Brick Brag Times *Why Choose Brick For Your Waterfront Lifestyle?

In my opinion Brick Township is a hidden gem at the Jersey Shore. It's coastal living with all the amenities of a well organized town.
Brick Township has consistently been ranked as one of the safest cities in New Jersey and in the entire United States!

Location, Location, Location!

Brick Township is centrally situated on the New Jersey shoreline and close to the New York and Philadelphia
metropolitan areas; providing easy access to major destinations in the Northeast. Atlantic City and the state capital of Trenton are
less than an hour’s drive as well as Newark Liberty International Airport in the north and Atlantic City International Airport in the
southern part of the state.

Coastal Living Offers A Special Lifestyle

Brick Township boasts fifty-three miles of waterfront property, more than any other township
in the state. Its deep and wide waterways are full of activities from boating for pleasure to fishing, clamming or crabbing. Marinas are
throughout the area with services to support boat owners with all their needs. Everything from yacht sales, new and used boats for sale, wooden boats built and reconstructed, parts, services and supplies, docking and winterizing, kayak rentals and sales, picnic, restroom/shower facilities, even pirate ships – the choices are enormous; please keep on reading!! Across Barnegat Bay in South Mantoloking, Brick has three Ocean Beaches where visitors can enjoy postcard blue skies and beautiful white sands. Beaches I and III offer daily or seasonal access to for sunbathing and swimming. Beach II is known for its fishing and surfing.

Along Princeton Avenue on the Metedeconk’s mid-north shore, Windward Beach Park offers access to a river beach for protected bathing. There is also a great playground for children, restrooms and a fishing pier and Summerfest Concerts highlighted by fireworks. These events are free and shuttle bus service is available. Summerfest also includes “drive-in” family movies that bring old-fashioned fun to summer evenings. Just before the Mantoloking Bridge, Trader’s Cove Marina Park has spots for picnicking, a playground and a boat docking. Marina Cove also hosts concerts and drive in movies for the whole family to enjoy.

Golfers will not want to miss the 18-hole green at the Ocean County Public Golf Course at Forge Pond. Located in the heart of Brick just South of the Brick Library. The course is absolutely beautiful and serene! Forge Pond is a 45-acre habitat for egrets, turtles, blue herons, songbirds, and migrating shore birds. This is a great spot for canoe and kayak enthusiasts as well as golfers.

Art and Entertainment

Brick Township offers a wide variety of entertainment – including live music, local cinema, art shows, plays and writing groups.Throughout the year, Brick Township hosts programs that stimulate arts in the local community and ensure that there’s plenty to do.
The Cultural Arts Center provides a place where creative individuals can share their talents, sharpen their techniques, and renew inspiration. In addition to hosting art exhibits, the Center provides a regular meeting place for the Brick Garden Club and Laurelton Arts Society. Aspiring poets, actors and writers meet for acting and play writing workshops. The Brick Branch of the Ocean County Library also offers a variety of interesting events for children, families, teens and adults. For information about their many programs and events, please visit their website at http://www.theoceancountylibrary.org. The Brick Township Children’s Theatre offers award winning productions and has been voted “The Best Community Theater in Ocean County.” In the fall and spring, the Cultural Arts Series sponsors music, literature, drama and visual arts programs throughout town. Past highlights include poetry, string quartets and Celtic music at Bayside Park; jazz and folk music at Drum Point Park; and Shakespearean plays and traditional music at the Civic Plaza. The varied performances offer something for everyone – from comedy to “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” to “Shaping a Life: Eleanor Roosevelt, the Early Years.”  Rounding out a rich array of choices, there are additional entertainment venues nearby. The historic, beautifully restored Strand Theatre in Lakewood presents a wide variety of live performances throughout the year. Ocean County College in Toms River has a performing arts program and a planetarium that offers programs for all age groups. Point Pleasant Beach and Boardwalk, a family oriented beach and boardwalk and Seaside Heights Beach and Boardwalk are both within a 15 minute ride. The Parks and Recreation Department: provides year-round indoor and outdoor recreational and athletic programs for all ages. There are traditional team sports such as soccer, basketball, baseball and softball. Drum Point Sports Complex has public soccer fields and a skate park with half-pipes, banks and other challenging terrain. Runners will appreciate our many tracks, and scenic nature trails. Brick also has a popular ice rink that offers opportunities for public skating, figure skating, and ice hockey. The Brick Youth Club organizes events for residents under age 18, including dances and open gyms. Our Senior Center offers regular opportunities for safe and fun fitness, including chair aerobics, ballroom dance, Tai Chi, and self-defense. On the north side of town, the Brick Reservoir, another spectacular view is circled by a 1.6 mile path enjoyed by walkers, runners and pet-owners. Along our shoreline, water sports and activities abound, increasing opportunities for recreational pleasures throughout the township.

