Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Aficiandos of Hess toy trucks can rest assured that Christmas sales of their toy trucks will continue at the corporation's convenience stores.
Recent headlines announcing Hess Corporation's exit from the energy marketing and refining end of its global business will not affect what is perhaps its second-most-coveted consumer item after the petrol: the Hess Toy Truck. "The toy trucks which have been a tradition for 48 years will continue," a Hess spokesperson said, adding that "this November, the company will continue to sell the trucks at their stores." Since 1964, Hess Corporation has sold its classic toy trucks; offering a variety of collectible miniature trucks to consumers at the start of the holiday season each year in November. Despite the corporation's impending closure of its 1,350 retail gas stations, consumers will still be able to find the eclectic toys at Hess …
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Celebrate the holidays together by uploading your family portrait or photo with Santa Claus
‘Tis the season for family portraits and photo shoots with Santa Claus. If you take photos of your family, pets and holiday decorations this time of year, whether they’re silly, staged or professional, we’d like to celebrate with you. So post them here and spread some holiday cheer! To start the photo gallery, I added a picture of my Christmas tree as well as one with my dog. Upload your photos straight to this story by clicking on "upload photos and videos" below the photos already here. Don't know how to upload photos? It's easy; here's a short how-to video. Happy holidays!
Friday, December 21, 2012
Volunteers will be wrapping holiday gifts at the Ocean County Mall for a donation to two local shelters
Volunteers will be wrappin gifts in the Ocean County Mall on Friday, Dec. 21 and Saturday, Dec. 22 as a fundraiser to benefit two local Hurricane Sandy shelters. After Hurricane Sandy hit, Robin Enquist McAndrew and a friend were dropping off food at the Lacey United Methodist Church in Forked River and King of Kings in Manahawkin. Since then McAndrew coordinated a fundraiser that started as a local event and grew much larger. McAndrew coordinated a group to wrap holiday gifts with all proceeds going to the two churches. “We saw the need and people are not getting as much as they were when it first happened,” she said. Once she created a Facebook page, the fundraiser expanded to the Ocean County Mall and now Boscov’s is setting up six …
Friday, December 14, 2012
The high school Interact Club in conjunction with the Forked River Rotary Club did their annual shopping spree at Walmart today
Approximately 68 high school students went on a shopping spree at Walmart today as part of the Interact and Rotary Club’s annual gift collection for families in Lacey, Barnegat and Waretown. The students arrive at the superstore at 7:30 a.m. where they receive envelopes with children’s gender, age and interests. Christmas gifts were bought for approximately 500 kids. With a full shopping cart of Barbies, baby dolls and Nerf guns, Treasurer Danielle Padovani and Jaimie Napoleon were shopping for a five and seven year old girl as well as a 10-year-old boy. “We don’t know anything about boys. We’re kind of winging it,” Padovani said. “But we put a lot of heart into it.” Napoleon enjoys volunteering for this event because kids whose parents …
Each year, Bill Sheppard, aka "Mr. Christmas," puts up an elaborate Christmas display at his Lanoka Harbor home
Each October, Lanoka Harbor resident Bill Sheppard begins the long process of setting up his Christmas decorations for the season. It may sound early to start getting ready for the holidays, but Sheppard's display is quite a bit more complex than your average string of lights hung from the gutters or inflatable snowman. Just about every square inch of Sheppard's yard is covered in twinkling lights and vibrantly colored standees of cartoon characters. The characters are hand-painted, and vary from Christmas standards to ones from recent animated flicks. The festive display is celebrating its 35th year of delighting local children and grownups, and grows in size and number of characters every year. Last year included the basset hound from …
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Residents of all ages awaited Santa on the fire truck with excitement and anticipation
December crept up on me with no warning this year. I took it upon myself to decorate the family Christmas tree, but even with the white lights, red ribbon and crystal angels, it just still didn’t feel like Christmas. A ride with Santa Claus on the Forked River fire truck Wednesday evening snapped me out of the doldrums. With Santa and his sleigh set on the roof, lights of all colors lit up the truck. Christmas music blared as we turned down Forked River streets, most of which were also lit up with lights and decorations, and I operated the siren to alert residents of Santa’s presence. Residents of all ages — and their dogs — showed a childlike spirit that night. The smiles, excitement and pride showed on faces of the young and elderly. …
High school sophomore coordinates Toys for Tots collection in Lacey
Gifts to be donated to children affected by Superstorm Sandy can be dropped of at the Lacey Elk’s Lodge on Beach Boulevard. Renee Matarazzo, a sophomore at Lacey Township High School, connected with Tammy Stefanik of Toys for Tots to set up the toy drive. “I wanted to do something for the kids who were affected by the Superstorm,” she said. “I want to help put smiles on the kids faces this holiday by giving them gifts because parents going through the devastation of the storm right now may not be able to purchase them” Matarazzo does not personally know families displaced by the hurricane but as an Antler, the Junior Elks program, she wanted to get involved, she said. Gifts donated should be new and unwrapped. They can be dropped off at …
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Clients of the Lacey Food Bank will partake in the annual Christmas gift distribution on Wednesday morning
While organizing clothing and toys at Community Hall, a local resident handed Laura Caroccia dozens of gift cards — just one example of how the Lacey Food Bank will be able to “keep the promise of Christmas” this year. On Tuesday volunteers from throughout the town came together to organize gifts for Lacey Food Bank families. “There are so many people from so many places. People from all walks of life are here,” said Caroccia, co-chairman of the Lacey Food Bank. Distribution will take place Wednesday morning as parents line up in Community Hall to receive vouchers for their children. The parents will then proceed to pick gifts specifically to their child's liking from hundreds of items that were donated to give on Christmas day. “It’s a …
Monday, December 10, 2012
The sixth annual event provided locals with a 'hands-on authentic Christmas experience'
The Forked River Baptist Church presented its sixth annual A Night in Bethlehem from Dec. 6 to Dec. 8. “A Night in Bethlehem transforms the Lanoka Harbor church into the streets of Bethlehem on the night that Jesus was born,” says Darcie King, producer from 2011 to 2012. “Guests visit shops as they were in Biblical times, learn the history of the period, sample goods from the era and even meet Mary, Joseph and their new baby, Jesus.” To pull off the event, it requires more than 100 volunteers from the Forked River Church and its ministries, King said. This year’s event included new additions and hands-on activities, including a new shop in which participants create a craft of the time and new take-away items. The church originally opened …
Monday, December 3, 2012
The Forked River Baptist Church will be holding its annual Christmas event free of charge from Thursday, Dec. 6 to Saturday, Dec. 8
The Forked River Baptist Church presents its sixth annual A Night in Bethlehem from Thursday, Dec. 6 to Saturday, Dec. 8. “A Night in Bethlehem transforms the Lanoka Harbor church into the streets of Bethlehem on the night that Jesus was born,” says Darcie King, producer from 2011 to 2012. “Guests visit shops as they were in Biblical times, learn the history of the period, sample goods from the era and even meet Mary, Joseph and their new baby, Jesus.” The event is “family-friendly” and provides a “hands-on authentic Christmas experience,” she said. “Our focus is to bring the bible to life and introduce the community to what life was like 2,000 years ago,” Pastor Mike Mrazek said. “Our team has worked diligently through the years to create…
MY town
4:12 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
It's a shame the newer trucks will never reach the same value of the originals. Too many collectors equals a flooded market . A dime a dozen now more ›