Hundreds of crafters, food vendors and civic groups line Asbury Avenue
OCEAN CITY – Saturday morning started out with sporadic rain falling over Ocean City, threatening the annual Spring Block Party.
As if on cue, just before the 9 a.m. start time, the rain stopped and not longer after the sun came out, perfect timing for the crowds that thronged the avenue.
People came out in force to peruse the hundreds of vendor booths featuring crafts and food and learn more about the many volunteer organizations and civic groups who use the Block Party to hand out information, solicit donations and increase their visibility.
Friends of the Ocean City Pops Orchestra members were handing out schedules for the upcoming summer season and showing off a pair of beautiful ornaments, one of the Ocean City Music Pier and the other of Wonderland Pier amusement park.
Judy Perkins, Joan Ferko and Phyllis Hoover, chairman of the volunteers, were manning the booth and selling the ornaments, made by ChemArt of Lincoln, R.I., a company that has been making the annual White House Christmas ornament since 1981 for the White House Historical Association.
The ornaments, selling for $30, are solid brass and finished in 24 karat gold. (Learn more about the summer schedule for the Pops at oceancitypops.org.)
Next door, a small Coast Guard boat was making its way across the macadam shores of Asbury Avenue.
“This is an asset of the Coast Guard, but we use it as the auxiliary to send a message, mostly to children,” said Nick Russo, describing the miniature USCG boat – Coastie. Members were driving it around by remote control in front of their booth at the Block Party.
“The Coast Guard wants all children to learn how to swim, number one, and then, number two, never to swim by themselves. So that’s a very simple message and the little robot helps us to get that across to them. It’s a pretty expensive asset,” he said. The little boat could blink on command.
Coastie cost about $15,000, Russo said, “but it’s worth it because that’s our mission. It’s safe boating and safe swimming.”
Numerous other groups were there, including veterans organizations and the Exchange Club, whose members were grilling up food with help from the Enforcers, a robotics team comprised of students from area schools.
But the bulk of the booths were there to offer their handmade crafts.
Andy Newton and his daughter Kaela were selling candles in a variety of shapes including those that realistically mimicked pies and glasses of beer. His company, Home Style Candle Co. (homestylecandles@yahoo.com), is based in Cherry Hill.
Newton said he comes to the Block Party for exposure.
“We’ve been coming down here for 15 years and do great every time we’re here. They draw a lot of people and it’s a lot of fun,” he said.
Candle-making started as a hobby “and turned into something a little bit more,” Newton said. “We started doing shows and people liked them and we just kept going with it. We now have a retail store in Southampton and supply about 50 stores that carry our products. It’s 17 years of candle-making.”
He noted he can make six cherry pie candles in about 15 minutes, but that is not counting all the prep work involved in creating the “crust” and the “fruit.”
Lisa Chambers of Delaware Bay Clay of Lewes, Del. (delawarebayclay.com) was showing off her work which she described as “handmade, hand-painted, functional pottery inspired by coastal living.”
North Cape May’s Minnie Taylor was selling bath bombs from her business, seasidesudz.com, that came in multiple shapes, including a shark, a Poké Ball (from the Pokémon game) and a piece from the Minecraft game.
She said when her 9-year-old son Bryson was 4, he wanted her to make a Poké Ball bath bomb.
“I had no idea what a Poké Ball was so I did my research and we made our first bath bomb. It looked like crap,” she said, smiling, “but he loved it so after that bath time was never the same.
“I had to keep going, making more bath bombs and my husband eventually was like, ‘So are you going to do something with this collection that you’re accumulating?’”
That prompted her to sign up for her first craft show “and the rest is history. I’ve been doing it ever since.”
For five years she has been making a variety of bath bombs – she also makes soaps, shower steamers, lotion bars and more – but she has to offer a special disclaimer when a person buys a Poké Ball.
“My kid is so into Pokémon, every time I sell them, he tells me, ‘Mommy, make sure you tell them that I’m the inspiration for the Poké Balls.’”
There’s also a surprise inside the bath bombs, either a charm or a flexi toy.
The shark bath bomb looks like the one rising out of the water in the movie “Jaws.” There’s a reason for that. “The shark turns your bath water a bloody red,” she said. “In addition to a charm inside, you get a nice bloody bath.”
“Once your kids start with bath bombs, that’s it. They will never take baths without them,” she said.
Her two kids have a basket of bath bombs – ones that were a little beat up and not meant for the market – and they get to pick out one they want at bath time.
“There’s a treasure or a charm on the inside to make bath time even more exciting,” she said. Taylor also keeps timely. When the Minecraft movie came out, she had bath bombs in that recognizable shape and with a “Lilo and Stitch” movie coming out, she’s making bath bombs for that.
“I try to just keep reinventing myself,” she said. (See seasidesudz.com)
Cindy Capritti of SinDc Sweets, based out of Burlington County and Somers Point, was offering beautifully frosted cupcakes and little cakes at the Block Party. Her team members joked that she likes to be referred to as “Star Baker,” a title bestowed on winners of the competition on hit U.K. TV show “The Great British Bake Off.”
Capritti is a New Jersey certified cottage baker who works out of her home.
“I actually taught myself how to ice cupcakes during the pandemic for something to do,” Capritti said. “I’ve always loved to bake and I just decided that it makes people happy. There’s nothing better than giving somebody a cupcake and making somebody smile.”
Artist Michele Foster Lucas of Pennsauken, who had a booth with walls covered by colorful paintings, is no stranger to Ocean City.
She used to do the annual Boardwalk Art Show sponsored by the Ocean City Arts Center but as she and her husband got older the three-day show became a bit too much work for them. That brought her to the Block Party.
Asked about her inspirations, she said, “People. I love people and I love God. Not in that order though. I just pray for my work and see what the Lord will do.”
The artist is self-trained and works in all mediums including oil, acrylic, pen and ink, and puts other objects into her works. She pointed to butterflies added to one of her paintings.
“I use everything,” Foster Lucas said.
While a majority of the hundreds of crafters at the show are not local, other vendors augment their stores either right on Asbury Avenue, in Ocean City or neighboring towns.
In front of Bowfish Kids the booths were a flurry of activities as little girls had their hair braided and augmented with colorful fiber. Little Lulu Tramontana, 6, of Ocean City, was with her grandmother, Denise Smaniotto of Vineland, as Bowfish’s Caroline Gellura intertwined bright green fibers into her braids.
Samantha Hennessy and Caroline Kopczenski from The Flower Company at Wayside Village, 48 Tuckahoe Road, Marmora were at the Block Party. They noted The Flower Company delivers to Ocean City. Saturday’s delivery was especially easy – they had the flowers and bouquets right at hand in their booth.
“We’re happy to to take the place of Spinning Wheel, whose owner is happily retired after 53 years,” Kopczenski said of the longtime Ocean City florist.
“We are in Ocean City daily doing events, deliveries and weddings.”
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
