The Asbury Park Historical Society Newsletter

Asbury Park Historical Society
PO Box 543 • Asbury Park , NJ 07712

Come to the Cabaret!

The Asbury Park Historical Society is proud to announce Cabaret 2007, Sunday, May 6 th from 2 till 5 p.m. This year it will take place at the Circuit Night Club at 915 Kingsley Avenue in Asbury Park .

Hosted by the talented Brett Colby and featuring many talented entertainers, prepare to have a musical afternoon to remember.

Admission is $20.00 in advance or $25.00 at the door and includes a delicious buffet catered by some of Asbury's best restaurants.

Don't miss it this year! It was a complete sell out in 2006!

For More Information Call 732-869-4478

 

Save the Historic Charms Building

The historic B.P.O. Elks Lodge 128 building, built in 1914 at the intersection of Heck Street and Monroe Avenue near the beachfront, is in danger of being demolished under the city's beachfront redevelopment plan.

The Asbury Park Historical Society is launching a campaign to save the building, which was also more recently known as the “ Charms Building ,”

“We have already lost much of the city's heritage and we want to make sure we don't lose much more,” said society President Johna Karpinski.

The society has printed color postcards which have a postcard image of the Elks Lodge on the front and a message to City Manager Terry Reidy on the back urging city officials to save the building.

“We hope concerned people will mail these postcards in and help support this effort,” Karpinski said. For more detailed information about the historic Elks Lodge or to request postcards visit www.asburyparkhistoricalsociety.org or telephone 732-869-4478 and leave a message.

The Elks Lodge 128 was built in 1914 and enlarged in 1924. The building had four bowling alleys, restaurants, a barbershop, a billiard room, a lounge, a dining room, a smoking room and a gymnasium. Many of the most influential and affluent people living at the Jersey Shore were members. The Elks also provided free health care to area children during the 1920s and 1930s. Around 1940 the building was sold to the Charms Candy Company, which moved out of town in the mid 1970s.

Renowned Artist Donates to APHS

Celebrating Asbury Park 's past and present is the central theme of a new artistic endeavor by Brazilian-born artist Marcello Tomazelli, who is donating an original, mixed-medium painting to the Asbury Park Historical Society as a fund-raiser.

Tomazelli, who moved to the city four years ago, said the large, 6-foot by 5-foot “ Asbury Park: Debris and the Resurrection ” is both a work of love and respect for his adopted city.

The original work is oil on canvas with pieces of concrete added from various recent Asbury Park demolition projects. Tomazelli said the work is something he has been doing for more than a year.

“From the ashes come the flowers. The painting is about the rebirth of Asbury Park ,” he said.

Historical Society member Mikell Towery said raffle tickets for the painting, which is valued at $6,000, will be sold for $20 each with the proceeds going to the society.

She said the raffle will be held on July 4 th , after the parade, attendance is not required to win. Information about buying tickets will soon be posted on the society's website but they will certainly be available in participating downtown businesses and at historical society events, Towery said. The society's web site is www.asburyparkhistoricalsociety.org An image of the painting is also available on the web site.

“Marcello is giving back to Asbury Park and I think that is a lovely thing for people to do. The fact that he is donating this painting to us is just amazing to me and very generous. I hope the public turns out and supports this effort as well,” she said.

Mazelli said he is aware of the work the Asbury Park Historical Society has been doing in town and thought donating the painting as a fundraiser was a good idea.

He also said he would also like to see his latest piece displayed publicly- at least for awhile.

“I've been working on this piece for a longtime and I would eventually like to see it publicly displayed. Even if a private person wins it I would still like to see the public enjoy it,” he said.

A West Side Story Book

It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words and, if that old adage is true, then Asbury Park native Madonna Carter Jackson has a wealth of words indeed.

Carter Jackson's recent book, Asbury Park: A West Side Story , is a selection of about 200 black-and-white photographs selected from more than 15,000 negatives taken by her father, the late Joseph A. Carter, Sr. who died in 1980.

Carter Sr. opened his photography studio on Springwood Avenue around 1940 and began to photographically document much of the rich history of Asbury Park 's vibrant West Side community for the next 40 years.

