Locals sound off on parking debate through Facebook group

The Point Pleasant Beach paid-parking debate has officially reached the mainstream, thanks to Point resident and Beach First Aid and Rescue Squad member, Jonathan Miller.

Miller, whose grandmother is also a Beach resident, didn't think the public had enough information or an appropriate or effective avenue in which they could express their concerns and suggestions regarding the recent proposals to charge for parking on nearly every street in Beach. To add insult to injury, the town is also proposing early bar closings as a cost-saving measure if the parking plan is not instituted.

So, in an effort to educate the public, Miller created The Point Pleasant Beach Against Paid Parking and Early Bar Closings group on the popular social networking site, Facebook. 

What started with a trickle of local interest has blossomed into a force of more than 3,500 members who log on to express their frustration as well as to pose possible solutions for the town's budget woes. In addition, Miller now says he feels obligated to attend council meetings and to report the latest news to the group which continues to grow by the minute.

If you're a local resident, or a regular visitor to Pt. Pleasant Beach, check out The Point Beach Against Paid Parking and Early Bar Closings group to learn more about the issues and what's being done about it. 

The issue has been tabled for now, but have no doubt that it will return to a docket near you.

No Smoking on Belmar Beaches?

This Saturday, February 21, Belmar residents and beach patrons are encouraged to attend a special meeting to discuss a proposed ban on smoking on the beach and boardwalk.

Currently, there are three options up for discussion:

• Leaving the borough’s designated smoking areas on the beach and boardwalk as they stand today
  
• Creating smoke-free beaches in the borough
  
• Banning smoking from all Belmar beaches and the boardwalk.

According to Councilwoman Meredith Brennan, smoking areas, allowing for a 50-foot smoking radius, are currently designated every 400 feet on Belmar beaches.

Personally I prefer to spend a smoke-free day at the beach, however, if there are designated smoking areas - and smokers adhere to these limits - I'm fine with sharing the beach.

I hope all of you smokers out there can at least do one thing - take your butts of the beach with the rest of the day's trash. Cigarette butts are litter and are dangerous to sea animals who accidentally ingest them.

Out-of-the-Box

Last Friday, I attended part of an Improv Workshop for area kids at the Manasquan Recreation Annex. For those of you not familiar with Improv, think Theater by the seat of your pants. Perhaps you are familiar with the television show, Whose Line is it Anyway? - one of the best know mainstream examples of Improv at it's most amusing.

Two Manasquan High School English teachers began holding Improv and writing workshops about four years ago when they noticed that the kids in their classrooms were becoming less and less creative. They were too scheduled; too restrained and controlled; too immersed in the rigid world of television, internet and video games. They were losing the ability to think out of the box.

Our imaginations are like muscles, you see. The more they are exercised, the stronger they get. This workshop is like Pilates for the imagination. There the kids are forced to stretch their imaginations, reaching into the depths of their creative and whimsical side all the while using logic and reason to think quickly on their feet in front of an audience of their peers. I think arts like Improv should be incorporated into our children's education. 

For life, as I've found it, depends on our ability to think quickly, use our imaginations to solve problems and, most importantly, to laugh at ourselves.

Will the Drive-Thru kill our community?

I recently read The Coast Star article by Manasquan reporter, Kelly Rizzetta, regarding a recent proposal to open a Dunkin Donuts here on Union Avenue.  The business proposal is running into some roadblocks because it includes a drive-thru window in an area where no other drive thru businesses exist. 

Permit approval for the plan has been put on hold on account of some townspeople and council members have concerns about the possible traffic overflow onto Union Ave., a.k.a. Route 71. 

Later in the morning, while cruising the streets of Spring Lake in search of new restaurants to include in our Restaurant Guide, I noticed the glaring absence of the drive-thru. 

What I did see was a lot of parked cars and people milling about. It's January. It's something like 12 degrees outside with the windchill, and folks are just strolling around  Spring Lake, going about their daily business as if were a midsummer's day.

I would even venture to guess that many of these folks actually stop and chat with shopkeepers and others who, like themselves, are out and about. I thought, now this is a community.

Community is a word often used by Squan locals who pride themselves on the small-town feel of their jewel by the sea. Do we really need a drive-through coffee and donut factory here? 

There are already two independent coffee places on Main Street, each offering a cozy environment complete with couches and wi-fi access along with a full complement of coffees, teas, juices and snacks. These are friendly places where you often find yourself chatting with the barista du jour about nothing in particular. Whether you stop for 5 minutes or 25, these neighborhood places offer a community experience with a side of espresso.

Or, would you prefer to skip the neighborhood joint and drive to the nearest chain where your only interaction will be with a speaker in a box before racing off to sit in traffic? I think the choice is clear.

