Terrific Holiday Weekend

Just a spectular holiday weekend for most and hopefully a preview of things to come. Plenty of sunshine on Sunday and Monday brought huge crowds to beach towns and finding parking spots at times was nearly impossible, especially along the ocean. I hit the beach for the first time on Sunday, arriving at 2nd Avenue in Seaside Park before 9am and leaving by noon when the crowds became just too much. I started off in the morning with lots of real estate but before long was surrounded by those who think 5 feet is plenty of distance…that’s when I knew it was time to call it a day.
When the weather is good Memorial Day weekend is often the biggest of the entire summer season and it’s hard to imagine you can get much busier then many places were, especially on Sunday. It was a badly-needed shot in the arm for many merchants and they hope the nice weather will continue into June which you might remember last year featured more than 20 days of rain.

Having already won the Central Jersey Group 4 title, Jackson Memorial is just two wins away from the overall state Group 4 championship. This afternoon the Jaguars face South Jersey champion Washington Township in the group semifinals at Rider University. Jackson is 24-5 and led by Eastern Kentucky-bound Bryan Soloman, who will be today’s starting pitcher and is batting .475 with 12 homers and 37 RBI’s. There are plenty of other potent bats in the lineup, including sophomore third baseman Joe Ogren, junior catcher Alex Herceg and junior centerfielder Matt Meleo. The Jags are also scheduled to face Toms River South tomorrow night in the championship game of the Shore Conference Tournament at FirstEnergy Park.

The Community Medical Center Foundation is holding its 5th Annual Wine Tasting Event tomorrow at the Toms River Country Club from 5:30-8:30pm.
Red, White & Brew will feature a wide variety of wine and specialty beer tastings as well as area chefs and proceeds from the event will benefit the J. Phillip Citta Regional Cancer Center. Tickets will be sold at the door tomorrow or you can call (732) 557-8131 for more information.