The Hope for Highlands Concert
THE CONCERT TO REBUILD HIGHLANDS, NEW JERSEY
“Highlands, New Jersey, like so many devastated small towns up and down the Jersey Shore, was hit extremely hard by Hurricane Sandy”, said Mayor Frank Nolan. This half square mile middleclass fishing village, has been devastated with severe damages to over 1200 of its 1500 downtown homes and almost all of its businesses, he added. Highlands, the first stop on the Jersey Shore, is known for its spectacular restaurants, Sandy Hook, Historic Twin Lights and its fishing and clamming industry. The loss of these homes and businesses has had a ripple effect on the community beyond the norm because many of the residents worked and lived in the town, said Tim Hill Borough Administrator. An economically challenged town before the storm, this community is now faced with not only the loss of their homes but many have also lost their jobs.
The Hope for Highlands concert produced by Rick Korn, a local resident that contacted Mayor Nolan to help raise funds and the spirit of the people of Highlands will be held on Sunday, November 25, 2012 at 2:00PM. The concert is FREE and will take place at Seastreak Ferry Landing at Connors, 325 Shore Drive in Highlands. Large crowds are expected so Highland’s residents are asked to walk to Seastreak Connors. However parking will be available at both the Highlands venue and Atlantic Highlands Seastreak parking lots. Parking is $10 and the ferry is free from Atlantic Highlands to the Highlands for the show. For people coming from NYC a special service is being offered from both the 34th Street Seastreak pier and their Wall Street pier. The boat to Highlands cost is $65 and includes the roundtrip boat ride, food and the concert.
The money raised will be administered by “Hope for Highlands”, set up through the non-profit Highlands Business Partnership under the direction of Mayor Frank Nolan and Councilwoman Rebecca Kane, the organization’s Liaison. It is designed to go directly to the people and businesses in Highlands that need it most, said Rick Korn. The concert is free. Food and beer will be sold from local restaurants and merchants with the profits going directly to Highland’s victims. Checks can be made payable to HBP-Hope for Highlands or you can donate online at www.highlandsnj.com and click on Hope for Highlands. All donations are tax deductible.
The concert is featured by The Rebuild The Jersey Shore Band And Friends led by music director and keyboardist Michael Mancini. The house band consists of members from the Asbury Jukes, Glen Alexander and Tom Seguso, along with bass player Tony Tino. They all have deep connections to the shore music scene. Some of the artists signed up to perform are Jersey Shore legend Bob Bandiera, Bob Burger, Lisa Bouchelle, Lisa Lowell, Layonne Holmes, and saxophone legend Tommy LaBella. Additional artists are being added. New Jersey’s own Boulevard Pro is sponsoring backline gear and PA. Generous sponsors include, Seastreak, This Is It/Stageworks, Shore Point Distributing Company, Big Top Tents of Long Branch, Streit Purveyors, Boardwalk Sausage and Tri-State LaCross.
The Highlands business merchants and restaurants are pooling their resources to create a “Taste of Highlands” food court with the chef’s from restaurants that were destroyed all up and down Bay Avenue and the waterfront. There will be a beer and wine garden sponsored by Shore Point Distributing Company and all the proceeds go to the to help the town in their recovery efforts. Seastreak has already started paying some of our unemployed to help get the beach cleaned at the Seastreak Ferry landing in time for the concert, said HBP President, Carla Cefalo-Braswell. For additional information visit www.highlandsnj.com or call 732.291.4713.