Coaster Photo
Bradley Beach Public Works Director Richard Bianchi and Borough Councilwoman Lori Marchak-Ortiz were rolling out walkways at the beach this week.
By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
Southern Monmouth County has been preparing for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend and the kick off to the 2006 summer beach season.
The Weather Channel is calling for scattered thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday after predicting nothing but warm temperatures and blue skies all week.
But if past seasons are any indication beach goers will take their chances and still head to the beaches to soak up as much sun as they can before heading out to restaurants and deck parties.
Especially since, as most of us know, weathermen have been known to be wrong.
Bob Wright, who has been the manager of the Columns on Ocean Avenue in Avon for 27 years, is looking forward to another successful season.
His crew has been busy cleaning up the deck furniture, doing the annual painting and making sure the heated porch is ready for holiday crowds.
“With our seating on the porch across from the Ocean, you can’t beat it,” says Wright.
The restaurant will provide entertainment throughout the weekend, beginning on Friday night with Enjoy and will feature Kevin and Billy and Harry on Saturday afternoon and Undercover Saturday and Sunday nights.
The Columns has a full dinner menu, including a raw bar with $9 lobster.
Bradley Beach Public Works Supervisor Richard Bianchi said this week that his town is ready for the season opening.
“I think we’re way ahead of the other towns, we’ve been working hard, the guys have been working 10 hour days to get ready.”
Bianchi said his crew has been planting flowers, putting new concrete ramps at beach entrances, painting benches and putting new flooring around the showers on the beach.
Especially exciting are the new banners which will line the beachfront. Bianchi explained that they illustrate different digital images of borough sites including beach scenes, cafe’s at night and the train station.
Fortunately, he added, the beach did not lose any sand this year.
“We have a tremendous amount of beach, we didn’t have any major storms this year,” said Bianchi.
Asked if he thought beach attendance would be up from past Memorial Days, Bianchi said, “I’m looking for a record, they are calling for awesome weather, so I think they’re gonna come.”
Clark Cate of the Manchester Inn in Ocean Grove has been readying his establishment for the holiday weekend.
“We are painted and polished and dusted and vacuumed within an inch of our lives,” he said laughing.
Cate said the inn will be serving its usual Sunday jazz brunch and all the local inn keepers have been invited to attend as guests of the Manchester Inn.
The brunch is held every Sunday from Memorial Day to Labor Day from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Cate said he is expecting business to be about the same as last year with many customers waiting until the last minute to book rooms, before checking the weather forecast.
“Traditionally they book late, we’ll fill up as we did last year.”
According to AAA, travel will go up slightly in this Memorial Day despite high gas prices. The organization estimates that nationwide 37.6 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more this holiday. It represents a 9 percent increase.
In New Jersey estimates are that 911,600 drivers will take to the roadways, either by car, truck or RV.
“High gas prices and increased vacation costs won’t deter Americans from traveling this Memorial Day,” said Pam Maiolo, public affairs manager for AAA Mid-Atlantic.
Holiday travelers will find gas prices in the Garden State averaging $2.94 per gallon, up 29 cents from a month ago and 87 cents higher than this time last year.
AAA Mid-Atlantic serves 3.6 million members in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
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