What's happening in Monmouth Beach?

FEMA is offering temporary shelter assistance to displaced residents, who can obtain vouchers to stay at participating hotels and motels. They must register by calling (800) 621-FEMA (3362) or visiting disasterassistance.gov.

Red Cross volunteers from Kentucky, Ohio, New York, Minnesota and Wisconsin working the shelter at Maple Place School in Oceanport

A majority of the Red Cross volunteers are not even from this area or state. A husband and wife drove from Kentucky, one woman came in from Ohio, another from Up-state New York while two others were from Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Volunteers are needed at the shelter to assist with serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Also people are needed to help watch and supervise children and play games with senior citizens. The shelter is open 24 hours and if you can spare an hour or so stop over and make someone smile.

Have you ever wanted your name on a school building? Well, now is your chance to get your name etched into stone and placed on a new paver walkway that will be built around the Long Branch High School stadium.

Long Branch High School Class of 2014 is selling personalized 4” x 8” paver bricks that can be memorialized with a loved one or create a lasting message of your choice! It also a great way for a local business to show support of the LBPS and the Class of 2014.

Each paver can have three (3) lines of twenty (20) characters (per-line) for nominal fee of $40.00 payable to the LBBOE HS Student Funds.

Please send your request to Ms. Colleen Alcott, Class Advisor 2014, Long Branch High School, 404 Indiana Ave., New Jersey 07740.

Thank you in advance for your purchase and support of the LBHS Class of 2014

L-to-R front row: Jean McKinney (MMC), Fatin Alkhaleel and Nicole Trainor (Wave of Hope) and Dr. Margret C. Fisher (MMC) and future Wave of Hope member Ryan Trainor. Back row is Brian Berry, President of the Wave of Hope with Natalie Stephens-Stewart of MMC.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 the Wave of Hope, a charity organization born out of the generosity and dedication of the Long Branch Public Schools employees, presented The Children’s Hospital of Monmouth Medical Center with a $10,000 check.

Brian Berry, President of the Wave of Hope, stated that this was the second …year his organization has donated money to The Children’s Hospital. Last year the hospital used the $7,500 gift to purchase laptops, tablets and a special doll that is used to inform children of the type of procedure they will undergo.

Margaret Fisher, Chairwoman of the Pediatric Department at Monmouth Medical Center and the Director of The Children’s Hospital, is excited about the partnership the Wave of Hope has established with the hospital. “We have so many wish items,” said Fisher. “As a result of the generous donations by The Wave of Hope we will be able to take a few items off our wish list.”

As the late Christopher Reeve once said; “Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.”

Colin Soyer, (Standing) President of the Oceanport Board of Education, attempts to answer questions about the proposed contract for Andrew Orefice (seated to his left). Also pictured on the far right is R.Armen McOmber, BOE attorney and on the left is Norma Tursi, Business Administrator and Christopher McCrae, VP of the BOE.

Oceanport — Last week the Oceanport Board of Education held its regular public meeting which lasted nearly five hours, and was very contentious. It was also a meeting marked with failure.

The board failed to respect each other. They failed to provide each member with updated documentation. They failed to act responsibility. They failed to get a written contact. They failed to notice that the business administrator had worked an entire year without a contract. They failed to run an organized and professional meeting. They failed to have microphones on the table so you could hear what each board member had to say. They failed to communicate with each other, and they failed in being transparent.

The meeting started off civil enough, with the Maple Place Middle School band getting recognized for winning many accolades at a competition. Then it went downhill.

The first issue was that Oceanport Board of Education had entered into a verbal contract with a firm to conduct a feasibility study on sharing services with Monmouth Beach, West Long Branch and Shore Regional. At the time only Oceanport had a superintendent under contract. Nick Puleio, who headed the study, told Oceanport that they owed $3,000 for the 20-something page document that contained a few sentences on Oceanport.

The study determined that since Oceanport had a superintendent under contract and a business administrator who had tenure, Oceanport would receive no benefit from the shared services and the other towns did not want to enter into an agreement with Oceanport. Kelly McGowan was the board president at the time of the verbal agreement.

A majority of the board members were upset with how they found out about the study results, posted on the West Long Branch website, and stated that Puleio should have told them going into the study that it would not serve the needs of the community.

Board members Bill McVity and Mark O’Neill (brother of this reporter) stated that Oceanport had to pay one third of the study but did not get anything in return for their investment into it.