“Basically every photograph in the book is from a time in the black community that was supposed to be a world worse than it is today: when wages were low, opportunities limited, and various labels attached to people. I want this book to be a display to stimulate the true and good memories of that past and to open eyes that seem to be closed about that past,” Carter Jackson said.

Photographs in the 244-page book document many of the stores, events, musical scenes, and employees on the West Side during the 40-year period. “Black people in Asbury Park worked hard, played hard, and always looked good. The most beautiful dresses you'll ever see,” Carter Jackson writes in the book. Carter Jackson, who is 58 and now lives in Columbia , South Carolina , said she has been caring for the thousands of negatives over the years, even as she moved several times to different states.

“The photographs are not only my family's heritage but also the heritage of a community as well, she said. “Every club, organization, or event that happened on the West Side- my father was there with his camera. I had no idea the community would latch on to the book like it did.”

Copies of “A West Side Story”, which cost $29.95, can be ordered at www.asburyparkhistoricalsociety.com

Download the APHS Newsletter in PDF Format

Polo Match Benefit

The Asbury Park Historical Society will once again attend the fifth annual Polo Match hosted by the Monmouth Conservation Foundation. This event is being held on Sunday, June 24 th at 3 p.m. , at Bucks Mill Park in Colts Neck and all APHS members and non members are invited to attend.

The society received a $7,000 donation from the foundation last year, with the money slated to purchase and install a water sprinkling system in Library Square Park at Asbury and Grand Avenues.

The society has rehabilitated the park, with new plantings, benches and repairs to the TenBroeck fountain in the middle of the park. In addition to installing the sprinkler system, the society is now looking to install new lighting fixtures in the park.

“The Foundation has been partnering with us to restore the park and the society is thrilled to once again be the beneficiary of the foundation's generosity and goodwill,” said Society President Johna Karpinski.

She said the donation will be put to “good use” by restoring historic lighting in the park.

Karpinski said the society is looking for various levels of sponsorship to help pay for the society's participation in the match. Corporations, groups or individuals wanting to help fund or attend the event can telephone the Asbury Park Historical Society at

732-869-4478 or send an e-mail to info@asburyparkhistoricalsociety.org

4th of July Parade

Watch for the Asbury Park Historical Society's participation in the city's annual July 4 th parade!

The society has participated in all of the Fourth of July parades, since the traditional event was revised in 2003, but this year the society will explore the possibility of entering a decorative float in the parade. Anyone interested in helping with the float project can send a message to info@asburyparkhistoricalsociety.org

The society will also have a booth in Bradley Park, near Convention Hall, after the parade, where the society's newsletter, membership applications, books and merchandise, and historic preservation information will be available.

The parade, which will be held on Wednesday, July 4, will begin in the downtown Cookman Avenue area at 1 p.m. , head north on Main Street , and east on Fifth Avenue to the beachfront. A reviewing stand will be erected near Fifth Ave. and Webb Street. Fireworks will be held at the beachfront at around 9:30 p.m.

To sponsor your own group in the parade telephone Hazel Samuels at 732-502-4579. “The parade gets bigger and better every year,” said Deputy Mayor Jim Bruno

FYI: For Membership applications or to update your information, please call 732-869-4478

APHS Website

The Asbury Park Historical Society (APHS) invites you to visit its new, improved and updated website at www.asburyparkhistoricalsociety.org We hope you will find the new website to be a vast improvement over our past web site. Please visit the site for up-to-date information on upcoming events, information on current historic preservation projects in Asbury Park , or to keep informed on current books or historical society merchandise available for sale. Please feel free to click on the associated link on the web site for more information on any subject.

Items for sales in our merchandise area now include (see ordering information and shipping costs on web site):

•  Current and past Asbury Park Historical Society Christmas ornaments: available from 2002 to 2007. $10 per ornament.

•  APHS t-shirts and sweat-shirts: sizes small to extra-large displaying the society's colorful Casino Carousel logo, designed by local artist Ray Sternesky.

•  The largest selection of Asbury Park-related books on a single web site, with titles by Helen-Chantal Pike, Madonna Carter Jackson, Daniel Wolff, Shirley Ayres, Stan Goldstein and Jean Mykle, and publications by the historical society. Want to read about Asbury Park ? Visit the APHS bookstore!