Governor Chris Christie will be on hand to kick off the festivities. The Culinary MC, Billy Harris is the Master of Ceremonies.
Disco Queen Gloria Gaynor will survive as a celebrity judge and never says good bye to good shrimp. James Oseland, editor-in-chef of Saveur Magazine and former NBA star Darryl Dawkins will also be celebrity judges.
The Asbury Park Sun is reporting that the Coast Guard warning of sharks close to the shore in Belmar, Spring Lake/Sea Girt and the Manasquan Inlet is a hoax.
Personnel at Sector Delaware Bayof the U.S. Coast Guard — which has jurisdiction up to the Manasquan Inlet Coast Guard station — confirmed the Coast Guard did not issue the statement.
The false statement described encounters with sharks by a female kayaker, two fishermen and a male paddle boarder. It also states that the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation, which does exist in California, said one shark was a Great White.
Meanwhile, 30 miles off shore, the sharks are jumping into boats. Well, at least one 300 pound Mako did, according to a report on NJ.com.
Thanksgiving like weather did not keep thousands of people from flocking to the Jersey Shore for the Memorial Day Weekend summer kickoff.
A rapidly slimming Governor Chris Christie braved the cold and dressed for the calendar and cameras. From the looks of the OceanCityPatch photos, there was no lack of warmth for Christie coming from the swarming crowd.
It took 45 minutes for Christie to move from the boardwalk ramp at Eighth Street three doors down to Manco & Manco Pizza through a mosh pit of well-wishers hoping to shake hands or rub elbows with the rising Republican star. Even outside the swarm of onlookers around Eighth Street, the boardwalk was jammed with visitors on the sunny but brisk first day of the holiday weekend.
Christie crept along to the popular pizza store to greet co-owner Chuck Bangle and a host of Ocean City officials and community leaders in a staged photo-op.
Christie’s visit included no speech to the public and no comment on issues related to the storm — just an opportunity for the governor to meet and greet shore residents and visitors.
As a crowd waited for the governor’s arrival, his staff announced that Christie would walk from Eighth Street past Gillian’s Wonderland Pier to Sixth Street. But after about an hour and a half, Christie had not made it to Seventh Street.
The boardwalk’s reconstruction began on Jan. 9. It required more than a half million screws, Mayor Matt Doherty said.
“I never thought I’d be so happy about a half million screws,” said Menendez, who noted Belmar plays a special role in the lives of the state’s residents. “We have preserved that New Jersey birthright.”
