Eileen. Virginia Beach, Va. Paul Goldfinger portrait.
I was stationed as a cardiologist at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital. We were transferred after 5 years of residency in New York City. Eileen taught in Spanish Harlem. We had two little boys and we found a cute townhouse in Virginia Beach. Most of the families were Navy. Eileen loved her kitchen which looked out at the front yard. I drove my new Triumph Spitfire to work every day. The plant in the photo was her first garden.
We loved New York, but this was something special for so many reasons.
n August 2001 National Geographic posted a 3 page article about OG. They led with this photo, but most of the misleading article was about the religious life in the Grove, as if nothing else existed. Click once to enlarge. The crew spent a week here with many photos obtained with a camera drone.
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Below is a Blogfinger history over time of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA.). It’s long but worth it:
Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Blogfinger.net.
Days Ice Cream (founded 1880), Pitman Avenue, Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Paul Goldfinger photograph. Blogfinger.net.
2021 Ocean Grove beach. The CMA cannot avoid change over time. These Grover girls in their summer clothes would have caused Stokes to blow his top. Paul Goldfinger photo. Blogfinger.net
154 years ago the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association was organized, and despite setbacks through the years, it has continued to grow and to dominate life in Ocean Grove. So how did the Association get from there to here, and what is its future?
In 1869 a group of fundamentalist Methodist ministers got together with like-minded church members and set up the OGCMA which was legalized by a charter from the N.J. State Legislature. They proceeded to buy 260 acres of barren Jersey shore land in Monmouth County where only a few people lived. And then they set out to create Ocean Grove.
Their goal was to develop a summer Christian campground at the Jersey shore which would be run by the Association. Their dream was to seek “holiness and perfection” as defined by their strict Methodist church doctrine.
They would establish governance in the Grove based on religious laws and enforced by their own police. They could legally create ordinances, a library, and a municipal court. In essence they were founding a new town, although Stokes said that Ocean Grove was more religion than municipality.
The CMA wanted to have a planned community with geographic isolation for those who would visit in the summer. Those limiting elements included the sparse boardwalk with no stores or amusements, a 600 tent village, an auditorium, water on three sides, and an infrastructure to make it all work.
“Perfection” would require tight social controls which governed the life-styles of those in attendance.
Within a few years of the founding, small permanent homes were constructed with simple Victorian designs. The houses were laid out close together in small lots to help implement the restrictive blue laws. And on Sunday there would only be church. A rule book spelled it all out.
The second President of the CMA James N. FitzGerald, of fountain fame, had high hopes for the future of Ocean Grove.
* He said, “If our grounds can be preserved from invasion by forces that would destroy our distinctive features and from influences that are inimical to the great object that we have in view, and if in the spirit of true consecration we adhere to and exemplify the great scriptural doctrines which we are set to maintain, we should move forward to even more glorious achievements in the name of the Master.”
At first the Grove was made part of Ocean Township. Then in 1879, Neptune Township was carved out of Ocean with the Grove as an appendage. But the CMA remained as the primary governing authority in OG, and the CMA governed there until 1980. However Neptune held the central power.
We don’t know what sort of peculiar deal the CMA made with the Neptuners, but Neptune permitted those OG ordinances and blue laws.
Historians Mr. and Mrs Richard Gibbons said, in 1939, comparing the Grove to other shore towns, “The only points of difference were the unique laws that have always made Ocean Grove stand apart from other communities in this country and, in fact, throughout the world.” In other words, other shore towns were also set up from scratch, but this was the only theocracy.
Troy Messenger **said, “Ocean Grove was the longest-lived ecclesiarchy {A government ruled by or in conjunction with a religion; a church-state} in American history. From its founding in 1869 until 1979, it operated under a charter that guaranteed the Methodists of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association municipal powers to create a utopian village that offered safe haven from the demands of the city.”
The legislature and then the courts ruled that anyone who lived in the Grove had to pay Neptune taxes, and that included the CMA. There were bitter fights over the years regarding taxes, and the earliest CMA leaders were outspoken against the Neptune taxes.
Because the CMA needed control, they paid the taxes and refused any services from Neptune—that changed later.
At first the Grove was to be a summer project, but it wasn’t long before some residents stayed year round.
After the Civil War, camp meetings became the rage in many locations, and thousands of visitors came to OG, mostly by rail, to attend crowded religious services, sometimes on the beach. There was an Illumination Night at Wesley Lake which attracted over 20,000 tourists.
