By Paul Goldfinger. Editor. Blogfinger.net 12/30/25
The Wegman parking lot was very busy on the day before New Year’s Eve. We were loading groceries into our trunk when a Cadillac stopped, signaling that he wanted our space. A couple in the car were “seniors.” He sat there waiting as we emptied our carts.
He smiled and said to me: “I would like to take your space, take your cart and take everything else….”
Me: “Oh, OK, Take my wife please.”
Some of you will remember Henny Youngman….a classic Borscht Belt comedian.
Anhinga (aka “Devil Bird)” dries its wings along the banks of the Camelia River. Ft. Myers, Fla. Paul Goldfinger photo. This bird has more nicknames than the OGHOA “Home Groaners.” Click to enlarge.
Wiki: “The Anhinga is also known as the “Snake-bird” for its habit of swimming with its body submerged in the water and just its long thin head and neck visible. Unlike cormorants that catch fish in their bills, Anhinga spear fish, flip them into the air and swallow them headfirst. ”
We have also seen Anhinga and /or cormorants in Fletcher Lake. The wing span is about 3 feet.
The photo above is from my new Apple iPhone 13 Pro. (2022). It has 3 lenses and an improved photo sensor with enhanced resolution. It also is better in low light.
(Note: 2026–I now have an iPhone 16, but the 17 Pro. just was released. The photos with my iPhone 16 Pro are quite excellent
Paul @Blogfinger.net
EMMYLOU HARRIS AND MARK KNOPFLER “Lost on the River.” This is from a tribute to Hank Williams.
Klezmer band. Williamsburg, Brooklyn. 2005 By William Meyers
SOUNDTRACK FOR THIS PHOTO: “FREYLACH #8” BY KLEZMER JUICE.
By Paul Goldfinger, Photography editor at Blogfinger.net.
Every once in a while I will post a guest photographer segment which might be about a famous artist or just someone who sends us an image. Or, as in this case, it could just be a photographer whose work I stumbled upon. I don’t know William Meyers personally, but I saw one of his images (above) recently and I saved a copy for this post. I can’t even recall where I saw it, but his work has been exhibited and published extensively.
William Meyers was born in 1938, and perusal of his web site indicates that he shoots mostly black and white, and mostly in New York City. His themes include NYC lifestyles, music subjects, and Jewish life here and in Israel. He seems to like music, and his photos seem to like women. He seems to be like one of his heroes Garry Winogrand, a pioneer of street photography.
Meyers has been a photography writer for the Wall Street Journal as well as a successful photographic artist.
I am drawn to some of his work because his sensibility seems to be similar to my own. In 2015 he published a book of images from the outer boroughs of New York. Those black and white photos are all made with film, and all his photos are silver gelatin darkroom prints. Myers does not do digital.
Darkroom work is exhausting to do, requires great skill, and is very time consuming. For those photographers who have gone digital from film, many consider the new technology to be a relief. The finished products, digital based photo prints on light sensitive papers or digital reproductions viewed on digital screens, are now said by many to be indistinguishable from dark room printing, but others may disagree. However, that debate seems to now be over even for those who display photos in books, magazines, galleries and art shows including museums.
William Meyers has first-rate printers do his prints for him. Many famous photo artists in the past including Cartier-Bresson did the same. Bresson thought his job was over when he hit the shutter release button.
In my case, I did my own darkroom printing when I was still using film, and I loved the results. But now my OG darkroom is used for other photo requirements like reviewing images, sorting, scanning, and editing. I also gave up matting, mounting and framing. I am pleased with my images as seen on Blogfinger.net. My gallery can be seen by clicking at the top of my home page.
But Myers is one of many who still use film, and some photographers have gone back to film. The use of film as well as darkroom developing and printing are making a comeback and are taught in college photography classes. In Japan, use of film still prevails.. It should be noted that darkroom work is still a very satisfying way to pursue photography. It is a true craft.
Now I use digital cameras and I mostly show my work on the Internet; however, when I need a print, my digital printing is done by an expert lab, printing on special paper for black and white images. Color is another story. Some digital photographers do their own printing on paper at home, but that is expensive and requires skill.
Many of my darkroom prints are available signed, in limited editions, and are available for purchase. Some are matted and/or mounted. Contact Blogfinger@verizon.net if interested or look for us at the 2026 “Art on the Porch” event.
