Richard Gober presents a $2,000 scholarship to Stockton-bound ACHS senior Jeff Dao.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
VENTNOR The North Beach Ventnor Residents Association, formed in 2008, held its annual Meet & Greet Saturday at the newly opened La Serina Mermaid Café located in the 5000 Boardwalk condominium building. It is the first time the event has been held in person since the start of the pandemic.
The purpose of the meeting was to allow residents of the North Beach Ventnor neighborhood to socialize and learn about what the group has planned for the neighborhood, and award its annual scholarship and Citizen of the Year awards. Local artist and musician Steve Kuzma provided the entertainment.
The group heard from Ventnor Business Association President Brenda Dowd, owner of Makt Arts studio and gift shop that opened on Ventnor Avenue in the North Beach area in 2018.
Dowd, who said she has a passion for the Ventnor Business Association, is a first-time business owner who is community minded.
Ventnor businesses succeed because of our community spirit, she said, thanking residents and visitors who shopped locally during the pandemic and allowed businesses to stay open.
Dowd and a group of business owners worked to revive the business association last year and added a new category of membership home-based businesses that do not have storefronts.
Since its revival, the association resurrected the Polar Bear Plunge, which raised enough money for the association to get started on other programs and projects, such as developing a digital and print merchant map being distributed throughout the community. Also, the VBA formed a new program that allows residents and visitors to purchase Ventnor Bucks for face value that can only be spent in Ventnor.
Dowd said the association advocated for signage directing shoppers in the Central Business District to the public parking lot on Newport Avenue after the roadway was turned into a one-way street with traffic flowing toward Ventnor Avenue.
They are the kinds of things we can fight for, she said. We need to support our businesses or they will disappear. If everyone visited Main Street instead of the malls, we will be OK.
She also encouraged volunteerism in support of business sponsored events.
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The North Beach association also awarded a two-year scholarship to Jeff Dao, 18, of North Beach, who will be going to Stockton University in the fall to study criminal justice. The Atlantic City High School senior has a 4.0 grade point average and hopes to pursue a career in law enforcement.
Dao, whose favorite subject is history, attended the meeting with his mother Nga Nguyen, a Ventnor resident since 1997. Dao said he applied for the scholarship, which will provide him with a $1,000 cash award for two years, through the high school's Guidance Department.
The association also presented volunteer Mario Maiese with it's Citizen of the Year award for always being available to help with the association's programs and activities.
Association President Stacey Jaskol, who said North Beach Ventnor is the hottest neighborhood on Absecon Island, announced other summer and fall events, including the Aug. 6 Porch Party being held along S. Hillside Avenue, and the Subs on a Tub bay cruise out of Gardener's Basin on Sept. 24.
The organization will also be holding a North Beach Night Out at PJ Buckets restaurant on July 16. Jaskol said the restaurant would donate 10% of sales back to the North Beach Residents Association.
For more information about joining the organization or purchasing branded swag, see Northbeachventnor.com
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