Daniel Hickman works with the sound equipment at his musical block party, Jersey Shore Arts Center.    8/20/17 Blogfinger photo ©

Some of the guests at Daniel’s party. Blogfinger photo. Ocean Grove JSAC 8/20/17 ©

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net

We recently posted a piece about Daniel Hickman, the luthier who is the proprietor of Don’t Fret Music, a guitar repair and music shop located in the Jersey Shore Arts Center in Ocean Grove.  Here is a link to that article from July 19 on Blogfinger:

Is there a luthier in the house?

Today Daniel held a very special event, one of those rare cultural happenings that are produced by Grovers to bring something unique to town besides the usual bill of fare: Great Auditorium shows and concerts, big festivals, and the wonderful summer classical assortment of concerts sponsored by the CMA.  Then there is the popular OG Summer Band.

But it is rare for locals to present cultural events that are designed for the locals to enjoy—-ideas that help promote a sense of community.  You may recall when Kevin Chambers came up with a Walt Whitman poetry festival in the Auditorium park.

We used to have small art shows for local artists.  The Blogfinger Film Festival brought young university film-makers to the Youth Temple, and we also conceived of the People’s Garden Tour—-primarily for Grovers. We have had street musicians and a violin ensemble perform here outdoors.  Musically who can forget the big band end-of-season concerts held on the porches of Embury Avenue.   Perhaps you can think of other examples which help add to a tapestry of special community events.

Daniel got the idea to have a free musical block party to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of his business.  It was held on Sunday afternoon, August 20, in the parking lot of the JSAC—quite an appropriate venue for a musical event.  We heard the Glimmer Grass Band—a fine bluegrass group. There were some other performers as well. He served lunch and had a raffle for an acoustic guitar.

So Daniel Hickman joins the small club of Ocean Grovers who have figured out how to bring a hyper-local original cultural event to town. Hopefully he will continue this event because it takes up to five years to get a tradition going.

We need more of that.   Thanks to Dan.  And here is the sound of bluegrass—rarely heard in Ocean Grove: