I Love Atlantic City Online Presents:

The South Jersey Arts and Culture Scene By Terrie L. MacCalus July/August, 1997 Old Barney Copyright © 1997 Terrie L. MacCalus

I've got so much "stuff to do" for you here this month that I am changing the format. You can look under the type of activity that interests you and then pick your times and places. YOU know the kids are out of school. Are they getting restless? Check out the Especially For Kids section. I came across enough activities for them to give them their own little section. And who says it's just for them? Lots of it sounds pretty good to me, too!

Don't miss the Fireworks! I saw them last year in Beach Haven and they were so GOOD over the bay! I practiced my fireworks photography and didn't do too badly. (Remember hiding under whatever we had from the rain?-and it was still great!) I expect to do better this year for sure. How about you? You have to see them somewhere, so pack up the cooler, the kids and something to sit on and get yourselves out to one of these areas on the big night:

Beach Haven -First get your chair and bring it to Bicentennial Park for the All American Cornet Band Concert. They're going to rev you up with patriotic and turn-of-the-century brass band music, then finish up with the fireworks over the bay. It's going to be crowded, so find a spot and park your cars and yourselves early. Call 609-492-2883 for more information.

Also in Beach Haven, at 7th & Bay Ave., Fantasy Island Amusement Park hosts special family entertainment on the fourth. Uncle Sam the clown will entertain you with shows from 3 to 6 pm. I'll check out Dr. Morbio's Side Show of Horrors personally - it will run at 7,8,9 & 10 pm, (also on July 2nd & 3rd at the same times) with accommodations being made for the fireworks. When I called these folks they told me they watched the fireworks right from the park last year and could see them just fine. Every Friday is P.O.P. Day - pay one price and ride all day! Call them at 609-492-4000.

Seaside Heights is going to give you quite a few opportunities to see fireworks. They'll be having spectacular displays from the beach (Boardwalk at Webster Ave.) starting on Wed., July 2, again (of course!) on July 4th and every Wednesday as far as I can tell, through August. Give them a call to check it out at 1-800-SEA-SHORE and you can correct me if I'm wrong!

Point Pleasant Beach isn't about to be left out and their fireworks are at Jenkins South Arcade, Oceanfront. (732)-714-0144 will get you more info.

Tuckerton will celebrate with a bang! Complete with a parade, music, and fireworks. It's gonna be tough deciding where to go this year - there's so much happening! Anyway, the parade here begins at 4 pm at the Pinelands Regional High School, Little Egg Harbor Township. The route runs east on Nugentown Road to Giffordtown Lane, then to Stage Road and over to Tip Seaman Park, Route 9, Tuckerton. Next, hear Billy T. Midnight performing at 5 pm. There will also be a Gold Hawk Tae Kwon Do demonstration (that should hold the kids attention for a bit!) at 5:30, followed by Elmo the clown. The Pinelands jazz band will perform from 7:30 - 9 pm, and finally, the fireworks go off over Lake Pohatcong. Food vendors and home cooking will be available too.

Last but never least, is Toms River! There will be displays all along the Toms River, South Toms River, Beachwood and Pine Beach. Sorry that's all I've got -I'd just start looking & listening when it gets dark.

Walking Tours

The Long Beach Island Historical Association hosts a walking tour every Tuesday and Friday. Get together at the Long Beach Island Historical Museum in Beach Haven. Call 609-492-9245 for more info.

Historic Toms River also hosts a few walking tours. You can do the Historical Toms River Waterfront Walking Tour (sounds nice and cool to me on this hot summer day!) and see historic private homes on East Water St., or visit two museums (The Ocean County Historical Museum and the Toms River Seaport Society Maritime Museum) as you go on the Ocean County Historical Trail Tour. There is another tour, called the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail that has always intrigued me and I guess I'm just going to have to stop talking about it and go this summer. The topic for this one is points of interest about the Coastal Heritage of the State and County. Ocean County, designated as the Barnegat Bay Region, is one of six regions on the trail.

Get more information on these tours by contacting the Ocean County Department of Public Affairs at (908) 929-2138.

Loveladies has a Seashore Open House Tour that I am definitely going on! A Seashore Open House Tour - it's a self-guided (I like that!) tour of 8 beautiful Long Beach Island homes. This one is hosted by the LBI Foundation of the Arts & Sciences, at the North end of Long Beach Island on 120 Long Beach Blvd. Phone: (609) 494-1241

'Specially for Kids

Most of these have to do with Theater and Performance Activities. I walked by a puppet show being put on for kids this summer at the Trenton Heritage Days celebration and those kids were GLUED to their seats -laughing, pointing and just having a ball. What's better than that!?

The Lakeside Children's Theater is giving live performances, rain or shine, on Thursday afternoons at the Beach Pavilion in Lakewood. You can write to them and make your plans ahead of time or give them a ring: Ocean County Parks & Recreation, Ocean County Park, Rte. 88, Lakewood, NJ 08701. (908) 506-9090.