Education

Brick Township schools are consistently ranked high for education. Ocean County College is located minutes away on Hooper Avenue in Toms River. Kean University and Ocean County College (KEAN-OCEAN) have established a partnership that enables area residents to complete the upper division courses required for certain Kean University undergraduate degree programs and specific graduate programs on the campus of Ocean County College. The beautiful campus, which embraces 275 acres of gently rising wooded land, includes state-of-the-art facilities arranged around a central mall area. Brick Township’s greatest resource is its children. As the second largest school system in Ocean County, Brick Township Public Schools serve thousands of students, but still connect with each one personally. Though Brick has grown, it still has a small town feel and strong family values. The entire Brick Township Public School District staff is dedicated to helping students achieve their goals and develop their own unique talents. Brick’s athletic teams are recognized as county, division and state champions in several sports. Brick schools and student athletes have been recognized by the NJSIAA for their outstanding sportsmanship. Extracurricular activities focus on music, dramatic arts, community service, history and politics, world languages and multicultural activities, art and poetry, and the environment. The Brick Township Public School District encourages students to become well-rounded citizens of strong character who believe in lifelong learning and giving back to their community. For additional, detailed information about our schools, there are many statistics, available for review in the New Jersey School Report Card, the New Jersey Department of Education website: http://www.state.nj.us/education, and our district website: http://www.brickschools.org. Health: Brick and the surrounding communities bring the very best in health care to our residents: by highly skilled professionals, advanced diagnostic techniques, innovative treatment options, and an ongoing commitment to technological growth. Located in the heart of Brick, Ocean Medical Center is a 281-bed acute care hospital that offers a wide range of health services, including treatment for cardiac conditions, orthopedic problems, cancer, and other health concerns. One of the first community hospitals to provide emergent primary angioplasty, Ocean Medical Center is equipped to save lives of those inthe earliest stages of a heart attack. The hospital offers a state-of-the-art Intensive Care Unit, a unique Acute Care of the Elderly (ACE) Unit, a Pediatric Emergency Center, a Lung Cancer Specialty Program, a Vascular Institute, and Primary Stroke Center accreditation. Brick Township is home to many talented health care professionals, from physicians and dentists to complementary medicine practitioners. Health resources for seniors abound, and include senior and assisted living facilities, memory care communities, home care services, and medical transportation. Likewise, our residents have numerous rehabilitation, physical therapy, and pain management options. With a spectrum of quality health care services at our fingertips, Brick’s many health care professionals, organizations, and companies are ready to serve you. Brick

