Sanibel Island Farmers Market. February, 2020. Paul Goldfinger ©. Monochrom. Farmers markets are wonderful small town events; fun for all and nutritious besides.
Paul Goldfinger MD. Editor Blogfinger.net
Thinking out of the box: Where is it written that a small beautiful town like Ocean Grove should be exploited as a venue for large tourist events? These mega-glut happenings smother the town and do nothing for the public welfare. And they overwhelm our parking capacity
Are we the state fair grounds? Are we Disneyland? Do any other Jersey Shore towns have the amount of suffocating money-making events as we do? Do the flea markets and giant craft markets do anything for our town? The answer is NO.
If you were designing a wonderful residential community from scratch, would you include events that bring overwhelming numbers of tourists into town?
Let’s face it, these occurrences are held in the Grove, as opposed to other places, because people enjoy visiting our wonderful sea shore, historic town. But there are thousands of us who actually live here and want to celebrate the Grove for ourselves, especially in season and on weekends. Hold those huge events, like the giant junk market, someplace else.
So why not take this 2020 opportunity to redefine and redesign our town’s life styles?
My solutions to our parking problem would include:
a. No more than 2 giant events each year. (Not counting the 4th of July celebration.) Redo the special event calendar by using the regulatory permit mechanism on behalf of and with the consent of the residents of Ocean Grove.
b. Plan events that will be enjoyed by residents and by tourists whose numbers will be suppressed by the nature of the new events. Make the Grovarian residents the top priority.
Cancel all large Pathway events except the 2 mega-happenings each year. Allow a limited number (eg 6-10) of scheduled manageable occurrences that would fit in any of three parks to define size: Founders, Auditorium Square, and Firemen’s. Put the special events scheduling in the hands of an OG Community Calendar Committee which will hand out permits. Keep the Neptuners out of it.
We pay taxes; Can’t Grovers control special events in our town?
Close the streets downtown only twice per year. Make one for American cars.
Strive for events that celebrate the arts and the mind. Have entertainment, but keep it manageable. Did you ever see the weekly ballroom dancing by the ocean in Bradley Beach? Have you been to our summer band concerts on the boardwalk? Perfect.
Here are some specific suggestions for our town that would promote happiness, knowledge, beauty and fun; some already exist:
a. Small musical groups, such as jazz, performing outdoors.
b. Art shows where local artists show their work. Meet and greet the artists. OG has quite a few of them.
c. Poetry readings, such as when the Historical Society had a Walt Whitman tribute in the park.
d. Farmers market weekly, in season
e. Dance contests..bring in a big band.
f. Ethnic events: Italian, Latin, Jewish, Irish, etc
g. Food trucks near the boardwalk, once or twice per season, at night
h. Juried craft show
i. OG People’s garden tour
j. Town-wide yard sale
k. Summer band, movies on the beach, enhanced plant sale, etc.
l. More historic events, such as a Civil War reenactment (as we once had.)
m. Children’s shows (secular) performed by kids. I vote for Guys and Dolls. Children could learn to sit down and not rock the boat.
n. Harry Potter day for the kids.
o. Dog shows held at our new dog park.
p. Keep every bit of the classical music programming including the Choir Festival. Keep the best of what we have now.
None of these suggested events will bring in tons of tourists with their cars. Some tourists are desirable; we should share our town with others, but in a limited way.
As for religious tourism, that would require persuading the CMA to reduce, not increase, their events. The Camp Meeting owns the land, but governance is of the people, by the people, and for the people.
It’s no longer 1920; the demographics of this town are changing—–OG should change: Time is on our side……
THE ROLLING STONES:
It seems every time they have offered parking out of town and a jitney bus service, no one is ever on it. People don’t like to leave their cars over by the school because they want access to their belongings. Also they want to park right where they’re staying. It has been tried and not been successful. I have seen it pass by all day long……… empty.
Thanks Ellen. That is a fine suggestion if parking outside the Grove can be found on a regular basis. —Paul @Blogfinger
As a person who vacations here yearly, I know the woes of parking too. I started renting a home and then staying at a hotel.
