BASEMENT WATERPROOFING IN South Belmar

It was a golden age in NYC when Bischoff’s ice cream first opened its doors.

It was the late 1800s when things were fancy schmancy and people got dressed up to go out for ice cream.

When you walked into an ice cream place back then it was all gleaming machines, shiny countertops, clam-shaped booths and staff wearing paper hats and bowties.

That’s the way Bischoffs was and that’s the way it’s stayed for 88 years.

And now, According to an article on NJ.com that wonderful relic of a simpler time is set to close.

Albert Bischoff started the business we know as Bischoff’s Ice Cream more than four generations ago, passing the business down through his daughters.

The first shop opened near the Hippodrome Theater in New York City in the late 1800s before relocating in 1934 to Teaneck, according to the company’s website.

And now it’s one of the places people drive to Bergen County to visit.

At the risk of sounding trite, it seems like in NJ all good things must come to an end, and so it is for this iconic ice cream shop which also which specializes in sundaes, sherbets and candy, but is also a restaurant/grill where people can grab a burger ir roast beef sandwich for lunch.

And don’t forget the egg creams.

It’s the old-fashioned soda fountain, which, unfortunately, I am too young to have ever actually seen in person.

But I’ve seen enough in movies and on TV to want this kind of place to stay around forever.

After having earned numerous accolades and spots on various “best Ice cream” lists, after 88 years the business will close for good on New Year’s Eve, the article says.

It’s the kind of old-fashioned ice cream/parlor experience that we just don’t have around anymore.

And fewer and fewer of them still exist.

That’s why Bischoff‘s will be missed by the people in Bergen County, and all the others who drove from other places in New Jersey just to experience it.

Soon there will be a whole generation of people who don’t know what it’s like to spin around on those counter chairs while sipping their ice cream sodas or egg creams.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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I live in Belmar, and I love surfing off Belmar beach. The waves were huge the other day, and I am pumped to say that I snagged some of the best waves of my life. This isn't me but look at this wave one dude caught a few miles south of Belmar.

Congratulations to pro surfer and New Jesey native Ben Gravy for catching this wave! Watch below!

Anyway, after I was done having a blast in the ocean, I saw a promotional sign hanging outside of D'jais. I am happy to share information about the event, I think it will be fun for all Jersey Shore locals.

The water is starting to get warm, but it's still a perfect temperature to do a polar bear plunge. Are you ready for 49-degree water temps?! This Saturday, April 23rd the Sons of Shillelagh will host their first annual polar bear plunge. Thanks to the Sons of Shillelagh, all the details are below!

The Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh membership has participated in many polar bear plunge events over the past twenty years. Our membership wants to now create its own event where we can focus on raising money for local charities or organizations at the Jersey Shore. We plan on making this an annual event to occur each April. We appreciate the town of Belmar partnering with us to allow the event to take place. We also appreciate the support of our sponsors, members, and friends.Our net proceeds from the event will be donated to local charitable causes, including AutismMVP, as well as supporting the Belmar Junior Lifeguard program. AutismMVP is an outstanding local organization and with April being National Autism Month, it is a great time to support this charitable organization. About 1 in 44 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to estimates from CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. AutismMVP has a mission to increase the number of autism-focused educators and therapists to meet the current and future needs of students on the autism spectrum. They accomplish this by supporting unique training and professional development programs for teachers, therapists and paraprofessionals, and by providing scholarships to graduate students.Any monetary sponsorship, gift cards, or donations of supplies would be greatly appreciated.Post plunge party at D'jais with The Holme Band playing at 2PM.Please feel free to contact us with any questions via email or phone below. Thank you for your consideration.Sincerely,Dan Reilly - [email protected] - 732-829-1711

Craig Coyle - [email protected] - 732-963-5987 Rob Defelice - [email protected] - 732-996-4725

Anthony Kelly - [email protected] -732-859-8444

Buy tickets and go have a blast this Saturday! Help support kids with autism, for tickets, CLICK HERE! Also, if you love Belmar check out the fun list below. It's the 15 places I am most thankful for in the town...

It’s been a deadly start to the swimming season at New Jersey’s beaches, rivers and lakes with at least a dozen drownings since late April.

There have also been at least two pool deaths, bringing the total to at least 14 drownings before the official start of summer.

The victims have spanned ages and locations, from out-of-state visitors in their teens to New Jersey residents spending a day at the Jersey Shore.

Though the drownings all occurred under different circumstances, lifeguards and experts say swimming can be particularly dangerous this time of year.

Everything from the water temperature to the prevalence of rip currents in the ocean can increase the likelihood of a drowning, said Long Beach Township lifeguard coordinator Josh Bligh.

Rip currents can form right off the beach, especially when the waves are rougher or winds are high, Bligh said. People might swim out to a sandbar during low tide without realizing the danger of being caught in a rip current.

