Eileen Moon


Eileen Moon is a multi-award-winning print and digital journalist whose credits include The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Redbook, Ladies Home Journal, Edible Queens, Edible Jersey, Professional Counselor, Jersey Woman, New Jersey Realtor and many more publications.

She is the former Managing Editor of the Two River Times, a well-known weekly newspaper published in the prestigious two river area of central Monmouth County, New Jersey. She was the founding editor-in-chief of TRT The Book, a luxury lifestyle magazine celebrating the diversity, delights and the diversions of life in one of the most beautiful corners of one of the nation's most surprising states.

Moon is also a published poet and the author of the regional History Book, "Legendary Locals of Red Bank. She is a happy traveler whose insights on what not to miss from Bella Napoli to Houston are featured on Google's Travelbird website.

She lives close to the water, where spectacular sunrises and sunsets punctuate the dazzle of New York City at night. She takes comfort in the fact that the name of the Verrazzano Narrows bridge is finally being spelled correctly after state legislators corrected a typo in the original construction contract.

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The Two River Times •

A New Sensory Playground is Coming to Dorbrook Park

COLTS NECK – Thanks to a group of people united by a common vision, kids with visual impairments will no longer have to sit on the sidelines while other kids are having fun on the playground at Dorbrook Park. At 10 a.m. Aug. 22 members of the Colts Neck Lions Club and the Friends of the Monmouth County Parks will gather at Dorbrook Park to break ground on the Sensory Lions’ Den, a playground that will be open to all children but has been specially designed for kids with visual impairments. The
The Two River Times •

An August Tradition Returns to Navesink Next Week

When summer ripens into August, the pleasures it brings take on a special sweetness. We know the days of bare feet and bike rides, fireworks and fairs, will soon recede like the warm tides of the summer ocean. But before they do we have a few more weeks to savor the joys of another summer. At the Navesink Hook & Ladder Company in Middletown, that means it’s time to get ready for the annual old-fashioned Navesink Country Fair, an event that the firehouse has been holding for 131 years. The fi
The Two River Times •

Once a One-Man Mission, Barn for the Poor Now Feeds Thousands

As it says in the New Testament, faith can move mountains. It can also move mountains of food. Just ask Gerald and Karin Duffy, veteran volunteers at the Barn for the Poorest of the Poor, a quietly powerful nonprofit organization that has been delivering food to people in need since 1987. Tucked away in a corner of a parking lot on Kanes Lane in Middletown, the Barn is actually a warehouse where a well-organized army of volunteers sort and pack surplus food they have collected from area super
The Two River Times •

Fair Haven’s Roey Hadar to Appear on ‘Jeopardy!’

When Johnny Gilbert introduces Roey Hadar on “Jeopardy!” in two weeks, he’ll say Hadar is from Arlington, Virginia. But a few thousand folks here in the Two River area know better. Although Arlington is where he’s living now, Hadar is a Jersey guy, born and bred – and his real hometown is Fair Haven. Despite his efforts to persuade producers otherwise, “Jeopardy!” rules state that contestants must claim the city they currently live in, not their hometowns. Fortunately, Hadar’s mother Ashley
The Two River Times •

Parker Homestead Pays Tribute to Its Devoted Archivist

LITTLE SILVER ­­­­— The flowering dogwood planted on the grounds of Parker Homestead will likely blossom for many springs to come, in living tribute to a woman whose career as a teacher and volunteer work on behalf of her beloved community will continue to bear fruit. Members of the board of trustees of the Parker Homestead planted the tree April 28 at a ceremony in honor of their fellow board member Elizabeth A. Hanson. She died March 14 at the age of 73 after a three-year illness that failed
The Two River Times •

Count Basie Center for the Arts Opens New Conservatory

RED BANK – All was in harmony Monday when the Count Basie Center for the Arts welcomed its newest member. Wielding a pair of giant scissors, Mayor Pasquale Menna and Basie CEO and president Adam Philipson cut the ribbon officially opening the Count Basie Center’s Monmouth Conservatory of Music at 65 Chestnut St. Calling the arts a “thriving engine” for the economy of the borough, Menna said, “As a music enthusiast and someone who wishes he could play, I can’t wait to watch it grow.” The Monmo
The Two River Times •

Sea Bright Celebrates the Resurrection of Its Library

SEA BRIGHT – Generations of beachgoers have enjoyed taking a book to the beach for some second-hand romance and adventure in the sunshine. But the Borough of Sea Bright has taken that a step further by bringing an entire library to the beach. Mayor Dina Long, council members, longtime library supporters and residents new and old came out last Saturday, March 16, to celebrate the rebirth of their library which, along with many structures in this seaside borough, was a casualty of Super Storm Sa
The Two River Times •

There’s a Breath of Spring (And New Names) for Two Rumson Restaurants

Two of Rumson’s landmark restaurants are greeting spring with a fresh direction and a reaffirmation of their strong connections to the community. At Ridge Road and Avenue of Two Rivers, the elegant Victorian building that was long home to the legendary French restaurant Fromagerie has been reborn as The Rumson House. And on River Road, the former What’s Your Beef/Russell & Bette’s is now Victory Park Tavern. Owners of both restaurants have chosen names that honor each restaurant’s deep roots
Eileen Moon
Pipers marching on River Road
The Two River Times •

