Blogfinger

a. Parking mob scene in town Friday night  was for Bridgefest  (www.bridgefest.org .)    They had a famous Christian rock band  “The Newsboys,” and the concert was SOLD OUT;  and once again the town was in lockdown, parking-wise.

The OGCMA had outside-town parking  (Midtown Community Elementary and the Early Childhood Center with bus shuttles into the Grove but it didn’t seem to be enough. The school buses moved slowly after the concert, and I noticed at least 5 of them.  However it was good to see this effort.

On Mt. Hermon Way some neighbors were manipulating cars to save a space for a resident.  Even a member of the HOA parking committee was involved in doing it.  That’s the group that  has not pushed for a residents’ parking advantage.

We know that such razzle-dazzle  goes on all over town.  Let’s rid ourselves of hypocrisy;  why not expand the “save-a-space” philosophy so that all residents can enjoy that privilege.

Bring on permit parking for residents.  Where are some activist residents?  Take up a collection and hang banners all over town:  “We want resident permit parking.”  Or demand that the HOA push for this reform.

b.    News from the Rumor Mill:  We have learned from an OG source that a real coffee shop may be opening at #50 Main Avenue.  Let’s hope it’s true.

c.  Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association   “Happy Birthday, America Concert.”   Saturday, July 1, 2017 – 8 PM – Great Auditorium – Free Concert

Paul Goldfinger photo  ©  July 4, 2015. Blogfinger.net

c. Independence Day Parade, Tuesday, July 4, 2017.  10:30 am.  Sponsored by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association.

“The Ocean Grove Parade has been recognized by the Asbury Park Press as “one of the best parades in the Garden State.” The Star Ledger says the annual Independence Day parade “remains a civic extravaganza of fire trucks, marching bands and volunteer group floats. It has an official motto – ‘The Best Fourth of July Parade in America’ – and is the daytime star of the weekend. The evening star is the Great Auditorium concert.””

Here are the participants: Police; CMA; ROTC color guard; bagpiper; Township Committee; Grand Marshalls—Dale and Carol Whilden; Fisherman Ralph; Summer Band; CMA Trustees; lifeguards, Fire Dept; Citizens Patrol; OG EMT’s; Salvation Army; GA ushers and Ladies Aux;  Monmouth County police, fire and pipes/drums;  VFW; GA Choir; stilt walker; OG Hardware; OG Family Dentistry; Tennis Club; Surf Shop; Chamber; Gannon  Construction;  Cheese on Main; Jack Green Realty;  NHS Band; Ocean Vista; Royal Rangers and National Girls Ministries; Historical Society; Allegria at OG; Hamer Heating and Cooling; Re-Max; Atlantic Watch/Pipes,Drums Corps; Gina Genovese for Gov; OGU; DAYS iIce Cream Kazoo Band;  Rainbow Girls; Lakehouse Music Academy; J.S. Arts Center;  Shoreline Dance; Martenette Farms; Coastal Habitat; Nagles; Blue Knights Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club; Tri-Counties Fire Assoc.; Antique Motor Club of MC;

d. Eileen’s OG garden report .

Portulaca and hibiscus (yellow) doing well in a very sunny, hot Ocean Grove  location. Don’t over-water your hibiscus. Photo by Eileen Goldfinger 6/23/17 ©

Site stats for Wednesday, June 21,2017:    1000 visits.  Most are reading about Vit.  D, HOA and sticker parking, and mother of invention.   17 foreign  countries stopped by including: Moldova, Slovenia, Taiwan.

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1950’s Star Ledger photo of the Ocean Grove North End pavilion.  There are no shorts, and the dresses are well below the knee.  Can’t read the name of the movie.

1930’s Avon lifeguards before they had hyphens or women.  But they were still by-the-sea. Star Ledger photo.

Tuna fishermen; Atlantic City, late 1930’s. NJ.gov. ©

1905 Atlantic City. Sitting in the surf.  The men show more leg than the women. How much did those wet wool bathing suits weigh?  Star Ledger

STEPHEN DeROSA  “You’d Be Surprised” from HBO’s Boardwalk Empire with VinceGiordano and the Nighthawks.    (about 1920’s Prohibition Era Atlantic City.)*

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—* Morris chair: the first recliner.

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ABC World News Tonight (6/20, story 13, 0:15, Muir) reported on a new study “finding millions of Americans are taking too much vitamin D now.”

Reuters (6/20, Rapaport) reports almost 20 percent of adults in the US “are taking supplemental vitamin D, and a growing number are taking excessively high doses linked to an increased risk of fractures, falls, kidney stones and certain cancers,” according to the research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Vox (6/20, Belluz) reports Barry Kramer, MD, the director of the National Cancer Institute’s cancer prevention division, says that the debate over vitamin D supplements reflects how the science surrounding it has evolved.