And when the water is colder, people become more easily fatigued and are more likely to experience hypothermia, he said. Both of those conditions— along with the absence of lifeguards on many beaches, lakes and pools before the season fully starts— can make people unaware of the water’s hidden dangers.

Some people are also tempted to swim on unguarded beaches in areas where full-time lifeguards will not be on duty until after schools let out and lifeguard stands are fully staffed.

“Honestly it hasn’t changed,” said Bligh, who has worked as a lifeguard for more than 20 years. “As long as people continue to go into the water when a lifeguard isn’t present, they more or less have to take on that responsibility.”

The variables that can increase the likelihood of drowning are still present when lifeguards are watching swimmers, he noted, but in those cases, guards are able to help immediately.

“I don’t think people really realize the danger of water,” he added.

The recent drownings in New Jersey have included 19-year-old Pennsylvania man drowned near a Wildwood beach in early June. A week later, a 53-year-old man, also from Pennsylvania, drowned while swimming in Wildwood Crest.

Soon after, a third person, a 45-year-old man from Hillsdale, drowned in Wildwood.

Others drowned while swimming in Belmar (a 24-year-old Lake Hopatcong man), at Island Beach State Park (a 59-year-old woman), in a Woodland Park reservoir (a 15-year-old boy) and in different lakes across the state.

In April, a high school senior drowned in a pond in New Milford, after going to retrieve a soccer ball. The next month, a man’s body was recovered in the Passaic River in Newark. A 55-year-old man died after being pulled from the Delaware River in Carneys Point Township.

And in June, a man drowned while trying to swim across a Manchester Township, and a teenager and 22-year-old drowned in a Morris County lake.

Two brothers also died at an indoor pool at a Bayonne school in early June after lifeguards pulled them from the deep end.

Though the circumstances surrounding the 14 drownings varied widely, in many of the cases there were no lifeguards present or the victims were swimming in a place where they should not have been in the water.

It’s difficult to determine trends among the recent ocean drownings at the Jersey Shore, but rip currents remain a danger, said Stockton University Coastal Research Center director and founder Stewart Farrell.

Dangerous currents dissipate after a storm is over, but not for at least five or six hours, he said. Rough waves can also factor into the creation of a rip current.

“(Waves) can keep generating riptides, but it depends on the beach,” he said.

Despite the recent string of drownings across the state, New Jersey is not known as a state with a high number of water-related deaths.

The annual age-adjusted drowning death rate nationwide from 2015 to 2019, including boating-related drowning deaths, was 1.23 deaths per 100,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In New Jersey, that rate was 0.67 deaths per 100,000 people, far below the nationwide average.

And between 2010 and 2022, the state averaged seven ocean drownings, six reservoir or lake drownings and nine river drownings a year, according to preliminary data from the Department of Health.

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"Look hon, they spelled Belmar wrong on that sign."

As I was driving home the other day, I passed a sign I pass every day. It was the exit for I-195, and as many of our signs to it, listed a town that you can get to by taking that road.

It said I-195 East Belmar. About 20 minutes later further down on I-295 I saw the exit for the Blackhorse Pike, also known as Route 168. One of the towns listed on that exit was Bellmawr. Pronounced the same as the other in Belmar but different spelling and a different town.

Also, in a different world.

Anyone who lives north of 195 knows Belmar as the college beach town that kids flock to every summer. Those living south of Route 195 know Bellmawr as that sleepy little borough somewhere near Camden off the Blackhorse Pike.

Recently the town gained notoriety as the home of crusader and defiant gym owner Ian Smith of Atilis gym. The point is not where the line is dividing north and south jersey or if there is a “central Jersey."

The point is that we live in our own little “territory." The differences and similarities of language and affiliation have been illustrated here many times. The northern half of the state is part of the New York media market the southern half of the state is part of the Philadelphia media market, and all of the differences that come with that, such a sport team affiliations pronunciation of some words, etc.

The differences are stark in some cases. That is also the case in many other states. The folks in the Piedmont area of North Carolina have a little in common with the folks in the coastal region. Folks in Northern California have little in common with the folks in Central or Southern California.

The difference here is those are much bigger states. In such a small geographic area, New Jerseyans live in two separate worlds. I’m not calling for the division of the state into two separate states. I’m just saying maybe we should have some sort of exchange program where people spend time in the opposite part of the state for a little while to realize things are pretty different only a few miles away.

At a time when we are divided in so many ways maybe just coming together as one little state would be a good start!

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy. Any opinions expressed are Dennis Malloy's own.

NEW JERSEY -- When the COVID spread across America in early March 2020, it wreaked havoc on the “St. Patrick’s Season” for both 2020 and 2021. Not only did the pandemic put the kibosh New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the largest in the world on March 17, but it also led to the cancellation of other parades across the country. New Jersey, with a significant Irish American population, was not spared.

