By Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net. October 11, 2023.
On October 27, 1985, The NY Times reported that Massachusetts would require the use of seat belts. And it further reported that Cynthia Ingraham Pigott would marry Louis S. Bacon.
But there was something else; it was an article about Ocean Grove called “A Historic Jersey Town Longs For The Old Days.”
The reporter interviewed some Grovers and decided to report on groups in town seeking secession from Neptune. Mostly a significant number of Grovers felt that the town’s life styles were deteriorating since the State Supreme Court ruled the CMA governance to be unconstitutional in 1979, 6 years before.
The population then was twice what it is now, and the two groups which had formed to consider changes numbered about 200 Grovers total . Interestingly, neither group was seeking a return to religious blue laws. And the Camp Meeting Association is not discussed in this piece nor is the LGBTQ community or the Chamber of Commerce.
Maybe they weren’t so prominent in 1985 and maybe they were not ambitious enough to warrant attentions by the Times.
Here is the article from The NY Times Print Archive. There are 4 scanned pages. The layout is less than ideal, but you can enlarge them for easier reading by clicking once on each one in turn.
PETER, PAUL AND MARY:
It is ironic that Mayor Lawson who later became Judge Lawson, the assigning judge of Monmouth Superior Court, would be concerned about strained relations with OG when he set into motion illegal zoning for OG that to this day continues to violate State and Federal laws and are in violation of court rulings.
Because of the two positions he has held and his actions as both mayor and judge, the Township has used his influence to enact the most disgusting discriminatory zoning in the State of NJ for the last 40 years that continues to this day and is one of the major causes of Ocean Groves parking problems.
Kevin Chambers