Asbury Pod

This week we discuss updates to the Asbury Park Arts and Culture Plan and welcome back Carrie Turner from the Asbury Park Arts Council.  We also welcome Eric Galipo from Francis Cauffman Architects who did the hard work of designing the Arts & Culture plan which will now be presented to the City Council.  Welcome Carrie and Eric! AsburyPod also gratefully acknowledges the support of Jenn Hampton from the Parlor Gallery on Cookman Avenue in Asbury Park who let us record this episode in her lovely space. Thanks Jenn! PS: You can see Eric Galipo's presentation of the A&C plan at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnCWRLzLlFE&t=29s

In honor of National Poetry Month, we welcome local poet Cord Moreski, who is the host, curator and driving force behind the wildly popular “Coffee and Words” poetry series held at Asbury Park Roastery—a series that is in turn just a small part of the New Jersey Poetry Renaissance which is bringing poetry readings to spaces all over the State of New Jersey. Special thanks to Tom Chesek for letting us record this episode at the historic Stephen Crane House here in Asbury Park. One Note, we have added a recording to Cord reading several of his poems to the end of this episode, so stay tuned and give them a listen! Poems: Aubrey Night Swimming Angel Won't You Be My Neighbor Apartment Karaoke

Welcome to part two of our conversation with long-time Asbury Park Police Officer, former member of the Asbury Park City Council, former state champion tennis player from Asbury Park High School, and local Pastor—the Reverend David Parreott Jr. He reminisces about being a police officer during the 1970 riots in Asbury Park, being a neighborhood kid when Asbury Park had dirt roads and a synagogue on Cookman Ave, and what it was like to run for office in Asbury Park back in the 1980s. Welcome Reverend!

When Amy & Joe sit down to interview guests, we try to keep our conversations somewhere near the 45-minute mark just to keep things simple. But this week's guest, who has been a resident of Asbury Park since the 1930s, was such an engaging storyteller that they ended up with over 90 minutes of conversation before we knew it—enough for two full episodes. So welcome to part one of our conversation with long-time Asbury Park Police Officer, former member of the Asbury Park City Council, former state champion tennis player from Asbury Park High School, and local Pastor—the Reverend David Parreott Jr. Welcome Reverend!

Recording at the historic Stephen Crane House here in Asbury Park, this week Amy & Joe return to the local news scene and talk to Ellen Carroll, editor of The Coaster, one of the last remaining family-owned, hyper-local newspapers on the Jersey shore--which is also celebrating its 40 anniversary this year.

This past week, Asbury Park was once again hosting the Light of Day Foundation's series of concerts, which raise money to fund research into possible cures, improved treatments and support for patients with Parkinson's Disease and its related illnesses, ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and PSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy). We were lucky enough to talk to one of this year's performers.  Joining Amy & Joe, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe, is New Jersey singer-songwriter, Lisa Bouchelle, who opened and closed the Light of Day series.  We talk to Lisa about her music, touring and what it's like to cook with the great Chubby Checker.  Hint, keep the fire extinguisher handy.

Recording at the historic Stephen Crane House here in Asbury Park, this week Amy & Joe talk to Tom Chesek, writer in residence and docent of the Stephen Crane House. We learn a little bit about the time young Stephen Crane spent here with his family,  as well as what Tom was doing before he came to Asbury Park and what does Clifford the Big Red Dog have to do with it.

This week Amy & Joe, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe, talk all things Christmas and the Asbury Park Holiday Toy Drive with repeat guest Michelle Grezner of the Asbury Park Kiwanis Club and new guest Celia Cattani from Community Karma. They discuss what's been happening with the Asbury Park Toy Drive since Connie Breech retired to its current incarnation, plus their plans for the future. Welcome, Michelle and Celia!

This week Amy & Joe recorded in the comfort of Asbury Park Roastery's Second Ave shop thanks to an assist from the extremely community-minded Alli Kennedy. We welcomed the team behind Asbury Park's newest media outlet, TAPInto Asbury Park—owner and former mayor of Belmar Matt Doherty and reporter Alissa Deleo. We talked to Matt and Alissa about the state of local journalism and news reporting. and what they hope TapInto Asbury can bring to the table.

This week Amy & Joe welcome Henry Vaccaro, a fixture here in Asbury Park. We talk to Henry about growing up in and around Asbury Park and the many careers he has had in life, first as a builder, then the unlikely owner of the world-famous Kramer guitar company and then how he became close friends with Bob Wootton and Johnny Cash and restored the Berkeley Carteret Hotel.

