Shore Fire South’s location in Ocean Grove, NJ, keeps us up on the thriving NJ music scene and exposes us to many delightful artistic and spiritual neighbors who view OG as a mecca. Such was the gathering at the home of journalist and author Mary Walton, whose “A Woman’s Crusade: Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot” has been hailed by Ms. Magazine as “richly endowed…detailed, absorbing”. A former reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Mary dedicated her groundbreaking work on the NJ suffragette to legendary Inquirer editor Gene Roberts. Pictured: author Mary Walton accepts kudos from her friend Connie Ogden; both women are generous contributors to the Ocean Grove community.

We also met Paul Goldfinger (aka blogger Blogfinger) at the party…Paul has all the real inside skinny around Ocean Grove and Asbury Park, and describes his eclectic blog as a ‘digital breeze from the Jersey shore’…later I stopped by the Tumblety Howell Gallery, where artists such as Don Bernhardt, Sue Tumblety, and Joan Laufer toasted photographer Esta Singer on her first show at the gallery. I’m especially drawn to Esta’s cellphone shots of OG and Asbury in winter; they capture the solitude that I love about the beach at that time of year. Here, artist and gallery owner Peter Tumblety hangs with Esta and Marilyn Laverty while master framer Terry Howell greets a collector.

Last week, Shore Fire staffers Mark Satlof, Lauretta Charlton and Chris Brudzinski visited Shore Fire South for the day…here we gather for lunch at the legendary Windmill, home of the world’s best hot dog.

We worked hard all day but got a chance to sample the surf before Earl moved in…