A new twist–July 2, 2022. Blogfinger photo.  A private block party.

Allowing a car’s butt to hang over the hatched area. This went on for 2 days and still is there on 7/3. No ticket was issued so far.

We have been collecting “parking games that people play” for years now, and the creativity of those who save or create parking spaces continues to amaze.

The motor scooters used to hold diagonal spaces near the beach on Main Avenue continues unabated. The scooter is used to save a space near the beach for a car.  Then the scooter gets tucked away down a side alley.

One of these scooters  just turned up in a diagonal space at Firemen’s Park. The Groaners pushed for those spaces, so why aren’t they out there making sure that no one is taking advantage?

And how many have grabbed a space at the beach and leave the car there indefinitely to use as a beach locker? Paid parking is needed over there and in the shopping district of OG.

The photo above reveals a new twist. Neighborhood block parties are known in the Grove, but they are created by the folks who live there.  In this instance, the Neptuners granted permission for an individual to celebrate a birthday by closing a portion of Mt. Hermon Way.   Parking spots were unavailable because of the party itself, but empty spaces were also present because it was impossible to reach them from either direction.

And this was allowed on one of the worst parking days:  July 2, 2022.

It’s bad enough that we have more cars than spaces in town, but the failure to enforce the laws and permitting abuses like the party above and the scooter substitutions just makes things worse, and the NTPD do not enforce the law.  It’s as if they just throw up their hands and look away.

Also, infringement on those hatched areas are supposed be risky by blocking fire engines from turning.  If that is so, then where is the enforcement to insure free movement for firemen.

And now, the Neptuners and the CMA want the Township to have a vote regarding helping those who live here have some advantage during the parking wars.  They want all of Neptune to vote for or against resident stickers.   And aside from the irrationality of  such a vote, they know that Neptuners will vote “No.” And they will then declare that the sticker idea can be blocked forever.

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From Eileen’s OG garden: Gomphrena “Truffula Pink.” and a historic bottle. Paul Goldfinger photograph. Click to study.  7/3/22.

Eileen and Paul Goldfinger.   Editors Blogfinger.net

This  medicine bottle was unearthed in 2002 when workers were doing some restoration work at our 1880 Victorian Ocean Grove home.  We think the bottle is about 140 years old.  There is no writing on it.  Eileen likes small glass bottles which she uses as vases.

I like to think that this bottle contained digitalis (from the Foxglove plant) which had been discovered by the English physician and scientist  Dr. William Withering in 1785.

He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, and physicians still use digitals to treat certain cardiac problems including congestive heart failure and rapid heart rhythms.

We were excited to acquire this bottle along with  decaying old newspapers and some historic structural features including a hidden staircase in the kitchen.

FIONA APPLE.  “Across the Universe.”    By the Beatles.

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Paul Goldfinger photograph. June, 2022. Leica M10M.

WARREN VACHE´   “Body and Soul”. From his album Stardust.  (Warren was born in Rahway, NJ.  We saw him perform live at Waterloo Village in Byram Township.  It was a concert by the New Jersey Jazz Society. He has also performed in the Great Auditorium—on one of those rare occasions where jazz was allowed inside that giant wooden cello))

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Main Avenue. This is what it is about. Paul Goldfinger photo. 7/2/22. Blogfinger.net. Click once on each photo to enlarge. ©

By Paul Goldfinger, MD.  Editor and photographer;  Blogfinger.net

I have already whined about this parade: It lacked a real marching band playing Sousa, it lacked active duty soldiers, it wasn’t scheduled on July 4, and there was not a single revolutionary war recreation and no reference to the Founding Fathers and the courage they showed when they told off the King of England in the Declaration of Independence .

But, as I wandered around looking for photo ops, I was most impressed by we-the-people—having a joyful time as they lined Main Avenue cheering and waving flags.  There was lots of laughter and family life. Kids were enthused with the spectacle.

So this parade, and others like it, is a celebration of America, and I guess that George Washington and his colleagues in 1776 would have enjoyed this event if  they were watching or riding in a fire truck throwing candy out the window.

Why don’t I usually use names?   Well I want my photographs to tell a story, and I don’t need the names to tell a story.

Girls in their summer clothes?  What could be more beautiful than American women?   I bet the “Founding Fathers” would have approved–remember Molly Pitcher, Betsy Ross, Abigail Adams, Mary Washington, Deborah Sampson and others who are well represented in today’s parade by modern women and what they continue to accomplish.

Christine Giordano Hanlon, Esq. The Monmouth County Clerk. OG parade. Paul Goldfinger photo.  Blogfinger.net. Click once to Seymour.

Eileen says that women like to be admired. and not treated like  men.

I approached Ms. Hanlon with my camera and I said, “Hi, today I am featuring cute girls.”  She reacted immediately with a sparkling smile. So here she is, looking great in that convertible, but you should know that she is a brilliant public servant.

This family gathered on a Main Ave. porch to enjoy the parade. Their reaction shows how much they love their country. Paul Goldfinger photo. Blogfinger.net.  Click once to enlarge.

OG Beautification Project

Small marching band.

QUEEN:    “Bohemian Rhapsody.”   (The music in this parade needs a lift—here’s Queen.)

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All photos by Paul Goldfinger,   Editor Blogfinger.net

Here is the missing Sousa march:  “The Liberty Bell” by the Band of the Grenadier Guards and Rodney Bashford.

Click on music and  then click on one of the photos ; use the arrow to get to the other photos.  I haven’t mastered this give and go method.

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Girls in their summer clothes: Blogfinger.net .Paul Goldfinger photo. 7/2/22 Click once to Seymour.  ©

AARON NEVILLE: from the album Bring It On Home.

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Jean Bredin. Tent Village. Ocean Grove, New Jersey.   7/1/22. ©

Jean Bredin.  Blogfinger.net.     Independence weekend.  2022.

Tent Village seemed extra charming tonight—-maybe anticipation for this special holiday weekend.

Tenters were congregating and chatting on neighborhood porches.

It is a very special place indeed.

BEVERLY KENNY

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Jean Bredin. July 1, 2022. Ocean Grove Tent Village.©

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE BAND:

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Paul Goldfinger photo©. Seaside Heights boards.   Click once. 

‘No One is Alone” from Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim:

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