This week Amy & Joe, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, mark the closing of LGBTQ history month by welcoming Lauren Albrecht, Chair of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee LGBTQ Caucus and talk politics, candidates and new bills. 

This week, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, we talk to longtime Asbury Park resident and Asbury historian, Tommy DeSeno—where we learn that Asbury Park was the training center for World Heavyweight Champions, that there was an Opera House(???) and that Stephen Crane liked to tweak James Bradley's nose in print. Welcome Tommy!

This week, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, we talk to Michael Trusnovec, one of the co-founders of the sold out Asbury Park Dance Festival, which will be celebrating its third successful year on October 1. We talk to Michael about about his life in dance, and his journey from Long Island to the Paul Taylor Dance Company, with additional stops at the New York City Ballet, the Joyce Theater, the Metropolitan Opera and now Asbury Park.

This week we welcome Carrie Turner and Jenn Hampton from the Asbury Park Arts Council, to talk about the new mural project that is underway at the historic Asbury Park Sewage Plant, and other projects coming this fall.

This week we talk to Michael Roland and George Lowe from the Center in Asbury Park about the thirtieth anniversary of the Center, its mission to serve people with HIV/AIDS, its growth from a storefront to residence and community center. They also discuss the twin crises of meth addiction and the current spread of monkeypox in our community -- and what we can do to combat them.

This week, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy is joined by a special guest co-host to discuss the upcoming Bans Off our Bodies rally to be held in Springwood Park on Saturday, July 9th at 4PM. Comedian and fellow Asbury Park Women's Convention founder Jess Alaimo helps Amy welcome community activist Michelle Gladden, Ocean high school student Nevaeh Sickles, and musician/mixed martial artist Angie Sugrim. They discuss what brought them to this moment and what you can expect from the rally.

Welcome to Asbury Pod and our first in-person recording since March of 2020. In keeping with our observance of Pride month, this week we welcome LGBTQ icon Jan Moore, whose 52 year relationship with her wife Emily Sonnessa was the subject of Robin Kampf's award winning documentary Love Wins back in 2018. This was a fun conversation and we covered too many things to list here so give it a listen.

It's Pride month here in Asbury Park and to celebrate Amy & Joe welcome our first ever guest Laura Pople, back the the podcast, to discuss the the 30th Anniversary of Asbury Pride and its return to in-person events after a two year Covid hiatus with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. That's it! That's the tweet! Welcome Laura!

This week with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy & Joe welcome Eileen Chapman, Asbury Park City Councilperson, Director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music for Monmouth University, Board Member of the Asbury Park Music Foundation—and member of a long list of other Asbury-centric organizations. We talk to Eileen about the upcoming Summer Concert Series,  Music Mondays at Springwood Park, and along the way hear what it was like to work at and manage the legendary Mrs. J's, the legendary Stone Pony and the legendary Fast Lane and other equally boring and uninteresting places.

On this episode, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy & Joe welcome Alice Genese, a pioneer of punk & art-pop, & Pony, who everyone in town knows. They talk about their new project Ov Stars, whose introspective & melancholy tunes are the nonstop soundtrack at Amy's house these days. They talk about what brought them to Asbury Park and what brought them together, & everyone tries to remember the names of the theaters that used to be in Asbury Park. Check out Ov Stars Sunday, April 24 at the Danny Clinch Gallery at 4:00pm.

On this episode, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy & Joe welcome Werner Baumgartner, Official Historian of the City of Asbury Park. We talk to Werner about what brought him to Asbury Park in the first place and how does one become the official historian of a city? What are the historian's duties? And what would a historian do if the city gave him $10 million?

Guests in two of our most recent episodes, each separately discussed legendary Asbury Park musician Dolores “Dee” Holland. So we thought we should learn a bit more about Dee ourselves. On this episode, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy & Joe welcome Dee Holland's daughter Paulette Holland Fant Malunga from Texas and we talk about her mom and her trajectory from child prodigy to working musician.

This week the Garden State Film Festival will be celebrating its 20th anniversary right here in Asbury Park—with in person viewings beginning Wednesday March 23 and running through the 27 with online viewings available as well for those who cannot make it to the in-person events. On this episode, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy & Joe welcome Festival co-founder Diane Raver and Festival Executive Director Lauren Concar Sheehy to the podcast and talk about the history of the Festival, how it started and how it lasted 20 years.