Jay Coffey, an Oceanport resident and attorney, questioned the board about the study. “The Board of Education members who talked the other members into spending money on this feasibility study were trying to deflect the blame for the results, by blaming the contractor,” said Coffey. “The real problem, however, was that our Board was at fault because the scope of services wasn’t defined properly at the inception of the contract. In fact, based upon what I heard from the meeting tonight, the contractor only had a verbal concept of what our board was looking for.”

Puleio stated that he and his company would see if they could expand the scope of the study for Oceanport.

The biggest failure of the evening was on the vote to give Andrew Orefice, superintendent of schools, a new contract. When the board started to discuss the contract it was apparent that not everyone was on the same page. Board members Joan Osgoodby, Dr. Madeline Badalaty and O’Neill had different contracts in their packages from the rest of the board.

O’Neill stated that he had sent a list of questions on the proposed contract offered to Orefice, but never received an answer. He noted that the personnel committee, which is composed of Colin Soyer, Board President, Christopher McCrea, Vice President and McVitty, never held a workshop or meeting with the other board members on the Orefice contract or the one offered to Norma Tursi, Business Administrator, or the memorandum they signed with the teachers union.

Soyer told O’Neill that he had the answers to the questions but never sent them to him. It became a heated subject as they argued over what was written in the contract. That is when it was discovered that O’Neill, Osgoodby and Badalaty had different copies from the rest. “It does not matter,” said Soyer. “The majority vote wins, not the minority.”

“I took tomorrow off. I packed a lunch and we can go all night,” said O’Neill as he demanded documentation to support his questions. His first question to Soyer was the compensation increase Orefice received last year. After 45 minutes he was given three different answers. “This is what I’m talking about. We need accurate information before we can vote on this.”

“Andrew, this isn’t personal, I think you are a good fit here. In fact I think you are an awesome superintendent, But I have serious questions about this contract,” said O’Neill.

He pointed out that fellow board member Badalaty had calculated that Orefice would get 20 vacation days, 12 sick days, which accumulate without limit, 4 personal days, 5 bereavement days and 23 holidays that the teachers get off. “That is 64 days, 12 weeks do you think that is fair to the residents of Oceanport?” asked O’Neill.

The exchange between Soyer and O’Neill became heated, and Soyer got up from his seat with his gavel in hand and started walking towards O’Neill who was seated. “What are you going to do, hit me Colin?” asked O’Neill.

And then all hell broke loose as O’Neill got up and a yelling match ensued. McVitty stopped O’Neill as McCrae attempted to stop Soyer.

“For the record, the board president placed two important contracts on the agenda for approval without allowing the full board an opportunity to discuss any of the contracts,” said Osgoodby. “Additionally, board members had specific fact-gathering questions regarding the terms of the contract that went unanswered by the board president before the public meeting, hence forcing board members to attempt the unachievable task of fact-gathering process during the public meeting, resulting in an insufficient amount of time for consideration to formulate constructive questions. This was extremely counter-productive, and unfair to the district.”

Osgoodby stated that when a meeting gets to the point where she and Badalaty felt the need to flee the board table for personal safety, something is seriously wrong.

“In defense of Mark, while his tendency to sometimes lose his cool doesn’t help lend credibility to his cause, he has valid points, and it was the board president who ultimately forged toward Mark in the near brawl,” said Osgoodby.

“It is obvious that O’Neill is frustrated with several members of the board, and it’s justified,” said Coffey. “Some have come to see the light as far as the type, amount and accuracy of the information that is given to them by the administration.”

After a break in the meeting to allow everyone to calm down, the full board returned and both O’Neill and Soyer apologized for their unprofessional behavior. When it was pointed out that the vote should be held until the next meeting so all board members could review an accurate contract, Soyer said no and a vote was held.

Osgoodby, O’Neill and Badalaty voted no. Approving the contract, which pays Orefice $130,657 for 2012-2013, and $133,270 for 2013-2014 and $135,000 for 20-14-2015, were the board members who had identical contracts in their packages, Spencer Carpenter, Ted Gammon, McGowan, McVitty and Soyer.

The next hot topic was on the contract for the business administrator, Norma Tursi. While it is her responsibility to make sure all contracts are legal and updated, at the meeting it was revealed that she failed to recognize that she didn’t have a signed contract for all of last year.

The contract on the agenda last week called for a 2 percent increase at a salary of $99,878 for 2012-2013.

McVitty stated that he submitted a few questions to Soyer on this contract and he never received an answer. “And I’m on the personnel committee and I didn’t get an answer,” said McVitty.

