Boardwalk/beaches are open:
Long Beach Island, discoversouthernocean.com

Pt. Pleasant Beach, pointpleasantbeachnj.com

Seaside Heights, seasideheightstourism.com
Arts & Music year round:

Anchor & Palette Art Gallery, 45 Mount St., BAY HEAD, www.anchorandpalette.com
LBI Arts & Science Foundation, LOVELADIES (Long Beach Island) lbifoundation.org
Ocean County Artists Guild, Ocean and Chestnut Avenues, ISLAND HEIGHTS, ocartistsguild.org
M. Christina Geis Gallery, Georgian Court University, 900 Lakewood Ave., LAKEWOOD; georgian.edu
Full Spectrum Gallery, 316 Main St., Rt. 88, LAKEWOOD; fullspectrumartstudio.com
Strand Theater, 400 Clifton Avenue, LAKEWOOD, www.strand.org
Fine Arts Center at Ocean County College, College Drive off Hooper Ave., TOMS RIVER, ocean.edu
Albert Music Hall, Saturday Nights, 131 Wells Mill Road (Rt. 532) , WARETOWN, alberthall.org

Ocean County History year round:
Navy Lakehurst Historical Society, LAKEHURST, nlhs.com
NJ Museum of Boating, 1800 Bay Avenue, Building 12, PT. PLEASANT, njmb.org
Pt. Pleasant Historical Society Museum, PT. PLEASANT BEACH, pointpleasanthistory.com
Colonel Charles Waterhouse Museum, #17 Washington St. on the upper floor of building, TOMS RIVER, usmcartist.com
Ocean County Museum, 26 Hadley Ave., TOMS RIVER, oceancountyhistory.org
Toms River Maritime Museum, Corner of Hopper Ave and Water Street, TOMS RIVER, www.co.ocean.nj.us/museums/TomsRiverSeaport/about.htm

Tuckerton Seaport, 120 West Main Street, TUCKERTON, tuckertonseaport.org

Ocean County and the Sea year round:
Barnegat Lighthouse (State Park), BARNEGAT LIGHT, www.state.nj.us/dep/forestry/parks/barnlig.htm
Jenkinson's Aquarium, 300 Ocean Ave & the Boardwalk, PT. PLEASANT BEACH, jenkinsons.com
NJ Museum of Boating, 1800 Bay Avenue, Building 12, PT. PLEASANT, njmb.org
Island Beach State Park, SOUTH SEASIDE PARK, www.state.nj.us/dep/forestry/parks/island.htm
Toms River Maritime Museum, Corner of Hopper Ave and Water Street, TOMS RIVER, www.co.ocean.nj.us/museums/TomsRiverSeaport/about.htm

Tuckerton Seaport, 120 West Main Street, TUCKERTON, tuckertonseaport.org

February
Every Sunday
American Alligators feeding, Jenkinson's Aquarium, Boardwalk & Parkway. 1:30 p.m. Information: 732-899-1659 or www.jenkinsons.com - POINT PLEASANT BEACH

Atlantic Sharks feeding, Jenkinson's Aquarium, Boardwalk & Parkway. 3 p.m. Information: 732-899-1659 or www.jenkinsons.com - POINT PLEASANT BEACH

Boat Building, Perrine’s Boatworks, Tuckerton Seaport, 120 W. Main St., Rt. 9. Boat building with master sneakbox boat builder Gus Heinrichs, included in reduced winter admission. Open daily, except major holidays from 10 am - 5 pm. Information: 609-296-8868 or www.tuckertonseaport.org - TUCKERTON

Every Monday
Atlantic Sharks feeding, Jenkinson's Aquarium, Boardwalk & Parkway. 1:30 p.m. Information: 732-899-1659 or www.jenkinsons.com - POINT PLEASANT BEACH

Every Tuesday
American Alligators feeding, Jenkinson's Aquarium, Boardwalk & Parkway. 1:30 p.m. Information: 732-899-1659 or www.jenkinsons.com - POINT PLEASANT BEACH

Atlantic Sharks feeding, Jenkinson's Aquarium, Boardwalk & Parkway. 3 p.m. Information: 732-899-1659 or www.jenkinsons.com - POINT PLEASANT BEACH

Every Wednesday
Atlantic Sharks feeding, Jenkinson's Aquarium, Boardwalk & Parkway. 1:30 p.m. Information: 732-899-1659 or www.jenkinsons.com - POINT PLEASANT BEACH

