Blogfinger

Night visitor in the Grove. Halloween 2021. Paul Goldfinger photo. This image was obtained before the rowdy events noted below were reported, and this scary guy had nothing to do with the mob scene below. Click to enlarge.

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor. Blogfinger.net   October 31, 2021.

It started out as a slow trick-or-treat Halloween evening on Mt. Hermon Way, at the north end of the Grove, near Delaware Avenue by Firemen’s Park.

Families came by with kids, mostly young, in costume, to accept the treats from a Grover who was standing alone on his porch with a large supply of candy.  He was greeting all the visitors with smiles and cordial conversation. It was something that he enjoyed each year. Most of the visitors were obviously from Asbury.

Then, about 6:30 pm, night descended, but he didn’t want any kids to miss his treats, so he stayed on his porch with his porch light on. It is about this time that older kids tend to show up.

At  about 7 pm a group of  about 10-12 boys came walking along the edge of the park heading west towards Asbury.  They were not in costume. They crossed over towards him to get some treats.

Of the group, estimated to be about 12 years old,  2 approached him, so he held out his pail and offered them some treats.  But they were not polite like most of his visitors.  They noisily  began grabbing handfuls of candy.

Then the rest of the bunch stormed the Grover.  They were shouting as they all swarmed around him grabbing his pail, sending candy flying into the air.

He was not touched physically, but it was threatening, alarming and disturbing to him.  Then, as they quickly moved away, after emptying his pail, they threw it back at him.

Then one of the kids returned to the porch and apologized for what happened.  He gave the Grover some of his candy for others.

It was now dark and he went inside, but he returned to his porch about 15 minutes later to see the situation.

All of a sudden a commotion developed about half a block away on Mt. Hermon, west of the park .  A larger group of kids were spreading  out cross the street  shouting loudly and moving aggressively east toward Fireman’s Park and towards his porch. Some seemed to be carrying flashlights.

There were about 20 or more, and they appeared as a crowd of silhouettes. They looked to be teenagers. They moved in a disorganized and threatening way in his direction, and he felt fear.

Just then a car was seen moving slowly on Mt Hermon heading east where the disturbance was occurring; suddenly the driver gunned his engine as if he were escaping. He roared down Mt Hermon, speeding, and  looking as if he might crash.

But he made it past the amazed Grover who saw the events as very frightening.  He then hurried back again into his house.  He peered out his door window to see the group coming together in the park and moving diagonally towards Main Avenue.

Then a woman and child appeared, so he went outside and told her how that mob had taken almost all his candy.  She said, “Oh. They’ve been going around the area.”

After that he went inside again, feeling shaken by what he saw as a threatening, unpredictable, and intimidating event.

Obviously, something bad has developed tonight in our quiet community due to some outsiders with a harmful agenda invading our town from nearby Asbury.

The North End seems especially vulnerable, and free parkers from the north now seem to be the least of our problems.

So many of the visitors today were peaceful, polite and grateful, but that neighborly good will was spoiled and distorted by what happened later.

The Grover noted that no police cars were seen in that neighborhood after dark tonight.  There should have been a curfew after dusk and a police presence, especially at the North End.

Will Grovers plan to turn on their welcoming porch lights next Halloween?

ADDENDUM    This comment came in at 3:46 pm on Nov 1, from MHW:

I can confirm that the car was, in fact, stolen. It was parked in front of its owner’s home on Mt. Hermon Way. The car was found totaled in Asbury Park after hitting approximately ten other cars during the route.

Right before the car was stolen, the same group physically assaulted the owners of another house on Mt. Hermon Way, throwing things at their faces while they were sitting on their porch. The homeowners immediately called the police, but they never came.

Ten minutes prior to the physical assault, the same group vandalized a porch of a home on Main Avenue, destroying the porch’s gate, and ripping it out of the wood column.   6:45 pm on Main Avenue.

This is not a commentary, just a recitation of facts.