Government

As stated at the beginning, Brick Township has consistently been ranked as one of the safest cities in New Jersey and in the entire United States!  Brick Township has a directly elected Mayor and seven at-large Council members. Brick Township’s municipal government convenes for bi-monthly meetings on Tuesday evenings at the Municipal Building at 7pm. Meetings are open to the public and public comment is encouraged. Council meetings are also broadcast on the local television station, Comcast Channel 20 (BTV) – and are available online at the township’s website, http://www.bricktownship.net. Facebook and Twitter are also utilized to keep our community informed and updated on local issues and activities. Our Township government works diligently to sustain a safe, vibrant and affordable community, all the while maintaining a high quality of life for the residents and visitors. Brick is also a leader in the use of renewable energy, in 2010, the Township unveiled a solar panel system at the municipal building that is both cutting energy costs and producing revenue. They are currently looking into utilizing renewable energy including solar and wind power at the other municipal and recreational facilities. A major project, still in the planning stages, is the creation of a solar panel field at the municipally owned landfill site. This 24-acre solar panel field on the site has the potential to produce millions of dollars of revenue for the township. Local government works to develop cost efficient and sensible practices to promote a healthy and dynamic community. Worship: The diversity of character in Brick’s neighborhoods is reflected in its multiplicity of faiths. Representing many religious traditions – both denominational and non-denominational – houses of worship are interspersed throughout the township. Many are in walking distance of residential locales. A broad scope of religious opportunity builds on the foundation of the peaceful, close-knit community lifestyle which attracted so many people to Brick from its very earliest days, and continues to do so in the twenty-first century. Brick has so much to offer, including its Rich History: Over 26 square miles of sandy coastal plain, Brick Township is outlined in the north by the Manasquan River and in the east by the Atlantic Ocean. The Metedeconk River, Kettle Creek and Barnegat Bay divide it in three parts. Waterways attracted the first Brick inhabitants, Native Americans who arrived during the Paleolithic age over 10,000 years ago. Later called “the people” or “Delawares” by colonists, they named themselves the Lenni Lenape. They camped along shorelines with abundant food – depending on rivers, streams, salt marshes, and shallow bay waters for existence. Later, the Lenape settled in small homesteads close to the rivers. Clams and fish were always available. Once a year, the Lenni Lenape used traps constructed of brush and saplings to catch herring spawning in shallow sections of the Metedeconk.

History

The Lenape caught other fish with hemp lines, bone hooks, stone sinkers – and, since fish were plentiful, with bare hands. The Lenni Lenape turned purple and white clam shells into wampum beads for trade. Their hands formed pots from colorful clays. They wore paths through the pine forests, picking berries and catching small game. Much later, residents of European descent in Brick Township stumbled upon Lenape artifacts and tools, such as pestles used for grinding grain and thin spearheads for hunting. Two major archeological sites are Havens Farm in Herbertsville, near Saw Mill Creek, and a bluff overlooking the Metedeconk. Attracted by unsettled woodlands, the first European settlers arrived around 1740. As the numbers of colonists grew, the Lenape moved from their ancestral homelands near the sea. A few hundred remaining in 1758 relocated to the Brotherton Reservation in Burlington County – barely numbering fifty by 1774. Roughly twenty-five years later, they joined other Indian tribes in New York, eventually dispersing throughout  reservations in the West. Settlers arrived in the Brick Township region in the early 1740s to establish iron, charcoal and sawmill industries. Others came to increase their land ownership –arriving from the region that is now Monmouth County, in addition to Europe, Rhode Island and Long Island. In 1850, the New Jersey state legislature created a new geographic region from sections of Howell and Dover Townships. It was named “Brick Township” after Joseph W. Brick – an entrepreneur who owned Bergen Iron Works, in addition to thousands of wooded acres in Dover Township. The township consisted of several tiny villages sustained by an economy based on agriculture, fishing and commerce. Most of the population of 1,558 consisted of members of founding families – the Wooleys, Burrs, Allans, Cooks, Havens, Herberts, Wardells, Osborns, Tiltons, Johnsons, Gants and Hulses. Overcrowding in northern New Jersey brought a new wave of settlers in the 1900s. Their varying ethnic backgrounds brought diversity that dramatically changed the nature of the community. In the twenties and thirties, developers arrived to create resort communities like Riviera Beach, Breton Woods, Shore Acres and Normandy Beach. Brick Township was a relatively quiet resort area until the opening of the Garden State Parkway in the fifties, when residential and commercial development created a dramatic growth in the year-round population. Today Brick is a thriving residential and resort area that contains fifty-three miles of waterfront property – including three ocean beaches, private community beaches, a river beach and over twenty-six marinas. “Throughout the early history of the area, everyone had at least two occupations; one of these was fishing.” — Eugene E. Donatiello Brick Historical Society,Brick Township: Changing Scenes, 1980  *Information source from the Brick Chamber of Commerce.

For more information on how you can get involved, please call The Brick Chamber of Commerce at 732.477.4949 or visit: http://brickchamber.com SUPPORT OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES! They provide our jobs. They give to our clubs & organizations. They give to our charities. They volunteer in our community. Keep your money in your community, it comes back to you!   Did you know that for every $100 spent in locally owned stores,
$68 returns to the community? Spend Locally!