Ireland and Old Lace in Smithville will be hosting its free annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration on Saturday, March 6, from noon-3pm, and will include a CD signing with international recording artist Gaelic Storm. There will be live acoustic music, bagpipers and the Mist of Ireland step dancers will perform. Bring or purchase any Gaelic storm CD and have it signed by the band from noon-1pm.
For more information please call 404-4777 or go here.

Cyril Neville

Come celebrate Mardi Gras with a bang this year! Presented as part of the Tony Mart Reunion Series, this will not only be a party to remember, it will also be benefiting ACCESS ONE, a bona fide medical support charity in Atlantic County. The celebration comes complete with a real New Orleans second line parade, beads, a Mardi Gras costume contest, Caribbean rum punch, beads, authentic Cajun cuisine and did we mention beads? Cyril Neville, soulful singer of the legendary Neville brothers, will be performing at 8pm. The party starts at 5pm on Saturday, Feb. 27, at St. James Parish Hall in Ventnor, so there will be plenty of time to visit the fabulous buffet, complete with gumbo, smoked turkey, eggplant jambalaya, shrimp Creole, Mardi Gras King Cake and chocolate pecan bread pudding with rum sauce. This is all included with a tax-deductible donation of $25 per person. There is plenty of free parking and tickets can be purchased at the door. Tables of eight or more can be reserved by calling Janine Golden at 609-927-6662 or Nancy and Carmen Marotta at 609-653-6069. We hope to see you there! — Garrett Burrell

Tropicana Casino & Resort announces its second annual Festival Carnivale de Tropicana will take place Saturday, Feb. 5, from 6-10pm.
Grab your salsa shoes and get ready to celebrate a night of fun, excitement and great value with $5 food and beverage specials at participating venues. Feel the energy with salsa dancers, live entertainment, and hourly drawings for rooms, dinners, show tickets and more.
Participating Trop venues include A Dam Good Deli, A Dam Good Sports Bar, A Time For Wine, Alto Vino Wine Bar, Carmine’s, Corky’s BBQ, Firewaters, Hooters, Il Verdi, Palm Restaurant, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Planet Rose, Red Square, Wellington’s and Zeytinia.
Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar will also host the official after party “Noche de Carnivale,” featuring colorfully costumed Brazilian dancers, a master percussionist, Cuba Libre’s resident DJ playing tropical Latin beats, and complimentary giveaways including masks and beads.
To get the most from your Carnivale experience, stop by the IMAX Box Office, or the New Member Center in The Quarter to purchase Carnivale tickets on the day of the event, redeemable for exciting food, drink and entertainment specials at each participating outlet during the Festival. Then wind your way from one exciting venue to the next, indulging in signature Carnivale tastes to sip and savor.
During Festival Carnivale de Tropicana, all new Diamond Club and IN Card members will receive $25 for EZ Slots. Plus, show your Diamond Club or IN Card at the New Member Center to enter to win prizes at 7, 8, 9 and 10pm.
This free, property-wide celebration is your chance to eat, drink, dance and be outrageous!

The Atlantic City Special Improvement District regrets to announce that the annual Downtown  Winter Wonderland Christmas holiday special event, scheduled to be held in Center City Park on Monday, Dec. 21 from 3‐6 pm, has been  cancelled due to the inclement and snowy weather throughout the city and the region. No makeup date will be scheduled.

Somebody forgot to tell Ocean City that fun activity at the seashore is supposed to end after Labor Day weekend. Numerous events are on tap in America’s Family Resort this week, including the rescheduled Walk for the Wounded, which will be held on Sat., Oct. 31.

The event raises funds through Operation First Response to assist wounded soldiers and their families. The walk starts 1:30pm with registration at noon at the O.C. Music Pier, Boardwalk and Moorlyn Terrace. Enjoy food, ceremonies, music and a three-mile stroll on the boardwalk. Raise $50 and get a free long-sleeve T-shirt. Tracey Davidson from NBC-TV 10 will emcee the event. Call Tricia at 399-0012 Ext. 1106 for more info.