OG was a religious camp ground, but many tourists and residents came more for the vacation.
So Ocean Grove was built up, and many of the key buildings were constructed during the first 30 or 40 years— including the Great Auditorium.
The CMA was allowed to own all the land “in perpetuity.” And the courts ruled that the residents had to pay Neptune taxes on their lots even though the CMA owned the lands. This irritating ruling was never followed with appeals. A contemporary court might see it differently.
After WWI, religious fervor began to fade around the country, but the CMA continued to govern and control life in the Grove according to their religious themes, even though a variety of less religious or secular citizens were making the Grove their home.
As more and more people came who weren’t so interested in the religious life style, the CMA had to make adjustments, but they never gave up their plan for a Christian seaside resort. There were compromises regarding the tight controls, but Stokes said that the Sunday driving ban would never be changed, and many thought that the Camp Meeting concept in OG would collapse if the “gates” were to come down.
But they did come down. 1980 marked the beginning of a major change: A series of court rulings resulted in turning over governance from the CMA to Neptune Township. The CMA governance was ruled to be unconstitutional by the N.J. Supreme Court who spoke in terms of church vs. state.
This ruling was an explosive and disheartening event in the history of the OGCMA.
And with that most of the blue laws (except 2) were disallowed.
Many Grovers thought that this ruling would be the end of the CMA as we knew it, turning OG into a typical shore town spiced with Victorian architecture and some Christian traditions, but instead, the CMA made adjustments and continued to thrive.
It was a blessing in disguise for them because they were relieved of some aggravating responsibilities while retaining the powers which they coveted through their Neptune and Trenton connections and they could retain their significant land holdings in and around the Grove and continue their social and religious dominance in town along with their many summer programs.
However there was push- back in the mid-1980’s. The Jersey Shore fell into physical decay and social troubles, including in Ocean Grove. There were riots in Asbury, and OG suffered declining tourism, declining population, and deterioration of the Victorian housing stock.
Socially there were mental cases in abundance, poverty, crime, drugs, declining home values, prostitution, and large numbers of poor and medium income seniors. People nicknamed the place “Ocean Grave.”
In the 80’s and nineties an activist OG Home Owners Association with political connections took center stage, and with the support of 1,000 members fought to get the town back, and they began to succeed.
But the history of the time does not mention any contribution by the CMA. They were mainly interested in their religious lives which continued as before.
As things began to dramatically improve into the mid-1990’s, the Herb Herbst-led HOA was the hero which saved the Grove.
Some citizens had a vision that the HOA would lead the Grove into a new family oriented, prosperous, secular middle-class era which would create a balance with a declining CMA.
Also the end of the ’90’s brought further demographic changes with empty nesters, retirees, academics, artists, celebrities, and professionals moving here. We interviewed some of them. They came to the Grove and fell in love with our quaint town. They also came with money to refurbish their decrepit Victorian houses, and year by year the streets began to look better.
A new Master Plan was developed in 1990. That plan insisted on rezoning all of the Grove for single family housing and to protect our historic designations.
The HOA also wanted to promote more secular tourism, while the CMA pushed for more religious tourism. The CMA leaned further to the religious right and, as an example, went so far as to institute daily Christian music aerobics at the beach.
Into the 2000’s, the CMA decided to push ahead with its “mission” including more contemporary religious activity such as Christian rock bands in the Great Auditorium and to pay little attention to a secular vision to create more of a middle class and more diversity in town. Saturday night secular shows were discontinued. Neil Sedaka never returned, so he wrote “Breaking Up is Hard to Do.”
When the planners of the North End showed up in 2007, they ignored the Master Plan and pushed for outrageous zoning changes. Neptune governance approved those changes by declaring the property “a zone in need of redevelopment.” That was, in our opinion at Blogfinger, illegal. But it was never challenged in court by anyone.
Unfortunately the Home Groaners were supportive of the North End plan and its necessary zoning changes and they have never done an about-face even though that plan would change the Grove forever.
In 2007 the gay population clashed with the CMA over a civil union in the Boardwalk Pavilion. Sparks flew and passions were ignited; and it revealed that the CMA could not completely isolate itself any longer and ignore the secular townspeople. In fact, the CMA was found to be discriminatory with regard to the Boardwalk Pavilion. One error which the media usually makes is to say that the 2007 brouhaha was about a “gay marriage.” It was not. The issue was a legal “civil union.”