Osgoodby noted that the 2 percent increase was inaccurate, that it was really a 4 percent raise Tursi would be getting. After a brief discussion, Tursi stated that Osgoodby was correct and a sub-secretary had made a mistake on the contract.

A vote was called and this time McVitty, Osgoodby, O’Neill and Badalaty voted no. The rest of the board had a majority and the contract was approved. However, it was approved at 2 percent; no correction was made to reflect the 4 percent increase.

The final failure of the evening concerned a memorandum of agreement between the Oceanport Board of Education and the Oceanport Education Association. When the board met in February the personnel committee was told to hold the line.

O’Neill took the prior contract and sent it to the New Jersey School Boards Association for a free wellness evaluation.

“The state sent me a very detailed report that listed several labor law violations and the fact that the board negotiated away something that was nonnegotiable,” said O’Neill. “I sent this report to Soyer in April and he thanked me and said it would be helpful.”

But at the meeting, it was found Soyer had not shared the report with fellow board members or the board attorney. In fact, the personnel committee signed a memorandum of agreement with the teachers before reporting back to the entire board.

“I am asking that the board hold off on this decision and we hold a special meeting to discuss this report,” said O’Neill.

R. Armen McOmber, attorney for the board, stated that it would be a good idea to review the report. He also informed Soyer that McGowan and Gammon could not participate in the vote. McGowan is a teacher in another district and member of the teachers union, while Gammon’s wife is a teacher.

The only person who voted to give the teachers a new contract, which according to the state might violate the law, was Carpenter. Some of the teachers in attendance stated that they have a signed memorandum (no details of the contact were discussed) and said they might be starting the year without a contract. Osgoodby stated that worst case scenario is that they would start the year with an expired contract.

“I am afraid that the personal battles between board members masked the fact that there were some incredibly bizarre things happening at this meeting,” said Coffey. “The business administrator lacked even a basic familiarity with the superintendent’s current compensation package. And she forgot to have her own contract approved for 2011-2012 school year? How can that happen?”

NEXT OCEANPORT BOE MEETING IS THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2012

The Undy 5000 5K and 1 mile fun/walk will take place on Saturday, July 28, 2012. It will start at 8am on the Great Lawn of Beach Front North in Long Branch. This is a fundraising event in the fight against colon cancer.

To see photos from the 2011 Undy 5000 visit our Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/paBB3t

Great ready for the largest 3-day concert on the entire East Coast as Bamboozle 2012 kicks off today, May 18, in Asbury Park. Over 100,000 are expected to attend the massive show.

Harry Dunn of Brielle owns this 1930 Cadillac which has appeared in 11 movies. He purchased the car 33-years ago from a mesume that was going bankrupt. Jay Lenno has been to his home twice trying to buy the car.

Additional photos can be viewed on our Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/Ik5uQt

April 26, 27-28, 2012 the Monmouth Regional High School  Drama Club will put on Seussical the Musical  For additional information please contact Monmouth Regional High School, One Norman J. Field Way, Tinton Falls, NJ. 732-542-1170

Matt, Jon, John and Anthony Bongiovi

Every ethnic group has its traditions and for Italians it’s all about the sauce. Generation after generation pass down secret family recipes that reflect the region of their ancestry.

Sciacca, Sicily is where the Bongiovi family recipe originated. It has been passed down for three generations and the most recent keeper of the secret is John Bongiovi. He is the father of three sons, Matt, Anthony and the oldest, rock star Jon Bon Jovi.

During his illustrious career, Jon has been surrounded himself with his family. And cooking his famous meatballs and pasta sauce was his father. “Over the years celebrities and world leaders have tasted my dad’s sauce and said that he should bottle it,” said Anthony, the middle son. For the past 25 years he has been on tour with his brother as the video producer.

“This year I decided that I was not going to go out on tour with Jon,” said Anthony. So he and younger brother Matt along with dad started Jambco Inc., and started bottling the sauce that Great Grandma Bongiovi created in the late 1800’s.

Even though friends and celebrities told the Bongiovi’s that the sauce should be bottled nobody actually thought it would ever get done. “I have been living in California for the past 20 years and I had to learn how to make the sauce, but taking a family recipe and converting it into mass production was a bit challenging at first,” said Anthony.

There is something magical about the aroma of the sautéed garlic and onions simmering in a large pot. And when that sauce was spread over the pasta and the entire family would gather to eat and converse. Those are the memories that Jambco is hoping customers will experience when they open a jar of Bongiovi Sauce.

