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Celtic Chase – March 6, 2010

Fit Walk Route planning

Belmar Recreation will be meeting interested persons on the boardwalk in front of the Belmar Fishing Club starting Monday March 15  at 11:00. The purpose will be to measure different routes with  Belmar residents using a Rolatape. This will assist people in setting goals and distances for walks or jogging and helping them keep accurate times and distances to mark improvement.

Our goal is to get you moving in a positive direction towards better health. The walks can start in Belmar and go in any reasonable direction and distance. If you have specific needs please plan ahead and call Michael Campbell at 732-681 3700 dial 9 then 211.

Weather permitting we will meet every weekday starting March 15 thru March 25th 2010.

Easter Egg Hunt 2010

Attention all Belmar residents.

The Easter Egg Hunt will be held on March 27th at 11 am Sharp.

Ages 1-3 will meet at the 6th ave beach

Ages 4-5 7th ave beach (north)

Ages 6-7 7th ave (south)

Ages 8-9 8th ave beach.

Please don’t be late as the Easter Egg Hunt will start on time and only lasts a few short minutes before all the eggs are found.   DON’T BE LATE

Sign up now for the first Belmar’s Celtic Chase

Belmar will be hosting the first annual Belmar’s Celtic Chase, a one mile race, fun run, and walk on the beach, on March 6, 2010 to kick off the St. Patrick’s Day Parade weekend festivities.  Organized in conjunction with Jersey Shore Running Club, the race starts at 9:30 a.m. at the Taylor Pavilion.  The entry fee for adults is $15.00 before March 1, $17 March 1-5 and $20 if registering on race day.  The kid’s fee, which applies to children 12 and under, is $10 before March 1 and $15 if paid on race day.  To pick-up pre-race packets and register, visit Jake’s Crab Shack on Ocean Avenue on March 5 from 5-7 p.m.  There will be awards for the Top 10 Males and Females, a Grand Prize for the overall winner, and random prize drawings.  Racers and their supporters are invited to the race Post Party, starting at noon.

To register online, visit Jersey Runner.

Click here to download an information and registration form that can be filled out and delivered, with a check for your race fee, to the Belmar Chamber of Commerce at 1005 1/2 Main Street.

For more information email the Tourism Commission at tourism@boro.belmar.nj.us.

Two New Webcams Coming Soon to Belmar.com

The Borough is installing two new webcams that will enable visitors to Belmar.com to enjoy Belmar’s spectacular scenery. The new webcams will be installed on the roof of the Taylor Pavilion at Fifth and Ocean Avenues, and on the roof of the Senior Citizen’s Building at Eighth Avenue and Railroad. The Taylor Pavilion roof location will enable Belmar.com visitors to enjoy beach and Ocean Avenue views, while the Senior Citizen Building roof top camera will capture views of the marina, commercial boat docks, inlet and back bay of the Shark River.

Currently, visitors to Belmar.com can access a webcam only through a link to an NJ.com-sponsored webcam mounted on the front of the Eastern Lines Surf Shop on Ocean Avenue. Although this fixed, still-shot camera provides a view of only a narrow slice of Belmar’s beach and boardwalk, it has proved to be enormously popular with Belmar.com visitors. In fact, despite its limited features, this one webcam accounts for upwards of 15% of all summer-time visits to Belmar.com.

The Borough’s two new webcams will use a more feature-rich version of TrueLook software to provide streaming, as opposed to still-shot images, and viewers will be able to pan, tilt and zoom the camera to capture a wide array of scenes. The TrueLook software will also include a variety of special features, including enabling My Belmar members to sign up to receive photos of Belmar’s magnificent sunrises over the Atlantic and equally spectacular sunsets over the Shark River. Moreover, unlike the NJ.com webcam, Belmar will be able to earn advertising revenue from these new webcams, and also use the cams in a variety of ways to promote Belmar’s special events and downtown, marina and beachfront business communities.

