Sign up NOW for the June 27, 2026 Ocean Grove Town-Wide Yard Sale. Contact us (Eileen and Paul Goldfinger) by email to: Blogfinger@verizon.net. No rain date.
The more sellers, the more success.
Pick up flyersat our porch 113 Mt. Hermon Way at Delaware Ave.Help us promote this “for the people” event in its 15th year. We will advertise in The Coaster, APP, Next Door and Facebook,
Send us your list of sale items at any time. You can send updates until June 26.
This is where we will begin posting “THE LIST” which will contain the addresses of all participants including cross streets and, eventually, items for sale. We will add new addresses as they come in . We will organize the sellers by neighborhoods to help shoppers.
New participants will be added to “The List” as the addresses arrive to us from now through June 26. Tell your friends visit Blogfinger.net.
About parking it should be OK. If you drive into town, bring a bike and park anywhere.
Out-of-towners are always welcome to our historic town . Bring the kids, the dogs, your band, your saxophone or flugelhorn. Have music at your sale.
Sellers will need a Neptune Township yard salepermit for $5.00. Get them at the Neptune Township Town Hall-building dept. Tell them that you are with the band.
Groups of neighbors or friends will enhance the success, fun and games
Paul Goldfinger.photograph. Firemen march in the Israel Day Parade, 5th Avenue, New York City. 2017. Usually held in June. Click to enlarge and see the action.
The action heated up early on Mt. Hermon Way where there were 7 sales within 2 blocks. All photos by Paul Goldfinger
Despite some intermittent light rain and clouds, the yard sale event on Saturday was successful. Only a few of the 45 families gave up in the face of the weather. Actually, the morning was busy for most sellers, and many buyers, responding to our advertising, came from out of town. By and large, this truly should have been called a “porch sale” because everyone who had a porch made good use of it.
Robin, a pre-K teacher from Ocean Twp, was buying fun and games for a PTO tricky tray event. She scored big on Inskip Ave at the far southern reaches of the Grove.
We were supposed to start at 9 a.m. but there always are early arrivers—often dealers or collectors. We had a vinyl collector show up first. He chose a $1.00 Joni Mitchell album. He said that he owns “thousands” of record albums, but “there’s always room for one more.”
Another guy asked us if we wanted to sell him silver or gold. He said, “I can pay better than other dealers because I have no overhead.” As I told him the bad news—no gold or silver on my porch— I imagined him under the Wesley Lake bridge weighing his gold and silver. Three women named Vicki arrived at our sale at the same time–perhaps a world record unless there is a Vicki Association somewhere.
Carl Swanson (CardsbyCarl.com) loved the action. “Now that spring is here, I have a new color palette.” We’ll show his latest work soon.
A group of 4 antique toy sellers had gathered in front of a garage on Inskip Ave. Because we had itemized the goods for sale on Blogfinger, they were able to connect with antique toy collectors, so they did very well.
Pat, a jewelry maker from Olin Ave, said that everyone who came to her sale wanted something that she didn’t have. “I make jewelry from Swaroski crystals, and some buyers thought my name was Crystal Swaroski,” she said. “I guess I need to bring my jewelry to a craft show.”
Pat Gordon. Ms. Swarosky. Lonely only on Olin.
But Carl Hoffman and I rode around to spot-check the sales, and almost everyone we visited said that they were having a good day. One seller complained that as the day went on, her pants got longer. We were baffled by that one until she explained that the bottoms were getting wet, so her pants were losing altitude. We left before the critical mass caused chaos.
Rose Marie Smith and Michael Termni of Stockton Ave. This is what a real garage sale looks like (A rare event in garageless OG)
As a social event, it was really a lot of fun. Grovers who were new in town got to meet neighbors, and neighbors formed partnerships and bonded with the folks next door or down the block. We had one buyer, a chubby guy with glasses, do an excellent 5 second impression of Rodney Dangerfield (“I don’t get no respect”—-In my mind I heard a rim shot).
A New Yorker named Nick had just blown into town by bus and immediately hit the sale trail. “I read Blogfinger every day at work,” he said. “Thank you for bringing us out-of-towners the OG news. I especially look forward to the crime reports.” (I’m thinking, “I really have to call Chief Adams and tell him we need more crime news.”)
Another New Yorker named Hubert, a young man browsing through my photographs, could not stop smiling because of little Grover Eddie, age almost-two, who was waving his Woody doll around and saying “Giddyup” over and over.
A woman came up on our porch, peered in our living room window and asked Eileen if she could buy an oriental covered dish that she saw on a table inside.
The Ferguson’s–This is what a porch sale should look like!
If any of you had some adventures at the sales yesterday, please click the “comments ” button” and share.
Next year, let’s see if we can get 100 addresses. And don’t forget, we will advertise your garage sale. Just send an email to blogfinger@verizon.net. It’s free, so let her rip. (Why are we offering this? Yard sales bring people and life into the Grove on Saturday mornings, and then they go home. I remember when OG was a boring place. )
—Paul Goldfinger, editor @Blogfinger
Dedicated to all the yard sellers who participated and made our event a success.
Did you ever dream of traveling around the country in a van with a rock band? Well, Daniel Hickman of Tennessee, currently of Ocean Grove, did just that for five years when he was in his twenties. But he wasn’t a musician. He was a technician who made sure that the group’s guitars were fit as a fiddle. Daniel loved the experience; is there any doubt? ——– especially if you read Keith Richards biography.