“My family name is on each bottle and it has to have the highest grade ingredients,” said Anthony. So they use restaurant grade tomatoes and all natural “Italians cook their sauce for hours to get the water out of it. Most bottled sauce adds water, but not ours.” And that is one of the secrets that make the bottled sauce taste like it was cooking on your stove for hours.

It took the Anthony and Matt a few attempts to get the recipe just right for dad’s approval. “I have not made sauce in a year,” said John. “It is so easy now to open a jar and have that fresh homemade flavor without the hours of preparation and cooking. Now when I cook fish and I want sauce I just open a jar.”

Richard Saker, Chief Executive Officer and President of Saker ShopRites Inc., which has over thirty supermarkets was one of those early supporters of the sauce. “Rich told us once we bottled it he would sell it in his stores and that is exactly where we are right now,” said Anthony. So far only Saker ShopRites are selling the Bongiovi Sauce, but the family has plans on expanding sales.

Anthony has taken his personal RV and had it wrapped with the Bongiovi Sauce logo and is traveling the area conducting tasting of the family sauce. “People are really surprised by the freshness and taste of our bottled sauce. They like the thickness and it’s all about the sauce,” added Anthony.

Currently Jambco has three different flavors on the market. Traditional marinara, garden style and the one with a little kick arrabbiata. “It not only had to get my dad’s approval, but my 95-year old aunt said she loves it and it passed her standards to have the Bongiovi name on it,” said Anthony.

Catherine Elizabeth Cosentino “Cat” of Oceanport will have the 2012 Album Release Party of her latest CD “Box of Chocolates” on January 5th, at Tim McLoone’s Supper Club in Asbury Park. Doors open at 6:30pm and Show starts at 8pm, No Cover! Dinner Reservations 732-774-1155.

By Neil Schulman
Long Branch —As the eating contest was drawing to an end, a spectator asked a question to the commissioner, Ralph Mara.

“How many minutes, Ralph?”
Contestant Vic Accera was not happy with that question. “Don’t say ‘ralph,’ he joked.
It’s understandable he wanted to avoid hearing that word, as he was in the middle of trying to get through five pounds of linguine, sausages and meatballs the size of a fist, part of Pasta Bowl 2011, held at Caputo’s Pastry Shoppe in Ursula Plaza.
Accera, the winner of the lighthearted contest, didn’t finish, but he did eat more than 2.97 pounds of food in an hour. He gets to take home the Ralph Zambrano Cup, and gets “uncontested bragging rights” for a year. Like the Stanley Cup, this can be kept for a year, and must then be relinquished to next year’s champion.
Joseph Caputo said the idea for the contest came from the bakery’s weekly lunches, prepared for employees and friends by his father and former owner of the bakery, Jack Caputo. With all the food served, Mara began joking about having an eating contest. They also decided it would be a fine way to remember their friend Ralph Zambrano, who passed away last year.
“He was one of our favorites here on Friday,” Mara said. “If you knew Ralph, and he was in the contest, it would be Ralph hands down.”
Accera was challenged by Mark DeSantis.
During the contest, The Link asked each contestant about their strategy.
‘Pace — don’t push. Pace,” Accera said.
DeSantis said his plan was to mix the food up, having meat and pasta together.
“We’re not professionals at this,” he said. “I like to enjoy my meal.”
The contest was as much psychological as it was about stomach capacity. At one point, to show how confident he was, DeStantis grabbed some cheese that was being passed around to the spectators and ate it, showing how confident he was.
Accera upped the ante, also taking some food not in his bowl. “We see your cheese and we raise you a meatball!” he responded.
After his victory, Accera shared his training technique with the crowd. “I had a slice of pizza before I came,” he joked.
During the contest, the spectators, who included a few Long Branch notables, enjoyed dishes prepared by Jack Caputo, including different types of pasta, an Italian frittatta, sardines, meatballs, and more.
The event was not just for fun, but for a good cause. A 50/50 was also held, raising more than $800 for the Epilepsy Foundation. Joseph Caputo’s father-in-law won the drawing, but chose to give the money back to the charity.

Joseph said that he hopes to hold another contest in the spring.

By Patty Booth O’Neill

A retired teacher and a retired nurse. Ready to relax, fish, putz around the yard and travel the world. “Christine, I think I would like to open a restaurant, Nick Guido said to his wife of 37 years.

“A restaurant? Why would you want to open a restaurant now? You know nothing about running a restaurant.”

“It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do,” Bob replied. Christine told her husband that if he decide he really wanted to open a restaurant, he would have to offer a quality menu. “Everything has to be fresh. Nothing out of cans,” she said, and figured that was the end of that conversation.

