Steve Valk. 2013 in Ocean Grove. Paul Goldfinger photo.
Modern OG history—2015
Dear Paul and everyone at Blogfinger…
Thanks for doing this reporting. Main Avenue isn`t just private property. It is part of the Ocean Grove “commons”… I am sure the wider OG community (extending all the way to Frankfurt, Germany where I am writing from and beyond…) will come together to make the rebuilding of this part of town.. once again… “an example for others to follow… (as was the case with the boardwalk and further damage from hurricane Sandy”)
I am calling on everyone in the larger Ocean Grove Community to take up their roles as loving and active neighbors and friends as I am sure they will…
Your work Paul… is one powerful example of this indefatigable spirit and communitarian work ethic… Many thanks… Steve Valk
Steve Valk, Feb. 7, 2015.
Editor’s Note: Steve is a summer visitor to Ocean Grove. His family has been coming here for generations, so he has a Grovarian view of things. We have posted prior interviews with him. He is a social scientist with some unique opinions about our town and how it could work in the future. Here is a link to our last post about him. —Paul Goldfinger. Editor Blogfinger.net. 2015.
We interviewed Steve Valk last year in Ocean Grove and we discussed his fascinating work in Germany with a new field called “social choreography.” He is an innovator and a social scientist who is interested in how our communities can function in order to help people live better lives. His ideas have culminated in some tangible results.
Last year our conversation was about his concepts, but this time we met at the Bean to talk about Ocean Grove. I have long been interested in how this fascinating small town actually works: its evolving demographics, its institutions, and its progress or lack thereof. What are the dynamics that propel those who live here and how they relate to each other, their history, and to their town?
Steve has a unique perspective, having summered in OG for over 40 years and now looking at it from the vantage point of living in another country. He can see the town through a special prism that might interest those of us who wonder about this place that we call home. It’s such a small space and it has some unique properties that make it a fascinating case study. Valk is a thinker who is seriously considering studying Ocean Grove towards a Ph.D thesis.
He is the Director of the Institute of Social Choreography in Frankfurt. His most recent project there has been to create a residence for those who have no place to stay, where urban bee keeping is done. Those who live there, even for short periods, are engaged in the business of bee keeping. It is a startlingly creative idea to keep the homeless sheltered and productive.
For our Ocean Grove discussion, Steve had to first go back and talk about his history in the Grove. He needed to do that to establish a baseline for our current topic. As a boy, he was impressed by the relationship back in the ’70’s and ’80’s between the Grove and Asbury Park. Many Grovers, although mainstreaming the religious life, would seek variety in Asbury where they could hear major New York dance bands in the Paramount Theatre and where they could go to Mrs. J’s, a sort of biker club near the Stone Pony, where rock was heard. He says that Grovers needed that Asbury link, and that sister city mismatch was attractive to home buyers who liked both sides of the coin.
Back in the Grove, he had young friends to hang with, and even though the town was in a state of “decrepitude” (NY Times) in the ’80s–into the /90’s, all the “good stuff” was still happening: the beach, the Great Auditorium, the religious life, the music, and the eateries such as the Sampler and the Grand Atlantic where “half the town ate.” (Although both those places eventually closed, so that was a blow.)
Valk also began to notice the appearance of gays in town and he was impressed that there was no discrimination against them and that they brought life to the community. He says that the “transition” which occurred in the late ’80’s into the ’90’s was “a serious change for good.”
Soon he worked himself up to the present time where he now finds Ocean Grove to be “functioning very well.” He recognizes the changes that continue to occur but he sees a dynamic process that merits analysis. Valk finds that the town consists of “multiple separate resonating vertically integrated layers” including, for example, the Methodist community, the lifeguard/firemen , the merchants, the retirees, the part-time young families, the singles, the gays, etc. He says that there are “activists” at each level who create motion vertically, and “that ‘s what makes the town work.”
He has high praise for the Jersey Shore Arts Center where he walked in one day, not expecting much based on the outside appearance , but inside he loved the space and the “excellent arts community—-a collective project for the people.” He wondered why the Camp Meeting Association was not supportive of that Center.
He admires Blogfinger because he sees us crossing the vertical barriers and examining those components in our articles, augmented by the music and photography. He believes that such enhanced vertical integration, such as he also saw at the Arts Center, will make the town better.
Steve Valk feels the same way about the Camp Meeting Association which has its core mission, but it also crosses vertically. Steve thinks that the townspeople tend to underestimate the religious life here. Valk goes to Sunday services—he comes from an old OG religious family. He says that if outsiders were to listen to some of these visiting preachers, they would hear “great orators with radical ideas.” For example, the speaker last week has an extraordinary congregation consisting of over 700 addicts that he helps.
Regarding the Ocean Grove gay community, he is a strong advocate for that group. I think he sees Europe as being more open to the gays than in America. Germany, like many European nations, is more socialistic , and there is more money available for programs focusing on social improvements.
He says that there are techniques that could be used in OG to promote better relations between the various groups in our town, some of which are quite insular. The town would improve more if the groups were communicating better.
He left on Saturday to attend an NFL pre-season game (he’s a Pittsburgh fan) and to visit his friends in the art world. Then it’s back to Frankfurt.
We’ll definitely see Steve again in the Grove. He loves to bike all over, crisscrossing from here to Asbury Park. We asked him to reflect some more on his views about Ocean Grove and to consider sending those ideas to us for posting on BF.
