OG flea market. 2017. This is the only way Led Zeppelin will get to OG. Paul Goldfinger photo ©
Paul Goldfinger. Editor at Blogfinger.net. August, 2020.
For many years, the Chester Lions Club ran a weekly flea market. It was held in an out-of-the-way dirt lot and its size was modest. It was a fund raiser by the Lions whose main interest was helping those with visual impairments. It was a treasure for the community and it caused no parking or traffic problems or crowding in the Borough.
In Ocean Grove we have a Chamber of Commerce that will sponsor a “giant” flea market on September 12 which will have over 300 vendors and lure thousands of visitors, if the usual attendance happens again.
A great deal of money will be generated for vendors, the Chamber of Commercials, and the land owner—OGCMA. We don’t know if the Township also will be feeding at the trough. What does the Chamber do with the money they get? Why does the Chamber need to make money? And why are we Grovers the hosts of their fund raising and promotions?
What do they do for the community? The answer is nothing.
We have suggested that this year’s mob scene would not be in the best interest of our town due to real COVID-19 concerns. This is on top of the usual crowds and parking glut.
But looking at this topic in a broader sense, we ask the question: How is this event a benefit for our town? There are thousands of citizens who make Ocean Grove their home, and other than creating a spectacle, the event is totally unnecessary—a detriment from the point of view of OG’s citizens and community.
It is one of many events held in the Grove that are popular because this is a beautiful town on the ocean, and if it weren’t for the care of our historic homes and the warmth of our citizens, these events would be a lot less popular.
Why can’t the Chamber and the CMA host their mega events at some park, race track lots, school parking, mall parking, or other venues where the local citizens can avoid being overrun by tourists? No other shore town has nearly as many giant events. Their citizens get to enjoy their summer towns more than we.
The answer is that they profit from the our Victorian architecture and gardens, along with our porch culture which is so inviting to tourists. Who says that OG should be a commercial magnet when it is actually a small, residential shore town with a historic and a religious flavor.
Neptune should protect us from exploitation, but it doesn’t care–it is part of the “Historic District” band wagon and feeding frenzy coupled with an ancient “one hand washes the other” relationship with the CMA.
The presence of the OGCMA is another related topic because of their many summer-long religious events creating crowds that no other Jersey Shore town has to deal with. They may own the land, but they don’t own the town.
Some have told Blogfinger that anyone who doesn’t like what goes on here should not have moved here, but that assumes that Chamber and CMA events are set in stone and must be continued into the future; but most towns evolve in ways that satisfy the needs of their tax paying citizens. Witness what has happened and still happens in Bradley Beach where they no longer have mega-events.
The idea that OG is a historic place is belied by the presence of such happenings as giant flea markets. Where is the dedication to OG as a recipient of historic designations?
KAREN ELSON WITH VINCE GIORDANO AND THE NIGHTHAWKS. From Boardwalk Empire. “Who’s Sorry Now.”
