Advanced Knee Pain Treatment in Lincroft, NJ

Stop by this Father's Day Sunday from 12-5 p.m. for some bluegrass and banjo music, plus so much more planned all summer long:

Patch Staff

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Here are the upcoming concerts and performances at Thompson Park in the Lincroft section of Middletown this summer:

Enjoy live music in a beautiful park setting this summer as the Monmouth County Park System presents a series of free concerts and performances in Thompson Park, Lincroft. Concertgoers are invited to bring lawn chairs or blankets, food, and soft drinks to the outdoor concerts.

What's scheduled:

Concert in the Park: Tribute to Benny and Basie

Friday, June 16 from 7-8:30 p.m.

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Thompson Park Theater Barn, Lincroft - Held outdoors, but will move inside if weather is inclement.

Hear vocalist Altha Morton and the members of Sentimental Journey play tribute to the “royalty” of swing music and jazz - Benny Goodman & Count Basie.

Bluegrass and Old-Time Music

Sundays, June 18, July 16 & August 20 from 12-5 p.m.

Thompson Park Theater Barn, Lincroft - Held outdoors.

Bring your own bass, banjo, fiddle, mandolin or guitar to join in, or just stop by and enjoy an afternoon of music as the Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Association meets for a jam session.

Concert in the Park: Tribute to the 70s with The Discoteks

Friday, July 21 from 7-8:30 p.m.

Thompson Park Theater Barn, Lincroft - Held outdoors, but will move inside if weather is inclement. Dance to the hits of the 70s and Motown during this high-energy performance.

Concert in the Park: Summer Jams with Secret Sound

Friday, August 18 from 7-8:30 p.m.

Thompson Park Theater Barn, Lincroft - Held outdoors, but will move inside if weather is inclement.

Led by guitarist and vocalist Kevin Hill, this energized group brings clever lyrics and danceable, mind-blowing jams.

Dancing Thru the Ages- Roaring 20s to Fabulous 50s & Beyond

Saturday, August 19 from 7-8 p.m.

Thompson Park Theater Barn, Lincroft

Journey through the history of social dance styles born in the United States from the 1920s to the fabulous 1950s and beyond during this performance presented by Jumpin' Entertainment featuring The Roaring Rascals & Team Lindyland.

For additional information about these shows, please visit www.MonmouthCountyParks.com or call 732-842-4000, ext. 4312. For persons with hearing impairment, the TTY/TDD number is 711. The Monmouth County Park System, created in 1960 by the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners, is Monmouth County’s Open Space, Parks and Recreation agency.

Tomorrow’s Financial Services in Lincroft. - World Insurance Associates

Fresh on the heels of a $1 billion boost from Goldman Sachs, Iselin-based World Insurance Associates said it entered into an agreement to purchase Tomorrow’s Financial Services, based in Lincroft, adding to the World financial services division led by Troy Hammond, CEO of Pensionmark, a World company.

Founded in 1968, TFS offers a comprehensive platform for financial planners and wealth management advisers. This acquisition brings an additional $5.5 billion of wealth assets under management to World’s financial services division and increases the number of financial advisors in the network to 307.

Included in the acquisition are TFS Securities Inc., TFS Insurance Agency Inc. and TFS Mortgage Corp. Inc. TFS Securities Inc. offers a full range of securities products, investment advisory services, managed accounts and financial planning services. TFS Insurance Agency offers a wide array of life, disability and long-term care insurance, in addition to annuities and hybrid insurance solutions. TFS Mortgage Corp.’s licensed mortgage originators assist clients with residential and commercial purchase and refinance mortgage loans.

Thomas Hyland Sr., will continue in his leadership role as the president of TFS, and the TFS management and staff team will remain in place.

“TFS is centered on the belief that the interests of the client must always come first,” Hyland said. “Our goal is to provide our clients with comprehensive education and the guidance necessary to help them make sound financial decisions. Our partnership with World will expand our capabilities and solidify our future for many years to come while providing us significant resources and access to more clients that we can serve.”

