Asbury Park Celebrates 110th Anniversary
110 Candles on a Carousel Cake made by the
"Ace of Cakes"

March 26, 2007

(Asbury Park) You are invited as a special guest to a memorable celebration of the 110th Anniversary Party of the incorporation of the City of Asbury Park in Convention Hall on Friday night, April 13th at 5:30pm. This party promises to be a once in a lifetime experience with such highlights as a special Carousel cake that has been designed by the famous pastry chef, Chef Duff from the popular series "Ace of Cakes" on Food Network (airs Thursdays at 10:30pm ET/PT). This 2 foot one- of- a- kind round cake will represent the Asbury Park Carousel House with a rotating Carousel inside with beautifully decorated horses strutting around and around. Food Network will film the Ace of Cakes crew delivering the cake later to be shown on the Ace of Cakes series.

As one of the most sought after cake decorators in the country, Chef Duff Goldman and his team are inundated with requests and face impossible deadlines, aggressive brides and collapsing cakes every day of the week. Because his cakes are so unusual, Duff's shop is outfitted like no other bakery: with blowtorches, power saws, drill bits and pyrotechnics, it's a combination bakery and metal/woodworking shop all under one roof.

To light up the evening, one hundred and ten candles will be lit by honorees representing the government, schools, musical heritage, businesses and youth of Asbury Park. "This 110th Anniversary Party is a spectacular celebration of the past, present and future," said Mayor Kevin G. Sanders, City of Asbury Park. "Asbury Park is world renowned in it's own unique way because of the contributions of the individuals from the past and the present that are being honored."

A highlight of the evening is the dynamic Paragon Ragtime Orchestra's masterful performance of ragtime music that is an important piece of Asbury Park's musical heritage going back to the days of Arthur Pryor performing on the boardwalk.

NJN's movie Greetings from Asbury Park will be shown in the Paramount Theatre following the cake ceremony and the finale will include spectacular fireworks on the beach.

The Historical Society of Asbury Park dressed in period costumes dating back to the early part of the 1900's will be greeting guests and will also have a table display of old photos and memorabilia of Asbury Park.

In order to capture the 110 years of the history of Asbury Park, a special magazine, "110 Years, Celebrate Asbury Park" containing articles, photos, a calendar of Celebrate Asbury Park events and a directory of businesses in the city, will be given as a memento to the attendees of the anniversary party. This magazine has excerpts from several books written about Asbury Park including Helen Pike's excerpt from Asbury Park's Glory Days: The Story of an American Resort and Madonna Carter Jackson's Asbury Park: A West Side Story. These authors will be available to sign the magazine and their books at the Party.

Chef Duff Goldman began cooking at age four, started cooking professionally at 14, and has been working in kitchens ever since. He worked for acclaimed Baltimore chef Cindy Wolf at Charleston restaurant while attending the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. After graduating, Duff left Baltimore to study pastry at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Napa Valley, CA. While in Napa, Duff was a stagiere at French Laundry, working under acclaimed Pastry Chef Steven Durfee. Duff left California to become Executive Pastry Chef of the Vail Cascade Hotel and Resort in Vail, CO. He then went to work for Executive Chef Steve Mannion at Todd English's Olivers in Washington, DC. In 2000, Duff returned to Baltimore to open Charm City Cakes. Baking and artistry has always been in his blood - his great-grandmother was a baker and a weaver, his grandmother an art enthusiast who also did enameling and photography, and his mother Jackie is an artist working in ceramics and stained glass. Duff also studied at the Concoran School, one of the top art and design schools in Washington, DC, and was at one time a graffiti artist of some notoriety.

The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra is the world's only year-round, professional ensemble re-creating "America's Original Music" - the syncopated sounds of early musical theater, silent cinema, and vintage dance. The PRO came into being as the result of Rick Benjamin's 1985 discovery of thousands of turn-of-the-century orchestra scores once belonging to Victrola recording star Arthur Pryor. In 1988 the Orchestra made its formal debut at Alice Tully Hall - the first concert ever presented at Lincoln Center by such an ensemble. Since then PRO has appeared at hundreds of leading arts venues, including the Ravinia Festival, the Smithsonian Institution, the Chautauqua Festival, the Brucknerhaus (Austria), the New York 92nd Street Y, and the American Dance Festival. In 1999 PRO's music inspired master choreographer Paul Taylor's new dance Oh You Kid! which was premiered at The Kennedy Center jointly by the Paul Taylor Dance Company and the Orchestra. In June, 2003 the PRO presented the premier of Rick Benjamin's new reconstruction of Scott Joplin's opera Treemonisha at San Francisco's Stern Grove Festival.

For more information about Celebrate Asbury Park events including the Taste of Asbury Park please visit www.cityofasburypark.com.