First Saturday August

I am so excited to get to the store today.  This month we are featuring the work of Michelle Bernard.  It is fun and whimsical.....and I can't wait to make a display with it.  August 7th from 6pm-8pm Michelle will be at the store for a meet and greet.  These knock down Tillie's I love!!!  Tillie has become a symbol of Asbury Park.  His face adorned the Palace Amusement......there is a Save Tillie group.  When they went to demolish the building for Palace Amusements they kept the image of Tillie and it is now painted on the Wonder Bar across the street from Convention Hall.  There are some great old videos of Asbury Park on You Tube.  Asbury Park is so interesting.  It is a city we want to see change, but there are so many good historical parts we want to keep.  Growing up our family used to spend every Easter on the boardwalk....but, my favorite was the ferris wheel in the Palace......your whole family could fit on one of the carts and the carts were named after the counties or cities of New Jersey.  My family as a side business (my dad was an electrical engineer for Fort Monmouth for 30 years)  had a gem and mineral collection.  Our family traveled the whole eastern coast doing gem and mineral shows and selling my dad's collection almost every weekend.  One of my favorite shows was the flower show at Convention Hall in Asbury Park.  It was a week full of fun......we were old enough to go out on the boardwalk by ourselves.....big treat...but expensive.  So, my favorite part was seeing as much of Convention Hall as I could.  I knew that building inside and out.  The best part is the building is over the ocean and when you would stand out on back it was like being on a boat without the rocking.  Sorry, to get off the subject......but, that is the fun of Michelle's Art is it brings back all of those memories of days gone by.......And, speaking of days gone by......Nineteen years ago today my twins entered the world......Happy Birthday Ian and Kaylyn!!!