FEATURED PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Zapcic Photography

The 2020 Mayor’s Cup Regatta was held on July 5 awarding ‘bragging rights on the Navesink’ to the winner of the race in which a Keel Boat Fleet and a one-design Fleet participated. Remedy, Fair Haven Yacht Works, a Merit 25, skippered by Jeremy Herman was the Keel Boat first-place winner. Second place went to Warhorse, Shrewsbury River Yacht Club, a Pearson 28 skippered by Mike Bosi. The one-design first-place winner was Paul Lucyk, Monmouth Boat Club, sailing a Mc Scow, with second place going to Dave Watts, Monmouth Boat Club, sailing a Lightning.

“Good winds from Red Bank started the Bridge race for the run up to Lewis Point from the start off the Shrewsbury River Yacht Club anchorage,” explained Joe Malik, Past Commodore of the New Jersey Yacht Racing Association and the Mayor’s Cup Committee Principal Race Officer. “On the return to the Oceanic Bridge, the wind began to die, which made the return to the finish a hard slog forcing several racers to retire. Despite the failing wind, all one-design boats and the finishers in the cruising fleet came in under the time limit.”

Inaugurated in 2012, the Mayor’s Cup was originally run to represent the 100-year anniversary of the town of Fair Haven. The town’s origins and continuing character are strongly linked to the Navesink River, with a rich history that includes tradesmen working on the Navesink River and a colony of actors that dominated the town’s social life. The Players Boat Club of Fair Haven was established in 1910 and today is the Shrewsbury River Yacht Club. In 2013 and all the years that followed, the Mayor’s Cup was run by the Shrewsbury River Yacht Club with an open invitation to any and all boats. In 2015, the North Jersey Yacht Racing Association endorsed the race with one of its prestigious trophies, the Irwin Bowl, honoring the winner of the men’s championship. The Irwin Bowl dates back to the 1950s and has been drawing sailors from North Jersey Yacht Racing Association participating clubs on the two rivers as well as all around the Sandy Hook and Raritan Bays. The regatta is typically held as part of the Shrewsbury River Yacht Club 4th of July celebration.

“With Fair Haven’s maritime heritage intertwined with the Navesink River, we are so pleased to host the Mayor’s Cup Regatta year after year, a sailing race that promotes great comradery and friendships with clubs near and far,” said Mayor Benjamin Lucarelli.

To view more photos, visit tomzapcicphotography.smugmug.com/Mayors-Cup-2020

Holmdel resident Sea Gudinski recently published her first novel, titled 1969: A Brief and Beautiful Trip Back , in commemoration of the year’s 50th anniversary. The novel took six years to research.

Gudinski is a graduate of Saint Benedict Catholic and Holmdel High School. Although she was an excellent student and graduated with honors, she chose not to go to college and instead manages her family’s business.

Gudinski explained what led to her decision to write this novel. “As a lover of history and a seeker of knowledge both new and forgotten, I have been composing works of historical fiction for the last eleven years. 1969 is my first published novel, and as is typical of my work, it combines factual events with a fictional narrative. The novel is a tribute to the era. Both of my parents lived through the 1960s. My father was a soldier in Vietnam as well as a musician. He was involved in the counterculture and attended Woodstock in 1969—an event that he felt dramatically influenced the course of his life. I grew up hearing his stories and listening to the music of the era and felt a personal connection to the time. I was inspired by the time and by the people and what they were trying to do. There is something magical about the ideals of peace and love and freedom expressed in that way. There’s something about an entire generation of people so taken by the same vision, each of them striving toward it as they saw fit. There’s something about a couple million people trying to live a ‘utopian’ lifestyle in a very dystopian world. There’s something very poetic and something very raw about that. It speaks to our humanity and the human condition; our follies and our redemption, our shortcomings and our triumphs.”

She continued, “My intent behind 1969 was to recapture the spirit of that time half a century ago and preserve for history a record of the message, meaning, and legacy of the era. To provide an entertaining, accurate, and objective perspective of the decade that could be enjoyed by those who lived through it as well as those who learned about it in school.”

When asked if she personally experienced any portion of the storyline, Sea shared, “Although I did not experience the events of 1969 firsthand; however, a good deal of Rhiannon’s (the book’s narrator) experiences and spiritual realizations are based on my own. Six years is a long time to spend dedicated to one literary work, and many of the things I learned and experienced throughout the process of researching and writing became absorbed into the novel. There was a great deal of growth and self-seeking that went on in my own life over the course of those six years, and you can see that plainly reflected in my writing as the story progresses.”