Other activity includes O.C.’s 62nd annual Halloween Parade on Thursday, Oct. 29. It starts 7:15pm and goes from 6th to 11th streets on Asbury Ave. It is sponsored by the Ocean City Exchange Club and will include costumed characters, floats and bands. The Boy Scouts will collect your canned food donation for the Ocean City Food Cupboard. NBC-TV 40 meteorologist Dan Skeldon will serve as grand marshal. (more…)

The Mays Landing-based Wow! Bus Trips will be heading to the Pennsylvania Christmas and Gift Show on Sunday, Dec. 6.
It’s big! It’s beautiful! It’s all indoors at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex, and one of the largest holidays shows in the country. Over 500 vendors will be selling a wide array of exclusive, unique gifts for family and friends. Items are priced anywhere from $2 to $700. See a life-sized recreation of “Olde Christmas Village,” decorated trees and mantles, 110-foot train display, cooking clinics, choral and musical groups and more. There’s also a 600-seat cafeteria and six snack bars.
Early bird tickets are $38 prior to Nov. 6, or $45 after Nov. 6. The bus departs at 8am from the Mays Landing Wal-Mart and returns approximately 7pm.
Call (609) 837-2121 or e-mail wowbustrips@comcast.net for tickets or more info. Ask for Trip # 1001.

Ice Grill USA which made its East Coast premiere at the Atlantic City Cinefest Oct. 16, was the big winner when the awards were handed out on Oct. 18.

The film won the Audience Award, Best of the Fest; Best Young Actor for Connor Fox (pictured above); Best Supporting Actor for Michael Angelo Ortiz; Best New Jersey Based Feature, and Best New Directors for Mark Bernardi & Greg Santarsiero. Go here to see my review of the film.

Atlantic City Antiques and Collectors Show producer Allison Kohler

Last month F & W Publications announced the cancellation of the long-running Atlantique City Antiques Show, held at the Atlantic City Convention Center (ACCC) annually and originally established in 1986 by private collector Norman Schaut of Ocean City.
Last fall, primary show sponsor Antique Trader magazine (a subsidiary of the Wisconsin-based F&W) announced it was returning to its once-a-year format from having been held every spring and fall for many years, then in September the magazine announced the show was leaving A.C. altogether. It was billed as the largest indoor antiques and collectibles event in the world.
But antiques fans — don’t fret! A new antiques show is coming to Atlantic City this spring. Earlier this month, Allison Kohler, owner of JMK Shows, announced that she will bring the Atlantic City Antiques and Collectors Show to town on March 27-28, 2010, at the ACCC.
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All that's missing are the two Ocean Spray dudes.

Yesterday (Sunday, Oct. 18) turned out to be a wonderful day for a Jersey Fresh field trip despite the drab rainy weather and wind chills. The afternoon sporting contests late in the afternoon and evening will be discussed in another blog.

This day was all about the bog. The Chatsworth Cranberry Festival is in the little town known as the “Heart of the Pinelands” and carried on despite the lousy weather.

The trip up to the festival is one of my favorite road trips of the season. You take Route 50, which becomes Philadelphia Ave. through Egg Harbor, then morphs into the winding country road Rt. 563. It takes a lot of twists and turns to stay on Route 563 North, which goes right up the middle of the state. Along the way you encounter the charming Green Bank Bridge (pictured) and cranberry bogs, as well as lovely fall foliage.

The advantage of bad weather at the Cranberry Festival is plenty of free parking, no crowds (the place was nearly a ghost town at 9am) and half price Craisin sticky buns. I got my 12lbs. of

The Green Bank Bridge.

cranberries and the aforementioned sticky buns and continued my trip west along 532 until I reached Rt. 206. From there I looked for a farm stand that had big pumpkins. I found such a place just a few miles above the Rt. 70 circle. I picked out the 175lb beauty for my monster Jack-O-Lantern (with a rain-reduced price) and had fun watching two guys figure out how to get the pumpkin into the back seat of my Saturn. I have big pumpkin dreams, but a sub-compact lifestyle! It is still in my car this morning; hopefully my brother will help me get it out later today.
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Atlantic County Freeholder Alisa Cooper (pictured left with Sebastian Cutaia, vice chairman of the Columbus Day Committee, and Gennaro Consalvo, chairman of the Columbus Day Committee) was the recipient of the 2009 Humanitarian of the Year award given by the Columbus Day Committee of Atlantic County. After a mass at St. Michael’s Church, Miss Cooper received the award at festivities at Columbus Park in Atlantic City. Cooper was selected as this year’s recipient because of her charitable activities as she has generously volunteered her time, energy and talents for many causes and organizations throughout South Jersey.
Owner of the music and entertainment agency Alisa Cooper Orchestras, she is also a music educator in Egg Harbor Township and has been an Atlantic County Freeholder since 2006. Cooper is also a Commissioner on the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and holds membership in numerous civic, professional and religious organizations in Atlantic County and throughout the state. She resides in Linwood with her husband, Doug Little, and their son, David Cooper Little.