“Busker” Union Square Subway Station. NYC. Feb. 2011. William Meyers
San Francisco Girls Band. Photographed at Banjo Jim’s on the Lower East Side. November 2011. William Meyers
Deborah Rosenthal, painter. New York City. 1998. William Meyers
“The Harry Eichhorn Pavilion” by Jack Bredin. January, 2019. Photograph by Rob Bredin . Click to enlarge. Just because.
Re-post 2019. Blogfinger.net. See comments.
BILL EVANS (piano) and CANNONBALL ADDERLEY (sax). “Waltz for Debbie.”
*Harry Eichhorn is an iconic figure in Ocean Grove representing the musical side of this town with its long musical heritage. There is a plaque on the Pavilion honoring Harry Eichhorn for his many years of conducting the Summer Band. You can use the search box at the top right of this page and type in his name. And, incidentally, Harry will turn 92 on January 29. —PG
Editor’s note: Once again artist Jack Bredin of Ocean Grove creates a personal vision of an Ocean Grove view. His body of work is unique, as he redefines how we see our town. There was a time in 2007 when this Boardwalk Pavilion became a symbol of controversy where factions in the Grove clashed in an un-neighborly way.
But Jack Bredin sees something much different when he looks at the Pavilion. He sees summer band concerts, gospel services with inspiring music, children running around, a place to rest on a hot day, and a historic landmark which is part of a larger and most beautiful scene as seen in this painting. So that is why he doesn’t simply call this work “Boardwalk Pavilion.”
Instead, by naming this work “The Harry Eichhorn* Pavilion” he reminds us to look at our town with a broad stroke and to see it in all its diversity and beauty.
North End Redevelopment zone. Ocean Grove. Paul Goldfinger photo for Blogfinger.net. Click once to enlarge.
By Mary Walton. Blogfinger.net. And read the comments below:
As the 2012 Labor Day weekend drew to a close under cloudy skies, the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association reported a somewhat gloomy financial picture at its traditional season’s end review. (Note: Sandy hit in October 2012. This meeting was on Labor Day 2012.
Operating income of $3,164,000 fell $39,000 short of operating expenses. Contributions to the choir festival, Camp Meeting week and other special events were down by $24,500 over last year. And ticket sales to the Saturday night entertainment programs experienced an especially severe drop. They totaled 20,347, compared to 27,588 in 2011, a 26 percent decline that resulted in the lowest profit margin in eleven years.
Dr. Dale Whilden, CMA president, attributed the fall off in Saturday night attendance to competition from new entertainment outlets in the surrounding area, particularly Asbury Park. The loss of revenues when Johnny Mathis cancelled his August 11 appearance was another factor. Whilden added, “And the economy has got to be a part of this.”
On the bright side, as of Aug. 20 beach revenues had outpaced expenses $928,000 to $760,000. Beach profits, however, cannot be used to defray operating losses.
More than 100 people attended the meeting, which was held this year in the Youth Temple rather than its customary venue, the Bishop Janes Tabernacle. In another change from past years, the meeting was closed to the media.
“This meeting is targeted for supporters,” Ralph del Campo, interim chief operating officer, told this Blogfinger reporter before the meeting began. I was invited to sit in, but told not to report. He explained that people were under the false impression that the CMA was a public entity, which has not been the case since it was a municipality running Ocean Grove, a role now occupied by Neptune Township. He noted that as a religious organization the CMA is not obligated to make its sessions public. There was no explanation for why the change was suddenly enacted. In fact, Blogfinger has covered the meeting in past years. “We’re not trying to hide anything,” Whilden chimed in.
The change in policy was not announced during the meeting, and Bonnie Graham, a reporter for the Coaster, took notes throughout. Graham was unaware of the no-reporting rule until I made an issue of it during the questions and comments session that concluded the meeting. I asked that the CMA reconsider its policy in the interest of openness. Graham also objected to the rule against media reporting, and afterward said she was shocked and mystified. Trustees apparently were not aware of the decision either. “What’s that all about?” one asked me.
On another subject, Joan Caputo spoke for Ocean Grove United, a gay advocacy organization that has often been at odds with the CMA, most recently over the appearance of actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron, the author of harsh anti-gay remarks. After an OGU protest, Whilden and other CMA officials met with a group from the organization to hear their concerns. Caputo thanked them for having “in many ways opened their hearts and taken the time to meet with us, to listen and to share. Let the dialogue continue.” She made her remarks available to Blogfinger.