Visit Sea Gudinski’s website at seagudinski.com. The website details the events and music of 1969 and is a valuable tool for revisiting that era.

Middletown Day 2018 will take place on Saturday, September 22 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Croydon Hall, located at 900 Leonardville Road in Leonardo. Attendees will enjoy fun activities for all ages including a business and community showcase, craft fair, live local music, children’s activities, emergency response demonstrations, a petting zoo, hayrides, flea market, and food court. The best part? The event happens rain or shine.

“On behalf of the many township employees and elected officials who work hard to put on Middletown Day, we are pleased to present our annual fall festival,” said Middletown Recreation Director Janet Dellett.  “We are so excited for the lineup of live entertainers, vendors, games and more.”

The Middletown Arts Center will feature a space for guests to view local art in the Arts and Crafts Area. There, people can also meet the Doodle Duo’s Doodle Dude and Doodle Dawn and watch performers from the Talent Showcase. Free arts and crafts are available for the event’s youngest visitors.

Guests can also visit tables featuring local businesses and organizations that work hard to support Middletown’s 42 square-mile community and make it a great place to live. Exhibits at the event are geared toward helping guests learn more about what the community offers; whether it is about nature and colonial times at the Poricy Park exhibit, storm water pollution at the Clean Communities display, or drug abuse prevention at the Municipal Alliance for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse community rally.

All-around family fun can be found everywhere at the festival. Visit the petting zoo, enjoy pony rides under the trees, or try your hand at the free arts and crafts. There are also carnival games, bouncy houses, and sports contests. Fire safety lessons will be hosted in the smoke house with equipment displays and attention-grabbing demonstrations from Middletown Police, Fire, EMS and OEM Departments. The children are encouraged to explore the trucks and equipment as well as see what it feels like sitting in the drivers’ seats.

The food court proves one of the event’s greatest highlights. Local food vendors come together to offer an array of traditional food fare, tasty snacks and refreshing drinks. Stop at one or several stands and take a spot on the lawn or under the Food Tent.

Continuous live entertainment on stage will help keep the event upbeat with talented local performers in the entertainment tent. Listening and singing are encouraged – dancing optional!

“This event could not be put on without the generous support of all our sponsors,” Dellett added. “Through their donations we are able to provide the Middletown community with a free day of fun at no expense to the taxpayers.  We look forward to seeing you there!”

Bring your family, friends and neighbors to Middletown Day 2018 and create some awesome memories! Visit middletownnj. org/middletownday for specific details on entertainment and vendors.

FEATURED PHOTO: Sally Williams with her beloved cat Brodie, who passed away from cancer on September 29, 2016. The Brodie Fund is his legacy. CREDIT: Victor Bubadias Photography

Sally Williams resides in Rumson with her husband Scott and their four felines – Jonesey, Marlin, Finnegan and Henry. Sally started The Brodie Fund, a non-profit organization, in 2016 as a legacy to her beloved cat Brodie who passed away from cancer. She is a Cat Behavior Consultant; a member of The Pet Professional Guild; the IAABC; a longtime volunteer of the Monmouth County SPCA; as well as a certified Animal Reiki Practitioner and member of the Shelter Animal Reiki Association.

The Kiwanis Club of Holmdel will be holding its annual Steak Bake All You Can Eat event on Saturday, February 24, 2018 at the Knights of Columbus in Keyport. From 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. guests can enjoy filet mignon on toast points served family-style, plus oven-roasted potatoes, fresh vegetables, mixed garden salad and cake for dessert. Beer, wine and spirits will be available for purchase at the Knights of Columbus Cash Bar. Tickets for the event are $35 per person in advance and $40 per person at the door. For information or reservations, contact Len at 908.902.0582 or Tony at 732.580.4542.

Another event presented by the Kiwanis Club of Holmdel will be the annual Pasta Night to be held Monday, April 16, 2018 from 12 to 8:00 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children in advance or at the door for $12 and $7. The meal includes meatballs and sausage on penne pasta, mixed garden salad, and home-baked desserts from the famous Kiwanian chefs!

