Spring fling, May 14, 2016. Neptune township closed a large part of Main Avenue. Blogfinger photo. ©
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger 2016.
Saturday, May 14, 2016. Today at 10:30 am I returned from the bank and found the town to be overrun with a large crowd of tourists who were here for a “Spring Fling” sponsored by the OG Chamber of Commercials. Parking was very difficult. Main Avenue was closed along the entire commercial district and down near the beach. Pilgrim Pathway was clogged shut, and a loud rock band was shaking the rafters.
Who exactly benefits from this Spring Fling? Of course the CC does, and so do the many vendors who have set up booths, almost all of them from out of town. The tourists love it, while the locals ignore it and groan.
Pilgrim Pathway closed for the Spring Fling. Should we be Seaside Heights or Rhinebeck? Blogfinger photo. ©
This is not the only such happening. How about the Chamber’s Spring Giant Flea Market which will involve nearly 300 vendors on June 4. Then there is the British car fling, the vintage car fling, the giant fall flea fling market and the fall autumn fling festival—– all town clogging events produced by the CC.
And don’t forget the large gatherings sponsored by the Camp Meeting Association, including their giant craft show in mid June.
How much of this sort of event is good for the town? How much is enough? When does the Chamber, the CMA, and the Township start to think about nurturing this town, its history, its culture, and its residents. It seems like OG is merely a stage set for those who want to commercialize it.
People say that the parking issues are only during July and August, but this town has congested events of this sort for 6 months of the year, hardly a trivial amount of time. We need relief for resident parking.
We are a lovely artistic and historic town, and it is wonderful to have events outdoors here, but how about small themed programs that improve the quality of life of those who actually live in Ocean Grove. I’m thinking chamber music, art shows, collectors events, film festivals, historic reenactments, food truck nights, farmers markets, plays in the parks, poetry readings, focused literary festivals, etc.
Two summers ago we had an Illumination Night for the townspeople. It was a beautiful small historic event with overtones of OG’s past. It was held by Auditorium Park adjacent to the bookstore—sponsored by the CMA. Lights were twinkling, kids were skateboarding and biking, a guitarist played, and the rest of us chatted and had refreshments. We need more of that. but without the religious component.
Illumination Night near the Great Auditorium. August 20, 2014. Paul Goldfinger photo
What exactly does the Chamber do for the Township itself? When was the last time they spoke out regarding OG issues such as historic preservation, land use controversies, or parking? How about elevating the cultural experiences here instead of just promoting commercialism?
Why should we who live here be thrilled with the Chamber’s “flings?” Do they care about the tranquility, spirit, quality of life and comfort of Ocean Grove’s citizens? Do they care about the future of this town? They want our business, but what do they do in exchange besides show up. And as for the town, this is just another example of Neptune Township ignoring the tax paying “townies” in favor of other interests.
So, if OG continues on a path where there are takers but few givers, then it will decline into something less. Too pessimistic? If we want to be unique instead of similar to other shore towns, then committed citizens need to pay attention.
Editor’s note 2022: This topic is about the life of our town…what is it and what should it be? Ocean Grove needs to define itself because helter- skelter will be its ruin.
If you read the comments for this post from 2016 you can see that we were all over the map in trying to understand the Grove. There needs to be a movement —-a community of residents .
That community is the single most important group in town and they should organize to keep OG from being weighed down by too much too much too much: commercialism, tourist crowds, religious dominance, zoning abuses, Neptune neglect, cultural deficiencies, and mindless wheel spinning giant events. Let’s balance the scale with more positives and less negatives.
NEKO CASE with the Nighthawks in Boardwalk Empire