“The acquisition of TFS underscores the commitment we have made to delivering best-in-class wealth solutions to the financial advisers we serve,” Hammond said. “TFS has a great culture, cutting-edge technology, great support staff and a high-touch approach, which aligns with our philosophies on how we serve our advisors and their clients. I am thrilled to have Thomas Hyland and his amazing team as part of the Pensionmark/World family.”

The acquisition is subject to applicable regulatory approval and is expected to close in Q4.

LINCROFT, NJ — For 14 straight hours in early March, a small group of High Technology High School students competed in an international online math modeling competition.

The students — Michael Gao, Amanda Guan, Kevin Guan, Amanda Lin and Kevin Liu, all students who attend High Technology High School in the Lincroft section of Middletown — are one of the eight finalist teams in MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge (M3 Challenge).

“Pure math is interesting, but it's even more beautiful to see how the patterns in math find their way into real-life phenomena," said local teen and team captain Kevin Guan.

This is a unique international competition that drew nearly 3,000 11th and 12th graders in the U.S. and sixth-form students in the U.K.

The team, whose work underwent intense scrutiny by judges in the first two rounds of assessment, has one last hurdle on April 24, when they present their findings to a panel of professional mathematicians for final validation.

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Using mathematical modeling, these Monmouth County teens had to come up with solutions to real-world questions: How many e-bikes will be sold in the next two years? Of the many factors that contribute to e-bike use and sales growth, which are most significant? For a given country or region, can we quantify the impact that e-bike use has on carbon emissions, traffic congestion or other key factors?

“M3 Challenge is a special opportunity for students to study and analyze current real-world phenomena that have wide ranging impacts on society,” says High Technology teacher-coach Raymond Eng. “Especially this year’s problem — e-bikes are an early-stage technology with tremendous possibilities where the many impacts are not yet fully defined or understood. The student team must synthesize a mathematical model from a select amount of data and incomplete information. M3 Challenge is a new experience for students where there is not a definitive answer. The team gets to experience what an analyst must deal with in the real world.”

A total of 650 teams submitted papers detailing their recommendations. Roughly 45% of those submissions included technical computing to support and enhance their solutions, and those coding skills make them eligible for additional scholarship prizes.

"News feeds, magazines, and everyday discussions seem to be filled with talk of ‘the future of the automobile,’” says M3 Challenge judge and lead problem developer Neil Nicholson, from the University of Notre Dame. “In the past couple years, though, the rise in popularity of smaller electric personal transportation devices has somewhat changed the conversation. While these changes can be meaningful at the individual level, they also are shaping larger scale policy-related questions. It is really interesting to see how the modelers attacked these questions, because understanding how the past influences the future will surely provide insight into these big real-world issues."

Now in its 18th year, M3 Challenge is a program of Philadelphia-based Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and is sponsored by MathWorks.

Winning teams will be awarded a share of $100,000 in scholarships, with the champion team receiving $20,000 in 2023.

To access this year’s challenge problem, visit https://m3challenge.siam.org/practice-problems/2023-problem-ride-wind-without-getting-winded-growth-e-bike-use.

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Nearly all of America will tune into Super Bowl LVII this Sunday.

But Middletown residents will be watching one player in particular: Rick Lovato, a long snapper for the Philadelphia Eagles.

That's because Lovato, 30, grew up in the Lincroft section of Middletown. This is actually his second time going to the Super Bowl with the Eagles; he was on the team when they won in 2018.

"Middletown could not be prouder to see a great athlete and already Super Bowl champion Rick Lovato return back to the Super Bowl this weekend," said Middletown Mayor Tony Perry Friday afternoon. "I'm sure MJ's and all the bars throughout town will be packed Sunday night to see a hometown kid try and bring back yet another Vince Lombardi trophy."

Lovato got his start on local Pop Warner teams and then played varsity for Middletown High School South, from which he graduated in 2011. Middletown South was 12-1 in Lovato's junior year, and went to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 3 final his junior and senior years.

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In fact, it was at Middletown South that Lovato, then a freshman, started with special teams: A long snapper means he's the one who snaps the ball for punts and field goal kicks.

His father, Rick, Sr., used to own Joyce’s, the Lincroft deli, and Lovato grew up making sandwiches behind the counter.

