Consider this post an early preview to this week’s Greg’s List.
On Saturday afternoon June 22 from noon till five the Highlands Business Partnership and over 15 restaurants, including MMM advertisers Chilangos and Windansea, are serving scrumptious menu samples and delectable drinks as they kick off the official start of summer with their annual Taste of Highlands.
The event starts off at Huddy Park at the corner of Waterwitch Ave and Shore Drive where participants will be given a keepsake tote bag with directions to each establishment. Transportation between establishments will be provided for those who prefer to collect their calories rather than burn them off between stops.
A fitness instructor and model, Melissa, 31, is competing in her first pageant. After Superstorm Sandy destroyed so much of her hometown, Highlands, she was moved to find a vehicle from which she could contribute to the rebuilding and recovery. Her platform is Restoring the Shore: Hope for Highlands.
Since Sandy hit, Melissa has been hard at work bringing happiness to the lives her Highlands neighbors who have suffered mightily. She promoted Operation Prom to make sure Henry Hudson Regional High School female students will have nice dresses to wear at their prom this weekend. Melissa and her sister Amanda appeared in an Anderson Live segment, Do car dealers rip off women in March.
The Mrs. New Jersey pageant is on Saturday, May 11, 7PM, at the Walter Edge Theater at Atlantic Cape May Community College.
Governor Chris Christie will be back on Monmouth County on Monday morning.
At 7 am, the governor is scheduled to appear on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Show which will be broadcast live from the Five Ave Pavilion in Asbury Park.
At 11am, Christie and U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan are scheduled to visit businesses and greet patrons along Bay Avenue in Highlands, starting from The Memoria Project in Veterans’ Park. At 11:45, he will hold a press conference at Moby’s, 2 South Bay Ave.
Christie is expected to announce federal approval of $1.8 billion in relief funds for housing, infrastructure and business recovery activities, according to a report in The Star Ledger.
At his press conference in Long Branch on April 18, the governor said he was waiting on federal funds for a grant program that would award up $500,000 to businesses and $150,000 to homeowners.
Seastreak Wall Street docked at Highlands Connors Terminal. Photo by Art Gallagher. Click on photo for full view.
Vessel that crashed in January will be back in service on Thursday
The Seastreak ferry that crashed into Pier 11 in New York City on January 9 will be back in service bringing Monmouth County commuters to Manhattan tomorrow, according to Seastreak management.
The company informed its passengers via email this morning that that Seastreak Wall Street has been given clearance by the United States Coast Guard to resume operations:
As you may know, the Seastreak Wall Street returned to Highlands, New Jersey a little over two weeks ago to finish repairs and to undergo testing and inspection by the United States Coast Guard. The Wall Street has now successfully completed the extensive inspections by the United States Coast Guard. In addition to Sea trials under the supervision of the US Coast Guard, the company has had the vessel operating and making her normal docks for several days and has confirmed that all systems are operating normally and safely.
On behalf of everyone at Seastreak we would like to acknowledge the support you have shown us over the last several months. We are pleased now to return the Wall Street to service and look forward to continuing to providing safe and reliable service to you our valued customers.
The starboard-side of the boat crashed into the dock at Pier 11 on the morning of January 9. One passenger was seriously injured. 83 passengers and one crew members were treated for minor injuries.
A company spokesperson declined to talk about the cause of the accident, citing a request by the National Transportation Safety Board that they not disclose such information.
Terry Williams, spokesperson for NTSB, told MoreMonmouthMusings that the accident’s cause has yet to be determined. Williams said that NTSB investigations typically take a year or more.
According to historian John King, the property taxes were the issue that drove Highlands from Middletown. Highlands leaders were not happy that their neighborhood was sending $1000 to Middletown and only getting $500 in services.
When the waters of Superstorm Sandy receded from Highlands, Leo Cervantes and his staff at Chilango’s recovered the non-spoiled inventory from their destroyed Bay Avenue restaurant and invited the entire town to a free dinner that they prepared and served at Henry Hudson Regional High School which was serving as a shelter for hundreds of residents displaced by the storm.