In 2008 I interviewed CMA President Scott Rasmussen and asked him what the relationship would be between the CMA and the secular residential community in Ocean Grove. He said that the CMA would devote its energies to its “mission.” That’s when I learned what the CMA’s policy would be vis a vis secular Ocean Grove.
Troy Messenger**, in his 1999 book “Holy Leisure” said, “Like many communities shaped by a strong religious tradition, there is an official and an unofficial Ocean Grove. That is, some in the community cling tenaciously to traditional devotional practice, while others quietly live lives in the same place with little concern for its religious heritage….In truth, individuals in Ocean Grove have always represented varying degrees of commitment to the ideals of holiness theology espoused by the CMA. From the outset some came more for the recreation than the religion.”
“Today, the diversity of Ocean Grove’s residents and visitors is greater than ever and is evident in striking juxtapositions.”
In 2018, Grover Ted David researched and published his latest book Forgotten Ocean Grove “God’s Square Mile”—New Jersey’s Most Interesting Beachside Town” In the introduction he describes his “task of pouring through dusty libraries for many pieces of OG history.”
He finds “pieces of the historical puzzle that when carefully assembled create the modern day Ocean Grove.” David says that since 1889 there have been times when the Grove faltered, besieged by problems from within and without.” But now he says, “Revitalization and renewal are the order of the day.”
That may be true for the CMA, but not so much for those who live here and are not very interested in the religious programming.
Troy Messenger also sees optimism for the future if the current CMA “continues to evolve from a closed resort exclusivity to embrace new diversity which the CMA could view as opportunities rather than threats.”
An example, he says, “might be to engage the gay community in dialogue and ministry. The CMA needs to redefine itself also by recognizing liberal Methodism, municipal politics, and the changing economy and ecology of the Jersey Shore.”
Unfortunately Messenger forgot to mention that growing constituency, the residential community in town, and his optimism for the CMA seems unlikely to bear fruit.
And then there is the HOA, 21st century edition. Prof. Karen Schmelzkopf,*** author, had high hopes for them, but they have been useless in terms of working on behalf of the residential community in town. In fact they supported the Neptuners who are about to allow that abomination–the North End Plan–to bear fruit.
So here we are in 2023 where the Camp Meeting continues to expand down the religious road. They avoid political advocacy, but their religious attitudes, like many evangelical groups, lean right.
The 2023 CMA summer activities booklet speaks for itself.
And the secular populace here is adrift with everyone for himself, extracting from Ocean Grove whatever makes themselves happy here. They show little interest in activism or community.
Local groups such as the Chamber of Commerce fail to support any changes in town, unlike typical small town Chambers across America. They and others such as the Historical Society mostly keep to their own interests.
The future of OG is uncertain. Unlike Messenger’s vision, the CMA will try to remain separate and distinct, pursuing its “mission.”
Yet, despite that goal, the CMA all too often dances too close with secular OG instead of remembering “separation of church and state” where CMA properties are used as “public thoroughfares.”
They will not be able to have it both ways in the future. The CMA cannot succeed if it continues to march backwards.
We hear that there may be a split in the Methodist Church, and it will be interesting as to how that will affect the OGCMA and secondarily the rest of OG.
OG has reached a fork in the road. Will the CMA continue to take us all in opposite directions? Paul Goldfinger photo.
After 1980, and especially recently, they have missed an opportunity to join with the resident secular community to find common ground.
The CMA will miss the boat if the Grovarian citizenry finds ways to redefine itself.
A new more iron-clad Master Plan is necessary to forge a vision for everyone who lives here. We need more minorities, more young residents, a middle class, and more diversity. We need more culture, more help for the poor–especially about affordable housing, more concern about historical preservation, more adult education, more community spirit, and more programs for the resident Grovarians.
We need a Neptune governance which would be more responsive to the needs of OG’s voters, homeowners and renters. And we need more adherence to State land use laws; and no more condoization. There is still an opportunity to deny the North End plan.
And we need less crowding in season. Most mega events should be stopped and tourism reduced. And the CMA, which is now even more invested with religion and less involved with the town, should consider being a greater part of the community to create some balance.
The OG North End soon to become Asbury Park South. The CMA could still change its mind as could the HOA and/or Neptune Township. This plan violates the spirit of the Master Plan. It would be wonderful if the various factions could voluntarily come together for the common good, but they can’t even agree on a parking solution. A good goal would be to secede from Neptune. It may be possible. Paul Goldfinger photo. 2018. Blogfinger.net
IRA SANKEY performing in the Great Auditorium c.1890 recorded on wax cylinders. “A Shelter in the Time of Storm.”