As part of the webcam project, the Borough is also installing wireless directional antennae on the roof tops of the Taylor Pavilion and the Senior Citizen Building that can transmit data at high speeds via line-of-site wireless links between the two buildings. (There is no broadband cable service east of the boardwalk).

This wireless network will connect to the internet via a high speed fiber optic cable that is being installed in the Senior Citizen Building. The Borough plans to rely on the same wireless network to enable visitors to Belmar.com to see the planned new 4k wind turbine at Taylor Pavilion in action, as well as to view real-time data about the turbine’s energy output.

The wireless directional antennas Belmar is using have the capacity to be expanded in the future to provide full mesh-networking capability. This will enable Belmar to not only provide wireless access for internet and cell phone use, but also to expand the network over time beyond line-of-site locations. Under the plan, Belmar’s 70-foot tall Senior Citizen Building will serve as the hub for the network, collecting wireless line-of-site data feeds from an array of directional antennas in the town. The building’s easily accessible roof, existing broadband service, and clear line-of-site views to numerous other Belmar buildings and landmarks make it an ideal platform for the future expansion of the network. Future sites for the installation of webcams include the basketball courts and skate board park at Dempsey Park, the ball fields at Memorial Field, and the Community Sailing Dock, followed by other municipal parks, playgrounds and walkways.

The Belmar Tourism Commission is funding the cost of the cameras, weatherproof enclosures, wireless antennae and routers and cables, poles and mounting equipment, and will also manage the advertising revenue from the cameras, as well as their promotional use to support Belmar’s special events and Belmar’s businesses. Advertising revenue from the webcams will pay for the ongoing software and maintenance of the cams, and fund the expansion of the program. The design and technical aspects of the installation are being handled on a volunteer basis by long-time Belmar resident Marshall Boxer. Special thanks is also owed to Luis A. David, who is the Senior Learning Manager for SCOPE Center at Brookdale. Luis spent 23-years with AT&T Communications in both networking and engineering, and has been an invaluable resource for Marshall and the Borough in the planning and implementation of this ambitious project. Special thanks are also owed to the Public Works Department, and in particular Rich Neral, who is handling the installation and cabling of the system. Thanks are also owed to Borough Administrator Robbin Kirk, who has handled the procurement issues is spearheading the installation of broadband service to the Senior Citizens Building.

Kayaking the Shark River

Down at the Belmar Marina, next to the charter fishing boats, is a little shack — we call it the Yak Shack. That’s the place to go when you want to cool off in the water after a hot day on the beach. Shark River Kayak Co offers guided kayak tours of the Shark River as well as the Shark River basin. You can also rent kayaks and go exploring on your own. All the kayaks are sit-on-top style, and you have the option of renting a single (for one person) or a tandem (built for two). They also offer fishing kayaks, which are set up to hold all your fishing gear and have up to 6 rod holders. Life vests and paddles are included in the rental price.

Visit www.SharkRiverKayaks.com for more information or call (732) 749-0490.

Scenes from the Sandcastle Contest

There was hardly any room to walk down on the sand at 18th Avenue July 15th as artists amateur and professional packed the beach to try their hand at sand sculpture.  Event coordinators estimate that 12,000 visitors came to Belmar to marvel over the 350+ sand castles.  If you missed the 23rd Annual NJ Sandcastle Contest, take a look at the gallery below, and be sure to check out the festivities next summer!

Have pictures or video of your own?  Upload them to the Community Photos section of Belmar.com.

Check the New Jersey Sandcastle Contest website for updates on winners.