His business was destroyed, but his home was spared by Sandy. Yet, for weeks after the storm, Cervantes continued to prepare meals for his friends and neighbors in the Henry Hudson shelter.
Leo left the poverty of Neza, a tough town outside of Mexico City in 1989, settling first in Asbury Park with his brother who had come a few years before. He got a job washing dishes at the Cypress Inn in Wanamassa. Before long he was working days for a landscaper and nights at the restaurant.
When the Cypress Inn closed, Leo went to work at The Shadowbrook. Owner Richard Zweben sponsored Leo for his green card.
With $1000 and a note held by the seller, Leo opened Chilango’s Long Branch in 1999. The four table restaurant thrived on take-out sold mostly to fellow hispanics who appreciated the authentic Mexican cuisine…the way real Mexican food should taste.
Three years later, Leo bought a building on Bay Ave in Highlands and open Chilango’s as an authentic Mexican restaurant and Tequila bar. Quickly, Chilango’s became a local and regional favorite. As his business grew, Leo became an important contributing member of the community with his constant support of civic organizations, the Highlands Businss Partnership and he served a term on the Zoning Board.
Now, four months after Sandy hit, Leo’s bank account is about back to where it was when he opened in Long Branch in 1999. He is caught in the red tape of the SBA and his insurance company, both of whom are asking him to resubmit information he’s already submitted multiple times. Windnsea and Shadowbrook have both hosted Chilango’s Nights since the storm which were a help in holding over and raising some money for rebuidling, but not enough. Leo’s spent almost all of his savings on rebuilding, but he’s coming up short.
But he doesn’t want a handout. Leo’s goal is to raise $50,000 by selling gift certificates redeemable for Mexican food the way it should taste when Chilango’s reopens. He can be open in a matter of weeks.
Certificates can be purchased through the link below, and/or stop by the tent Leo will have set up in his parking lot to serve Irish Burritos next Saturday at the Highlands St. Patrick’s Parade.
Your emailed receipt for your “donation” will be your gift certificate. Bring it with you to apply to your check when you dine at the re-opened Chilango’s.
The Highlands Business Partnership’s 11th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade is being dedicated to the borough’s first responders in appreciation for their heroic efforts during Superstorm Sandy.
HBP Vice President Jay Cosgrove of Bahrs Landing said, “We’re proud of our hometown heros,” as he announced that Rebecca Kane, Highlands first female Fire Chief and the borough’s Council President, as the parade’s Grand Marshall. OEM Coordinator Dave Parker is the Deputy Grand Marshall. Highlands First Aid Captain Ray Vargas will be honored with the St. Brendan the Navigator Award.
The parade kickoff from Huddy Park on Saturday March 23 at 2PM. 100 marching units including the Henry Hudson Regional Marching Band and Cheerleaders, the Monmouth County Police & Fire Pipe & Drums, Pipe & Drums Corps from Ocean Middlesex, Union, Essex and Atlantic counties. Old Bridge and Staten Islands Pipe and Drummers will also be marching.
There will be a special guest appearance of spectacular Irish dancers from the Daly Irish Dance School.
The Highlands Business Partnership is holding its first annual Chili Cook Off Sunday, February 24 from 3PM till 7PM at Off the Hook, 1 Navesink Ave (Rt 36) Highlands.
Proceeds of the the fundraiser will pay for the bagpipers for the Highlands’ 11th annual St. Patrick’s Parade on March 23rd.
Do you make great chili? Click here for your registration form to enter the Chili Cook Off as either a professional or amateur. Entries must be submitted at Off the Hook by 8PM on Friday the 22nd.
Love good chili? For $25 you’ll get to sample the 24 contestants’ efforts, enjoy a cold one to wash it down and vote for the best professional’s and amateur’s chili. The professional contest starts at 4PM. The amateur contest starts at 5PM.
Consider this post an early preview to this week’s Greg’s List.
The Highlands Business Partnership is holding its first annual Chili Cook Off Sunday, February 24 from 3PM till 7PM at