The Long Beach Island's Foundation of the Arts & Sciences offers children's theater, too, in a series of five presentations on Tuesday evenings during July and August. They also hold ART CLASSES for pre-schoolers, age 6-12, and teens. Arts, crafts and pottery are featured. Call 609-494-1241 for info. They are located at 120 Long Beach Blvd., Loveladies, NJ.

The Ocean County Community College Fine Arts Center hosts plays and musical performances produced especially for children, most with special rates. Call 908-255-0500 for more detailed information.

I was introduced to the Surflight Summer Theater in Beach Haven last summer and I love it. The performances are great and I'll be there this summer too! There are performances for both children and adults all summer. Call 609-492-9477 for details. They are on Beach and Engleside Avenues. The children's theater is at 6 pm and the adult shows are at 8 pm.

If you like ice cream and fun, go to Showplace right there in the same building -and let the performance continue!!!! I warn you -Showboat is not for the bashful -you will probably be asked to participate in the fun! Go early or when you have some time to spare. They usually have a line out the door waiting to get in.

Other stuff for kids old and young:

(Old kids never forget how to have fun!)

July 18 bring us the "Funtasia Festival" for kids. It will be a day filled with magic, music, sports, games, crafts, strolling entertainers, and more! Sounds like a great kids day to me! It's at the Ocean County Park, on Ocean Ave., Route 88 in Lakewood, NJ. Call them at 908-506-9090.

How about some Art Instruction? If you're here for the summer, Manahawkin is too close to rule out the Pine Shores Art Association. They hold mostly summer classes but also have some year around art classes for teens and younger children. Think maybe they could this young dog a new trick? Write to them at 94 Stafford Ave., PO Box 886, Manahawkin, NJ 08050. Their number is 609-693-9351.

On July 22 give the kids a treat and take them to the Rock n' Roll Children's Concert featuring Peanut Butter n' Jamm'n at 120 Long Beach Blvd in Loveladies. Sounds great! Call 609-492-0222.

Concerts

When it's time to get down and do some foot stompin, go to Albert Music Hall in Waretown. They do the sounds of the Jersey Pines every Saturday night! It's fun country music and real informal. Call them at 609-941-1593

July 2 brings us the Golden Eagle Band at Veteran's Bicentennial Park in Beach Haven. Call 609-492-2883 for more info, and bring a chair! July 21 features the Olney Symphony Orchestra.

There are several concerts planned in Ship Bottom On the 10th and 11th Streets Boat Ramp. (609-494-1614)

July 13th Yeeehaw! Country music for this country girl! -A Country Western Concert. July 17 -Iggy Geneva & the Mummers -an evening of toe tapping music! July 24 features the Ocean Pops Band August 21- Hal Davis Orchestra performs the Big Band Sound

On July 26 & 27 The Toms River Community Chorus raise their voices in song for you at the Ocean County Community College Summer Production on College Drive, Toms River. There is an admission fee. Call 609-522-446 for that info.

On August 2 (it will be here before we know it!) there will be a family concert with humor and a dose of rhythm and blues, rag and classic rock in Loveladies, 120 Long Beach Blvd. Sounds pretty interesting....! Info: 609-492-3169

August 3 -A patriotic Victorian Nautical Cornet band performs in a concert under "Barnegat's beam" right in our own Lighthouse Park (Broadway & West 4th Street, Barnegat Light). Call 609-494-3522 for more info.

Historical Museums

Many of the Museums you'll find here have their own schedules, which you should pick up when you visit. I have included everything I came across by post time.

Barnegat Light Museum 5th & Central Avenue Barnegat Light, NJ 08050 Hours: July and August, daily 2-5pm Phone: 609-494-8578

-A former one room schoolhouse built in 1904 that exhibits the 5 ton lens containing 1,024 separate prisms. Also featured are the school memorabilia, salvaged items from shipwrecks, and artifacts from the fishing industry in the area. Not to be missed!

Barnegat Heritage Center 575 East Bay Avenue Barnegat, NJ Hours: Mid-May -Sept, Sat. 1-4pm Phone: 609-698-5284

-A cluster of 18th and 19th century buildings that preserve the architecture and artifacts of a bayshore town. Included are a saltbox cottage, barbershop, and butchershop built from timbers of the Barnegat Lighthouse Keeper's house in 1889.

Noyes Museum on Lily Lake off Rte. 9 on Lily Lake Road Oceanville, NJ Hours: Wed-Sun, 11am-4pm Closed on National Holidays 609-652-8848

- Dedicated to arts education, the Noyes Museum offers a variety of programs such as "Meet the Artist" days, the "Young at Art" student gallery, demonstrations, lectures, concerts, poetry readings, children's workshops, and family festivals. All this and more for southern NJ residents and visitors alike. Admission is $3.00 for adults, $1.50 for seniors, $.50 for full-time students and children ages 5-18. Fridays are free. It's worth every penny and more.

