Asbury Park Day Returns
3rd Annual Art & Music Community Celebration Will Honor Rev David J Parreot, Fire Chief Kevin Keddy, Christie Hall, Sheila Solomon, & Derek Minno Bloom
The Third Annual Asbury Park Day celebration returns Saturday with a mission to unite the city’s diverse population.
Organized by a group of westside citizens and organizations, the annual event was created by a June 15, 2016 proclamation set forth by the City Council that marks the fourth Saturday in June as Asbury Park Day.
“This day promotes the essential bond, and catalyst for the advancement, enhancement, growth and success for the city,” founding organizer Pastor Warren Hall said. “Asbury Park is a beautiful, diverse tapestry of cultures, faiths, and families [and] Asbury Park Day is a collaborative community celebration. Though it is not faith based, it is inclusive of the faith based community.”
They day begins with an 8 a.m. Keepers of Dream Breakfast at Trinity Episcopal Church, located at 503 Asbury Avenue. Held in conjunction with their Food Justice Program, the hour long breakfast serves as an opportunity to bring the larger community together with those living in homelessness and underserved circumstances.
This year, the noon to 6 p.m. event is being held in Springwood Avenue Park and will honor a lifelong community service leader – Rev. David J Parreot Jr.
Parreot, 84, retired from the police department as a captain after 29 years of service. He is a US Army veteran who also served as a pastor at four churches across the Jersey Shore region, on various civic, social and community organizations, including as a member of the city council, on the zoning and planning boards, as public member of the State Supreme Court, and as a lifelong member of the NAACP.
Other lifelong Community Service recognitions by the Monmouth County Freeholders will be given to Asbury Park Fire Chief Kevin Keddy, Christie Hall, Derek Minno Bloom, and Sheila Solomon, Hall said.
The event celebrates the city’s rich music and art cultures, with local Val Johnson and his jazz band headlining a lineup of classical, hip hop, jazz and rock bands.
“He has played with everyone from Bruce Springsteen to James Brown,” Hall said.
Artist exhibits will be featured among the array of vendor and service provider tables. An array and food and snack offering [snow cones, popcorn and cotton candy] will be available as well kids activities, like face painting by Missy Miss Face Painting, pony rides and a petting zoo.
The Asbury Park Fire Department will be on hand to give the kids apparatus tours and safety tutorials, and the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office will be administering their Ident-A-Kid program.
Through a collaboration with Second Life Bikes owner Kerri Martin and the Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition, there will be a bike rodeo and a few bicycle giveaways, with the Sheriff’s Office joining in to distribute free helmets.
The Lakehouse Mobile Recording Studio, aka the “Beat Bus” will be onsite from noon to 2 p.m., and there will be martial art demos, Hall said.
The event’s rain date is Sunday.
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