Who would want to buy a house in the middle of nowhere? This was the question posed to Miroslav Kokes when he embarked on the project to build retirement homes for senior citizens, which he named Crestwood Village.  Kokes arrived in America in 1949 as a penniless immigrant from Czechoslovakia after being driven out by the Communists. He first settled in Queens, N.Y. where he worked as a ditch-digger and waiter, according to a 2001 New York Times article that documented Kokes' early beginnings in Manchester. The article, entitled "In Person: From Chicken Coops to a Fortune," talked about how …

Manchester is my home, but so is Ocean Grove... Ocean Grove was founded in 1869 as a Methodist Camp Meeting Retreat by Dr. William B. Osborne.  The site was chosen for its proximity to the ocean, its high beach, a thick grove of pine, cedar and hickory trees, and the absence of disease carrying mosquitos.  In 1869 a charter was obtained from the State, and Elwood H. Stokes was chosen as the first president of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. The tradition continues nowadays as the 137th Camp Meeting Week was celebrated in August 2006.  During this week various religious events are …

How times have changed.... Fifty years ago, Manchester Township consisted of 82.9 square miles of pine forests situated on both sides of Route 70, starting at the Toms River border and extending west toward Philadelphia.  Deer, wild turkey, fox, and racoons inhabited the area and ran wild throughout. There were small settlements notably in the Whiting area and surrounding what is now the small borough of Lakehurst, which broke from the township in 1921. The most noteworthy location in the township is the Lakehurst Naval Airstation, site of the famous Hindenburg disaster in 1937.  It is …