Has anyone looked into building a parking deck and run jitneys into town on a regular basis? Going to the larger hospitals in Atlanta one can get lost very easily and then have to walk what seems like miles to get to the proper building. There is a jitney service that makes the rounds and stops at “jitney stops” to pick up or drop off. Most of the drivers are retired gentleman who volunteer at the hospital.
OG could consider working with the Township to designate a property for this and get volunteers or salaried staff to make the runs. Hotels could add a transport charge to cover expenses and people who use the jitney service could pay a nominal fee each time they use it or have a weekly charge for a certain number of rides with a punch ticket.
Just an idea from a Jersey girl living in Georgia who make a yearly trek to fulfill a yearning for pizza, bagels and the ocean.l
Radar. It sounds like you would be perfect to do this job!
I am familiar with steak houses and back “non-smokey” rooms. Unfortunately, nowadays media exposure is “proof.” To research data, find an elderly resident who would be excited about doing it (i.e., retired: librarian, lawyer, or politician) .
BUT before going public, an “informal” positive discussion with the kingpin(s) about what is needed in relief. I suspect the rest of the scenario is familiar. (Does this sound like “The Godfather” with the ultimate deal ?)
Radar: The sort of corruption that you are hinting is probably present, but is difficult to prove. And who is going to investigate that in Neptune?
Patronage and influence pedaling exist at all levels of government. It often is viewed as acceptable even though it is not. It gets by with what Jack says is “a wink and a nod” along with fine meals in steak houses and back smoky rooms familiar to politicians.
I encourage our readers to read the new book Portraits in Corruption by Peter Schweizer to get a sense of what goes on even at high levels of government.
Maybe two ways to find out who are running the Township: (1) examine donor reports for Committee elections; (2) review bios of Township employees with major seniority in supervisory capacities. Might be interesting !
To remedy the parking problem, first you have to convince the Governing Body.
The “Governing Body” makes all the decisions for Ocean Grove.
But who is the Governing Body?
After attending Committee Meetings for 7 years, I can tell you it’s not those 5 people who are elected to the Township Committee.
I honestly don’t know who is ruining, I mean running Ocean Grove.
Kevin, why isn’t anyone paying attention to you ?
It is interesting that everyone is doing a parking study except for the entity that is required by law to do one, the Township. All of these studies are being done to permit the Township to continue with it illegal zoning. No matter what the studies show. Neptune will continue to violate both state and federal laws when it comes to parking requirements. Until Neptune is forced to follow the law, it will continue to rape OG.
You are definitely right: reduce superfluous tourism. Chamber suggestions do that for the biggest–flea markets. They still have a couple of downtown events.
Camp Meeting suggestions focus on filling Ocean Grove beds for participants,
the locals, and buses from facilities and residential areas serving the aged. Yes, reassessment is necessary. But collaborating and chipping away with care is a way to start.
Radar: The point of this piece is to suggest a goal of reducing tourism–not increasing it. The whole 150 year old tradition of flooding the Grove with tourism should be reassessed.—–Paul @Blogfinger.
Yes, yes, and yes.
Realistically evaluating the monstrous invader events it comes down to one end result: money. So let’s look at the sponsors–with respect. The Chamber of Commerce has membership from every civic and economic sector of our community who pay dues. Is it enough to support the overhead ?
If special initiatives are needed, can they be co-sponsored by organizations, companies, stores, individuals, etc.? Phasing out the two flea markets would be the relief objective.
The Camp Meeting Association may wish to focus on its mission by continuing its traditional religious and artistic commitments.
Would partnerships with Ocean Grove hotels and bed and breakfast inns with specific events increase attendance.? Simple market targeting to the Methodist networks in New Jersey and New York City should be tapped in such an effort.
Traditional events like the Ladies Auxiliary bazaar and book sale continue as they are stretched over a couple of days and avoid large crowds. So many of their Auditorium events are filled with everyone residing at the time in Ocean Grove and busload groups. Filling more seats could result from the partnerships with hotels and b& b’s.
For such a small community, it should be any task to collaborate and restore the
magic of Ocean Grove for its year- round residents, its summer homeowners, its tent inhabitants, and its day trippers who enjoy the beach, the shops, and history
of our spiritual enclave.
Absolutely agree.
Perfect.
Lots of wonderful suggestions..for the enjoyment and enrichment of the “Grovers”…bravo!