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MANASQUAN – Ryan Prince was taking orders at Kindness Café Sunday morning when a customer asked him for a recommendation.

“I recommend croissants, bagels, muffins – everything!” Prince exclaimed.

That kind of enthusiasm is common at Kindness Café, which was launched last year to employ young adults with developmental disabilities. It just expanded from one morning a week to three.

Prince, a 21-year-old Wall resident, was one of 11 workers at Sunday’s grand opening. They rotated stations, from greeter to order taker to the cash register to the food and coffee counter. They prepped food, too. Operating out of Main Street Kitchen, a restaurant and caterer on Manasquan’s Main Street, the café employs about 30 people who make $14 an hour.

Annie Long, a 28-year-old Brick resident, has worked in Stop & Shop before as a cleaner, but this is much more interactive. The presence of volunteer “job coaches” helped everyone get oriented.

“I love it – I love the job coaches,” Long said. “They’re really good with us.”

As with Compassion Café in Beach Haven and No Limits Café in Middletown, the goal of this operation is multifold: Help young adults with developmental disabilities earn a paycheck, gain work experience and socialize.

Chrissy Rice, a Manasquan High School teacher who runs Kindness Café, said its expansion from one to three days was made possible by a grant from the former Belmar First Aid Squad, which ceased operations last year.

“It takes a community,” Rice said.

Part of a team

Sunday was a great day for C.J. Newitts, an 18-year-old Point Pleasant resident with autism who worked the cash register with efficiency.

“I like working here,” he said. “I like the people.”

Newitts has held jobs before, but none quite as public-facing as this.

“He needs more opportunities to be social in an environment that is typical for kids his age,” said his mother, Chris Newitts, a volunteer helper at Kindness Café. “He needs to be part of a community, and he needs to be part of a team, which this environment gives him.”

The Sunday staff at Kindness Café is typically older. These are mostly young adults who aged out of the school system at age 21. C.J. is a bit younger but fit right in, schmoozing with customers and colleagues alike.

“I couldn’t be more proud,” Chris Newitts said. “This gives me confidence that he’s going to be OK, that he’s going to be able to take care of himself to some degree. He’s only 18, and there will be a lot more that he’ll be able to do when he’s older, but he’s got great work experience already. He has goals – he’s saving up for a car.”

'There should be one in every town'

The menu at Kindness Café is fairly straightforward. There are muffins, bagels, croissants, cookies, yogurt and a fruit cup, along with coffee (hot or iced), tea, apple juice, orange juice and bottled water. Everything is $5 or less.

What’s not on the menu are the intangibles that can’t be learned in a classroom.

“When you see the smile on everyone’s faces, it’s great,” said Meighan Kelleher, owner of Main Street Kitchen. “There’s a young man, Jack, from Manasquan High School who’s been with us for a year, and at first you’d see him walking here down Main Street from school and he’d have his hoodie on with only his eyes showing. Now his hoodie is off, he’s walking proud, he’s learned to bake and he does his job.”

Kelleher said she’d love to see other businesses host similar initiatives.

“It’s such an easy thing to do,” she said. “And they’re getting a paycheck and doing a great job. There should be one in every town.”

Kindness Café is open from 9-11 a.m. Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays at Main Street Kitchen on 140 Main St., Manasquan. For more information or to donate, visit www.kindnesscafeonmain.com.

Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at [email protected].

MANASQUAN, N.J. -- Tropical Storm Ophelia triggered coastal flooding in parts of New Jersey on Saturday.

Even approaching low tide, the water in Manasquan Inlet nipped at the edge of the boardwalk. At high tide, water spilled over bulkheads and filled streets down the the Jersey Shore.

Waves blasted against the sea wall and spilled over into Ocean Drive in Avalon.

In Beach Haven, the force of the wind spawned by Ophelia howled into the microphone as rain pelted the lens, and the angry ocean ate away at the sand.

The roadway proved impassable for a Volkswagen stuck sitting in flood waters. The fate of a car with flashers was uncertain. Either the driver blared flashers for safety or their car stalled out, too.

Folks strolled through the ankle-, knee-, even thigh-deep water. Carli Peters and Jonathan Kelly braved the elements to drop coins at the arcade.

"I think it's crazy, but honestly, if you're wearing shorts, it's kind of fun to walk through the water," Peters said.

"I've seen it flooded like this a little bit, but it's pretty bad out today," Kelly said.

Melissa Juliano visited Beach Haven for a bridal shower that was still on, despite the deluge.

"Not the weekend that I had planned. It's also my 60th birthday weekend," she said. "I think this is cuckoo, cuckoo."

Beth DeMartin was celebrating her birthday, too, with big plans for dinner washed out.

She declares this is coastal living.

"It's happened before. I just wasn't here at the time," she said.

Vanessa Murdock

Vanessa Murdock joined the CBS 2 Weather Team in October 2011 as the weekend morning meteorologist and weekday reporter.

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PISCATAWAY – As the clock wound down, the final outcome assured, a roar a century in the making rose up inside Jersey Mike’s Arena Saturday night.

Manasquan, one of the Shore Conference’s great basketball programs over the decades, captured its first state championship in dominating fashion, rolling over Caldwell, 62-29, in the Group 2 final.

Manasquan (28-4), which reached the Group 3 semifinals with this team a year ago, was led by sophomore guard Darius Adams’ double-double, pouring in 22 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, while junior point guard Ryan Frauenheim added 13 points.