 

For all of you smokers out there

Move over Marlboro Man, there's a new sheriff in town. EVO, a smokeless, scentless cigarette alternative has just ridden into town - and intends to take no prisoners.

If you're a smoker and just can't - or won't - kick the habit, this may be a safer alternative.

EVO "cigarettes," which are slightly longer than traditional smokes, are fitted with a mouthpiece that holds a replaceable cartridge filled with a liquid form of nicotine and propylene glycol. 

When air flows through the mouthpiece of the EVO, the air is detected by a microprocessor, which then activates an atomizer which injects tiny droplets of the liquid into the flowing air. This produces a vapor mist of nicotine, which is then inhaled by the user.

The propylene glycol makes the mist resemble that of traditional cigarette smoke, without the odor. The EVO’s microprocessor also activates an orange LED at the tip of the EVO apparently intended to simulate a real smoking experience.

Having not yet seen these little nicotine miracles in action, I can't speak for the cheesiness of the experience, however, with smokers in my family I'm open to any alternatives that won't cause lung cancer or emphysema. 

And pack for pack, EVO looks to be a cheaper alternative to tobacco. An EVO starter kit, which contains one EVO, an extra battery charger and six nicotine cartridges, costs $54.99. Nicotine cartridges can be purchased in bulk, five cartridges selling for $10 and 15 cartridges selling for $20. Since one EVO cartridge is equal to a single pack of traditional cigarettes, your per-pack cost is around $1.33 which will quickly make up for the cost of the device.

If you want to check out these little babies, they're available at smokelessevolution.com - or, quite possibly, a tanning salon near you.

A Trip to the ER

Have you ever had a moment that gave you perspective on your life? I have - and it happened just four days before Christmas.

The Sunday before Christmas I had big plans. I was working up until Christmas Eve, so this was my last full unencumbered day to wrap up my Christmas errands. 

I had last-minute gifts to buy, including that all-to-important gift for that "special someone" in my life. Of course a trip to the grocery store was clearly necessary as I lacked many of the necessary holiday dinner accessories such as cranberry sauce, butter, green beans, etc. And I had promised my 10-year old a movie date to see Despereaux. But life had another plan for me.

My brother, who was in the neighborhood to cook a 70th birthday dinner for my ex mother-in-law, was staying with us Saturday night instead of heading back to Queens where he lives. On Sunday, something was clearly wrong. He felt weak, fatigued, short of breath and had chest pains. Not a good combination under any circumstance. 

We went to the ER at Jersey Shore where the two of us spent the entire day. He slept for much of the morning while I watched TV. As the day wore on and it became clear that nothing was physically wrong with him, I became annoyed. My daughter went to the movie with my ex-husband; my husband was at the Devils' game with my stepson; and I was sitting in the hospital with someone who didn't need to be there.

Why me? I thought. Why am I the one to have to give up MY day to sit here because my big brother can't take proper care of himself? 

While I wallowed in self-pity and annoyance, however, a thought occurred to me. I couldn't remember the last time it was just the two of us, hanging out together, with nothing to do and nowhere to go. 

I realized this day was not a punishment, but a gift. As he began to feel better in the afternoon, we talked and laughed and shared cell phone pics over an Italian sub and salt & vinegar potato chips (turns out we have a few things in common). He thanked me for being there for him and I realized that I was happy to be there.

A hospital emergency room is not the place where you expect magical moments to occur, but that's what happened to me. With Christmas only days away, and my brother in a hospital gurney next to me, I had my own small Christmas miracle. I was given an uninterrupted afternoon with my big brother.

Are you making a difference?

Last night I saw the new FOX series Secret Millionaire for the first time. For those of you not already familiar with this fantastic concept, FOX cameras follow multi-millionaires as they leave behind all of their money and possessions to live, for a week, in an impoverished area. The participants have $100 with which to find a place to live and to feed themselves. Since $100 isn't much, they also work for minimum wage.

Along their journey, these undercover millionaires must meet as many people as possible who are touching the lives of others in some way. At the end of the week, the millionaire must give away at least $100,000 of his or her own money to drastically change the life of someone they met. Last night, Mollly Shattuck, former NFL cheerleader and wife of Constellation Energy CEO, headed to a mining town in Pennsylvania with her mom. They worked at a grocery store for $6 an hour, cleaning floors and stocking shelves while trying to find people who were working to help others. It didn't take them long.

I won't spoil the show for those of you who may still want to tune in to FOX On Demand to see it. Needless to say, it was an amazing thing to watch.

For all of you out there who may want to help someone, but you just don't know where to begin, I found two great websites that will give you the direction that you need:

The Volunteer Center of Monmouth County

United Way of Ocean County

Check 'em out and sign up to help someone in your neighborhood today. You don't have to be a millionaire to make a difference.