SOURCES:
a. Ocean Grove 2021 Summer Program Guide
b. History of Ocean Grove 1869-1939 By Mr and Mrs Richard F. Gibbons
c. Story of Ocean Grove 1869-1919 by Morris S. Daniels
d. Holy Leisure: Recreation and Religion in God’s Square Mile by Troy Messenger** 1999
e. Forgotten Ocean Grove Ted David 2018
f. Personal communications: Herb Herbst, Ted Bell, Scot Rasmussen, Jack Bredin, Steve Valk
g. National Geographic August 2001. ZipUSA series Ocean Grove
h. Perspectives on Ocean Grove. By Richard E Brewer in 1969
i. God’s Square Mile: A Christian Walking Tour of Ocean Grove. By Karl and Pam Schweizer of OG
j. Steve Valk is a social scientist from OG. Here is a link:
Last night we had an Illumination Night celebration in Ocean Grove at Auditorium Square Park. It was a festive occasion, with live music, food, conversation, and lights all over.
Unlike the 2014 first modern edition, this was larger —attended by about 200 people. The event was sponsored by the Camp Meeting Association and implemented by the Hub management. It had been publicized by a Facebook campaign through the CMA.
It was a pleasant warm evening, and people were sitting about, eating and listening to music, or they were milling about socializing. There were quite a few children present. The theme of illumination was evident, and it seemed like a good time was had by most.
At one point, a sermon was delivered. This had not been advertised as a religious event.
When we helped Debby Cuddhy promote the first modern revival of Illumination Night (8/4/14) we wrote about the history of the event and its potential value as a community tradition of the sort that would offer a cozy get-together among OG neighbors. Deb produced such a happening at the Hub in 2014.
It was hoped that Illumination Night would join other traditional town-wide events that would appeal to everyone who lives here including the Fish and Chips dinner, July 4 parade, People’s Garden Tour, Woman’s Club projects, Auxiliary Bazaar, Town picnic, Ice Cream social, etc. The goal was to strengthen community bonds.
Our 2014 article on the subject spoke about a “festival of lights” and the idea that this would be a secular event to reflect the historic feel of the original 19th century versions, and Deb succeeded with that theme in 2014. Yesterday’s edition seems to have changed that vision somewhat.
Food trucks arrive. Channel District. Tampa, Florida. By Paul Goldfinger, 2012
By Paul Goldfinger, MD, FACC. 2019
Some of you may recall this post from January, but I had nothing medical to say about the subject of dietary fats. However, a recent study about egg consumption raises some important issues.
The egg question has bounced around for some time, and the scientific information has been scrambled. Some of the data is soft boiled, but a recent trial of thousands of patients requires that we re-visit eggs (known to the French as oeufs) as a subject of discussion. Scroll down to find our latest oeufs post. Or click on this link:
I might add, regarding foie gras, it is pure liver, usually duck or goose, and it is loaded with saturated fat. Yet it is a delicacy, so it’s best to eat no more than 2 ounces at any one time. We went to a restaurant in France where the menu scared me. Everything there contained foie gras. But, if you have never tried it, it is almost addictive, and you need to pay attention because what do I look like? Chopped liver perhaps?
Chopped liver? Boardwalk Pavilion April 4, 2019.
CAMILLE. A French singer of Parisian street songs recorded “Le Festin” (tr: the feast) for the Disney film “Ratatouille”
Here is a partial translation:
“Dreams are to lovers as wine is to friends
Carried through lifetimes, (and) spilled now and then
Paul Goldfinger 2025 After Illumination Night. A stroll through Greenleaf Park, Ocean Grove, NJ, USA on the way home. 3 streets converge there. It is right near the tents. The house in the back was originally a cottage. The owners got permission to do this. Click once for details.
MAX RAABE: (At Carnegie Hall with the Das Palast Orchester)
There is a tradition of illumination nights that has occurred in at least two camp meeting grounds: Oak Bluffs (Martha’s Vineyard) and Ocean Grove. The former has continued for over a century while the latter is now being brought back into town by Deb Cuddhy.
The old Ocean Grove version was nautical based in the late 19th century (Wesley Lake) until it got washed out in the 1920’s. Now we have the Ocean Grove version of Festivus for the Restivus which is land based at The Hub, with the headquarters conveniently located across the park from Days Ice Cream Garden.)