'Crazy to be a part of this team'

“It means everything,” Adams said. “First time in history, so it’s crazy to be part of this team and I’m glad I got to do it with this team.”

“It’s great. It’s something we’ve worked for all year, just a great thing,” Frauenheim said.

How good was Manasquan’s season?

Of the four teams they lost to, two won state championships, with Roselle Catholic beating St. Rose, who Manasquan split two games with, in the Non-Public B final, and Union Catholic winning the Non-Public A title.

It’s the first state championship for a Shore Conference public school program since Point Beach won the 2013 Group 1 title. It’s the first by a Shore team since Ranney captured the 2019 Non-Public B title.

“The goal is not that,’ Manasquan coach Andrew Bilodeau said. “The goal is to have a great experience, to get better every day, be a man 20 years from now, have a great time, have warm, fuzzy kind of Kodak moments about your experience in high school. That’s what we stress. Championships are a byproduct of all those other things.”

And when the team returned to Manasquan Saturday night, the plan was for everyone to head to the beach to do a celebratory polar plunge, coaches included.

“We’re going in,” Bilodeau said. “They’ve been polar plunging every day. I’ve seen some video. It doesn’t look fun. I promised them we would go in if we won.”

Dominating third quarter

After taking a 25-13 halftime lead, Manasquan used an 19-3 run to open the second half to put the game away, with the lead swelling to 44-16 on a Frauenheim tiple late in the third quarter, as Adams poured in eight points in the third quarter.

“I feel like we were shooting too many threes in the first half, so get to the rim and keep battling on the rebounds,” Adams said.

“People like to talk about (Adams’) scoring, I think his rebounding has been outstanding,” Bilodeau said. “He was on the floor a couple times tonight. That’s why he’s a big-time player. That’s why we win, because we just have those guys that are blood and guts.”

Manasquan then turned on the afterburners, continually getting to the basket as the pace increased dramatically, with the lead swelling to 56-22 at one point.

In the first half, Manasquan raced out to an 11-2 lead and was really never challenged once it extended to the lead to double digits in the second quarter.

Manasquan’s only other appearance in the state final was a 2004 loss to Raritan.

And with a young lineup that includes starting lineup that includes two sophomores and two juniors, this team’s run of success is a long way from being over.

PREGAME

Can Manasquan basketball win first state championship? 3 keys vs. Caldwell in Group 2 final

PISCATAWAY – Given all the success Manasquan basketball has had over the years, from the six Shore Conference titles the program won through 1957, to its place as one of the area’s top programs over the past two decades, it’s hard to believe the program has never won a state championship.

That’s how tough it is to accomplish. Point Beach’s victory in the 2013 Group 1 final still ranks as the Shore’s last public school to win one.

But now a young Manasquan team is poised to make history when it faces Caldwell (24-5) in the Group 2 final Saturday (7 p.m.) at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway.

It’s Caldwell’s first appearance in a state final since 1932, while Manasquan made its lone trip in 2004, losing to Raritan in the Group 3 final.

More:Manasquan basketball reaches state final, topping Middle Twp. behind 20 from Darius Adams

Manasquan (27-4) comes off a 46-43 victory over Middle Township, the 22nd win in 23 games for the Shore Conference champion, with the only loss coming in a regular-season ending game at Union Catholic, which defeated St. Peter's Prep for the Non-Public A title Friday night. Manasquan’s three other losses were against Non-Public B champion Roselle Catholic and finalist St. Rose; and Linden, which lost in the Group 4 semifinals Thursday.

More:Brielle's Frauenheim brothers paying tribute to mom with championship seasons

Caldwell got here by knocking off Ramsey, 47-38, at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth. The Chiefs, who opened the season with 13 straight wins, come in having won six straight.

1. Experience matters

The Chiefs have a senior-heavy lineup that knows how to win. Several key players were members of the Chiefs’ football team, which owns the state’s longest winning streak at 28, having gone 13-0 in the fall, beating Rumson-Fair Haven for the first-ever Group 2 championship.

They’ve been building for this moment on the hardwood, having gone 24-4 a year ago before losing in a sectional final.

Senior Ryan Zamloot is their leading scorer at 17.6 points-per-game, while senior Rocco Checchetto led the way with 14 points against Ramsey, and senior Ryan Lawrence, who had a career-high 16 points in the section final, added 13 points. Senior Lorenzo Sozio is the Chiefs’ defensive stopper.

2. Star power

Sophomore guard Darius Adams and junior point guard Ryan Frauenheim have taken turns carrying the team. Adams had 20 points against Middle Township, while Frauenheim hit for 20 in the Central Group 2 final against South River.

But it’s the way the duo have been able to individually take games over at critical points that has been the difference.

In addition, the solid play of Manasquan’s frontcourt, at both the offensive and defensive ends, has been critical. Senior forward Jack Dettlinger had 10 points and five rebounds against Middle Township, and sophomore Griffin Linstra had four rebounds and hit a big 3-pointer to help jumpstart a first-half rally.

3. Rising to the top

This is the moment Manasquan has been building towards. The program has now gone 95-11 since the start of the 2019-20 season, and is 52-10 over the past two seasons, with six of those losses against the state’s elite-level non-publics.

While Manasquan doesn’t have a lineup of upperclassmen, this group has played in a lot of big games, for a program that has a great recent history, and that means something on this kind of stage.