Ocean Grove, NJ By Paul Goldfinger Thornley Chapel.
Feb. 2010. silver gelatin print. Click once to enlarge. 2023
MARTHA WAINWRIGHT from the soundtrack of the movie Aviator
Posts Tagged ‘Ocean Grove’
Thornley Chapel
Posted in Music: The Power to Enchant, tagged Andrea Shippy, Ocean Grove, Photo: Thornley Chapel on October 15, 2025|
Asbury Avenue, Ocean Grove
Posted in Music from the movies, Photographic Gallery, Black and White, Photographic Gallery: Ocean Grove, tagged Asbury Avenue, Ocean Grove on September 24, 2025| 1 Comment »
Main Avenue: What’s It All About? Reposted from January, 2012
Posted in Feature article, tagged Main Avenue, Ocean Grove on August 18, 2017| 13 Comments »
Morning, Main Avenue, Ocean Grove, New Jersey. By Paul Goldfinger
This article (below) from 5 years ago addresses that topic and will offer some perspective when we consider the businesses in the Grove today and when we realize that the residents of the town get short shrift if their lifestyles are even considered.
By Paul Goldfinger, editor @Blogfinger
In 2002, Mr. Ted David self-published a book called “The Other Side of Ocean Grove.” Mr. David was fascinated by the quirky nature of the town, so his chapters had titles like “The Wisdom Bench,” “Krisanna’s,” “Blasted Mosquitoes” and “The Gates.” Chapter 11, however, was called “Main Avenue.” About that subject, Mr. David said, “The Great Auditorium is the heart and soul of the Grove, but Main Avenue is its skeleton and nerves.”
Recently we learned that a toy store would open in town, and an interesting discussion developed as to the nature of Main Avenue and what kinds of businesses should be here. There is, however, no set policy on this subject, so perhaps we can learn something from history.
A long-time Grover told me that early in the town’s history there were businesses up and down Main and on the side streets. Judging from a published list from 1938, it would appear that she is correct. Ted David points out that the founders wanted businesses in town to serve only the community who lived here. They had little interest in tourism other than the summer church programs.
In 1938.* on Main Avenue, we had the following businesses: 1 restaurant, 2 pharmacies, 1 electrician, 3 plumbing and heating, 1 fish and vegetable, 1 bead shop, 1 jeweler/watch repair, 5 real estate/insurance, 2 newsstands, 1 taxi stand, 1 book/needle shop, 2 gift shops and 13 hotels. Down multiple other streets were: 1 ice cream, 1 antique, 3 carpenters, 1 auto repair, 1 dry cleaning, 1 fish market, 1 greenhouse, 1 groceries and meats, 1 milk/dairy, 1 movie house, 1 butcher, 1 painting and decorating, and 4 restaurants.
Mr David points out that until around 1990, the downtown was still devoted mostly to businesses that served the townspeople. But since then, as Ocean Grove rebounded from a downhill slide in the ’70’s and ’80’s, the idea developed that Main Avenue should change to attract tourists, and that is where we are now.
Main Avenue 2010. Paul Goldfinger photo
Who’s to say what happens next on Main Avenue? In this town, we can’t even trust zoning to protect our town (Remember Mary’s Place?) We have a Chamber of Commerce, but what do they do for the town’s residents besides close Main Ave. for car shows and other events? Do they ever consider the lifestyles and needs of those who actually live in town? And where’s our coffee shop?
And is it time to abolish blue laws to give the town a pick-me-up? It’s been a new ball game since 1980.
* Ref: Gibbons History of Ocean Grove
JONI MITCHELL “In France They Kiss on Main Street”
Seeing Ourselves as Australia Sees Us
Posted in Blogfinger News, Ocean Grove news, tagged Australia, Ocean Grove on January 18, 2013|
Trading Places: Carol and Dale Whilden and son Jordan outside the offices of the Australian paper The Ocean Grove Voice. Its editor, on that day, happened to be in Ocean Grove, N.J.
By Charles Layton
My cyberspace pen pal, Alan Barber, edits the local newspaper in our sister city, Ocean Grove, Australia. He just sent me a link to an article he published this week. It describes his visit to our town in mid-December.
As we reported earlier, Barber stopped by here during a vacation in the U.S. And just by coincidence two of our townsfolk, Dale and Carol Whilden, along with their son, Jordan, were on that same day visiting Barber’s town on Australia’s southern coast.