Every Thursday
Atlantic Sharks feeding, Jenkinson's Aquarium, Boardwalk & Parkway. 3 p.m. Information: 732-899-1659 or www.jenkinsons.com - POINT PLEASANT BEACH

Every Friday
American Alligators feeding, Jenkinson's Aquarium, Boardwalk & Parkway. 1:30 p.m. Information: 732-899-1659 or www.jenkinsons.com - POINT PLEASANT BEACH

Every Saturday
Atlantic Sharks feeding, Jenkinson's Aquarium, Boardwalk & Parkway. 1:30 p.m. Information: 732-899-1659 or www.jenkinsons.com - POINT PLEASANT BEACH

Boat Building, Perrine’s Boatworks, Tuckerton Seaport, 120 W. Main St., Rt. 9. Boat building with master sneakbox boat builder Gus Heinrichs, included in reduced winter admission. Open daily, except major holidays from 10 am - 5 pm. Information: 609-296-8868 or www.tuckertonseaport.org - TUCKERTON

Albert Music Hall, 131 Wells Mills Rd., Rt. 532. Live county, bluegrass, and folk music. Information: 609-971-1593 or www.alberthall.org - WARETOWN

February 3 - February 29
Guild Presidents Exhibit, Ocean County Artists Guild, Ocean and Chestnut Avenues. Exhibit featues works of 14 art leaders in honor of 50TH anniversary of the guild.Reception for Guild Presidents' Exhibit February 3 from 1pm - 4pm. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 1 pm - 4 pm, closed holidays. Information: 732-270-3111 or www.ocartistsguild.org - ISLAND HEIGHTS

This weekend, you can see Monster Trucks live and up close at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ.  Here is our review from last year's Nationals.

Monster Truck Winter Nationals
Jan. 11 @ 7:30pm
Jan. 12 @ 2pm & 7:30pm
Info
Buy Tix

Big Foot and the Monster Truck Nationals will be at Sovereign Bank Arena this weekend. The show features Monster Truck racing, motocross racing, motorcycle freestyle events and of course.. monster trucks crushing cars. Its not too late to get tickets for Saturday's performances!

Friday night's performance played out to a crowd that filled about 1/3 of the seats of the 10,000 seat arena, but that didn't stop the monster truck fans from making a lot of noise.

The event started off with monster truck races, then followed by an eight lap amateur motocross race. The amateur race wasn't as interesting as the race that followed, a professional eight lap motocross race. The riders were more skilled, drove faster and competed harder in the second event.

Tuff trucks then made their appearance, three local entrants who put their homemade custom vehicles to the test. The first out the gate was a volkswagon mini station wagon which didn't fare too well, in fact, was not to be seen again for the rest of the night after nose diving into the dirt on the 4th jump.

After the race it was time for the final event in which favorite Big Foot lost to T-Maxx, however I could be mistaken. Either way it was a great race.

The night concluded with free style motocross where the riders jumped over the cars lined up and performed aerial stunts.

The evening's grand finale was each of the Monster Trucks crushing the stripped down white vehicles in the center of the ring. The crowd cheered at the destruction and the event ended on a fun note.

The show was pretty fun, however there could have been more music playing and less interruptions. The whole performance was a little over 2 hours, but I think it could have been done in an hour and a half or so.

I have been to Sovereign Bank Arena a couple of times in the past, when it first opened on business, so this was the first event I saw here. I went with my 4 year old daughter, who had an absolute blast.

The arena itself is great. There's not a bad seat in the house. Getting there was a bit of a puzzle, but thanks to a friendly person at the Trenton Titan's office we made it there ok. It's not exactly located in the nicest part of Trenton, but is very close to the major local highways.  (we have been to the arena several times since this posting and realize now we confused the 95 with 195 with 295, not necessarily the arena's fault, but NJ has too many 95's).

About half way through the show, I got the "Daddy, I have to go potty!" whimper, so I clenched my teeth, walked my daughter up the stairs and was waiting for the surprises that await me behind door #1.. the men's room. I was extremely pleased to see that the arena had family bathrooms. What a relief! To me, this is the best feature of the arena and any parents with little girls would probably agree.

(since writing this article one year ago, on return trips to the arena, we were even more surprised to see "Family Bathrooms".)

Parking was $6, quick and easy to get in and out. I look forward to the upcoming Disney on Ice show next month. Sovereign Bank Arena definitely gets a family friendly thumbs up from GoKidsNJ!

Here are some video clips from Friday Night's Performance:

	Motorcycle Freestyle: Motorcycles jump the cars and perform aerials.
	Motocross Pro Race: Pro racers race around the track in an eight lap race.
	Monster Trucks Crushing Cars: Monster Trucks doing what they do best!