Daniel has trained for years working on guitars—-repairing them and building them. He continued studying his craft with experts along the way as he traveled all over America with the Latin Rock group “de Sol.” He calls himself a “luthier” (definition: “a maker of stringed instruments such as violins or guitars.”)
Daniel comes from an artistic family and he probably inhaled guitar music living near Nashville. His career as a luthier has been progressing since 2005. After that rock gig, he moved to New Jersey and found himself with a very special business opportunity at the Jersey Shore Arts Center in Ocean Grove (66 South Main Street in Neptune) where he has had a workshop/studio since 2015 called “Don’t Fret Music.”
Daniel is grateful to the late Herb Herbst and the staff at the JSAC for providing him with a rare situation. He not only builds and repairs guitars and other stringed instruments,, but he has begun a program to provide lessons in guitar, piano, and uke. Dan has recruited a talented young teacher to work with students of all ages, and the lessons are given in a separate space off Dan’s workshop. He also repairs amps and he is moving into “retail.” Daniel plans to develop a “full service guitar shop and music store.” His shop is downstairs off the parking lot, with a private entrance to the left.
At the age of 32, Daniel is ambitious and enthused. “We are in the infancy of Don’t Fret Music.”
Daniel’s workshop/studio is a fascinating place, and to watch him work, you get the impression that he is highly competent. He worked on my guitar–he is an exacting craftsman.
Daniel is excited about the future of the Jersey Shore Arts Center. “There is a lot going on here,” he says; “The venue is full of talented artists in residence ,some of whom paint, do screen printing, social media, and photography.” There also is an acting ensemble “La Strada.” He wants to be supportive of his artist colleagues at JSAC.
One of his ambitions is to see a variety of new music performances in the JSAC theater. He hopes for bluegrass and jazz among the choices. This ambition seems very real given the recent downsizing of the secular programming in the Great Auditorium and the real need for some musical variety to satisfy OG’s diverse demographics and to balance against the music scene in Asbury Park.
Blogfinger will help promote new music and arts programs in Ocean Grove. It sounds like the JSAC may be on the threshold of something more than yoga and children’s ballet. Currently there is an arts show going on. Call them for details.
Daniel’s shop is open Tuesday through Saturday 3 pm -7 pm except Saturday which is 11 am to 5 pm. Call 732 361 5060 or DontFretNJ@gmail.com or the web site: DontFretNJ.com.
And, for the record, Daniel lives in Ocean Grove and he “loves the town.” It makes him happy because he knows his neighbors, people say hello, and the town is charming. Daniel knows most of the business people in the Grove and he feels at home here.
de Sol “Blanco y Negro.”
Here is a link to a 2018 piece about “Don’t Fret.”
Paul Goldfinger still from Netflix documentary with colorized still photos Children survivors were returned to their home countries. Many were Jews.
This soldier was held in a POW camp for 5 years. He left for war when his daughter was 1, and in this photo he sees her as a six year old in 1945. Paul Goldfinger still image from the colorized video.
In Paris, French women who had fraternized with Nazis had their hair shorn. Some had swastikas drawn on their foreheads. From the Netflix doc. Still photo by Blogfinger.
After WWII was over there were millions of children alone throughout Europe. Children often survived without their parents, and those who were alone were taken under the wings of allied European nations and returned in huge numbers to their original countries, usually via restored train tracks. Survivors were mostly young women, elderly, and children. Many survived because they had been shipped out to rural areas with other children.
In some cases they were found by their parents after the war, but many were orphans.
Men died in the war or they survived in POW camps. Emotional reunions occurred all over.
Preheat 10 inch non-stick fry pan on medium low heat.
Fish:
Dry flounder fillets with a paper towel. (If the fish is wet, it will steam and not brown). Sprinkle both sides of fillets with searing flour, paprika and ground garlic. Place one tablespoon of canola oil on each side of the fillets and rub the spices into the fish.
Sauce:
Add remaining 2 tablespoons of canola oil, 1 tablespoon shallot-thyme butter and 1 tablespoon of margarine into the fry pan. As the oils heat up, brush them over the bottom of the pan. When the oil starts to sizzle, place the fillets into the pan. The heat should still be at medium low. When the filets start to brown, approximately 7 minutes, turn them over. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
Serves 2
* You can substitute all purpose flour that has been sifted.
**You can make the finishing butter or margarine yourself: Let the butter come to room temperature and stir in 1 teaspoon of minced fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves and 1/2 minced shallot.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Wegmans Ocean seafood department sold more fish than any other of the 81 Wegmans branches in the entire country on July 4. Currently they are featuring whole red snapper. Here is a link to Eileen’s recipe for whole baked red snapper. —PG
Hope Tower. Hackensack-Meridian Jersey Shore University Health. Neptune, NJ.
Jersey Shore–Neptune, NJ. 6/10/26
There has been a surge in hospital admissions around here today resulting in the HMH filling up and diverting any further admissions as of late afternoon today June 10, 2026.
EMS units are being instructed to take admissions elsewhere.
Tonight the Neptune Emergency Department is overflowing with patients on gurneys lined up along the walls of that ER. Staff is rushing around, and there is a sense of chaos there. The way that new cases are routinely handled in that ER should be studied for quality results. I hope to discuss that soon on Blogfinger.
When I practiced in Morris County years ago, the only time we went on divert was during flu season.
The explanation today here is unclear.
Paul Goldfinger, MD
6/12/26 The “divert” event on June 10 was temporary lasting for about 4 hours. As of 6/13, the crowding of the hospital has been alleviated.