The Kiwanis Club of Holmdel serves the Bayshore area of Monmouth and Ocean counties. They work with many nonprofit organizations and help to support them with fundraisers or volunteering when needed. Some of these organizations include The Rainbow Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, The Frances Foundation, St. Catharine’s Church of Holmdel, Project Paul, The Bridges Program-Holmdel Community Church, Jason’s Dream for Kids, The Monmouth County Child Advocacy Program, and many others. The Kiwanis host several events throughout the year which include the Steak Bake and Pasta Dinner listed above, a Golf Outing, and a Children’s Christmas Party. The Holmdel Kiwanis Foundation is a 501(c)3 Charity.

Membership is open to anyone in the community who is 18 years of age and is willing to help the community by volunteering for the events that the Kiwanis host. Meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at The China Buffet, located in the Toys R Us Shopping Center in Hazlet. For further information on events and membership, visit holmdelkiwanis.org or like them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Holmdel-Kiwanis.

PHOTO CREDIT: Julianna Meinz

The Foundation of Fair Haven held its annual family-friendly community-based event, Oktoberfest, on September 16, 2017 at Fair Haven Fields.

Well over 2,000 people were in attendance, noted Co-chair Susan Sorensen.

Food trucks from Tony’s Italian Sausage; Surf BBQ; Readie’s Fine Foods; The Zeppoli Guys; Coffee Surf Co ; Ice Scream Ice Cream & Italian Ice; and Philly Pretzel Factory were onsite. Activities included laser tag, soccer bullseye, corn hole, pumpkin bowling, and a magician. Adults enjoyed the Beer and Wine Garden as well as the newest addition of Craft Beers from Two Ton Brewery, Jughandle Brewing, Wet Ticket, Dark City Brewing, Carton Beer, Birravino and more. Vendors from Amanda’s LuLa Roe; Wood Box Soap; Penelope Traveling Boutique; Dot Dot Smile; The Painted Mermaid; The China Closet; Touchstone Crystal by Swarovski; Arbonne skin care and wellness; Jersey Girl Beauty; RFH Rowing – The Rumson Boat Race; Chase Bank and Rolling Video Games offered a wide variety of merchandise.

Live music was performed by the Moroccan Sheepherders who opened; Wait Till Friday; and the closing band Remember Jones, whose band member Brielle von Hugel was a semi-finalist on American Idol Season 11. One of the top sponsors for the event was JCP&L which sponsored the music, as well as The Grove of Shrewsbury which sponsored many of the activities. Rumson-Fair Haven High School Key Club members volunteered for the event and worked the kids’ activities. Committee members and several local resident volunteers helped to set up.

FEATURED PHOTO: Left to right: FASTEN Co-founder Alexis Castellano of Holmdel sits in the sand beside Co-founder Jill Slater of Marlboro with their daughters, who are wearing the one-piece swimsuits redesigned by these two moms.

Thanks to Holmdel mom Alexis Castellano and Marlboro mom Jill Slater, this summer may be your best ever if you have an infant, toddler, or young daughter! Why? These moms have redesigned the one-piece swimsuit, which they call “FASTEN,” and have made it easier than ever to make diaper changes, do those fast “gotta-go-now” potty runs, and keep the suits of young girls free from bathroom germs. They have already been written up by over 20 Mom Bloggers across the country! Cool Mom Picks recently said the product was “The Smarter One-Piece.” Castellano explained how this idea came about.

“A few summers ago Jill and I were sitting by the pool when we had our ‘AHA!’ moment. At the time my older daughter was 2 ½ and my younger daughter 11 months old. Jill’s son was 2 and she was pregnant with her baby girl. We realized what a pain it was to pull down a wet one-piece bathing suit when our children really had to go or needed a diaper change. And, it was even more difficult to get the wet suit back on! We also found it utterly gross that when older girls were in the bathroom their wet bathing suits were sitting on the dirty floor around their ankles and were absorbing a ton of germs!”

Slater added, “Alexis and I met at a mommy and me class when our oldest kids were only a few months old. We bonded over first-time mom worries and triumphs. We weren’t regularly discussing new product ideas, but when this idea came up as a moment between friends sharing a struggle, we knew we had something.”