While there, the Whildens showed up at the office of Barber’s paper, the Ocean Grove Voice. One of the staffers there took their picture.
We’ve already posted a story telling you what the Whildens thought about the Australian Ocean Grove. So now I thought I’d let you read Barber’s account of his visit here. We seem to have made a favorable impression. He devoted a great deal of space to his article about us, including a generous display of photos — of the Barbaric Bean, the Great Auditorium, our damaged beachfront and more.
Alan Barber. Photo by Mary Walton at the Barbaric Bean
He concluded by writing that “in a short time I learnt that although we live so far away we certainly share one really important trait — both Ocean Groves are friendly, welcoming and really interesting towns… I’ll certainly return to visit.”
Come back any time, Alan.
-0-
To read his article, go to http://www.oceangrovevoice.com. When you get there, click on the “our latest edition” box at the top right corner and use the side arrows to navigate to pages 12 and 13. You’ll have to left click on the pages to enlarge them enough to read.
To see our previous article about Barber and his visit with us, click here.
A Visitor From the Other Ocean Grove — The One Down Under
Posted in Blogfinger News, Feature article, Ocean Grove news, tagged Australia, Ocean Grove, Ocean Grove Chamber of Commerce, Randy Bishop on December 17, 2012| 1 Comment »
Australian journalist Alan Barber (left) admires the Great Auditorium as Lois Hetfield and Charles Layton tell him how Woody Allen once made a movie there. Photos by Mary Walton
By Charles Layton
Alan Barber, who runs the newspaper in Ocean Grove, Australia, turned up in our town on Monday. Lois Hetfield, the Chamber of Commerce’s administrator, showed him the Great Auditorium, and then the two of them, plus a couple of Blogfinger staffers, settled in for some coffee and chit-chat at the Barbaric Bean.
While we were talking Mayor Randy Bishop dropped in, and he and Barber proceeded to swap stories and make comparisons between the two namesake towns at opposite ends of the planet.
Barber is vacationing in New York City. Since he was so close by, he said he couldn’t resist seeing his “sister city,” so he hopped on the North Jersey Coast Line and came on down.
He explained that Australia’s Ocean Grove, southwest of Melbourne, was founded in the 19th century by Methodists from our own Ocean Grove. The coastal area where they established a camp meeting, based on the one in New Jersey, was the domain of Aboriginal Australians at the time.
Barber’s newspaper, the Ocean Grove Voice, is a bi-weekly, or “fortnightly” as they say down under. He was born in South Africa, grew up in the United Kingdom, where he became a newspaper photographer, and moved nine years ago to Australia, where he had friends and a brother. He settled in the area of Melbourne, which he considers Australia’s most interesting city, and then “discovered Ocean Grove by chance, really.”
The spot of land where the first Australian Grovers settled, next to a beach, is now a park, but the Camp Meeting Association still survives there, although it isn’t the dominating presence it is here.
The Australian Ocean Grove was originally a dry town, under a covenant that is still sometimes cited when someone wants to prevent a business from acquiring a license to sell liquor. Still, alcohol is now served in that town’s restaurants and bars, and Barber said the local coffee shop, The Olive Pit, just got a liquor license as well.
That’s not the only difference between here and there. Barber said the beach area there has no sidewalks and no boardwalk, just dunes. The town has two business districts with a total of 60 or 70 shops, plus there is a big shopping mall. A second mall is in the works, he said.
Ocean Grove, Australia, has about 12,000 residents now, but Barber expects it to grow to 25,000 in the next 15 years “because there’s a growth area at the north that’s developing.” Bishop told him that our Ocean Grove has between 5,800 and 6,000 people, but that our population can swell to as many as 21,000 on a busy weekend, counting day trippers and hotel guests. (Hetfield said we have about 500 hotel rooms now.)
Barber told Randy Bishop (left) that The Barbaric Bean reminded him of The Olive Pit in Australia. One difference: The Olive Pit just got a liquor license.
Barber was especially impressed by our Great Auditorium, with its seating capacity of 6,500. He said the only performance space in his Ocean Grove is in a little place called The Piping Hot Chicken Shop, which features local blues bands and an occasional visiting band from Melbourne. Bishop wanted to know whether any of the street names in Australia matched those in our town, so we all started ticking off the names of our local streets — Lawrence, Cookman, Heck, Abbott… There was only one match: Ocean Grove, Australia, has an “Inskip,” Barber said.