As far as we can tell, the old festivals of lights at the camp meeting grounds had no religious significance. Other events also focus on lights such as Hanukkah and Christmas. Do you recall the scene in Apocalypse Now when we go up the river into the heart of darkness and find the night lit up with an ominous light show—so it’s not always fun and games.
But, most of the time, turning on the lights means optimism and happiness. Just listen to Vera Lynn sing below about “When the Lights Go On Again All Over the World”—where she is referring to coming out of the shadows after WWII.
It’s almost natural for people to feel happy when festive lights go on. There must be a brain connection of some sort, because when Grovers showed up last evening at the HUB for Illumination Night, there was an uplifting mood all about, complimented by clear and cool ocean breezes.
People were laughing and happy. Even Shirley Bell, a long-time Grover with a dry sense of humor, who got there before dark, said, “Where’s the illumination?” Now that’s a one-liner that’s more groovy than Grovey. Deb Cuddhy’s light show was catching on.
The idea is that folks around town should put up lanterns and lights on their porches. Some actually did that (see photos below), and, as with any new tradition, next year should be even bigger. I mean, the earliest Christmas celebrators probably had only a few tents decorated with candles, while others were probably peaking out their flaps wondering, “What the hey?”
But now, at the “First Annual New Illumination Night,” we have a wonderful beginning of a new tradition in Ocean Grove, and each subsequent edition should get even better—it takes time for such ideas to sink into the consciousness of a town. Click on one gallery image and then see the rest. Use the little X to come back here:
Cupcake girls
The Generas house at 3 Ocean Pathway. Using 25 year old lanterns that Arthur used when vacationing in Martha’s Vineyard. Norm Buckman photo.
86 Asbury Ave. Home of Jim McNamara and Robert Lamont. “We’re ready,” says Jim.
113 Mt. Hermon Way. By Eileen Goldfinger
VERA LYNN:
ELAINE ELIAS Who knows what those lights might lead to:
This is Nadine with Lucy the coonhound. July 20, 2020. Nadine is an out-of-towner who is visiting her Mom who lives in the Grove. Paul Goldfinger photo. Blogfinger.net. Click once to enlarge that smile.
Here is a 2018 quote published in Blogfinger: Paul Goldfinger MD Editor
“In May 2018, the Asbury Park Press interviewed Jack Green about the North End Redevelopment:
The paper quoted him: “I think it’s exciting to finally have something move forward,” said Jack R. Green, a real estate broker who lives in Ocean Grove.
He said, “The new development will help Ocean Grove compete with tourism in Asbury Park.”
I don’t recall ever hearing the Master Plan or other voice of reason in the Grove suggest that OG should “compete” with A. Park. Such an idea would be faint praise for supporting the ill-begotten project at the North End.
The future of this region will be best if we cheer Asbury Park on while striving to keep Ocean Grove the quaint, small town, diverse historic community which it has been.
Editor’s noteApril 2026.Travel and Leisure Magazine just named Asbury Park as the second best place to live in New Jersey. They have received similar praise from other sources in the past.
Clearly Asbury Park has evolved quickly, and we will never catch it, but so what?
We need to mature in ways that suit Ocean Grove. The two towns are not comparable
Asbury Park has been pronounced a rising star by the media and it will continue to sweep higher and higher.
Compete with Asbury? Forget it!. Their prior awards have been mostly nonsense.
But the Grove cannot even begin to achieve its potential unless imaginative citizens get interested.
July 2026 Travel and Leisure named the Albatross Hotel of OGas the best hotel in America?. Really? Here is a link about the Albatross.
Main Avenue. August 4, 2020. Photo by Sean Mack. Ocean Grove.
Paul Goldfinger, Editor. Blogfinger.net 2020
Diagonal parking has its problems, but usually cars parked that way suffer from over extended rear ends, like a flute player I once took to the prom. But here we have a new sort of parking problem in the Grove. It’s sort of a man bites dog story.
We assume that this was an accident, but how could it happen? Is this one of those “games people play” while trying to park in the Grove?
What will the CMA parking planners do about this eventuality? And what will the Better Parking and Polling Alliance do with this?
Thanks to citizen reporter Sean Mack who actually sent us some breaking news—a welcome event on Blogfinger.
DUCHESS: For Blogfinger who is exhausted by more parking talk.
