Warmish at 60 degrees; cloudy, but sun arrived later in the day; strong westerly wind blew my hat off by the beach. Young women walking with no coats. Little dogs on leashes hold their ground — no pit bulls in sight. Babies in strollers — all bundled up like Eskimos. Man standing on a bench staring at the ocean. Taxi slows and stops briefly while passengers look at the sky. Flags by the beach rattle and flap with the gusts. Sun appears then vanishes behind the clouds then reappears — have to constantly adjust my camera — but no auto mode for me. Get back in the car; warm up and head west: need ice cream. — Paul Goldfinger
PG photo
MUSIC: John Rutter (b. 1945), British composer of choral music—”Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind ” from the Distant Land Orchestral Collection
This is a rare sighting: a yellow garage in the Grove with a new red roof. Be the first to tell us which street this garage faces, and you will win a prize. Send in your choice by commenting below. The first correct answer wins. Hint: the house that this jewel belongs to is undergoing a phenomenal rehab and will be one of the Grove’s most interesting and beautiful homes.
We recently posted a little known song by Alan Arkin called “I Like You.” As a result of that, we heard from Ocean Grover Bob Green, whom we had interviewed in June, 2011, mostly about his years in the Grove and his work producing videos. But we did also mention that Bob has been writing for the musical theatre for many years. It turns out that Bob had written a different song entitled “I Like You.”
When Bob was in college at Upsala in East Orange he wrote and produced a show called “Follies” which attracted 5000 people to the event. During that same period he wrote a show called “Penthouse,” and then subsequently the school put on that show. Bob wrote the book, music and lyrics for “Penthouse.”
In 1961, Bob produced a recording from that musical. He hired a singer named Kenny Bowers, a veteran of stage and screen, to record some of the music. The song below is from that show, and it is called “I Like You.” The female voice is Carol Worth from Morristown, New Jersey who comes from a show biz family and who has appeared in many musicals in Morris County. Tony Tamburello was the pianist on this recording.
Kenny Bowers with June Allyson in the movie "Best Foot Forward" (1943)
Below are Kenny Bowers and Carol Worth singing “I Like You” from Bob Green’s “Penthouse” followed by another song from the same show called “Chester.”
Norma Tolliver in front of some of her paintings at the Main Avenue Galleria. Paul Goldfinger photo
Norma Tolliver is an artist who owns and operates the Main Avenue Galleria in Ocean Grove where she provides a venue for local artists, particularly those from the Jersey shore. Norma has been in town for seven years, and during that time she has offered art instruction, especially during the winter when she is less busy. But her dream has been to open a full time art school in conjunction with her gallery. Recently she had the opportunity to rent space designed for two small shops at 54 Olin Street, ironically, across from the Starving Artist Restaurant. The school has already begun classes, and new ones are getting ready to start.
Ms. Tolliver’s history is that she left her job as a Wall Street executive to become a professional fine-art painter. She likes to work in pastels and she enjoys painting flowers and landscapes.
Her new space is open for business. There are easels there and work benches. She has about 900 square feet. Her goals are ambitous, with classes being held 7 days per week and being taught by professionals. In the beginning they will start classes for adults and young people over age 12. But she will begin programs for children in the summer. Norma says, “I want to inspire children in art.” One of her innovations will be to have art exhibits featuring kids. The artists will be present to show their work, and usually these events will be fundraisers, giving the kids the experience of doing art to raise money for charity.
In addition to the usual array of courses, including classes in painting, there also will be offerings in collage, jewelry making, crochet, quilting, doll making, drawing and many other choices. Classes will be small, and the cost will be much less than most art schools.
Norma has some wonderful ideas for art in the Grove. She is already setting up packages for day trippers who can enjoy lunch at a restaurant in town and an art class with their friends at the Olin school. She hopes to host showers where the guests participate in a collaborative painting that will be presented to the guest of honor. Other events that incorporate art include birthdays, reunions or just a day out “with the girls.”
