Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Turning the lights back on in one Oceanport neighborhood brought locals and out-of-state power workers together for one night.
When the power went out again on Friday, we weren't worried. We'd already lived through more than 10 days without power and had thawed quite a bit in the 48 hours of electricity we had just enjoyed. But what gave us hope that we could endure another cold night wasn't our fireplace or our camping equipment, but a crew of guys from the West Coast, hanging from the telephone poles on our street. "We're not leaving until it's back up," said Kurk Shriver of the Oregon-based Bonneville Power Administration, which flew crews and trucks here via the Air Force. He was chatting with Marianne, our neighbor, who was still in the dark and cold. In his warm soft spoken demeanor, Shriver promised Marianne that by the evening she would be turning up the …
Saturday, November 10, 2012
The new normal is hard to take
I knew even before I called my next door neighbor the news was probably bad. "How is it?" I asked. "You don't know?" he replied. My heart sank. We had fled our sweet little Bayville home near the Toms River at noon on Monday, the deadline for the mandatory evacuation order. We headed for my son and daughter-in-law's house in Toms River. A Bayville fireman knocked on our front door about 9 p.m the Friday night before Hurricane Sandy. He smiled, then stepped into our cozy living room lit with harvest lights. We had to sign a paper acknowledging that we understood if we stayed and got into trouble, no one would be able to help us at the height of the storm. And so began preparations for the exodus. I filled zippered plastic bags with water …
Thursday, October 25, 2012
The Army is slowly releasing its grip on 1,126 acres of prime Monmouth County real estate. Want to know what's happening to it?
Refurbished historic homes, new eateries, sports facilities, a health club, an office park, those are all among the likely new uses for the former Fort Monmouth. Right now the former Army post is more than 1,000 acres of property right smack in the middle of one of the most desirable areas of Monmouth County. But if you are like many residents who live close to the fort, you have no earthly idea what's happening over there. Local governments, schools and the county have all put dibs on their favorite properties. Big business has already secured one plot. Small businesses also are getting in on the action. Redevelopers say they expect to see significant redevelopment of the fort within 10 years — that's new homes, businesses, recreation …
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
The long-time fishing and outdoors columnist at the Asbury Park Press died on Friday, Oct. 5, at his home in Wall
Take a walk along the beaches in Sandy Hook, Island Beach State Park, or Long Beach Island, or stop at the marinas or any of the fishing tackle shops around the Jersey Shore, and if you mention the name “John Geiser,” most fishing folks know his name. Today, those comments will likely be of the same vein: He will be missed. John Geiser, known to many as the long-time fishing and outdoors columnist at the Asbury Park Press, died on Friday, Oct. 5, at his home in Wall, according to the obituary published in the Press on Oct. 12. He was a tireless advocate for recreational fishermen in New Jersey, harshly critical of any and every attempt to install a saltwater license in the state, but also harshly critical of federal fisheries regulations …
Monday, October 8, 2012
The longtime tradition at the Rumson bar and grill of peanuts and good company has come to an end over lawsuits and allergies. Has society become overly litigious and hyper-cautious?
For decades, the comforting crunch of peanut shells underfoot, a table with a riverfront view and a standing appetizer of mindless shelling, munching and good company is what many people in the Rumson-Fair Haven area have counted on from Barnacle Bill’s. Going through those auto-pilot motions of walking in to a place where old friends meet, scooping up those peanuts, cracking and catching up is something that has been known to soothe the local soul like hot chicken soup on a cold day. Granted, some people don’t even like chicken soup, but if it’s what’s been passed on to them as a staple comfort, it’s what brings them back to that good, warm feeling inside — like those peanuts at Barnacle Bill’s. It’s pretty simple. It’s a tradition. Call …
Monday, October 1, 2012
Don't miss out on after school activities like Lego Club or the Green Team.
I've got a confession to make. I know I edit this online news site and keep folks informed about what's going on in town, but sometimes, things slip by me. Case in point: Point Road's new online registration system for signing your student up for one of the after school programs. I got the heads up that my little guy wasn't signed up yet for Sportsmanship Club, one of his personal favorites, and quickly clicked over to get him in before the coveted spots were all snagged. Head on over to the Point Road Web site to sign your child up for Lego Club (first through fourth grade), Green Team (third and fourth grade) and/or Sportsmanship Club (first through fourth grade). All sections are capped at a maximum number of spots available, so don't …
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357 Little Silver Point Rd, Little Silver, NJ
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Monday, September 17, 2012
A group of ghouls from Long Branch's Haunted Mansion got together after decades at a Little Silver home over the weekend.
Halloween has not yet arrived, but there was a warm-up haunting of sorts in the area when a group of good ghouls from the largest known haunted amusement in the tri-state area reunited over the weekend after decades. The Haunted Mansion of Long Branch opened in the summer of 1978 to massive crowds of people who flocked to the Jersey Shore from all over for a good scare. Television commercials dared visitors to enter the three-story house of horrors filled with live actors portraying infamous murderers, monsters and mythological characters, like Lizzy Borden, Jack the Ripper, Psycho's Norman Bates, Dracula, a headless woman, werewolf and more, and reenacting their tales of terror. The actors hailed from all over the state and beyond for the…
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
A wagon owner proudly acknowledges a cat family.
Either the owner of the wagon pictured above is being facetious or they've got a whole lot of love for cats. We're sure you've seen the stickers on the windows of wagons and sports utility vehicles on America's roadways, especially as they've become more and more popular over the last year or so. You know the ones, happy stick figures representing any number of Mommy's and Daddy's and children and babies that may or may not be riding inside. Those ones. Well, for those of us who count pets as members of our families, there are even stick figure cats and dogs you can apply to your rear windshields, too. In the Wawa parking lot Wednesday evening we found a wagon with a sticker of a solitary stick lady along with her eight cats. We were …
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Closing night of the fair was Saturday
It’s all about the ride. Forget about waiting in line in nerve-wracked anticipation to get on it and the guise of regret when it comes to an end. When I was a kid, my dad, Bill, used to goad me to ride the Sizzler with him at the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair — that stupid amusement the sole purpose of which was to whip you around on the end of octopus-like tendrils ‘til you were sour-bellied, dizzy and scared. OK, I was a bow-legged, scrawny sissy. Dad would bellow his unmistakably hearty guffaw as I screamed and smashed into his side from the Sizzler's whipping force. And that laugh … that laugh … No one knew quite how to amuse themselves with their own inside jokes like Bill Van Develde. You could say it was symbolic of the ride life takes…
This mom around town is planning back to school lunches and has some tips to share.
Back to school means back to packing lunches. Yikes! I have such a hard time coming up with new ideas. Peanut butter and jelly gets boring. Nutella has been a great backup especially paired with some strawberries, but that gets old too. Regardless, both options will be in my pantry for busy mornings but I need some more interesting solutions. Do you have any good lunch box ideas? I asked around and some other moms shared their tips with me. Elise S., a Cinnaminson mom of two, told me how she brightens up peanut butter and jelly or tuna sandwiches with a little trick. “I sometimes cut them into different shapes with cookie cutters or use a little gadget that cuts the sandwich into a circle with no crusts.” Kids love the “no crust” …
Shannon K. Winning
3:01 pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
Apologies to Kurk, whose name I had spelled wrong. Thanks again for helping us! more ›