According to Barber, his Ocean Grove has had a much harder time preserving its historic buildings. Development “is almost a free-for-all at the moment,” he said. People are leveling older structures and building “square boxes,” and there is no historical protection under the law. He said there was a local uprising that managed to keep a McDonald’s from moving in, but the town has allowed a KFC and a couple of smaller chain businesses.
As darkness was falling, Barber caught a train back to New York. He flies home to Australia on Thursday. He invited us to come and visit any time.
Oh, but here is a coincidence. Barber told us that while he was visiting here, the president of our Camp Meeting Association, Dale Whilden, and his family just happened to be visiting Ocean Grove, Australia. Barber said he was told the Whildens had dropped by his newspaper’s office to say hello.
If you want to read Barber’s newspaper, go to http://www.oceangrovevoice.com.
MUSIC: A Wild Night in New Orleans
Posted in Blogfinger News, Music, tagged Ocean Grove on November 12, 2012| 1 Comment »
Dr. John. If he don’t do it, nobody else will.
By Charles Layton
Now that we’ve been slammed hard by a hurricane, we have something in common with New Orleans.
We already shared a few common traits. Both our towns sit next to large bodies of water, and both have lots of gay people. In both towns, for some reason, people like to walk down the middle of the street.
But the contrasts are more striking. New Orleans doesn’t have a beach. Ocean Grove didn’t invent jazz. New Orleans is famous for masked Zulus in feathered headdresses riding on Mardi Gras floats. Ocean Grove has auditorium ushers marching in the 4th of July parade in sneakers and khaki shorts.
We Ocean Grovers call our town God’s Square Mile, whereas the people of New Orleans . . . well, they march to a different drummer.
The hurricane
New Orleans has a mixed drink called a “hurricane,” an industrial-strength amalgam of rum, fruit juice and who knows what else — grenadine or some such thing. You buy one of these in most any bar in the Vieux Carré and then you go carousing down Bourbon Street, openly and unregenerately slurping. When your big “hurricane glass” is empty, you just veer into another bar and say, “Fill ‘er up.” It’s not only legal to drink on the street in New Orleans, it’s pretty much encouraged. We Grovers do something similar, but with ice cream cones.
Here’s a song expressing the rakish, debauched attitude so commonly thought-of as New Orleanian. It is sung by the perfect ambassador for that delightfully dissolute city: Dr. John. The song, “Such a Night,” is based on a rather cute rationalization — “If I don’t do it somebody else will” — repeated over and over, as if the singer is trying to convince himself of its validity.
Saturday Beachfront Cleanup Attracts an Estimated 700 Volunteers
Posted in Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association Activity, tagged 700 volunteers work at the beach front in Ocean Grove, Cleanup a success, New Jersey, NJ, Ocean Grove, Ocean Grove hurricane damage on November 4, 2012| 8 Comments »
Urns and benches stored at the North End. Paul Goldfinger photo. Left click for large view.
By Paul Goldfinger
Ralph delCampo, the Chief Administrative Officer of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA) was thrilled with the public’s response to his request for volunteers to help with the beachfront cleanup. An estimated 700 people showed up including Ocean Grove townspeople and outsiders. He said that the response “exceeded our expectations” and that it was “gratifying” to see how young and old were willing to work to accomplish 80% of the job. It was essential to recruit volunteers,because the CMA has only 14 employees. The workers labored all day long and filled up 3 dumpsters with debris. He noted that Ocean Grove is a very special town where “we have seen the best in people.”
delCampo was especially impressed with the young workers who appeared “like out of the woodwork” in response to announcements on social networking websites. He said, “What I saw spoke to me about the future of the greatest country in the world.”
What was accomplished was the respectful removal of a large number of heavy benches and urns which are memorials that are important to so many people. Those objects had to be removed because heavy equipment would soon be brought in to dismantle the boardwalk. Huge amounts of sand were shoveled back onto the beach. Bulldozers are moving that sand into mountains at the north and south ends of the Grove.
Boardwalk looks different afterwards with the removal of benches, urns and much of the sand. PG photo
The destruction of the boardwalk is not covered by insurance, so that will be a huge strain on the budget of the CMA. The boardwalk restoration “will cost millions.”
The benches and urns were moved to the North End near Spray Avenue and they looked a bit like a regiment of the Chinese Terracotta Army standing at attention next to Wesley Lake.
delCampo said that there was the possibility that a certain Christian ministry might be able to offer skilled framers to help take the boardwalk apart. That idea is still under consideration, but it would obviously be a huge help with the project.