Another neat idea is a painting class that sounds like musical chairs. A group of perhaps 6 people will be working individually at easels arranged in a circle. Each one will begin a unique image taken from a photo that they bring. After 30 minutes each painter moves to another easel and so on. The result will be 6 paintings, each created by 6 artists.
Until her web site is ready (soon you will find the art school section at Main Avenue Galleria) , you can get more information at 732 988 1002 or via email at info@mainavegalleria.com. You can also stop in to the Galleria on Main Avenue and talk to Norma in person.
How about sharing your Ocean Grove memorabilia with the rest of us? If you can’t photograph it, we will do it. We’re especially interested in items that have an explanation or a story to go with it. Contact us at Blogfinger@verizon.net.
Eileen found this fan in an antique shop in Long Valley, Morris County, New Jersey. It cost $5.00. It has a beautifully painted color print which becomes a bigger scene when the fan is opened. We’re told that ladies liked to take these to church on hot summer Sundays.
The fan was a souvenir that was given out by an insurance company that was located on Main Avenue. Today that spot is Cheese on Main. This particular change is for the better. As Woody Allen once said, “The worst punishment would be to be locked in a room with an insurance agent.”
Fan collapsed
Fan opened for fanning or viewing
Turn it over. Here's the promo.
Remember Connie Francis? She’s checking out her souvenirs:
I thought the only bad thing that could happen to me on the beach would be not to find shells for my collection:
A big surprise this morning.
I delight every morning at the prospect of letting my 2 rescue dogs run free and have fun on the beach with me soaking up the beauty of it all.
There seems to be an unwritten code with dogs on the beach. Leash your dog if it is not friendly and beware…Let your dogs run free if they are the social and friendly type.
This morning was a shock.
My dog Roxy Girl was attacked by a PIT BULL…the lady who was the owner did not have her girl pit bull on a leash and it went right for my dogs… my dog Roxy was caught in the pit bull’s mouth and it was attacking the neck… the dog owner lady could not get her dog free of my poor dog… I screamed with horror to have her get her dog off… she was trying but could not for a long time. I feared the worst after she struggled to free my dog.
There was no blood that I could see… I carried her off the beach to examine her more closely. .. it appeared that she was scared and no blood.
The dog owner,. a lady with blondish hair, got her dog and left the beach… heading up towards Pitman … I was so shaken by this event that I can no longer be free of worry for fear a stupid dog owner that has a fierce dog will attack in the future.
Please find a way to tell the story and locate that woman and her attack pit bull dog.
The dog was tan and white… a long tail and I think it was a girl dog.
Bucky Pizzarelli (seated) at Waterloo. The violin player is Stephane Grappelli and, I think, the bass is Milt Hinton. Photo by Paul Goldfinger
This recording is by Bucky Pizzarelli and Frank Vignola: a guitar duet of “For All We Know.”
“For all we know we may never meet again.
Before you go, make this moment sweet again.
We won’t say good night until the last minute.
I’ll hold out my hand and my heart will be in it.”
Vicki and Graham. Handing over the keys. Photo by Paul Goldfinger
By Mary Walton
Two years ago Graham Carter wanted to open a toy store in Ocean Grove. His wife Sandi urged him on. But real estate agents told him properties rarely became available here. He turned to Sandi. “What’s wrong with Asbury Park?”
As it turned out, everything.
Even on a high profile corner like Cookman and Mattison, “The Store by the Shore” suffered. “Not enough people, didn’t get foot traffic, too far from the boardwalk.”
Then, just after Christmas, Vicki LaBella, owner of News & Such and the building that houses it on Main Avenue in Ocean Grove, closed her business and announced that the space was for rent. Last Friday, Carter signed a three-year lease. “It was just too good an opportunity to miss,” he told Blogfinger. “Great location, great landlady, what more could you want?”
For Carter, 53, selling toys follows a financial career in his native Britain, where he was the head of an international section of a London stock brokerage. He met his wife, an American, in business, and moved to the United States six years ago because “She did not like England.” As it turned out, he added, “She didn’t like me much either.” The couple separated six months ago.