CMA Trustee Douglas E. Arpert responded to a questioner who asked the status of the North End development of condos, homes and a hotel. The CMA and a company called WAVE (Wesley Atlantic Village Enterprises) are co-developers. Arpert told Blogfinger they hope to conclude a redevelopment agreement with Neptune Township by the end of the year and to break ground in 2013.
After the meeting Del Campo and Whilden sat down with me to review the information that had been presented at the meeting, so that it could be included in this article.
In addition to financial news, they said that the search for a chief operating officer is nearing its conclusion. After an initial round of searching last year failed to produce a suitable candidate, the search was widened in the spring. The search committee received more than 30 resumes, and has narrowed the field to three, all men. The committee will conduct interviews in September and expects to name the new officer by year’s end.
In other statistics of interest, the most popular speakers this summer were Ravi Zakarias, who drew 2,900 Sunday morning worshippers this past Sunday, followed by Kirk Cameron, 2,300, and Tony Campolo, 2,058.
Neil Sedaka attracted the largest Saturday night crowd, 2,722, followed by Diana Krall, 2,470, and Michael W. Smith, 2,316.
By Paul Goldfinger, MD. Editor Blogfinger.net. By popular request:
Kevin Chambers recently commented here that nothing much ever really changes in Ocean Grove. But the truth is that a great many aspects of this historic town are undergoing evolution.
The most important and least well known change is that our population is evolving, and not in a way that many of you might realize.
We have written about our under-appreciated demographic of OG residents which are secular and include retirees, second homers, escapees from COVID and the urban mess in New York, workers at home, new year round residents, gays, singles, artists, lovers of Asbury Park, teenagers, young families, and renters.
Many of this new generation have interests and lifestyles which will change the Grove despite the efforts of the Neptune Comedy, greedy developers, and the Camp Meeting theocracy.
In 2017 Ocean Grove was named the #1 religious landmark in the country. But those pollsters missed the boat about the Grove. Once again the media gets us wrong. This is what they said:
“Methodist ministers founded Ocean Grove believing ‘religion and recreation should go hand in hand.’ Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this quaint town is crammed with picturesque Victorian homes, antiques, a historic Auditorium, chapel, and tent community, and offers numerous tours and activities on land, sea, and air. Methodists still gather here regularly as well as other Christian groups.”
But now in 2022, there is no mistaking the fact that there is more to the Grove than an official religion.
Beneath the surface is a new force that will be unstoppable. There are young people who have moved here and who love this town. They are often single or couples living together. They bring new ideas and lifestyles. They are residents who are forming new friendships and neighborhoods with new outlooks.
Despite the efforts of the Camp Meeting to turn Ocean Grove into a “Seaside Religious Resort,” they are losing the goal of attracting new Christian believers to town as residents.
Instead there are other winds blowing this way, and COVID is only one: political, racial, secular, artistic, musical, religious, financial, and cultural.
We first met Grace when she was standing on her head near Stokes statue. She moved here after being in Costa Rica for a while.
Grace teaches yoga, meditation, and energy healing. She “loves” the Grove. Despite our concerns about new young Grovers finding housing, today’s residents were able to find housing. Grace and many of the new residents have dogs, increasing the canine population.
If you are interested in her classes, contact her at gweidnerz@gmail.com.
Barkey is a “Bernedoodle” Please let me know if I got your names wrong. Anyhow, Sini moved here 2 years ago to escape COVID and more from New York City. She says that she may be an escapee, but she “loves” it here and she plans to stay.
We will continue to meet members of the Grover Underground.
My college jazz band (FDU Rutherford) played a beauty pageant in Myrtle Beach, S. Carolina. It was the “Miss Fun in the Sun” Festival. We would have liked to mingle and have fun with the contestants, but we couldn’t get anywhere near them.
We ended the talent show with “Dixie” (Which we had to learn overnight) and then drove a bus back to Jersey the next day.
In case you don’t know the words to “Dixie:” “I wish I were in the land of cotton; old times there are ne’re forgotten. Look away…..” Everyone stood and everyone knew the words; except we. —
“After the Ball is Over” by Barbara Cook at Lincoln Center. From the Broadway show: “Showboat.”
