We hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving with their family and friends! We in Bradley Beach have a lot to be thankful for.  On Friday night, we had our Annual Bonfire- always a big hit!  This is one of Public Works favorite events of the year!

Our Riley Park annual tree lighting event- Our rain date turned out to be a perfect evening of celebrating and fellowship in our community.  Great job municipal team!

Happy Hanukkah- more celebration this Saturday at Riley Park

Hanukkah is an 8-day celebration that began Thursday December 7th at sundown and ends Friday December 15th.. It is an eight-day festival that celebrates the return of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 165 B.C.  Rabbi Kelman has a very interesting historical article in the Coaster this week- page 20!  

Please join us this Saturday at 5:45 at Riley Park for the festivities!

One of the municipality’s key partners- The Bradley Beach Business & Community Alliance,  is seeking inputs on Main Street . Please complete the anonymous BB Town Survey (see link) by December 10. If you need assistance with online survey, please contact [email protected]. 

Main Street is a critical part of our town and a priority! Thank you. 

https://us10.list-manage.com/survey?u=11f3ca5eb60fc1fa195097895&id=5300b35090&attribution=false

More Holiday related news!

Our Senior Citizens club had their annual holiday luncheon at Uva last Wednesday, December 6th.   Thirty-three of the club members filled the dining room and enjoyed a fun program developed by the planning committee. They are ready for the holidays!

Congregation Agudath Achim hosts Police and First Responders 

We received an invitation recently to join in a Thanksgiving meal for our Police, First responders, and elected officials.  Members of the congregation cooked a feast for the visitors in appreciation for all they do for Bradley Beach- a very thoughtful gesture!

The Recreation Committee is holding a Holiday Veterans Drive.  It will close-off on December 15th. If you would like to donate items there is a box in the front office at the municipal building and the Recreation center. A list of items can be found in the Recreation department section of the website. You can also go to Murrays on Main Street and for just $3.50 a shirt you can purchase branch T-shirts that will be delivered to the Veterans Memorial Home at Menlo Park. 

Bradley Bleach is now a library branch!

The Bradley Beach Library, the Bradley Beach Business Community Alliance, the Bridge of Books Foundation, and owners Ursula and Victor Ayers had a launch Thursday, December 7th of a “mini library wing”.  The Bradley Beach Elementary School Newspaper staff covered the event and interviewed a number of participants, including myself.  What a great idea to increase the reach of young readers!

On the Infrastructure front:

Lake Terrace Park renovation in-process

We are in week 2 of the renovations at Lake Terrace Park, we have a number of improvements, among which are:

• 6' Chain Link Fence Gates replacement
• Leyland Cypress trees along back border
• New surface Course Walkway
• Small Sensory Dome Play Structure 
• Two Belt Swings plus one Expression Swing 
• Decorative 6' Bench
• New Brick Pavers Replace the 8-foot fencing (back border)
• Fiber safety mulch
• One Zero-G Swing Chair              
• Decorative Picnic Table

Last CONGRATULATIONS to four of our 25 establishments on “Restaurant Row”

that were winners in the 2023 Official Community Choice Awards:

Winners—The Bamboo Leaf

          Del Ponte’s 

Finalists—The Buttered Biscuit Café

                       Vic’s Italian Restaurant

I hope everyone continues to have a wonderful Holiday season - Whether Hanukkah, Bodhi Day, Kwanzaa, Christmas, or the Chinese New Year- enjoy yourselves!  Again, we have a lot to be thankful for in Bradley Beach!  We’ll are working to close out 2023 and getting our plans together for 2024.

With the holidays we have many exciting things planned at the Rec Center, Library, Riley Park, and all over Bradley Beach so make sure to check the website for updates! Events are in the works- details are in the newsletter and the website.

We will continue to focus on Service and Progress as a Municipal Team.

Thanks, and see you around town.          

Mayor Larry Fox