He also thought that another Saturday event might be scheduled, but that idea is still being discussed. Further cleanup is required at the north end. There are more benches near the shuffleboard courts, and there is a lot of sand still in the streets in that area.
The question of “what’s next” is not yet answered. This project is a work in progress, and the plans are being designed as they go. If all goes well, delCampo said that the CMA ministry would like to reach out to help other towns in the area.
Blogfinger Storm Center. Photography, Part 4. Thursday
Posted in OCTOBER STORM, tagged NJ hurricane, Ocean Grove, Storm photography. Day 4 on November 1, 2012| 1 Comment »
Gazebo in Fletcher Lake. By Paul Goldfinger.
Street scene with sand. By Carl Swenson of Ocean Grove
The North End. By Carl Swenson
The barren desert. By Carl Swenson
Franklin Avenue. By Paul Goldfinger
The bocce courts. By Paul Goldfinger
The playground. By Paul Goldfinger
EDITOR’S NOTE: For many more photos, just keep scrolling down.
Ocean Grove Down Under — God’s Square Mile It Ain’t
Posted in Blogfinger News, tagged Australia, Ocean Grove on June 13, 2012| 4 Comments »
By Charles Layton
It has not been a quiet week in our namesake town of Ocean Grove — that’s the seaside resort in Victoria, Australia, the one that sits on the shores of the Bass Strait, facing south toward Tasmania.
The last time we reported on life in Ocean Grove Down Under, it was to inform you that a man was threatening to cut off his girlfriend’s feet. He had previously been in trouble for committing armed robbery with a tomahawk. It was said that he had an anger management problem.
Previous to that, we told you about another Ocean Grover who nearly killed his roommate by bashing him with beer stubbies. (Translation: a “stubbie” is a short, squat beer bottle. It is different from a “tinnie.”)
As you can probably tell, I’m becoming obsessed with those people. It’s an alternate universe down there.
Shark victim. Photo from the Geelong Advertiser
Today I checked the local papers and discovered that an Ocean Grove man had been bitten by a shark while surfing. He arrived at the Timboon hospital with a 7-centimeter gash on his right foot. Some of the old-timers were quoted as saying it wasn’t a very big deal. Sharks regularly lurk in those waters, and once in a great while, though not often, they take a nip out of somebody. A fisherman told a reporter he had recently seen a shark attacking and eating a seal near shore.
But the big news wasn’t that. The big news was about another Ocean Grove man, who pleaded guilty to trafficking in ecstasy and illegally possessing steroids, weapons and ammunition. Two of the weapons were samurai swords. (No indication as to whether he was a friend of the guy with the tomahawk.)
The man’s lawyer asked the magistrate to go easy on his client due to mitigating circumstances, which were these:
The client, Dylan McEwan, 20, had started taking drugs because of a traumatic experience in the recent past; he had had his ear bitten off in a fight. This had left him with feelings of fear and insecurity, for which he’d turned to drugs. Also, the lawyer said, “I understand the steroids were to bulk up because of fear from the assault, being a small guy beaten by a larger guy.”
He had started selling drugs to friends after losing his job as an arborist. And the reason he’d lost his job as an arborist was, his ear injury had rendered him unable to wear the required safety headgear.
The magistrate accepted into the record a psychological report about the impact of the ear incident, but he said a conviction was necessary because of the seriousness of the charges. He fined McEwan $1,000.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, what about those samurai swords? Well, those were a present from McEwan’s brother, who acquired them in Thailand. They were a non-issue.
Postcards From Ocean Grove
Posted in Blogfinger News, Postcards From Ocean Grove, tagged NJ, Ocean Grove, Photo: End of Day #2 at south beach on March 20, 2012|
"End of Day #2" south beach. By Paul Goldfinger
Postcards From Ocean Grove
Posted in Postcards From Ocean Grove, tagged Arts in the park, NJ, Ocean Grove on February 24, 2012|
Founder's Park. Ocean Grove, New Jersey. 2008. Paul Goldfinger photo
Change of Seasons on Main Avenue
Posted in Ocean Grove news, tagged Change of Seasons on Main Avenue, New Jersey, Ocean Grove on February 2, 2012| 1 Comment »
Seasons General Store. Little Grover Simone was shopping with her grandmother. Photos by PG
By Paul Goldfinger
We’re not talking about the February warm weather. It’s the little shop formerly known as “Seasons” which is undergoing a significant change. Nancy Goldberg had owned the cute little store at 69 Main Avenue for ten years. She specialized in clothing and accessories from Thailand, where her son lives. However, she recently sold the business to Ocean Grovers Marc Tobias and John Reagan.