They offer interpretive tours by appointment, school groups admitted free with reservations, and special assistance for persons with disabilities. Please call for more info on these services.

Note: Noyes is nestled in the woods on Lily Lake, adjacent to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. When we got there last year I fell in love with it immediately. The view of the lake through double sliding glass doors is a portrait itself, of beautiful living, growing nature.

Ocean County Historical Museum 26 Hadley Avenue Toms River, NJ Hours: Tues & Thurs 1-3 pm Sat 10 am -1 pm Phone: 908-341-1880

-This is a 15 room Victorian era house that you can't miss if you are at all interested in our heritage. It has an extensive collection of clothing and objects depicting the lifestyle and occupations of the period. Kids will be especially interested in the kitchen, schoolroom, and child's bedroom complete with toys and dolls (you can show them how much they really do have now!). There is an exhibition room housing 20-million-year-old fossils, American Indian artifacts dating from 10,000 BC and lighter-than-air crafts and memorabilia from the Hindenburg.

Ocean Grove Museum 54 Pitman Avenue Ocean Grove, NJ Hours: Please call Phone: 908-774-1869

-On July 18 you should also see the 29th Annual Historical Society of Ocean Grove House Tour! They will feature Victorian architecture and interiors, tents, cottages and large homes throughout the town. Refreshments and a trolley will be available. The Society has also made tour maps available at the Museum.

Art Shows, Crafts and Fairs!!!

July 5 (raindate July 12) -Barnegat brings us the Barnegat Flea and Craft Market at the Barnegat Town Dock on Bayshore Drive and Barnegat Bay. Call 609-698-7532 for info.

July 9 -The Jewish Community Center of LBI hosts its Bazaar 97 at the Jewish Comm. Center, 15 E. 24th Street, Spray Beach. Info 609-492-4090

July 5-23 -Loveladies hosts the Art & Function II Art and Craft Show on LBI, at the Foundation for the Arts & Sciences at 120 Long Beach Blvd., Loveladies, NJ. Call 609-494-1241 if you need more information.

Thanks to Di of the Harvey Cedars Activity Committee for these submissions:

On July 5th they bring us the Tenth Annual Art Craft Day by the Bay -from 10am to 4pm at the Harvey Cedars Bible Conference grounds. Featuring 75+ fine crafters -all original handmade crafts, jewelry, woodwork, photography, paintings and more.

On July 20th they hold the Tenth annual Art Festival from 10am to 5pm at Sunset Park, W. Salem ave., Harvey Cedars. They have promised us 60+ artists and fine crafters.

The Ocean County Flower show is held from July 6-8. Over 300 contestants will compete in artistic design and horticultural divisions. There will be special categories for children. Find it at the Music Pier, Boardwalk & Moorlyn Terrace, Ocean City. A donation is requested. Call them at 609-525-9300.

July 26 -Barnegat brings you the Annual Barnegat Historical Society Flea & Craft Market. 80-100 vendors will display and sell their merchandise. There is a fee for entrants. Held at 427 East Bay Avenue, on the Barnegat Public Dock in Barnegat. Call 609-698-7532 for more info.

July 9 & 23 are the dates for the Spray Beach Bazaar where you can browse your way through arts, crafts, and new merchandise. East 24th Street, Spray Beach. 609-492-4090.

On August 1-3 the Ocean City Boardwalk Art Show takes place. Over 400 artists, sculptors, and photographers will exhibit and sell their work on the Boardwalk from 6th to 12th Streets. There is a charge for entrants. This is a BIG show! 609-399-7628 for info.

On August 6th go to the 15th Annual Bazaar in Spray Beach at 15 E. 24th Street. There will be 20+ vendors showing you their stuff from arts & crafts to new merchandise. 609-492-4090

On August 30 head on up to Seaside Park's Arts & Crafts Show. The show will be juried and features more than 150 exhibits. I'm looking forward to seeing some original art. Go to the Park Commons on 6th & Central Avenues. 908-793-0234.

August 9 & 10 are the dates for the Loveladies Arts and Crafts Festival. This is an indoor/outdoor event featuring artists from across the country. The Long Beach Island's Foundation for the Arts & Sciences is hosting this one. It's at 120 Long Beach Blvd. in Loveladies, LBI. Donations are welcome. 609-494-1421

If you would like to add your event to the upcoming September/October article, please email me by mid-August with all pertinent information: who, where, when, why, cost of admission if applicable, and contact number.

Submit only events that are related to the arts and our culture. I am including flea markets as they are, many times, a great arts and crafts showcase. Every effort will be made to include your event. Have a great summer! See you in September.

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