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“Email 9/12 Is A Personal Response to an Unimaginable Day - Two River Times

Midge Guerrera, founding director of Red Bank Regional’s Performing Arts Program, recently debuted her play about 9/11 in an Amsterdam theater



Midge Guerrera’s play “Email 9/12” was recently produced in Amsterdam at the Polanentheater and received a warm audience reception. COURTESY MIDGE GUERRERA


By Eileen Moon



In the early hours of Sept. 12, 2001, Margaret “Midge” Guerrera was awake and alone in the silence that settled over the turbulence of a terrible day.



A Monmouth County...
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Murder and Intrigue Roil the Waters in Laury Egan’s Mystery Novel, ‘Fair Haven’ - Two River Times

A Picturesque Town is the Setting for the Latest Book by Area Author, Photographer and Visual Artist



Author Laury Egan of Highlands, who grew up in the Two River area, has explored many avenues of creativity in her lifetime as a writer and visual artist. Photo by Eileen Moon


By Eileen Moon



Sometimes, a peaceful setting can be deceiving. Like one of those British mysteries set in a seemingly picture-perfect village across the pond, murder and mayhem may lurk in the most serene-appear...
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Remarkable Life of Geraldine Thompson Inspires Book by Brookdale Professor - Two River Times

‘Mrs. Thompson Saves the Day’ – and Jane Scimeca Tells the Tale



Geraldine Thompson is pictured on the grounds of Brookdale Farm, which she gifted to Monmouth County and is the site of Thompson Park in Lincroft. COURTESY JANE SCIMECA


By Eileen Moon



During the years she was growing up in Holmdel, Brookdale Community College professor Jane Scimeca often traveled past Thompson Park, a pastoral blanket of land with a white-columned mansion overlooking Newman Springs Road.



For more t...
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Pysanky for Healing - Two River Times

The Ukrainian art of Easter egg decorating is explored in an Atlantic Highlands workshop



By Eileen Moon



ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – On Saturday, March 30 – the first warm day of the newly hatched spring – an adventurous group of men and women gathered at the Atlantic Highlands Arts Council to participate in a hands-on workshop titled “Pysanky for Healing,” led by professional artist Jenny Santa Maria.



Pysanky is the Ukrainian word for hand-decorated Easter eggs, a word derived from “pysa...
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CNN’s Alisyn Camerota Pens ‘Love Letter to Shrewsbury’ - Two River Times

SHREWSBURY – Shrewsbury Borough Hall was full last Friday night as old friends and former neighbors of CNN broadcast journalist Alisyn Camerota welcomed her back to her hometown.

Camerota visited Shrewsbury on a book tour supporting her new memoir, “Combat Love.”

It is, she said, the story of a girl who loved a band. But it is also an exploration of the meaning of home, the importance of belonging, and a testimony to the fact that even rocky roads can lead in the right direction.

Taking a sea
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A Life Well-Lived: Joan Ellis Writes Her Memoir - Two River Times

When former Two River Times film critic Joan Ellis enrolled in a memoir writing class at Project Write Now (PWN) in Red Bank a few years ago, she took a step that would ultimately lead to some life-altering, multigenerational friendships and a published book.

Ellis’ book, titled “Permission,” is dedicated to her children, Kevin, Corson and Laura, and her nine “millennial” grandchildren, with a special nod to her granddaughter Willa, “who, when she was very young,” Ellis writes, “asked me, ‘Gram
Two River Times - The Two River Times is a weekly newspaper about life in Monmouth County, NJ, sold by subscription and on newsstands Friday. •

Community and Dedication Don’t Come Second at First Avenue Playhouse - Two River Times

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – Outside the First Avenue Playhouse, this little town on the bay is alive with the pleasures of a summer Sunday. Strollers on their way for ice cream at Nicholas. Boat owners motoring toward the marina, tugging their vessels behind them. Bicyclists leaning in as they pedal in the sunshine toward the next leg of the Henry Hudson Trail.

But the audience sitting in the cool semi-dark of this small theater is far away, transported to a small cabin in Maine where an elderly coupl
Two River Times - The Two River Times is a weekly newspaper about life in Monmouth County, NJ, sold by subscription and on newsstands Friday. •

Monmouth County Jewish Heritage Museum Features Exhibit on Sigmund Eisner - Two River Times

FREEHOLD – The building that is now home to the Galleria retail and restaurant complex holds a significant place in the history of Red Bank.

In the early years of the 20th century, Sigmund Eisner established the Sigmund Eisner Company, a small business that ultimately became the largest manufacturer of military uniforms in the United States.

But Eisner’s achievements went far beyond business. As he prospered, he also served, working to better his community and help the people he employed build
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Local Red Cross Volunteers Are Helping Hurricane Ian Survivors | Two River Times

When scary things happen in life, the creator of the beloved children’s television show, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” once advised, look for the helpers. There are always helpers, Fred Rogers told his listeners young and old.

And when Hurricane Ian struck the Gulf Coast of Florida with a blow that wiped out hundreds of neighborhoods Sept. 28, the helpers came running.

Among them were 32 volunteers from the New Jersey Region of the American Red Cross, including five volunteers from Monmouth C
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9/11 Memorial: A Family’s Sweet Way to Honor Their Grandfather | Two River Times

SHREWSBURY – Twenty-one years after 9/11, those whose lives were altered forever that day live in the bittersweet, passing on a legacy of love and heartbreak, pride and persistence to their children and their children’s children.

