17One day after the start of a new administration in Washington, D.C., hundreds of protesters gathered in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park to push back against its promised agenda.

But if the policies of newly inaugurated President Donald Trump were foremost on their minds, speaker after speaker at the event avoided mentioning him by name.

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RED BANK: WOMEN PLAN ‘NONPARTISAN’ RALLY

riverside-gardens-park-0917162A gathering to reaffirm Red Bank’s “inclusiveness and tolerance” is planned at Riverside Gardens Park the day after the Trump inauguration. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

[REPOSTING OF JANUARY 9 ARTICLE, with additional details about who’s speaking.]

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03A group of Red Bank-area women have obtained an OK to hold an open-air rally for human rights and other concerns one day after the Trump inauguration.

The newly formed group, called the Greater Red Bank Women’s Initiative, won approval Monday from the borough government’s special events committee to hold a rally in Riverside Gardens Park on Saturday, January 21, according to Ellen Herman, one of the organizers.

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RED BANK: WOMEN PLAN ‘NONPARTISAN’ RALLY

riverside-gardens-park-0917162A gathering to reaffirm Red Bank’s “inclusiveness and tolerance” is planned at Riverside Gardens Park the day after the Trump inauguration. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03A group of Red Bank-area women have obtained an OK to hold an open-air rally for human rights and other concerns one day after the Trump inauguration.

The newly formed group, called the Greater Red Bank Women’s Initiative, won approval Monday from the borough government’s special events committee to hold a rally in Riverside Gardens Park on Saturday, January 21, according to Ellen Herman, one of the organizers.

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RED BANK: WITH LEE’S RETURN, WOMEN RULE

sharon lee 090915Sharon Lee, flanked by Mayor Pasquale Menna and former Councilwoman Juanita Lewis, gets ready to swear the oath of office while Councilman Mike DuPont takes a photo. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03For the first time in Red Bank’s 107-year history, women now outnumber men on the borough council.

Former Councilwoman Sharon Lee returned to the dais Wednesday night, following unanimous approval by the governing body to complete the three-plus months remaining in the term of former Council President Art Murphy, who resigned last month.

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RED BANK: HEY, SAILORS: NAUTIGALS WANTED

The Nautigals, a group of women who race at Red Bank’s Monmouth Boat Club, are looking for new blood. Here’s a video that talks about the history of women’s sailing at the 135-year-old Navesink River club, which plans to hold an open house for all interested in sailing on Saturday, May 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Video by Lori H. Ersolmaz.)

FAIR HAVEN: FUEL FITNESS FULFILLS A DREAM

Men are welcome, but… (Photo by Alexis Orlacchio. Click to enlarge)

By ALEXIS ORLACCHIO

Behind the bright orange front door of Fuel Fitness on River Road in Fair Haven is a clean, one-room studio offering a peaceful atmosphere in which to work out. The camaraderie and easy conversation between instructors and students almost makes the studio feel like a best friend’s living room.

It’s the kind of place that Jennifer Kane has wanted for years, and last month, she “finally took a leap of faith and did it,” she said, opening Fuel Fitness.

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FAIR HAVEN: SANDY REFUGEE JOINS INFLUX

Newly opened Sadie James Boutique offers laid-back, “coastal-inspired” women’s wear. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rcsm2_010508Chelsea Delaney was all set to close on the purchase of Sea Bright boutique CoCoTay when Hurricane Sandy hit last October 29.

The business, like nearly all others in town, was wiped out, and the deal fell apart.

But Delaney moved on, and earlier this month opened a new shop, dubbed Sadie James Boutique, in Fair Haven, becoming part of a sudden makeover underway on River Road.

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RED BANK: FASHION OPTIONS ABOUND

Denim shorts on display at Dor L’ D’or, above, and a summer dress, below, at Emilia. Further below: a boot at Do L’ Do’r. (Photos by Lola Todman. Click to enlarge)

By LOLA TODMAN
Red Bank Charter School Intern

Women’s fashion is on the rise in downtown Red Bank. It may not be Paris or Milan, but you may have noticed new stores such as Lucki Clover and Bella Chic Boutique joining not-much-older merchants Dor L’ Dor, Rue RoyaleUrban Outfitters and stalwarts Backward Glances and CoCo Pari.

