News & Press Releases

Enough!  Everyone is talking about how bad the weather has been.  Not much we can do about it so, let’s just find other ways to have fun.  Asbury Park is full of them.  Here are few:

This weekend is the 21^st Annual Asbury Park Jazz Festival.  I have a special place in my heart for this event since it really is one of the only community festivals left in New Jersey.  There is no entrance charge. Get ready for plenty of great music, delicious food and wonderful merchandise.  Acts include Radam Schwartz, Keith Marks, Anthony Nelson Jr., Queen & NJ Praise and Minister and TR McAllister with Family and Friends.  This is always one of Asbury Park’s great events.  The festival gets underway at noon and will go until 8 PM.   Huge!

Also this weekend:
Friday:  Uncle Floyd at Asbury Lanes at 8 PM.
Saturday:  The Smithereens at the Stone Pony at 7:30 PM.
                 Mary McCrink at Salt Water Beach Café.
                 Jazz Lobsters at McLoone’s Super club
                 Paul Marino Band at Brickwall at 9 PM
Sunday:  Summerfest 09 on the Asbury Park boardwalk.
                Old #7 at Brickwall - 4 to 7 PM.
                American Littoral Society Benefit with Status Green, Dub Proof, A
                Love Like Pi, Ire Sound and Radom Test at Stone Pony (all ages).
Wednesday, July 1^st:  AP City Council Reorganization Meeting.
Thursday, July 2^nd:  Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes at the Stone Pony.
Saturday, July 4^th: Parade and the best ever fireworks show on the Jersey Shore!

SymphoNY Chorus will perform “A Celebration of Spiritual and Gospel Music” at Trinity Church on Saturday, June 27^th at 7:30 PM.

Clean Ocean Action will celebrate Ocean Independence Day in Asbury Park on July 1^st starting at 4:30 PM at Langosta Lounge, 1000 Ocean Avenue.  Festivities will include a press conference, beach rally, paddle-out, special movie in the Carousel - Leonardo DiCaprio’s The 11^th Hour, and beach fireworks.  The event will also launch the 19^th Annual Clean Ocean Action Shore Tips (C.O.A.S.T.) Campaign, which educates and motivates citizens about ocean pollution issues by empowering them with solutions and ways to take action.  We are honored to be the host for this event.  HUGE! Of course, in Asbury Park!

Finally, the Asbury Park “Endless Summer” list of events has been posted on the city’s web site:  www.cityofasburypark.com.  (my fault).  So take a look and mark your calendars.  *Please note that the list is all we know about right now and as you know, new parties are invented everyday in the city.  Good Times!

Wal-Mart awarded Asbury Park a $10,000 sustainability grant for our community gardens.

Let the Right on In is playing at The Showroom, 708 Cookman Ave. Thursday through Saturday nights.  Based on the best-selling novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, this Swedish vampire movie won the Founders Award for Best Narrative feature at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.
Mondovino (PG) in association with the Asbury Park Film Initiative will be shown in The Showroom at 4 PM on Sunday.  This remarkable documentary addresses the impact globalization has had on world famous wine regions.  A wine tasting will take place after the film at 6 PM at The Harrison (right next door).

The Asbury Park Concert Band will begin its summer series in the Grand Arcade at Convention Hall next Thursday, July 2^nd with a children’s program of patriotic music.

Sometimes adversity brings out the best in us.  This week’s AP Ambassador is Ruth Ann Harrison.  Most of us know Ruth Ann and appreciate all she does to promote all the good in the city.  She also owns and operates RUE Events and last weekend operated the new Saturday outdoor venue for the WAVE Gathering.  As we all know, Mother Nature did her best to make things extremely difficult.  Some of the downtown retailers shared that they had a pretty good Saturday and the numbers were better than last year.  So, even though it poured, Ruth Ann shined!

The Carousel Farmers Market, Asbury Park’s first-ever restaurant-driven farmers’ market will host its inaugural samplings in the Carousel building on Thursday, July 2^nd.  Held weekly on Thursdays, from 9 AM to 1 PM, The Carousel Farmers Market will work to coordinate support and demand between New Jersey Farmers and community restaurants.  The primary goal of the Carousel Market is to raise awareness of the benefits of buying local and supporting local economies (Bought in!). Although the Carousel Farmers Market is geared to supplying Asbury Park’s thriving restaurant industry, the ocean front market will be open to the public.  When demand is met, the market will expand its schedule to include Saturday mornings.  The APUEZ Main Street Farmers’ market will probably open on Saturday, July 4^th.  Fresh!

All that Jazz and sunshine too!  And don’t forget all our great shops.   Only in Asbury Park!

Tom Gilmour
Director of Commerce and Good Times

We are very proud of our Pride!  What a great weekend.  This was one of our best Pride Weekends.  Thousands traveled to the city by the sea to partake and taste what we enjoy every weekend.   So we prepare for another great weekend.  So many choices.  Only in Asbury Park!