For Jeff Hemschoot and his wife Gretchen, the memory of Jeff’s father Mark, who died at the World Trade Center, is one their children honor and remember. A rubbing of Mark’s name, made from the engraved stone surrounding the fountains of the 9/11 Memorial in New York C
Two River Times - The Two River Times is a weekly newspaper about life in Monmouth County, NJ, sold by subscription and on newsstands Friday. •

Norman Seldin: You Don’t Know Him - Two River Times

In his 2021 musical autobiography, “You Don’t Know Me,” musician, composer, entrepreneur and Two River native Norman Seldin chronicles a life saved by his Steinway piano.

A musical prodigy impatient with the limitations of the classroom, Seldin was a working musician in his early teens, making waves and booking bands that brought white audiences to Black music and contributed to the musical and cultural alchemy that marked the 1950s and 1960s both on and off the stages of America.

Sunday, Marc
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Atlantic Highlands Cinema Another Casualty of the Pandemic | Two River Times

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – A call to the movie line at Atlantic Highlands Cinema was still being answered by a cheery recorded voice announcing showings for “The War with Grandpa,” “Come Away” and “Let Him Go” last Monday, but the writing was already on the wall for the future of this near-century old local dream palace.

After closing following Gov. Phil Murphy’s shutdown order due to the pandemic March 15, theater owners Fred and Mickey Rast invested in antimicrobial treatments and other innovations

The Human Cost of COVID | Two River Times

With the holidays on the horizon and a third COVID-19 surge barreling across the nation, Monmouth County Freeholder Director Thomas A. Arnone and Freeholder Deputy Director Susan M. Kiley issued a press release Tuesday urging county residents to slow the spread by practicing social distancing, wearing masks, washing their hands and avoiding large get-togethers.

For two area families who have lost loved ones as a result of the pandemic, the precautions being advised seem like a small price to pa

Food Pantries Working Overtime To Help Those In Need | Two River Times

From her office window in Neptune, Kim Guadagno watched as a woman approached the entrance to Fulfill, the nonprofit organization that provides food and other critical support to some 300 food pantries in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

As the woman got close to the door, she turned around and went back to her car. Then she turned around again, walking back to the entrance to do what she had come to do in the first place: ask for the help she needed to feed her family.

The woman had come from Mid
The Two River Times •

20 Years of Caring: The Parker Family Health Center Celebrates a Milestone | Two River Times

RED BANK – On Wednesday, July 29, the Parker Family Health Center will mark its 20th year of providing cost-free health care to residents without adequate income or health insurance.

Over the past two decades, the clinic at 211 Shrewsbury Ave. has handled more than 160,000 patient visits, treating families and individuals who depend on the center for everything from school physicals to chronic care for high blood pressure and diabetes.

To Gene Cheslock, M.D., the retired oncologist who led the
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Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, but Holiday Express Brought Her Back | Two River Times

RED BANK – On Monday, Dec. 16 and Tuesday, Dec. 17, Holiday Express will present its annual benefit concerts at the Count Basie Center for the Arts.

The concerts help to fund the visits that the nonprofit organization’s musicians and other volunteers make to hospitals, homeless shelters, residential centers for the disabled and other places serving people who could use a little human kindness during the holidays.

For many Two River families, attending the Holiday Express benefit concert is as
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COVID-19 Brings Echoes of 1918 Pandemic | Two River Times

In 1918, as World War I was raging in Europe, an invisible enemy had already begun an invasion much closer to home – an invasion that would prove far deadlier than the war itself.

Early that year, a new strain of influenza had begun making its presence known around the country, but its impact faded as spring gave way to summer and, here in the Two River area, life continued pretty much as before.

That October the Red Bank Register newspaper featured a Steinbach’s ad announcing the latest selec
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Know How to Sew? Sewing Machines Whirring to Make Medical Masks | Two River Times

With some medical facilities in New Jersey reporting dangerously low levels of respiratory masks and other critical equipment, a grassroots effort to provide some homegrown protection to those on the front lines has sprung up in the Two River area.

After hearing from friends in the medical community about shortages of respiratory masks, Michael Duru of Michael Duru Clothiers, designers of custom-made men’s clothing in Red Bank, decided to put his tailoring skills to use making masks. The covers

A Lusty Christmas Eve Tradition | Two River Times

HIGHLANDS – Some people celebrate Christmas Eve with one last trip to the mall. Others are all done by then and enjoying making cookies, wrapping gifts or watching one of the Hallmark Christmas movies that always have a happy ending.

Then there’s The Lusty Lobster crowd, the folks who make picking up seafood for the Feast of the Seven Fishes – or maybe just a tray of cocktail shrimp – a not-to-be-missed part of the holiday.

Rain, shine, sleet, snow, it doesn’t matter. They’ll be there. It’s no
The Two River Times •

Famous Pizza Maker Coming to Atlantic Highlands with Una Pizza Napoletana

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – It started the way things do in a small town, with someone who was strolling along First Avenue noticing the posters plastering the windows of a long-vacant building.

“Una Pizza Napoletana,” the posters read. Soon, other people noticed and the buzz began to grow. Inevitably, in a time of tweets and texts and Instagram, the news went viral: This small town on Sandy Hook Bay was soon to welcome the most renowned pizza chef this side of the Bay of Naples.

After pioneering his
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Patrick Murray - Polling Institute Keeps an Eye on the Public Mind

At this time of year it’s not unusual to receive a call from a polling organization seeking input from registered voters on the upcoming elections. Not a few of us are likely to hang up, annoyed at one more intrusion into our personal lives.

But Patrick Murray, founding director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, would like us to reconsider.

After all, it’s the voices of many different Americans that have the power to direct the course of government and influence public policy for m
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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
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