Or you may even be a customer of Emilia, one of three side-by-side women’s clothing stores to open on Monmouth Street in little more than a year.

So the pressing question is: why?

“Options,” said Blaise Lucarelli, manager of Dor L’ D’or, which opened in mid-2010. “When there are different types of women, there need to be options.”

Because of that need, there are also many different stores designed around age ranges, affordability, specialty clothing and other things that may define a specific type of female, said Lucarelli.

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A WILDE TIME FOR RED BANK RUGGERS

The Monmouth Renegades women’s rugby football team took on the Village Lions of NYC Saturday at the annual Monmouth Day event, a day of youth, women’s and men’s rugby at Thompson Park in Lincroft.

After a long match of thrashing and shoving, the local women came out winners, 58-0, and made their way to the Wilde Rover, the Monmouth Football Rugby Club‘s headquarters on Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank for an end-of-the-season gala.

Stacie Fanelli took these photos for redbankgreen.

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AN OCEAN OF RED IN RED BANK

It’s not just Mother Nature’s recent toying with the thermostat that’s giving us a taste of spring in February.

Every year at this time, Red Bank’s temperature rises for a few hours as hundreds of women, most of them bedecked in luscious red, gather for drinks, dancing and a good cause: ‘The Red Dress Event,’ hosted by Meridian Women’s Heart Connection.

Once again, on Thursday night, stunning designer gowns from New York’s Fashion Week were on display at Buona Sera Restaurant, where a ballroom turned into a scarlet ocean and the dance floor was jumping.

redbankgreen was there, natch.

BROAD STREET BLOWOUT PLANNED

glam-bar-121511John Oakley of Fantastic Signs removes Butterfly Fine Art’s name from the future home of the Glam Bar, a blowout-only hair salon. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rcsm2_010508Coming soon to Red Bank, for women on the go with hair issues: a blowout bar.

No cuts, no dyes – just blowouts.

Well, plus changing rooms, for those rushing off to weddings and other events. And a few dresses and accessories, for those in need of just the right finishing touches. And, of course, makeup artists. And beverages.

But that is it.

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FOR LIFEGUARDS, A DAY AT THE BEACH

The sand, and ponytails, went flying at the 27th annual All-Women Lifeguard Tournament at Sandy Hook on Wednesday.

Hosted by Gateway National Recreation Area, the tourney – billed as the oldest in the United States – pits female lifeguards from oceanfront, river, bay, lake and pool lifeguard squads against one another in 10 events designed to highlight fitness, skills, strength and endurance.

Photo intern Stacie Fanelli caught the action for redbankgreen.

To enlarge the photo display, start it, then click the embiggen symbol in the lower right corner. To get back to redbankgreen, hit your escape key.

WEDNESDAYS ARE FOR WOMEN IN RED BANK

w-forum1Heather Cosimano and Shari LaRosa outside The Downtown, where they’re putting on women-focused forums each Wednesday night. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

A few years ago, Shari LaRosa, a working mother of two, made new friends and helped a lot of women with a weekly lunchtime seminar in Red Bank. The lunches, which featured guest speakers covering a range of topics geared toward working mothers, made a lasting impression with women from all over the region, from Holmdel to Long Branch, she said.

But she ended the forum two years ago to dedicate more time to her two children.

Now that they’re in school, and after receiving two years’ worth of questions from women about when she’d bring it back, LaRosa’s decided to make her return.

“I ran into a lot of women during these two years who were thanking me,” LaRosa, 37, said. “It just felt like a really good thing I had done.”

Teaming up with life coach and friend Heather Cosimano, LaRosa returns to Red Bank tonight with the W Forum, at The Downtown, marking the relaunch of a new, nocturnal and more diverse version of what LaRosa established years ago.

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