East Coast kayakers visit Belmar for 4th of July

Back in June, Belmar.com reported that Dan and Bethany, a married couple kayaking the length of the East Coast, would be landing in our little town sometime in the near future.  Well, they finally landed, and spent their Independence Day at Belmar’s Marina.  After a somewhat harrowing journey through New York City, its surrounding islands and Sandy Hook, the couple made it to the peaceful Shark River, where they were greeted by Belmar’s own Shark River Kayak Co.  The couple wrote:

“Got up early the next morning, the 4th of July, and booked it outta there. We portaged our boats across sandy hook to the ocean, which was hellacious, and finally got out on the water for the day. We paddled down to NJ coastline and were shocked. The number of people on the Jersey Shore was unbelievable. really. i think we passed over a million people on our way to Belmar. It was incredible. These people are SERIOUS about thier beach time.  We saw so many scary bathing suits, rainbow umbrellas, a fly over, GI Joe come out of a low flying helicopter, a boardwalk fair, and a gazillion plane ads. It was awesome. We entered the Shark River and paddled to the docks for Shark River Kayak Company and met Brenda and Bert. So glad to get to Belmar. We took showers and were wisked away to a cookout and met the town, had some home-made SWEET TEA, (by a NC resident) and met the mayor, who gave me a kiss on the cheek. Can’t complain. We then took a low speed electric vehicle to the fireworks. After that, we set up our tent on a little floating dock and slept like babies… except for when the party boat from NYC came back to dock.”

Click here to follow Dan and Bethany’s journey to Key West.  To learn more about the Shark River Kayak Co., click here.

Happy kayaking!

Secretary of State Nina Wells visits Belmar to discuss Jersey Shore Tourism

New Jersey Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells made a stop in Belmar on Thursday, June 25, 2009, to discuss Jersey Shore Tourism and hear from County and local officials about how the New Jersey Office of Tourism can help. Secretary Wells was accompanied by Monmouth County Tourism Director Jeanne DeYoung, and members of her staff. Also joining the Secretary were Jennifer Stringfellow, the Secretary’s Public Information Assistant; John Ciufo, the Administrative Director of Planning, Economic Development, Tourism and Regulatory Affairs for Monmouth County; and Amy Fitzgerald, the Director of Economic and Workforce Development for Monmouth County.

Representing Belmar were, Mayor Ken Pringle, Borough Council President Merry Brennan, and Belmar Tourism Commission representative Mary Brabazon, who greeted Secretary Wells and the County contingent on the boardwalk at the Taylor Pavilion as they exited the Monmouth County SCAT bus.

The group then boarded a trolley provided by Bar Anticipation and toured Belmar’s beachfront, neighborhoods, downtown and the marina. Along the way, Mayor Pringle pointed out the various projects Belmar has undertaken over the years to improve the Borough as both a community and a tourism destination. The Mayor also discussed Belmar’s long-term goals to redevelop the downtown, as well as the ongoing efforts to renovate the marina, and develop a new marina building that will include a fine-dining restaurant on its second floor.

The Mayor and Council President Brennan also discussed with Secretary Wells a variety of ways in which Belmar could work more closely with the New Jersey Office of Tourism to help promote Belmar as a tourism destination, particularly for those visitors looking for a healthy, environmentally sensitive, and family-friendly atmosphere.

Special thanks to photographer Stephen Lacko, for recording the event.

NJ Sandcastle Contest at Belmar on July 15th!

Wednesday July 15th at 18th Ave Beach, Belmar, NJ

Visitors and residents alike can join professional sandcastle builders as active participants or spectators.  Individuals and groups in several age categories will build for terrific prizes and bragging rights.  Held at the 18th Avenue Beach, registration and sandcastle building start at 8 AM with judging from 12-1 PM.  The event is free to all participants.

Spend a fun day at the beach – free giveaways, drinks, snacks,
music and more!

For more information ceck out www.njsandcastle.com.

Event Date(s) and Time(s):

July 15, 2009

Recent Posts on Belmar.com

• Celtic Chase – March 6, 2010
• Jersey Shore Juried Art Show
• Happy early St. Patrick’s Day
• Belmar’s mayor to step down
• Belmar Elementary School continues centennial celebration