CHRIS KELLY staff Shore Regional’s Danielle Tagerty participates in the Long Branch Columbus Day Parade on Oct. 12. The "Cruise Beneath the Stars" to benefit Michael Tallman, of Monmouth Beach, and his family was an enormous success, raising a total "just shy" of $53,000 for the Tallmans, according Jeanne E. Boehles, one of the organizers of the fund-raiser and a neighbor. Tallman suffered a spinal cord injury in April while playing in a pickup hockey game and is now confined to a wheelchair.
He and his wife, Kristen, and their two young children are living with other family while the home they purchased in Monmouth Beach last fall is undergoing extensive renovations to make it handicapped accessible.
Boehles said some 400 tickets at $50 each were sold and at least 350 people came aboard to enjoy the cruise on the SeaStreak from Atlantic Highlands to Manhattan on Oct. 4.
A Stanley Cup jersey autographed by the winner Jersey Devils hockey team was raffled off during the evening. Boehles said she was delightfully surprised by the nearly $53,000 raised for the Tallmans.
"It gives me goose bumps whenever I say that number," she related. "And I was hoping for $20,000!" She was joined in organizing the event by Kim Pierson, also of Monmouth Beach, who is the sister-in-law of Kristen Tallman.
*****
A flag retirement ceremony will be held at the Shrewsbury Borough Hall field at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 20, by the Boy Scouts of America, Monmouth Council, Twin Lights District, Cub Scout Pack 50 and Boy Scout Troop 50. The Scouts will have a bonfire and show the proper method to retire worn U.S. flags.
Cubmaster Rolf Kamp noted that recently the level of patriotism has risen and many flags are flown. He said people need a way to properly retire worn flags.
*****
Fort Monmouth will host its annual Military Retiree Appreciation Day on Saturday, Oct. 18. Admission is free and military retirees from all services and their families in Monmouth, Middlesex, and nine other counties are invited. The day begins at 9 a.m. in the Officers’ Club, Gibbs Hall, on Tinton Avenue with the posting of colors by the New Jersey Colonial Color Guard, followed by remarks from Maj. Gen. William H. Russ, commander of the Army’s Communications Electronics Command. The keynote speaker will be John W. Radke, chief of Army Retirement Services in Alexandria, Va. Retirees can inquire about health and other benefits at information tables.
*****
The Northern Monmouth County Branch of the American Association of University Women is presenting a program, "Our Daughters, the Soldiers," at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 3, at the Eatontown Community Center, 58 Broad St., Eatontown. Dr. Helen Brudner of Fairleigh Dickinson University will talk about the trials and triumphs of women who have and are serving in the U.S. military, with an emphasis on World War II and the current times. The program, which is free and open to the public, is offered through the Horizons Speakers Bureau of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For further information, call (732) 747-3635.
*****
Clean Ocean Action will hold its fall beach sweeps from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25. In Sea Bright, the cleanup will take place in two locations — the Anchorage beach, just north of the Rumson/Sea Bright bridge, and the borough beach, just south of the bridge. In Monmouth Beach, the cleanup will take place at the Monmouth Beach Bathing Pavilion and at the public access points across from the Monmouth Beach Cultural Center and across from Central Avenue. In Long Branch, participants are asked to gather at the beach by Brighton Avenue in the West End.
*****
Two celebratory public events are coming up in Little Silver. The new addition to the borough’s public library in the municipal complex on Prospect Avenue will be dedicated at 4 p.m. on Oct. 26. The reopening of the renovated railroad station on Oceanport Avenue at Sycamore Avenue will be marked with festivities at the station at 2 p.m. on Nov. 1.
*****
The Monmouth Arts Foundation Music Association will start its new season of monthly musical coffee hours at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23, at the Monmouth County Library’s Eastern Branch, on Route 35, in Shrewsbury. The featured performer will be singer/pianist Donny Pesce, of Brick, who will offer a "Musical Journey Through 20th Century Music." The coffee hour is free and open to the public. For information, call (732) 741-7237.
*****
The Woman’s Club of Little Silver celebrated the 100th birthday of one of its long-standing members, Eleanore Huson. Huson, a 47-year member of the club, was presented with a scroll and flowers. She served as National Masters Judge of the Garden Clubs of U.S.A. and is a member of the State Board of Garden Clubs. She also is an accomplished artist and is known for her one-of-a-kind Christmas cards and portraits, according to Doris Woolfenden, the communications chairman of the club and a past president. At the Nov. 12 meeting of the club, Susan Edwards, a local librarian, will present a book review of "The Secret Life of Bees," by Susan Monk Kidd. The meeting begins at 1 p.m. at the Woman’s Club building at Church Street and Rumson Road in Little Silver.
****
The Sierra Club, Jersey Shore Group, will meet at 8 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 27, at the Old Wharf, on Main Street, in Oceanport.
*****
Family & Children’s Services will hold its annual "A Night to Remember Ball" on Oct. 25 at Branches in West Long Branch. Titled "This Magic Moment," the event will feature music, table magic and tarot card readings and will honor brothers Andrew and Richard Bott, owners of MerriMakers caterers. FCS’ Helen Hoffman Award will be presented to the Botts in recognition of their dedication and service to the community. Among the organizations that have benefited from their efforts are YMCA’s Camp Arrowhead Branch, CPC Mental Health Services, and The FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Tickets to the ball are $225 apiece and the proceeds will go to programs of FCS. Founded in 1909 and based in the Oakhurst section of Ocean Township, FCS helps more than 10,000 people each year with pre-natal to end-of-life issues.
*****
The fourth annual Dishes for Wishes "Speakeasy on the Shrewsbury," to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, will be held at McLoone’s Riverside restaurant in Sea Bright from 5-9 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9. The $100 per-person cost ($60 tax deductible) covers hors d’oeuvres, a "Big East" buffet, wine tasting, live entertainment and silent auction. There also will be a cash bar. For tickets or more information, call Benny at (201) 264-0636.
*****
The First Assembly of God Church, 220 Sycamore Ave., in Shrewsbury, will present the music of The Couriers on Sunday, Nov. 9. There will be two performances at 8:20 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. In 1955, Bible school students formed a group called The Couriers. They moved to Harrisburg, Pa., to launch a music ministry, and 47 years later they are still proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ through song. They have traveled over 4 million miles, performed in 81 foreign countries as well as all of the United States, and recorded 58 albums. For more information, call the church office at (732) 741-0048.