You can get a jump on your holiday shopping at the St. James School’s Santaland. The annual fund-raising event offers a variety of gifts for sale including raffles on sporting tickets, a $500 mall gift certificate and much more, while the kids can enjoy plenty of food, crafts and activities. Santaland will take place Nov. 23 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at St. James School Cafeteria, Red Bank.
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Five distinctive homes in Rumson, Fair Haven and Little Silver will be featured in the 2002 Holiday House Tour sponsored by the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey. The tour, now in its 32nd year, will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 6 and benefits the VNA of Central Jersey’s hospice program. On tour day, an optional luncheon will be offered at the Rumson Country Club, Rumson, and the Navesink Country Club in Middletown. A holiday boutique featuring holiday greens, plants and fresh arrangements will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Bingham Hall, 40 Bingham Ave., Rumson.
Tour tickets cost $50 per person — $40 for those age 65 and older — and may be ordered by mail or purchased on the day of the tour. Luncheon tickets cost $30 per person and must be prepaid. On Dec. 5, the eve of the house tour, a cocktail reception will be held at the Rumson home of Dan and Barbara Todd to launch the festivities. Tickets to the reception cost $75 per person. For tickets or additional information, contact the VNA of Central Jersey’s Development Office, 176 Riverside Ave., Red Bank, 07701, or call (732) 224-6970.
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Little Silver’s Turkey Bowl 2002, benefiting Jason’s Dreams for Kids, will be held Nov. 30 at Sickles Field and at the Woman’s Center in Little Silver. The day will feature a 10-team, round robin, 7-on-7, touch football tournament and family fun. The football tournament will be held between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. There will also be a DJ, face painter, clowns and hot dogs, hamburgers and soda available at the games.
From 3-6 p.m., Santa Claus will visit and a buffet and awards ceremony will be offered. The cost is $50 per player and family, and $20 for a spectator family. For more information, contact Jason’s Dreams for Kids, 20 Monmouth St., Red Bank, 07701, or call (732) 758-0060.
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The 36th anniversary Winter Glow Ball, to benefit The Arc of Monmouth (Association for Retarded Citizens, Monmouth Unit Inc., in Tinton Falls), will be held Dec. 6 at the Shore Casino in Atlantic Highlands. The honoree at this year’s black-tie gala will be John F. Croddick, president of Cosmetic Essence Inc. of Holmdel. Chairwoman Anita Roselle of Fair Haven said Croddick was being recognized not only for his generosity, but for supplying subcontract work to Arc’s Work Opportunity Center in Long Branch, which provides employment opportunities for people with mental retardation. Tickets to the ball, which begins at 7 p.m., cost $175 per person. The ball also will feature the traditional $100-a-chance 50/50 raffle, and a $5-a-chance mink coat raffle, which will be held at the close of bidding at the silent auction at 11:30 p.m. Proceeds enable Arc to continue offering quality programs and services to people with mental retardation. For tickets or more information, call Arc’s development office at (732) 493-1919, ext. 125.
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The most democratic prayer book in the history of the Episcopal Church, and a gala birthday reception featuring a different cake for each month of the year, will highlight the last in a series of historic services commemorating the 300th anniversary Jubilee of Christ Church at Route 35 and Sycamore Avenue in Shrewsbury, according to the church. The reception will be held in the parish house on Nov. 17 after the service at 10 a.m. The service will be led by the Right Rev. Vincent J. Pettit of Tinton Falls, retired suffragen bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey and a former rector of Christ Church in Toms River who had a major hand in the revision that became the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, still in use today. Pettit noted that the first prayer book of 1549, in what was then the Church of England, was a medieval book and subsequent prayer books did not change very much. The 1979 version was the first time the laity had any input, he said.
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Both historic and contemporary homes, and condominiums with unique interiors and a variety of architecture, will be featured on the Highlands Business Partnership’s annual Holiday House Tour on Dec. 15. The tour also will include three of the borough’s quaint bed and breakfast inns, with both public and guest rooms open for viewing. Advance tickets cost $12 each and will entitle purchasers to visit the 10 stops on the tour between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets purchased on the day of the tour will be $15 each. Many Highlands stores will be open that Sunday for holiday shopping, along with restaurants and cafes serving everything from coffee and dessert to lunch, dinner and "Christmas cheer." Tickets can be purchased in advance at select stores, or may be purchased over the phone by calling Allen Consulting, (732) 946-2711. Tickets can be bought on the day of the tour at St. Jude’s Thrift Shop, 151 Navesink Ave. (Route 36 east at Miller).