Ocean City Fall Block Party Draws Large Crowd, Variety Of Vendors

OCEAN CITY, NJ — The Ocean City fall block party kicked off Saturday with food vendors, live music as well as numerous local and non-local businesses.

According to the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce, the event draws in 50,000 visitors for the long Columbus Day weekend. The block party serves as a celebration for all the second-season events going on in Ocean City. The party, which runs in the spring as well, also marks when people begin their holiday shopping and highlights local businesses.

The block party started 30 years ago, according to the Chamber of Commerce, and has since become a strong tradition for friends and family to get together.

Carolyn Hogan of Carly Blue Woodcraft attended the fall festival for the first time. According to Hogan, her interest in woodworking began when she took a class while serving in the U.S. Navy.

She became fascinated with wood turning during a kaleidoscope class in Arizona and focused on pens after she bought a pen at a local craft show. Hogan was curious about woodworked pens were made and attended expos after in order to grow as a business owner. In addition to pens, Hogan makes smartphone styluses, mechanical pencils, football-themed pens, birdhouse ornaments, keychains and wedding utensils.

"We went to the spring festival here in Ocean City and we'll be back next year," Hogan said. "Business has been good all day."

Alene Hartman is co-owner of Daks Kayaks in Ocean City. For the past seven years they have been participating in both the spring and fall festivals. According to Hartman, she and her husband appreciate the exposure to the people that come to Ocean City in the off-season because they could possibly be potential customers in the summer.

"By my estimate this is one of the biggest crowds I have ever seen," Hartman said. "They started early at 9 a.m., the street was full and they haven't stopped since."

Karen McLaughlin, owner of Kaz Collection, specializes in vintage framed jewelry art. McLaughlin has been coming to the Ocean City block party for the past four years for the spring and fall. She also attends the Red Bank street fair every year and has been doing framed jewelry art for the past five years.

"The fall festival has always been a good festival for me," McLaughlin said.

Cindy Kakoda has been attending the Ocean City block party for the 33 years. Kakoda is the owner of Cindy's Crafts in Bridgeton and specializes in craft making, potpourri and berry items.

"This year has been an awesome year for me," Kakoda said.

First time attendee Robert Dellinger, from Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania. owns Wood Art by R.J. The family-owned business does custom woodworking and plans to return to the Ocean City festival next year.

"This is going to be a record breaker for us," Dellinger said. "The crowds have been fantastic and there has been a constant flow of traffic. We are very happy with the outcome."

Bob Roller, owner and operator of Iron Kettle BBQ & Catering LLC., was just one of the many food vendors keeping customers well-fed. According to Roller, he went through 30 racks of ribs and approximately 160 pounds of pulled pork. He and his employees have been working the festival for the past ten years.

"We do festivals in the spring and the fall," Roller said. "In between we cater to the tri-state area. Today was constant work and we have been nonstop since the morning. Ocean City has been so good to us."

Kim Meyer of Pennsylvania and her family spent the weekend in Ocean City for the festivities.

"We came down for the weekend for the festival and to have a blast," Meyer said.

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