Blogfinger medical report:  Paul Goldfinger MD, FACC

A few years ago my doctor ordered a Vitamin D level.   Medicare refused to pay.  That’s when I got the idea that something was up with Vitamin D.  It turns out that a big trial was going on involving 39,000 adults. They found that too many people are taking too much Vit D, and Medicare decided that it was wasting its money.  I took Vitamin  D for awhile then stopped–I didn’t believe there was any value in it.

If you read the notes above, you will see that a great deal has been learned recently on this subject, but as so often happens in medicine, we get more questions after we get more answers.

“No high-quality study has found a benefit to screening asymptomatic adults;  and putting people on treatment with supplements has also failed to demonstrably improve health outcomes.”

Here are a few useful pointers:

Vitamin D is essential for bone metabolism as it helps calcium get absorbed.  So for selected individuals, Vit. D with calcium supplements are necessary, as in post menopausal women. Another example is in patients who have under-active or absent thyroid glands.  They need calcium.  Ask your doctor to help you decide what and how much to take.

But don’t miss the point that too much Vit, D can be harmful and can cause a  variety of diseases.

You can get Vit. D from sunshine and in foods such as liver, milk, cheese, canned sardines and egg yolks, for example. The recommended daily intake of vitamin D for most adults is 600 IU (international units), or 800 IU after age 70.

For healthy adults, 98% get enough Vit. D from sunshine and diet.  But just because you get enough Vit. D doesn’t mean you get enough calcium.  And remember that sunblock will prevent skin absorption of Vit D.

Talk to your doctor and count up the mg. of calcium that you eat every day for example from leafy green vegetables, dairy products, food fortified with calcium,  and canned salmon.  A calcium blood test is not a good way to tell if you are calcium deficient. 

You can take in too much calcium and you can take in too much Vit. D, and although you may have been charmed by snake  oil salesmen on the radio, low levels are not the only hazard—high levels are too and can cause heart and kidney disease, certain cancers and depression as examples.

This  is from the National Cancer Institute:

“For healthy individuals, if you’re tired and weak, but it’s nondescript, this is a really tempting thing to do: measure vitamin D and then treat,” Dr. Rosen, who is based at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute, warned. “But there just isn’t enough evidence it does anything.”

“So, for example, if you were feeling a little low this winter and you ask for a vitamin D test, then find out your levels are hovering around 20 or 30 ng/ml, you can go on supplements.  And there’s no doubt that those supplements will raise your vitamin D levels, since researchers have found they are absorbed by the body very efficiently.”

“Doctors just don’t know whether that change actually has any health benefit.”

For more information, read the links within the AMA summary above. You will especially like the second one from VOX.  And know that the NIH will be pursung another trial to answer more questions on this subject

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44 Main Avenue, aka the Flower Shop, aka Lot 5 Block 209, has applied for a hearing before the Neptune Planning Board on June 28, 2017 at 7:00 pm in the Municipal Building.  The owners are applying to make changes to the property including a one-story building addition in addition to other changes and “bulk variance relief.”

Some residents nearby have contacted Blogfinger to complain that “one off-street parking space is proposed, whereas a minimum of 24 spaces are required and zero currently exist.”

The resident said,  “We had two cars park by our house complaining that ‘we’re here for  the cancer center, but they don’t give us any parking.'”   The resident said, “Our block cannot handle a need for an additional 24 spaces.”

A copy of the letter to local residents was forwarded to BF and that letter includes the bulk variances which list, among others:

“—-Lot frontage/width (Heck Avenue) of 23.6 feet is existing, whereas a minimum of 30 feet is required.

—-Parking driveway located 7 feet from building whereas a minimum of 10 feet is required and zero (0) currently exist.

—-Driveway located zero (0) feet fgrom the side property line, whereas a minimum of 5 feet is required and zero currently exists.

—-Driveway width of 19 feet, where feet currently exists.”

Jennifer Krimkko of AG&A is the owners lawyer.  the meeting will be at the Municipal Complex.

FRANCIS ASBURY MANOR     Institutional Property Advisors (IPA) has arranged the sale of Francis Asbury Manor, a 131-unit assisted living facility in Ocean  Grove to the Sage Group…The price was $18.3 million, ie $139,000 per lot. It is now called ALLEGRIA.

113 Main Avenue, a 3 bedroom home, is in foreclosure

80 Main Avenue is available or summer rental for $3,200 per week.

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“Pack your bags up baby.”       Paul Goldfinger© Ocean Grove, NJ.  Undated.

“Phoenix, Arizona; Memphis, Tennessee
Southern California, Washington DC
I gotta go… a whole world to see
So pack your bags up baby
Come along and ride with me.”

THE MAVERICKS:

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Paul Goldfinger ©  Ocean Grove, October, 2008.  The season doesn’t end on Labor Day. A dog beach is another way to promote community and friendships.

AARON COPELAND  “Simple Gifts.”

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Paul Goldfinger © Asbury Park Boardwalk. September 14, 2014.

BILLY ECKSTINE.    By Irving Berlin from Annie Get Your Gun.

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