Meanwhile he had begun to deal in antique toys and Victorian glass over the Internet. A retail business seemed like a natural progression, or at least not an unnatural one.
Carter said he will keep the name “Store by the Shore” and hopes to open in Ocean Grove by March 1 after minor renovations. “A lick of paint here and there. And the floor has to be level. You can’t have an uneven floor. You can’t have people falling over, especially little children.” As in Asbury, he will stock his store with quality toys. “I have this thing about selling cheap plastic crap from Hong Kong. I have three children. I know how frustrating it is when you buy something and it falls apart after two minutes.” He will not sell electronic games or toy guns. But he will include some items to interest grown-ups while the children are playing with merchandise.
While LaBella’s store was for sale, “I had a lot of people look,” she said. “Someone wanted to take the space just to hold onto it. There was a deli, but it wasn’t firm.” Also a barber shop, and a store that wanted to sell imports from France.
But Carter was in the right place at the right time. LaBella believes a toy store will be a “delightful addition” to the retail mix on Main Avenue, and Carter, she said, “is a pleasure to deal with.”
Not all Main Avenue business people are as thrilled as LaBella. Comfort Zone’s Steve Mandeville said he was distressed when he and his partner, Victor Aluise, owner of The Emporium, stopped in the Store by the Shore in Asbury one day and discovered that both his shop and Carter’s carried a line of toys made by a company called Melissa and Doug, and that Carter would also be selling it in Ocean Grove. He and Carter had words. Carter, he said, “didn’t care that we would be selling the same merchandise.” Mandeville added, “If everybody carries the same merchandise, nobody’s going to want to come to town.” What transpired in the conversation is disputed, but Carter characterized the encounter as “not very pleasant.”
Richard Lapore, owner of Smuggler’s Cover, spoke to Carter as well, telling him, he said, that “having been in the retail business 33 years, I do not see the point” of launching such a store, giving that “there are not a lot of kids in Ocean Grove.”
Now that it’s a done deal, Lapore said he wishes Carter well. “A vacant store on Main Avenue, that’s worse than anything.”-
AND: From the operetta “Babes in Toyland” by Victor Herbert, here is Leon Redbone’s version of “Toyland.”
1. Neptune Township’s new mayor, Randy Bishop, will be featured speaker at the Ocean Grove Home Owners Association’s monthly meeting. It’s Saturday, January 28, at 10 a.m. at the Community Room on Pilgrim Pathway.
2. 9th Annual Monmouth Ocean County Food Bank Benefit Concert sponsored by the Ocean Grove Area Chamber of Commerce ( OG Chamber of Commerce web site ). Saturday, January 28, Ocean Grove Youth Temple at 7:30 p.m.
3. Ocean Grove Area Chamber of Commerce has a new web site: Link to new website and a new email address: info@oceangrovechamber.org
4. Blogfinger 101: Many commenters sign in as “Anonymous.” This creates a problem for those who want to reply to a particular comment by “Anonymous.” It becomes unclear as to which comment deserves the reply. So please use some imagination in adopting a pseudonym. Call yourself ”Jabba the Hut” or “Isaac Newton” or “R2D2″ —anything but ”Anonymous.” Thank you, The Management.
5. Families Talking. Feb 8 from 6 p.m. to 89 p.m. at the Early Childhood Center in Neptune. Topic is “Bullying.” For more info call 732 869 1202 . The Neptune Municipal Alliance to Prevent Alcoholism and Drug Abuse is offering this program as part of a series of nine family-oriented workshops throughout 2012.
6. FREE SHOWING OF “DOLPHIN TALE” SAT, JANUARY 28TH, 2:00 pm AT NEPTUNE PUBLIC LIBRARY
1. Neptune Township’s new mayor, Randy Bishop, will be featured speaker at the Ocean Grove Home Owners Association’s monthly meeting. It’s Saturday, January 28, at 10 a.m. at the Community Room on Pilgrim Pathway.