Printmaking from Soviet Estonia: Part II

Event Site: Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum
Address: 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Phone#: (732) 932-7237
URL: www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu
Description: A selection of prints from Cold War era Estonia, a time when the Estonian people struggled to retain their artistic heritage under the pressure of Soviet power and its officially sanctioned art of Socialist Realism. The graphic print, with its low visibility to censors, gave expression to a vast array of nonconformist subjects drawn from Estonia's distinctive culture and geography.
Event Dates: 09/08/2007-01/27/2008

2nd Gingerbread Decorating Contest

Event Site: Allentown Public Library
Address: South Main Street, Allentown, NJ 08501
Phone#: (609) 208-0880
URL: www.allentownnj.com
Description: The Allentown Business Community Association wants you to show your skills by decorating a Gingerbread House and compete for cash prizes. Entries must be dropped at the Allentown Public Library on Friday November 30th 3 pm - 5 pm or Saturday December 1st 10 am - 12 pm. For additional details, entry forms and rules and regulations please visit our website. Entries will be on display for anyone to see through January 5th 2008
Event Dates: 11/30/2007-01/05/2008

New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest 2008

Event Site: Playwrights Theatre
Address: 33 Green Village Road, Madison, NJ 07940
Phone#: (973) 514-1787
URL: www.ptnj.org
Description: For 25 years, the NJ Young Playwrights Contest has been deepening the writing experience for young writers by providing entrants with detailed feedback from theatre professionals about their play. For the third year in a row, winning plays will be presented during the NJ Young Playwrights Festival, a partnership between Playwrights Theatre and Premiere Stages @ Kean University. Through a series of rounds, a team of readers may select 4 plays from each division (including a Spanish Language Division play) to be honored as statewide winners. These plays will receive a staged-reading performance by professional actors during the Festival on May 19 and May 20, 2008 at Kean University. This is certain to be a must-see event! Plays are accepted in the following Divisions: Elementary (Grades 4-6) Junior High (Grades 7-9) High School (Grades 10-12) Spanish Language (Grades 10-12) Rewrites (Grades 10-12) For more information, please visit our website at www.ptnj.org or call Jim DeVivo, Director of Education, at 973-514-1787 x14 or jdevivo@ptnj.org.
Event Dates: 12/15/2007-05/20/2008

Space Storm

Event Site: Newark Museum's Dreyfuss Planetarium
Address: 49 Washington St, Newark, NJ 07102
Phone#: (973) 596-6529
URL: www.newarkmuseum.org/planetarium
Description: Come see how spectacular solar storms create the Northern Lights. For adults and children ages 10 and up (40 minutes). Wed-Fri at 2 pm, Sat & Sun 2 & 4 pm. Tickets $3 (kids & seniors $2). Museum admission $9 (kids & seniors $6).
Event Dates: 01/02/2008-01/30/2008
 

Christmas Express Days:

December 1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th, 15th & 16th 2007 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM

NEW!!! Christmas Express Nights:

December 1st & 15th 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM

The Christmas Express – A Holiday Tradition!

Santa rides the Christmas Express and talks to all the children. Train leaves every half hour. Advance tickets go on sale October 12^th! This event sells out every year! Note: Each Person Requires A Paid Full Fare Ticket for this event.

This year there are 5 great opportunities in New Jersey to take a train ride with +news+Santa-news-.

Storybook Land, the best place for kids during the Holidays
Date: December-n/a-2007  | County: Atlantic : Article Temp: 497 °
Storybook Land, near Atlantic City, NJ is THE hottest place for kids in November and December
Greater Atlantic City listings | Greater Atlantic City Events  | Christmas  news.

Philipsburg Santa Train
Date: December-02-2007  | County: Somerset : Article Temp: 27 °
Annual Train Ride Event
New Jersey listings | New Jersey Events  | Trains  news.

Freehold Santa Train
Date: December-08-2007  | County: None : Article Temp: 19 °
Ride the train with Santa
Jersey Shore listings | Jersey Shore Events  | Christmas  news.

Netcong 16th Annual Santa Train
Date: December-15-2007  | County: None : Article Temp: 4 °
Ride the train with Santa!
Skylands listings | Skylands Events  | Christmas  news.

Ride the Train with Santa at Allaire State Park and Pine Creek Railroad
Date: December-n/a-2007  | County: Monmouth : Article Temp: 0 °
Take a train ride with Santa
Jersey Shore listings | Jersey Shore Events  | Christmas  news.