Sanibel Island Farmers Market. February, 2020. Paul Goldfinger ©. Monochrom. Farmers markets are wonderful small town events; fun for all and nutritious besides.
Paul Goldfinger MD. Editor Blogfinger.net
Thinking out of the box: Where is it written that a small beautiful town like Ocean Grove should be exploited as a venue for large tourist events? These mega-glut happenings smother the town and do nothing for the public welfare. And they overwhelm our parking capacity
Are we the state fair grounds? Are we Disneyland? Do any other Jersey Shore towns have the amount of suffocating money-making events as we do? Do the flea markets and giant craft markets do anything for our town? The answer is NO.
If you were designing a wonderful residential community from scratch, would you include events that bring overwhelming numbers of tourists into town?
Let’s face it, these occurrences are held in the Grove, as opposed to other places, because people enjoy visiting our wonderful sea shore, historic town. But there are thousands of us who actually live here and want to celebrate the Grove for ourselves, especially in season and on weekends. Hold those huge events, like the giant junk market, someplace else.
So why not take this 2020 opportunity to redefine and redesign our town’s life styles?
My solutions to our parking problem would include:
a. No more than 2 giant events each year. (Not counting the 4th of July celebration.) Redo the special event calendar by using the regulatory permit mechanism on behalf of and with the consent of the residents of Ocean Grove.
b. Plan events that will be enjoyed by residents and by tourists whose numbers will be suppressed by the nature of the new events. Make the Grovarian residents the top priority.
Cancel all large Pathway events except the 2 mega-happenings each year. Allow a limited number (eg 6-10) of scheduled manageable occurrences that would fit in any of three parks to define size: Founders, Auditorium Square, and Firemen’s. Put the special events scheduling in the hands of an OG Community Calendar Committee which will hand out permits. Keep the Neptuners out of it.
We pay taxes; Can’t Grovers control special events in our town?
Close the streets downtown only twice per year. Make one for American cars.
Strive for events that celebrate the arts and the mind. Have entertainment, but keep it manageable. Did you ever see the weekly ballroom dancing by the ocean in Bradley Beach? Have you been to our summer band concerts on the boardwalk? Perfect.
Here are some specific suggestions for our town that would promote happiness, knowledge, beauty and fun; some already exist:
a. Small musical groups, such as jazz, performing outdoors.
b. Art shows where local artists show their work. Meet and greet the artists. OG has quite a few of them.
c. Poetry readings, such as when the Historical Society had a Walt Whitman tribute in the park.
d. Farmers market weekly, in season
e. Dance contests..bring in a big band.
f. Ethnic events: Italian, Latin, Jewish, Irish, etc
g. Food trucks near the boardwalk, once or twice per season, at night
h. Juried craft show
i. OG People’s garden tour
j. Town-wide yard sale
k. Summer band, movies on the beach, enhanced plant sale, etc.
l. More historic events, such as a Civil War reenactment (as we once had.)
m. Children’s shows (secular) performed by kids. I vote for Guys and Dolls. Children could learn to sit down and not rock the boat.
n. Harry Potter day for the kids.
o. Dog shows held at our new dog park.
p. Keep every bit of the classical music programming including the Choir Festival. Keep the best of what we have now.
None of these suggested events will bring in tons of tourists with their cars. Some tourists are desirable; we should share our town with others, but in a limited way.
As for religious tourism, that would require persuading the CMA to reduce, not increase, their events. The Camp Meeting owns the land, but governance is of the people, by the people, and for the people.
It’s no longer 1920; the demographics of this town are changing—–OG should change: Time is on our side……
THE ROLLING STONES:
