Eight Things Happening in Berkeley This Week

Township Council, Hurricane Sandy help and more

  Monday - eBooks at the Library - 6:30 p.m., Berkeley branch of the Ocean County Library, 30 Station Road, Bayville. Learn how to get and read eBooks via ipad, Nook, Kindle and Samsung Galaxy. See the devices demonstrated, get a chance to try them out. Devices provided by the State Library of New Jersey. Tuesday - Berkeley Township Council, 7 p.m. Town Hall, 627 Pinewald-Keswick Road. Caucus meeting starts at 7, followed immediately by regular meeting. Hint: most of the discussion takes place at the caucus meeting. Tuesday - Central Regional Middle School Winter Concert - 6:30 p.m., Central Regional High School auditorium, Forest Hills Parkway, Bayville. Wednesday - Hurricane Sandy Survivors Group - 2 p.m., Berkeley branch of the Ocean …

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A Blessing for a Safe Summer on Barnegat Bay

Berkeley Shores Homeowners Civic Association hosts Memorial Day ceremony and boat parade

The Berkeley Shores Homeowners Civic Association's annual Blessing of the Fleet and boat parade went off without a hitch this afternoon, despite brisk southeast winds and a choppy Barnegat Bay. Boats of all sizes and shapes made their way out the narrow Amherst Beach inlet and into the bay, then chugged out and circled channel marker 39, not an easy task, considering the wind and water conditions, said association vice-president Vic Lido. "With the wind, it's a challenge to do that," Lido said. Rev. Phillip Denig, a retired Army chaplain, was waiting for them on board the "Bolero," which was turned with her bow into the wind at the bay entrance of the Amherst Beach inlet. Denig blessed each boat as it passed. The boats then headed out to a…

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Local Focus

The Rise and Fall and Rise of Allen Road Beach

Berkeley Shores Homeowners Association looking for volunteers for dune grass plantings and biolog installation

The Allen Road beach on the bay in Berkeley Shores is getting a makeover – again. It’s a place that once looked like the meadows north and south of that bayside community. But when the growth genie jumped out of the bottle in Ocean County with the opening of the Garden State Parkway, it soon became apparent that there was not enough waterfront property to fill the needs of the masses suddenly within driving distance of paradise. So out came the big timber mats and the clamshell dredges. The big shovels moved the mats out onto the meadows and drove up on them, operators secure that the heavy rigs would not sink into the mushy meadows. They’d scoop a chunk of lagoon out of the wetlands, pile the dredge spoil up on the banks creating new …

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