The line up for the 21^st Asbury Park Jazz Festival is in place.  Unfortunately due to difficulties in raising sponsorship funding the two-day festival, we cut back to one day.  So, mark your calendars for June 27^th.  We will start an hour earlier and go until 8 PM.  We packed the day with a great mix of smooth jazz and gospel.  Come early to stake out your seat.  Asbury Park welcomes back 2007 crowd favorite, Alex Bugnon.  He will be joined by Radam Schwartz, Anthony E. Nelson Jr. and Keith Marks.  Our gospel fans will be wowed by NJ native Queeni & New Jersey Praise and TR McAllister with Family and Friends.  Special thanks to our event sponsor, the Asbury Park Press and other sponsors:  the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce, Brookdale Community College, the Asbury Park Urban Enterprise Zone, and RouseRadio.com.  There are still a few slots for vendors.  Call 732.995.3909 for information.   This is always one of Asbury Park’s best gatherings.  Only in Asbury Park!

And next weekend is the 4^th Annual WAVE Gathering presented by Metromix Jerseyshore.  This is the Asbury Park music scene at its best.   From fifty bands in its initial year, to over 175 performers this year at 23 city venues.  An added attraction this year will be a free outdoor street festival on Saturday June 20^th from 12 to 6 PM on Cookman Avenue in our downtown.  Can’t list it all here so visit www.wavegathering.com for more information.

A fundraiser has been planned at the Watermark on June 20^th from 1 to 3 PM to accept donations for the city’s new Rain Garden to be created at Main Street and Springwood Avenue.  If you can’t attend and would like to contribute, make donations payable to Rain Garden and send them to Tom Pivinski, 1607 Emory Ave., Asbury Park, NJ 07712.

Lightly Salted Surf Mercado, our retro-fashioned, funky surf shop and art gallery on the Asbury Park boardwalk will host its first “Lightly Salted Surf Art Series” on Friday, June 12^th.  The night will feature all-around entertainment, as the shop premieres “Picaresque,” a newly released long board surf film, an unveiling of work by artists Ty Williams and Rob Kulisek, and an after party, music celebration with a surf rock band.  I think I shared with you, I’m a longboarder who honed my skills on the northern Jersey shore.  My claim to fame was a third place finish in the 14 to 16 age group Dewey Weber Sandy Hook open in 1964.  I am very excited that Asbury Park has its own surf shop and this is not your typical surf shop.  Only in Asbury Park!

You are cordially invited to the Garden of Joy’s Afternoon Tea party at Trinity Episcopal Church, 503 Asbury Ave. on Saturday, June 13^th at 4 PM.  Help support The Garden of Joy Projects.  Suggested donation of $10, children under 10 are free.  RSVP at 732.502.9760 or info@thegardenofjoy.org.  If you’re downtown, check out the Garden of Joy at 715 Cookman Avenue. 

Kay Harris called and said she is hosting a book reading for Asbury Park - A Brief History as told by authors Joseph Bilby and Harry Ziegler.  The authors will read on Saturday, June 13^th from 2 to 4 PM at Kay’s wonderful Asbury Gallery in the Convention Hall’s Grand Arcade.  Huge!

After last weekend’s successful premiere of “Outrage,”  The Showroom will continue showing it again this weekend.  On Sunday afternoon, check out a great family event: Mr. D and Friends - Ventriloquism for All Ages.  Visit www.theshowroommap.com or call 732.502.0472 for info.  Only in Asbury Park!

On the radar:
6-19:  Collide-A-Scope
6-19, 20 & 21:  The WAVE Gathering
6-24:  AP Chamber Business Card Exchange - Market in the Middle
6-27:  21^st Annual Asbury Park Jazz Festival
6-27:  Ocean Mile Swim
6-28:  Summerfest
7-4:  4^th of July Parade & Fireworks

Next Friday, June 19^th a very special fundraising concert for Mary’s Place will take place at the Paramount Theatre.  There will be a Gift Auction, Hors D’ouevres and a cash bar before the show.  The concert will feature The Steve Reilly Band, one-eyed jack and Billy Falcon’s Cowing Circle plus very special guests.  Mary’s Place by the Sea will be a comfortable place for women to rest during cancer treatment.  Patti and I are planning to attend.  Go to www.marysplacebythesea.org for additional information or to make a donation.

Patti had a great checkup yesterday and is well on her way to a full recovery.  We are grateful for all the prayers and wishes.  They really help and make a difference.  Thank you!  Huge!

The weather gurus are telling me the rain will stop on Friday and it will be a great weekend.  Well, it’s always a great weekend in Asbury Park. 

Wishes for a wonderful weekend, 

Tom Gilmour
Director of Commerce and Good Times

If you know anyone who would like to receive these weekly email updates, they may go to the city’s web site, www.cityofasburypark.com and subscribe.

Tom Gilmour serves as the Director of  Commerce for the City of  Asbury Park and is responsible for economic development, the APUEZ (Asbury Park Urban Enterprise Zone Program), special events, and the city’s employment initiative; “Asbury Works.”