"Once you know Rick, Sr. you know the whole family," said Perry. "He's a great guy. Great family. I think his parents recently moved out of town. But it's just amazing to see Rick, Jr. representing Middletown in everything that he does."

Lovato was on the Eagles when they won Super Bowl LII in 2018, and Perry said Lovato returned to Middletown after that win. He came to the old town hall, where Perry said he and other Councilmembers got to meet him.

He played college football for Old Dominion, appearing in all 50 games as their long snapper. Now headed to his second Super Bowl, Lovato has come a long way since he went undrafted in the 2015 NFL draft. He was then signed by the Chicago Bears, and has also played for the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins.

"Go Birds," said the Middletown mayor. "We're rooting for you because of Rick Lovato."

Kickoff for the Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will be at 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

"We are on track for the 2024 opening. Work is happening inside," a spokeswoman for the luxury gym on Half Mile Road said this week.

Patch Staff

|Updated Thu, Feb 23, 2023 at 9:53 am ET

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — What's the latest on the Middletown Life Time, the $40 million luxury fitness club coming to Half Mile Road?

"We are on track yet for the 2024 opening. Work is happening inside," Life Time spokeswoman Natalie Bushaw said Wednesday.

The shell of the building is being built now, and construction also started on the parking garage planned for next door.

And the "new" news is that Life Time also plans to open a high-end co-working space directly across the street from the gym, to be called Life Time Work. Pricing is not determined yet, but open lounge memberships (not a dedicated desk or office space) typically start around $500 a year. When you sign up for Life Time co-working space, you also get the gym membership included.

Life Time (the company dropped the "Fitness" from their name) is the massive three-story luxury fitness and wellness complex coming just off Parkway Exit 109, on Schulz Drive in Middletown. The office building that used to be there was torn down.

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Once it opens, Life Time says they will have two pools and a ground-level beach club, an in-house salon and spa, an indoor basketball court and a cafe.

"What we often hear from members is we're today’s modern country club without the golf,'" Bushaw previously told Patch. "Think resort-style: Pools, lounge chairs, bistro, etc. Life Time is a comprehensive healthy living, healthy aging and healthy entertainment that encompasses the entire spectrum of daily life for individuals, couples and families of all ages."

"This is a great market," she added, referring to the greater Middletown area, including Holmdel, Rumson, Little Silver and Marlboro/Colts Neck.

No word has been revealed on what membership dues will be.

The Middletown Life Time sounds like it may be similar to "the NAC," the Newtown, PA athletic club that was the subject of this Philadelphia Magazine expose: Trump, Sex, and G-Strings: The Juicy Story Behind Newtown Athletic Club ... so much more than a suburban gym.

The Middletown location would be the sixth Life Time in New Jersey; there are existing Life Times in Bridgewater, Montvale, Berkeley Heights, Florham Park and Princeton. The company opened its first location Florham Park in 2008.

The Middletown Life Time co-working space will be located directly across the street, overlooking the luxury fitness center. You can rent the space on either a yearly or month-to-month basis and there will be private offices, meeting space, WiFi and printing.

Bushaw said they had the idea to add co-working space as they saw more and more members bringing their laptops to the gym, and working from there.

"For many years, people would work out at our clubs and then work, too," she said. "We first started adding more outlets in our Life Cafes, then more seating areas throughout the club, then more lounge spaces, and ultimately realized the opportunity."

As we reported last March, local Middletown dentist Anthony DiCesare, who owns DiCesare Periodontal and Implant Center on Half Mile Road, sued Life Time last year to prevent them from opening.

He said traffic on Newman Springs and Half Mile Road will get worse once Life Time opens, and would prevent patients from getting to his dental office. He also named Middletown Township in his lawsuit, for changing the zoning on the property.

In 2022, a judge dismissed DiCesare's lawsuit, allowing development of the Middletown Life Time to proceed.

"I'm going to keep fighting them," DiCesare vowed to Patch at the time. "I plan to appeal. I know I am only an annoyance to them and these are people with huge pockets. But I'm going to take this as far as I can go. Drive along Rt. 35 by Circus Liquors. The traffic is horrible and the town is operating off the principle that if (a new development) brings more money to the town, it will be approved and to heck whatever happens."