Center Partnership Reelects Board Members, Approves Budget

The Freehold Center Partnership, Freehold Borough's special improvement district organization, held their yearly Board of Directors meeting yesterday to elect members, vote on bylaws, and pass their budget.

The Freehold Center Partnership and its special-events division, Downtown Freehold, puts on annual s ummer festivals including concerts in the Hall of Records parking lot, above.

The partnership approved a yearly budget of $305,000, made up mostly of SID-taxes on properties within the district, along with sponsorships and barter-deals.
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Downtown Freehold Announces Holiday Lineup

With scarecrows still lining our leafy streets, Downtown Freehold is looking towards the holiday season. A new banner across Main Street announces the Holiday Happenings, including Breakfast with Santa, the Tree Lighting and Menorah Lighting, a Holiday Concert, and the Jolly Trolley.

The festivities kick off on December 1 with the Tree Lighting at Hall of Records.

Check out the full schedule of events after the jump:
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Freehold Center Partnership Honors Partners

The Freehold Center Partnership, the non-profit special improvement organization that runs Downtown Freehold, held their First Annual Sponsors Party at Positano last night. Freehold businesses that help fund events like Freehold Idol, the upcoming Jolly Trolly, and the Holiday Concert.

A Who's Who of Freehold business-owners, the 2009 Spoonsors Party included reps from CentraState, Center Playhouse, Metropolitan Cafe, The Court Jester, and Greater Media News.

Borough Gets Ready for Nerds Concert Tonight

The Hall of Records parking lot is looking all set for tonight's end-of-summer rock show by the Nerds. Freehold's favorite cover band will take the stage from 7-9PM tonight, thanks to one last sunny Friday evening.

The concert was originally scheduled for August, but was rescheduled due to summer showers.

Summer Kruises Out of Sight

Dark and threatening clouds remained at bay long enough last night for classic cars to take center stage one final time this summer.

The last installment of the monthly Kruise Night event welcomed over 100 old cars (made at least 25 years ago, before this reporter's birth) and hundreds more car enthusiasts and spectators to the Hall of Records parking lot and spots along Main Street.

Some photos contributed by Patricia Hopkins.

From 5PM to just before 10 PM, tunes from the 60s and 70s blasted through speakers in front of the Hall of Records while the Freehold volunteer EMS sold hot dogs and sodas to car owners, hobbyists, and Freehold area residents.

Kruise Night's benefit to local businesses and restaurants was also apparent, as sidewalk dining areas in front of Federici's, Court Jester, Angelo's and more filled with leather-clad diners.

The Nerds To Perform Sept. 18

Freehold Borough will be able to hang onto summer just a little bit longer than the rest of the state this yera. The summer concert series will be extended to September 18, when the Nerds will take the stage in the Hall of Records parking lot from 7-9 P.M.m.

The famous funnymen from New Jersey tour the country playing covers of classic rock, R&B, soul, and pretty much anything else you can think of. They're famous for their "Sweet Caroline" sing-a-long, their nerdy outfits, and their Monty Python-style sense of humor on stage.

The concert was originally scheduled for August but was cancelled due to thunderstorms. The scheduling geniuses at the Freehold Center Partnership worked to reschedule the concert as soon as possible, and the show will close out the summer series for 2009.

Classic Rock Comes to Freehold

The Wings' guitarist Denny Laine

The Freehold Center Partnership has just announced a rockin' September concert to be held in the Hall of Records parking lot: Denny Laine, former guitarist of Wings, and Terry Sylvester, former guitarist and singer for the Hollies.

Terry Slyvester of the Hollies

The classic rock duo will take the stage on Friday, September 11, at 7:30 P.M. to play hits from the 60s and 70s, when both musicians spent time touring and playing with the Beatles.

After playing lead guitar for the 60s-era Moody Blues, Laine left to cofound Wings with ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and his wife Linda. The three were the only members to remain in the band until it broke up in 1980, following world tours, 14 Top Ten singles in the US, and the hit song, "Mull of Kintyre."

Slyvester, meanwhile, founded his first band The Escorts in Liverpool, England in the early 1960s and played many local shows with the Beatles around Liverpool. In 1969, Sylvester replaced Graham Nash (of Crosby, Stills, and Nash) in the Hollies, and later recorded solo albums at Abbey Road Studios with famed producer Allen Parsons.

Idols Of Summer

The Freehold Idol finales last night blew the crowd away with a summer's worth of talent and hard work.

Here, some sights and sounds from the penultimate week of Idol '09:

Photos courtesy Patricia Hopkins

Congratulations to Samantha Citro for taking home first place this summer!

Farming Woes: Parking Shortage Plagues Weekly Farmer’s Market

Robert Mount of Endyke's Farm sells goods at Tuesday's Farmer's Market, but doesn't know if he will return.

The Farmer’s Market, sponsored by the Freehold Center Partnership, brings together four or five local farms each Tuesday in front of the Hall of Records on Main Street. This week, though, some farmers seemed distraught at the lack of customers, increase in competition, and limiting logistics of the market.

Sellers at the farm stands agreed that parking for customers and farmers alike had become a problem. On Tuesday, streets bordering the market were closed to traffic and parking, forcing customers to walk a few blocks to public parking lots. For those unable to walk with heavy groceries, there seemed to be few alternatives.

“It’s been a slow year,” said Jeanette Hauser of Old Bridge’s Hauser Hill Farms. “Seniors or people who can’t walk far with produce can’t come. It’s really only a walker’s market.”

Main Street was indeed flooded with walkers at around noon on Tuesday, though the market only seemed to attract about thirty of them. Four stands were set up on either end of the courtyard in front of the Hall of Records—three hawking vegetables and one selling potted flowers.

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Fireworks, music and history – what more could you ask for?

Freehold resident Nolan Higgins, as Thomas Jefferson, reads the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence in 2007.

Freehold will kick off its July 4th celebration with the sixth annual reading of the Declaration of Independence, a nod to the day's historic roots. Anyone can participate, as long as they arrive at Borough Hall (51 W. Main St.) by 8:30 a.m. The reading begins at 9.

Later in the day, the Freehold Center Partnership (aka Downtown Freehold) will host its own celebration with a fireworks display at Freehold Raceway.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. A concert featuring classic rockers Turnstyles and the Del Angels, a girl group specializing in early rock, pop and R&B, begins at 6 p.m.

Fireworks will blast off at dusk.

Happy Fourth!