Bob Green in his OG garden. Photo by Paul Goldfinger
By Paul Goldfinger
Bob Green has been a resident of Ocean Grove since 1984 when he moved to the Jersey shore from his long-term residence in South Orange. Even though the Grove was “on the brink” of failing at that time, he loved the Victorian houses and the historic heritage of the town. He believed that OG would “come back,” so he bought a historic 3-family house on Webb Avenue which required years of restoration. As for the resurrection of the town, he gives credit to various organizations in the Grove as well as the Neptune Township Code Enforcement Department which dealt with the abysmal conditions in the rooming houses and hotels of that time.
Bob’s profession is marketing and he has a great love for photography, so he has taken on two video projects which he hoped would help promote the town. He produced the first in 1994 called “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” which was about Ocean Grove’s history from 1869 -1994. In 2008 he digitized and color restored the VHS version and came out with a DVD. (see video clip below)
The second project called “Tents and Tent Living” is a DVD which was produced in 2008 by Bob with narration by historian Wayne “Ted” Bell and Craig Burnett. The DVD’s are sold throughout town including: the Holy Ground Book Store, the Historical Society Museum, Smuggler’s Cove, the Emporium, the Comfort Zone and Gingerbreads.
In addition to his financing the video productions, Bob has made many contributions to the welfare of the Grove. He provided funds for part of the placement of the historic tower in Auditorium Park. He paid for the planting of about 100 Bradford pear trees on Webb Avenue and other locations and he spent 15 years as a member of the HPC. Over the years there have been many other projects that Bob funded in the Grove.
But perhaps the most fascinating thing about Bob Green is that he has been interested in theatre since he was a young man and he has written shows and music for years. His current project is to turn the Oscar Wilde short story, “The Canterville Ghost” (1887) , into a musical comedy called “The Ghost of Canterville Chase.” Bob has completed the script and the score. Recently he engaged a director from New York who will move into the workshop phase where professional singers will audition the show for producers.
Bob has a long history of working on boating safety videos and educational materials with the US Coast Guard and the nonprofit Power Squadron. He is married to Linda-Sue (Mayer) Green and he has four children and nine grand-children.