The next day Bob called her to come and look at a location he was renting on Front Street in Red Bank. After a lot of time and money in renovations and equipment, they held their grand opening of The River’s Edge Cafe. That was twenty years ago. It is a breakfast and lunch cafe open every day until 3pm. It’s an easier commute for Bob and Christine who live in West Long Branch. Their son Matthew is a police officer in Ocean Township.

“I knew nothing about the restaurant business,” Bob admitted. “I learned as I went along.” His customers couldn’t tell Bob was a novice. He developed signature dishes such as lemon chiffon pancakes. He offered them as a special only on weekends, but there was such a demand, he finally added them to the permanent menu.

Bob had one regular who came in a couple of times a week. One day the man told him he worked for Bruce Springsteen and would he like to cater a dinner party. “The party was two days later on Christmas Eve for ten people,” Bob said. “I’ve done it for him twice so far.”

When the housing bubble happened, the rent in Red Bank didn’t match the economy, so Bob’s rise in rent at the end of his lease was cost prohibitive. He and his wife didn’t want to close their business. They had built up a loyal customer base, and they loved the restaurant business. “I searched around and found this location in the Town Center Shopping Plaza in Ocean,” he said. “It’s just the right size for me.”

The new location for the River’s Edge Cafe seats around 50 people, with booths, tables and a counter. There is plenty of parking, something that was lacking in Red Bank. Bob said he didn’t want a bigger place than that. He said he’s not a Perkins or an I-HOP. He wants to know his customers. “I want to know what each person likes to order and how they want it cooked.” He is passionate about his menu, even if it’s something as basic as a preparing eggs. “There is no such thing as just a fried egg,” Bob insisted. “Some people like them loose, some like them hard, over easy, sunnyside up. I want to get it right the first time.”

While in college Bob had worked as a butcher and brought that knowledge with him. Knowing that quality is important, he grinds his own hamburger meat, even though it’s a lot more work. Everything on the menu is fresh and homemade, including soups and salad dressings. “Nothing,” he said, “comes out of a can.” And he refuses to skimp on anything saying that quality is what makes his food taste good. “If you don’t use it at home, we don’t use it here,” he said. Even the meat in his dishes is roasted on the premises.

Many customers followed Bob from Red Bank and many new customers are getting to know Bob’s quality dishes. “When I see a customer from Red Bank it brings tears to my eyes,” Christine said. “We love to see our old customers and new faces.”

Bob will come into the dining area from the kitchen to greet his guests. He feels that when people go out to eat they should know who is cooking their food, and he wants to know who his customers are. “If somebody has a special order, I’ll make it. If somebody doesn’t like a dish they can send it back and I’ll make them something else,” Bob said, but admitted that rarely happens. “I want my customers to be happy. I want them to come back,” he said. “I want a waiting line on Sundays.”

Through April 2
MONMOUTH BEACH— Monmouth Beach Cultural Center
Now through through April 2, the photography of George Roos, Bob Wille’s paintings, and art work from Eric Barich and Judy deCamp Riggenbach. There is an artist’s reception March 19 from 7 to 9 p.m.

The Monmouth Beach Cultural Center on Ocean Avenue is open 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Wednesdays to Saturdays. More information can be obtained by calling 732- 229-4527.

A FREE concert will be held on Saturday, January 5, 2013 starting at 2:00pm in the Long Branch High School Auditorium.

JD Fortune, former lead singer of INXS, will be in Asbury Park on July 10th with his new band, Fortune, and playing The Stone Pony.

Great ready for the largest 3-day concert on the entire East Coast as Bamboozle 2012 kicks off today, May 18, in Asbury Park. Over 100,000 are expected to attend the massive show.

Harry Dunn of Brielle owns this 1930 Cadillac which has appeared in 11 movies. He purchased the car 33-years ago from a mesume that was going bankrupt. Jay Lenno has been to his home twice trying to buy the car.

Additional photos can be viewed on our Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/Ik5uQt

April 26, 27-28, 2012 the Monmouth Regional High School  Drama Club will put on Seussical the Musical  For additional information please contact Monmouth Regional High School, One Norman J. Field Way, Tinton Falls, NJ. 732-542-1170

Sea Bright resident and die hard Democrat and Boston Red Sox fan Linda Chorney, who was nominated for a 2012 Grammy Award, has been asked to sing the National Anthem on April 21, 2012, 4:00pm at Fenway Park as Boston host the NY Yankees.  As Linda said. “That’s wicked awesome.”