Despite the Rain, It Was a Grand Day for a Parade

RUMSON – It was a Level 2 on the Fliuch Scale last Sunday when the seventh annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade set off from the top of River Road near Allen Street for its one-mile or so trek across the borough in celebration of the saint who legend credits with driving the snakes out of Ireland. The Fliuch Scale, created by Irish journalist Michael Freeman, attempts to organize the varying kinds of rain that fall on Ireland into a scientific-ish pattern that ranges from the lovely 1 – A Grand Soft
The Two River Times •

After 62 Years, the Shrewsbury Chorale Sings On

If music be the food of love, as Shakespeare proposed in his play, “Twelfth Night,” it’s no wonder that members of the Shrewsbury Chorale continue to gather once a week, year after year, to feast on the music of classical composers with a dedication that endures all the twists and turns that life can offer. Founded in 1957 by conductor Alden Hammond, the group is currently celebrating its 62nd season. Over the decades, the chorale has earned numerous honors, representing the state of New Jersey
The Two River Times •

Poet Ed Ryterband on ‘Life on Cloud Eight’

SHREWSBURY – “It was a wonderful, strange place when I lived there,” the poet Ed Ryterband said, musing on the year he lived in Athens, Greece, as a newly-minted Ph.D. teaching psychology at a private school for girls at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a place he finds himself revisiting from time to time, in his memory, as he casts the reflections of his long life on to the blank page, making a poem. It’s a statement that could apply to his view of life itself, both beautiful and str
Eileen Moon
Lifelong Red Bank resident Kathy Lou Colmorgen
The Two River Times •

Mapping History in Red Bank

RED BANK – Red Bank Public Library was about to celebrate its 80th anniversary in 2017 when Linda Hewitt, the library’s circulation supervisor, outreach and program coordinator, decided it might be fun to conduct a walking tour of the town as part of the celebration. To make it happen, Hewitt enlisted the help of retired teacher, lifelong borough resident and dedicated library volunteer Kathy Lou Colmorgen. Colmorgen, a veteran traveler who taught elementary school in Middletown for 37 years,
The Two River Times •

For the Severini Family, It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

FAIR HAVEN – Next Monday, with the bustle of holiday chores behind them, George and Kathy Dorn Severini will be doing what they’ve done together on many Christmas Eves. The longtime Fair Haven residents will be leading a Christmas sing-along at the piano in the lounge at Nauvoo Grille. Snow might not be falling. The weather may be warm. But Christmas will be coming anyway, as it has always done, through good times and hard years, bringing with it a few brief hours to celebrate, to count our bl
Eileen Moon
An Alpine cottage made of gingerbread
The Two River Times •

Gingerbread Neighborhood Rises in Atlantic Highlands

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – The weather outside was frightful, but inside the Atlantic Highlands Arts Council gallery at 54 First Ave. things were as sweet as – well, gingerbread – as the council hosted its semi-annual Gingerbread House workshop. Sitting amidst an array of candy canes, gumdrops, nonpareils, Tootsie Rolls, marshmallows, sprinkles and cookies, about 15 aspiring gingerbread house makers glued their walls and raised high the roof beams under the expert tutelage of arts council board membe
The Two River Times •

The Geraldo Years: Investigative and Hard Hitting

Part of the Two River Times 25th Anniversary Commemorative Coverage Fox News television correspondent Geraldo Rivera is in the middle of a phone call in his 17th floor corner office in New York City, speaking rapid fire Spanish to the person on the other end of the phone. As the conversation concludes, the man that just about everyone in America recognizes by his first name alone turns himself to the next task at hand: a trip down the river of time to the days when he was majority owner and man
The Two River Times •

Claudia Ansorge: A Vision and a Mission

Google the words, “Two River” and you’ll see a slew of businesses by that name: Two River Computer, Two River Realty, Two River Theater and, of course: Two River Times – to name just a few. But like a modern Brigadoon, the Two Rivers didn’t fully come into being as a community until it came alive in the imagination of a woman named Claudia Ansorge. Ansorge is the founder and past publisher of The Two River Times. By the time she published the first issue of this newspaper in 1990, Ansorge had
The Two River Times •

For Linda Chorney, Grammys Were An ‘Emotional Jukebox’

SHE GOT TO meet her idol, Gregg Allman. And she got to dress to the nines and walk the red carpet, wearing she noted, “gorgeous black diamond earrings” she’d borrowed from the Gold Tinker in Deal, not to mention her $29 boots from Daffy’s. Sea Bright musician Linda Chorney earned her place as a Grammy nominee in the Best Americana category after 30 years on the road and 5 self-produced albums. Her history-making nomination in a category that included Levon Helm, Emmylou Harris, Ry Cooder and
The Two River Times •

Chef Joe Racioppi Add His Touch At The Pier House

Chef Joe Racioppi is well-known in the two river area as a the former proprietor of Racioppi’s restaurant in Red Bank, where Joe and his family cooked up culinary delights for their patrons for more than 15 years. These days, Racioppi is wearing a different hat (or toque), however – as executive chef of McLoone’s Pier House restaurant in Long Branch. Since joining McLoone’s Racioppi has introduced some of his own specialties to the restaurant rightly famous for its crab cakes while leading the
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