When they first came up with the idea, it was geared toward both potty training toddlers and babies. “I knew what a struggle it was to pull down that swimsuit on my toddler while panicking that she would have an accident in the bathroom after all the progress we made with potty training. But we also knew what a struggle it would be to change a baby’s diaper, especially a squirming wet baby!” said Castellano. She continued, “Jill and I both didn’t love the idea of bikinis or tankinis for little girls and babies. We wanted more coverage from the sun, and I always found that tankinis didn’t fit properly due to saggy bottoms. Jill would come to find this too as her daughter got older. When we launched our first collection, we went up to size 5. However, we had so many people reach out to us asking for bigger sizes. We released a small amount of size 6s, 8s, and 10s in our second collection and they all but sold out!”

“Currently, our suits all have the same basic design. The only difference is that the older girls have additional snaps for extra security, since older girls become more active, and they also have a hidden back magnet to hook the bottom flap during potty breaks. However, our third collection that will be released this spring will have snaps on the baby sizes as well. We thought it would be nice to have a little added security for water-logged diapers!” On the FASTEN website, items besides the swimsuits are available. Visit www.fastenswim.com.

“With the help of my mom we designed the accessory items on the website. For our first collection, we picked stock fabrics that we loved. For our second collection, we mixed stock fabrics and custom designs,” said Castellano. Castellano said both she and Jill knew they were on to something that wasn’t being produced in the market, but they weren’t sure how to actually make it. “I was an event planner and Jill was a nurse. We had no experience in fashion or designing clothes. Luckily, my mother, who lives locally, used to be a fashion designer. We spent hours in her basement cutting open old bathing suits, playing around with different fasteners, and trying to figure out the best way to make this idea of ours work. At one point, we actually used magnetic tape from Home Depot! When we finally had a prototype we were happy with, my mom created a pattern and made our first sample.” “Currently, we are patent-pending. Meanwhile, we met with a few different local manufacturers (all of whom signed an NDA), and ended up working with a wonderful factory who was willing to take on something different,” said Castellano. FASTEN swimsuits are currently manufactured in the United States.

Through the website, however, Castellano and Slater received an order from a woman in Japan, and then an email about how she loved the concept and didn’t know of anything like it in Japan. “She said she was starting an online retail store for children and was interested in importing, selling, and even distributing our products in Japan. We started with having her sell the products to see how they would be received and if it went well then agreed to talk about distribution. We have always been careful about not biting off more than we can chew,” said Castellano. She and Jill have already been contacted by distributors and stores in Australia, South Africa, Taiwan, and Singapore. Castellano noted that the company was formed in October 2014 – and went from concept to production in one year. They launched their website in October 2015, just in time for Cruise season. “We released a second collection in March 2016, but truly our first summer with the product on the market. We are gearing up to release our third collection mid-March! This will be our second summer with the product on the market,” said Castellano. The feedback received has been amazing.

Slater shared, “We love hearing that our customer service sets us above and beyond other companies. We know we have a great product but we love that our customers appreciate their purchasing experience with us too. We also have received comments that our suits have made the difference in the lives of kids with special needs. We set out to make our lives and our own daughters’ lives easier, but knowing we are helping girls with all levels of needs is amazing.” Slater addressed the question of plans for additional products and styles. “We are constantly designing new products and styles. We love seeing our ideas go from drawings to print to fabrics to the final products. We love the input we get from our kids about what is ‘cool.’ Designing new fabrics is one of our favorite parts of this business.” Castellano said they have one major long-term goal for FASTEN that is more like a mission. “We want to revolutionize the one-piece bathing suit. We want to see all one-pieces made this way! Why make them any other way? And not just for kids! We get asked all the time to make them for adult women. We would love to eventually license our design to larger swimsuit manufacturers, so they can use our innovative FASTEN® technology in their own swimsuit designs.

We also love the idea that our daughters could run our company one day!”

Castellano’s two girls are now eight and six years old; Slater’s son is now seven-and-a-half and her daughter is five. Castellano shared, “In fact, Jill’s daughter was born on my younger daughter’s birthday, so we call them FASTEN sisters!” This is truly a FASTENating story of how two moms took the challenge of wet bathing suits, diaper changes, and potty runs and turned it into a phenomenal idea that has made life easier for moms everywhere! SM06: Left to right: FASTEN Co-founder Alexis Castellano of Holmdel sits in the sand beside Co-founder Jill Slater of Marlboro with their daughters, who are wearing the one-piece swimsuits redesigned by these two moms.