The new proprietors completely renovated the space with new floors, custom display cases, a drop ceiling and plans for new merchandise in addtion to the unique items designed and made in Thailand. They have changed the name of the business to “Seasons General Store.” Nancy will continue buying merchandise for them. She is currently spending the winter in Thailand, which is probably a great place to buy ties.
Thea Bowers, "worker-bee," shows off the hot selling "Sure" shirts from Thailand.
Currently the shop is open Wednesday through Sunday and they are having a pre-spring 20% off sale which will be continued until they have their official opening. We spoke to Thea Bowers, an Ocean Grover, who minds the store during the week when the owners are in New York City. She was enthused about the variety of new items which they will carry including whimsical toys, “fun” items for the beach crowd, and other merchandise to be announced. The shop will continue to sell clothing, accessories, and jewelry for men, women and children. Thea said that their “hottest” item is the “Sure” line of shirts from Thailand which are brightly colored with “bold zen-like” designs made of very soft material — for men and women.
The hours now are Wednesday to Friday 11-5 and Saturday/Sunday 10-5. Web site: Seasons General Store
MUSIC: If you think spring is already here, you are wrong — it will actually be a little late this year; at least that’s what Sarah Vaughan and the dopey groundhog say:
Reader’s Corner: Anger on the Internet
Posted in Blogfinger News, tagged Comments on Blogfinger, Essay, Ocean Grove on November 19, 2012| 4 Comments »
By Charles Layton
Although we have our disagreements, the commenters on Blogfinger are, by and large, well-behaved. We editors don’t receive nearly as many seething pathological outbursts as we used to.
That’s because, early on, we decided not to go that way. We didn’t want a website that was rude, crude and strewn with name-calling, as some Internet sites are. So we established a policy about comments and posted it under the “Policies” tab at the top of this page.
Some people ignored our policy and kept trying to post abusive outbursts anyway. A few of these comments had the tone of a child’s temper tantrum. Some were studded with strings of WORDS IN ALL CAPS – the typographical equivalent of screaming — and spiked with a RIDICULOUS EXCESS!!!!!! OF EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!! — also the equivalent of screaming. Some of these submissions looked like they’d been written by a person with Tourette syndrome.
When we didn’t post these abusive comments and pointed out to the writer that they violated our standards, the writer would occasionally respond with YET! ANOTHER! INDIGNANT! OUTBURST!
We get fewer of such comments now. Most readers seem to have learned the rules, or else they’ve given up and taken their anger elsewhere.
But I’ve just read an article in the July issue of Scientific American with the title “Why Is Everyone on the Internet So Angry?” The article attempts to explain the frequency of uncivil comments online. It asserts that such behavior is addictive for many people — they go online looking for opportunities to vent their spleen.
The article offers several explanations for the phenomenon, some of them obvious.
First, commenters are often anonymous and thus can’t be held accountable for their rudeness.
Second, the objects of their abuse are at a distance. Again, it’s a matter of non-accountability.
Third, Art Markman, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, observes that it’s easier to be nasty in writing than in speech. When you’re having a conversation in person, Markham says, “Even if you get angry, people are talking back and forth and so eventually you have to calm down and listen so you can have a conversation.” Not so on the Internet.
Finally, the magazine quotes Edward Wasserman, a professor of journalistic ethics at Washington and Lee University. He cites bad examples set by the media. “Mainstream media have made a fortune teaching people the wrong ways to talk to each other.” From what they see on TV, Wasserman says, some people “conclude that rage is the political vernacular, that this is how public ideas are talked about.”
According to Markham, “It’s valuable for all sides of an argument to be heard. But it’s not valuable for there to be personal attacks, or to have messages with an extremely angry tone… If on a website comments are left up that are making personal attacks in the nastiest way, you’re sending the message that this is acceptable human behavior.”
That is why rage on the Internet is bad for the soul. It signals to people that a screaming tantrum is an acceptable method of persuasion. And that’s one reason we don’t condone it here on Blogfinger. Another reason is that we just don’t think most people in Ocean Grove want that style of discourse on their local blog.
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