However, this year, with COVID-related restrictions on gatherings loosening, a large percentage of New Jersey’s marches are scheduled to return. These include St. Patrick’s Parades up and down the state: from Morristown and Union to South Amboy and Belmar, great days are planned for the Irish.

Nutley St. Patrick's Day Parade (Saturday, March 5, at 1 p.m.) Before the beginning of the parade, an Investiture Mass will be held at 10 a.m. inside St. Mary’s Church. Afterwards, a post-parade party will be held at the Parks and Rec in Nutley (44 Park Ave.) from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Shuttles will be available to bring individuals from Town Hall to St. Mary’s Church before the mass. This allows for individuals to leave their car at the end of the parade route.

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Belmar-Lake Como St. Patrick’s Day Parade (Sunday, March 6, at 12:30 p.m.) Held annually since 1974, until COVID-19 halted the parade for one year in 2021, the Belmar-Lake Como St. Patrick’s Day Parade will return in 2022. Before beginning at Main St. in Lake Como, an Investiture Mass will be held at 10 a.m. inside St. Rose Church (601 Seventh Ave.) in Belmar. A luncheon at Doolan’s Shore Club (500 Rt. 71) in Spring Lake Heights will follow the parade.

Newark St. Patrick’s Day Parade (Friday, March 11, at 1 p.m.) Newark's 87^th St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which bills itself as New Jersey's "first and finest parade," will begin at the Prudential Center before making its way through other locations within the city, including, the Gateway Center, NJPAC, Military Park, St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral, the Newark Museum, and Washington Park.

Morristown St. Patrick’s Day Parade (Saturday, March 12, at Noon) Held for the first time in two years, the parade will begin on South St. in Morristown.

Union County St. Patrick's Day Parade (Saturday, March 12, at 1 p.m.) The Thornstick Mass, hosted in conjunction with the Elizabeth A.O.H. at St. Patrick's Church in Elizabeth, kicks things off at 9 a.m. Along the parade route, Reviewing Stand festivities -- including a "Kid's Zone" -- at Morris and Stuyvesant Avenues in Union begin at Noon. The parade starts at 1 p.m. sharp with the Marching units gathered on Morris Avenue and along Commerce and Jeanette Avenues. The route proceeds east along Morris Avenue to a turn at the Main Reviewing Stand and ends at Roosevelt Avenue. (The Midway Reviewing Stand at Morris and Caldwell Avenues has parade announcers with details of all the participants, history and other information.)

Seaside Heights/Ocean County St. Patrick’s Day Parade (Saturday, March 12, at Noon) A mass will be held at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Perpetual Help (100 Grant Ave.) in Seaside Heights to kick off the day’s festivities. It will mark the 40^th year of holding a mass prior to the parade. The parade will begin at 12 p.m. and go down the boulevard.

West Orange St. Patrick’s Day Parade (Sunday, March 13, at 12:15 p.m.) A mass will be held at Our Lady of Lourdes at 9:30 a.m. before the kickoff of the official parade on Main Street. It will be the 69^th time the parade has been held in West Orange.

Jersey City St. Patrick’s Day Parade (Sunday, March 13, at 12:30 p.m.) After two years away, the Jersey City St. Patrick’s Day Parade will once again be occurring. The parade will begin at Dickinson High School before ending at Jersey Avenue

Woodbridge St. Patrick’s Day Parade (Sunday, March 13, at 1:30 p.m.) Hosted by the Woodbridge American Irish Association, the parade kicks off at 1:30 p.m. at Woodbridge High School and wind down at Town Hall.

Bergen County Saint Patrick's Day Parade (Sunday, March 13, at 2 p.m.) Prior to the start of the parade, there will be a flag raising at the Roy W. Brown Middle School in Bergenfield, NJ, at 1 p.m., where Kieran Lynch will deliver his Grand Marshal’s address, followed by the Annual Parade March down Washington Avenue at 2:00 PM.

Hackettstown St. Patrick's Day Parade (Sunday, March 13, at 3:30 p.m.) The 13^th Hackettstown’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade returns for the first time since 2020, and usually attracts more than 14,000 visitors. The event will include Irish dance groups, Irish bands, bagpipes, drums, and more musical acts from school and clubs around the Hackettstown area.

South Amboy St. Patrick’s Day Parade (Sunday, March 20 at 12 p.m.) The South Amboy St. Patrick’s Day Parade will begin at 12 p.m. on Mar. 20, beginning on South Pine Ave. The day prior, the town will hold a parade mass at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, with an Irish flag raising and parade honoree breakfast to follow.

Dempsey owned Phyllis’ Sugar Bowl with his wife, Phyllis, for over 28 years on Broadway St. He has been a member of the South Amboy Ancient Order of Hibernians for over 23 years, and has served as both the treasurer and financial secretary for the organization.

Bayonne St. Patrick’s Day Parade (Sunday, March 20, at 1 p.m.) The parade will begin on Broadway and 5^th street before ending at Stephen Gregg Park.

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