This week, with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy & Joe welcome Kay Harris and, for her second appearance on AP Pod, but wearing a different hat, Michelle Gladden, President and Secretary, respectively, of the of the Asbury Park Museum. The mission of the Asbury Park Museum is to re-introduce, educate and advance an understanding and appreciation of the history of the diverse, progressive, resort and urban community of Greater Asbury Park, New Jersey—the birthplace of both 3-n-1 oil and the song Honeysuckle Rose—two of the many many interesting facts that you can discover at the museum.

This episode starts with the voice of saxophone player Cliff Johnson sharing some memories of growing up and playing music in and around Asbury Park's Springwood Avenue Music circuit. His is just one of the many oral histories of the Springwood Avenue scene collected by the Asbury Park African-American Music Project (Asbury AMP). This week, with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy & Joe welcome Yvonne Clayton and Jennifer Souder from Asbury AMP to discuss the history of the Springwood Avenue music district and what Asbury AMP is doing to preserve that history and discuss their plans to restore Asbury's legendary Turf Club.

This week, with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy & Joe talk to two long time members of the Asbury Park art community, Porkchop and Bradley Hoffer, both of whose works feature prominently on the world famous Wooden Walls Project on the Asbury Park Boardwalk and who just this week saved Asbury's Christmas by creating the remarkable 17 foot high Christmas Tree Sculpture, named “The Giving Tree”, now on display in Convention Hall. We encourage you all to go down and check it out!

This week, with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy & Joe talk to Tim Donnelly, who together with Danny Clinch, is a founding partner of the wildly successful Sea.Hear.Now Festival in Asbury Park; which wrapped up its third iteration this past September. We talk to Tim about the festival, and its connection to his history of activism with the Surfrider Foundation and working his way around the county on tour with Lollapalooza.

Amy Quinn and Joe Walsh talk to Sam Herried with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. If you have not ridden a mountain bike on a Glacier Range in Alaska on your way to work, well neither have we. But today we are talking to Sam Herried, native of Fairbanks, Alaska, and PhD researcher in glaciology, who has. We talk to Sam about funding, conducting and publishing glacier research as a citizen scientist, all while holding down a barista job at the world-famous Asbury Roastery on the boardwalk. But as you will hear, Sam's many other interests proved too fascinating for us to stay on just one topic--so we grilled him about training for 100km ultramarathons, how does one play piano, drums and sing at the same time? and are there outdoor cats near the Arctic Circle? So many things that we might need to bring him back for a part II.

Amy Quinn and Joe Walsh talk more surfing as we talk to Rodney Salomon from KYDS Asbury Park (which stands for Konscious Youth Development & Service) and Christian May from the Asbury Park Surf Club with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. We learn how Rodney and Christian teamed up to get the kids of Asbury Park (or Neptune or Long Branch) onto their beaches, into the water and up on a board. This is not as simple as it sounds, as you will hear.

This week Amy Quinn and Joe Walsh talk with Mike Castellano and, making her encore appearance on Asbury Pod, Diana Pettit—both from the New Jersey chapter of the Surfrider Foundation—with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. We find out what the Surfrider foundation does—which is everything from beach clean-ups and sponsoring Asbury Park's Family Day at the Beach, to activism in support of beach access and regulation of pollution from plastics.  Surfrider also provides an army of volunteers in support of the upcoming Sea Hear Now Surf Music and Art Festival in Asbury Park—and we also hear Amy Quinn wish very hard out loud that someone would introduce her to Ani DiFranco. 

This week Amy Quinn and Joe Walsh talk Peace, Love and Pancakes with Amy Russo, founder and driving force behind Toast Restaurant here in Asbury Park. With the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, we talk to Amy about the birth of Toast, its expansion from Montclair to Asbury Park and now Red Bank—what's it like to get a rave review in the New York Times when you least expect it, and how the pandemic has affected her business.

