Steppin’ out on the new Ocean Grove boardwalk. Photos by Paul Goldfinger @Blogfinger. Click on images to enlarge.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net
Once the ribbon was cut, the public was allowed onto the new boardwalk. Most were milling about watching Chris Christie mingle with the crowd. A few set out to be the first to walk the boards.
We met two people who were standing on the Trex, not wondering at all what material had been used under foot.
Nina Koridek (L), Danielle Kimelstein, Cooper Pickren Photos by Paul Goldfinger @Blogfinger ©
Nina Koridek is a “summer resident” from Stirling, New Jersey. Her family has been coming to Ocean Grove for seven generations. She was watching the governor carefully because she is “a fan.” Nina was carrying an American flag and wearing a broad rim hat in fashionable black. She said that she wasn’t confident that FEMA would help the Grove, but now she and her family were happy to be on the new boardwalk for this ceremony. She and her son Cooper Pickren reached Governor Christie and posed for a photo with him. Cooper, a law student, got to talk a little politics with the Gov. Then they were ready to pose for a Blogfinger photo on the new boards.
Patience M. Osborn Chalmers from Spring Lake. ©
Patience M. Osborn Chalmers is from Spring Lake, but she loves to ride her 10 speed Schwinn into Ocean Grove and sometimes beyond to Pier Village. She confessed that she would like to ride her bike on the OG boardwalk during the day, and if a policeman stopped her, she would say, “But officer, isn’t it 3:00 am?”
Patience’s family has been in the area for numerous generations going back to around the Mayflower. (My family goes back to the Staten Island Ferry.) She likes to volunteer with the OG Ladies Auxiliary, and her current project is to help with their book sale which will occur on the weekend of July 10. I asked her how she liked the new boardwalk, and she exclaimed, “It’s fantastic.” She said that now all the elements of our shore area boardwalks have come together, and she is thrilled to be at our opening.
NAT KING COLE:
