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Belmar Historical Commission Meeting

The Belmar Historical Council meeting dates for 2010 are as follows:  Jan. 12, Feb. 9 (Cancelled), February 16, March 9, April 13, May 11, June 8, July 13, Aug. 10, Sept. 14, Oct. 12, Nov. 9 and Dec. 14.  All the meetings will be held at the Belmar Public Library media room at 7pm.

Event Date(s) and Time(s):

January 12, 2010 7:00 pm February 16, 2010 7:00 pm March 9, 2010 7:00 pm April 13, 2010 7:00 pm May 11, 2010 7:00 pm June 8, 2010 7:00 pm July 13, 2010 7:00 pm August 10, 2010 7:00 pm September 13, 2010 7:00 pm October 12, 2010 7:00 pm November 9, 2010 7:00 pm December 14, 2010 7:00 pm

Album: The aftermath of the Nor’easter of ‘92

The fall and winter of 1992 delivered a series of catastrophic Nor’easters to the East Coast, beginning with a double-wammy of back-to-back late-September storms and peaking with an exceptionally violent mid-December Nor’easter.  The powerful storm surge listed Belmar’s wooden boardwalk from its foundation, carried it across Ocean Avenue and dumped the splinters on front lawns.  Dunes were ripped apart and redistributed by sustained winds blowing at 30mph, with gusts registering at 80mph.  Wave heights reached 20-25 feet near the shore, rendering jetties useless.  Asphalt roads and cement sidewalks were shattered like during an earthquake, and homes, especially those around Inlet Terrace, were inundated with flood waters.  In the days after the Nor’easter, The New York Times wrote,

The storm — a behemoth that stretched 600 miles along the Atlantic Seaboard from upstate New York to North Carolina — was not a hurricane, for it lacked a swirling tropical center and sustained winds over 75 m.p.h. But for all practical purposes, it bore down like a hurricane hell bent for treachery.

Churning counter-clockwise as it moved slowly to the northeast up the coast, it hurled pounding seas ashore at morning and evening high tides, causing heavy flooding that forced the evacuation of thousands of people on the New Jersey shore and the south shore of Long Island. 32 deaths reported.

December 10th will be the 17th anniversary of the Nor’easter of ‘92.  Click below to view a gallery chronicling the storm’s three-day hold on the Jersey Shore, and the destruction it left behind:  

Do you have old photo memories of Belmar?

Join the Belmar Historical Council Advisory Committee

The BHPC Wants You!!!

Come join the fun and help maintain the proud history of Belmar! New members are always welcome! There is a lot to do. We need your help managing the wealth of historical documents, preserving historical items, creating rotating displays for the Borough Hall lobby, and attending fun events such as the Spring Tea and autumn’s Antiques-By-The-Atlantic.

Invest in Belmar to preserve its history and inspire public support by sharing Belmar’s past. The BHPC meets on the second Tuesday of every month in the Media Room of the Belmar Library. Come attend one of our meetings or call Pat O’Keefe at 732 681-0732 for further information.

Join with us to Preserve Belmar’s History! Belmar has an amazing history and is proud of the contribution residents have made to our town and our world. The BHPC has accepted the task of restoring, preserving and acquiring Belmar sites and materials.

Belmar’s Dough Boy Statue

Belmar Stories – a Visual and Performing Arts Show

The Belmar Arts Council invites your participation in its next summer art show, Belmar Stories.  Belmar Stories is a visual and performing arts show centered around your personal history, experiences, and memories of Belmar.  Your art may include photography, poetry to be read on stage, paintings, collages of memorabilia, music, and video.  Art intake is Saturday, August 1, from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm at the Belmar Arts Council located at 608 River Road (7th Ave & the railroad tracks).  Entry fee is $10 per piece for members and $15 per piece for non-members.  Details can be found online at www.BelmarArts.org or by calling (732) 749-3360.

Dozens Share Seaside Memories

Movies at the Rialto theater for 9 cents. Regular “canteens” that were popular for dancing and socializing. A delicious orange drink called the “green spot.” These were just some of the wonderful recollections shared by the few dozen long-time area residents at Seaside Memories, a gathering held Wednesday, June 17 at Taylor Pavilion. The event, sponsored by Councilwoman Claire Deicke and the Belmar Historical Preservation Council, gave the attendees the opportunity to reminisce about Belmar’s past through small-group discussions and Belmar trivia going back over a century. Everyone present had a terrific time talking about the past!

In addition, members of the Belmar Arts Council (BAC) were on hand to film some of the memories for a documentary-style video that they are making for an upcoming exhibition, Belmar Stories: A Show of Visual and Performing Arts, that will be held August 8-28. The exhibition will feature submissions in any medium that is inspired by memories of Belmar. The BAC will also be holding a special collage workshop to show people how to create a finished piece of art from their own collection of photos, mementos, ephemera, and souvenirs. It’s a great opportunity for those who would like to be part of our August celebration of Belmar but who are not quite sure what to submit. The workshop will be July 7, from 7 to 9pm. The fee will be $10 for BAC members, $15 for non-members. Space is limited, so participants are asked to register by contacting Brenda at the BAC by July 1st.

Belmar Pictorial History Books available from Belmar Historical Council

No coffee table of a true Belmar fan is complete without copies of Volumes I and II of Belmar’s rich pictorial history. Published through the Images of America series, Belmar Volume I was authored by Karen L. Schnitzspahn. The first volume was so popular that Karen, teamed up with Sandra G. Epstein, who spent many summers in Belmar as a child, to write Volume II soon after. The books are available for $25 each through Patricia O’Keefe, the Secretary of the Belmar Historical Council. Proceeds benefit the Historical Council.

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