This week we welcome Sarah Bloom and Michelle Grezner of the newly re-chartered Kiwanis Club of Asbury Park with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. We get right to the heart of the matter in this one and to find out what is Kiwanis? What do they do? We were hoping […]

We took a little, unplanned break earlier this month, so we are glad to be back. This week we welcome artists George Bates and Courtney Pasterchick with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. George and Courtney recently completed works for the 13 Artist Mural Project here in Asbury Park, one of […]

This week, as we observe Pride Month here in June, Amy & Joe talk with longtime Asbury Park luminaries with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. Our guests are former Asbury Park city clerk Kiki Tomek and Jimmy Bruno– former Deputy Mayor of Asbury Park, former Board of Education President and […]

This week Amy and Joe, with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, welcome Tee Gates, the first Black Woman to serve as Fire Marshall for the city of Asbury Park—which is apparently a family tradition. She also is the daughter of the first Black Female Police Officer to serve in Asbury […]

This week Amy and Joe welcome Judy Meltsner Feinstein, a pioneer in Women's Aviation as both pilot and educator with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. Judy is a two-time recipient of the Amelia Earnhardt Medal—and someone who has spent over 50 years in and around Asbury Park. We talk to […]

This week Amy and Joe welcome Dani Boglivi-Fiori while social distancing from their respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. Ms. Boglivi-Fiori, known best as Sweet Dani B, owner of Sweet Dani B's Cookie Kitchen and Café on Bangs Avenue here in Asbury Park—home of the life changing chocolate chip […]

This week Amy and Joe welcome Tara Pimco of Asbury Park's Hot Mess Studio while social distancing from their respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. Tara talks about how a small storefront salon became the premier “destination boutique” anchoring Press Plaza on Cookman Avenue and how some quick thinking […]

This week Amy and Joe welcome Jacki & Dom from Purple Glaze while social distancing from their respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. As you know here at Asbury Pod we only ask the toughest questions, like “What podcast are you listening to?” and “Is there anything good on […]

This week Amy and Joe welcome Dr. Tom Caltabilota of City by the Sea Veterinary. while social distancing from their respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. You may recall hearing Dr. Tom’s name during our recent conversation with DJ and Jamie from Catsbury Park—so we reached out to […]

This week Amy and Joe welcome DJ Bornschein and Jamie Nichols, the dynamic duo behind Asbury Park’s own cat sanctuary café, Catsbury Park while social distancing from their respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. We talk to DJ and Jamie about how Catsbury Park came to be, its […]

This week Amy and Joe welcome David Lewis Jr and Jarrett Atkins, who together with their partner Fritz Georges, form the power trio behind MacroBites, the Healthy Meal Delivery Service and Cafe, while social distancing from their respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio.­­ By itself, three childhood friends […]

This week Amy and Joe welcome Robin Elliott-Preston, owner of Robeans—home the Mobile Barista Coffee Truck, while social distancing from their respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio.­­ They talk about what it is like to be an entrepreneur, a respiratory therapist working on the front lines of the […]

This week Amy and Joe welcome Sylvia Sylvia, Executive Director of the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce, while social distancing from their respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio.­­ They talk about how businesses have been adapting to life under covid, the unfortunate closure of some great Asbury businesses, […]

Welcome to AsburyPod with Amy Quinn and Joe Walsh. Today we discuss Covid vaccines while social distancing from our respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. Our guest is Dr. Terry Shlimbaum, Chief Medical Officer of the Community Health Center of the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey—and we […]

This week we talk legal marijuana while social distancing from their respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, or so we had planned. In November, New Jersey residents, with a significant majority, voted “yes” to Public Question No. One to legalize and regulate cannabis. So Amy & Joe were […]

This week Amy and Joe talk with two of Asbury Park’s wellness luminaries about fitness and wellness during quarantine while social distancing from their respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. Amanda Feinstein from Jandee Yoga and Reggie Fleming from Juice Basin discuss juice fasts, down dogs, and all […]

This week Amy and Joe caught up with Monmouth County Clerk Christine Hanlon while social distancing from their respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. They ask her the important questions like: “What does the office of county clerk do?” They also discussed how hard it was to manage […]

This week Amy and Joe caught up with Nancy Sabino and Mike Sodano from the Showroom, Asbury Park’s only independent movie theater, while social distancing from their respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. Nancy and Mike talked about how they picked movies and how the process changed over […]

This week Amy and Joe talk street diets, bicycles, and 15 minute cities with Polli Schildge, co-founder of Asbury Park’s Complete Streets Coalition while social distancing from their respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. We are also joined by Asbury Park’s transportation maven Deputy City Manager Mike Manzella.

Amy and guest host Michael Cook talk with queens of drag R Hedd R Humm, Jolina Jasmine, and Lady Celestina while social distancing from their respective homes with the help of Ming Chen from A Shared Universe PodcaStudio. This week we continue our series of conversations about the pandemic and its effect on our little […]