The Event Showcases Downtown Ocean City and Features Miss America and Broadway Star Kelli Rabke
The third annual Girls Weekend from Friday to Sunday (April 6 to 8) will showcase all that Ocean City’s downtown retail district has to offer and provide a great reason to escape to the shore early in the season. This year, the event will feature appearances by reigning Miss America Cara Mund and a show by Broadway star Kelli Rabke.
Mund will join Ocean City Special Events Coordinator Michael Hartman in hosting the popular Girls Weekend Fashion Show on Friday, April 6. She also will appear at a special free meet-and-greet event on Sunday, April 8.
The first woman from North Dakota ever to become Miss America, Mund is a graduate of Brown University with a degree in business, entrepreneurship and organizations. In her new role, she advocates for women’s education, empowerment and leadership. She serves as the national goodwill ambassador for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Among other initiatives, she promotes her personal platform: a Make-a-Wish Passion with Fashion.
The fashion show is set for 7 p.m. April 6 at Glazed Over Studios (704 Asbury Avenue) and kicks off the weekend’s events. It features clothes and accessories for sale in Ocean City’s retail shops and modeled by local men and women, including members of City Council. The lighthearted event will be catered by local restaurants. Advance tickets ($20) are required and on sale now at City Hall, the Route 52 Welcome Center, Ta-Dah (1040 Asbury Ave.) and the 7th Street Surf Shop (720 Asbury Ave).
Mund will return on Sunday for a free meet-and-greet from noon until 2 p.m. Fans and downtown shoppers are invited to stop by Jon and Patty’s Coffee Bar and Bistro, 637 Asbury Avenue, for an autograph/photo-op with Miss America.
Tickets are also on sale for a Girls Weekend show (on April 7) titled “Defying Gravity.” The show stars Kelli Rabke, a Broadway star and Bergen County mom of two young children. Rabke will weave tales of motherhood, music, and the misadventures of life and love. She performs 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 7 on the Ocean City Music Pier. For tickets ($18 to $20), visit oceancityvacation.com/boxoffice, call 609-399-6111, or stop by the City Hall Welcome Center or the Roy Gillian Welcome Center on the Route 52 causeway.
Rabke starred in Broadway shows such as “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” (as Narrator) and “Les Miserables” (as Eponine). After 10 years out of the spotlight, she returned to the stage with her sold-out cabaret debut, “No Place Like Home,” followed by “The Wizard … and I – The Music of Stephen Schwartz.” She now headlines symphony concerts and cabaret shows in New York City and around the world.
She was the voice of Kat in the Discovery Kids series “Kenny the Shark” and played Bernadette on “The Young and The Restless.” Her career includes a variety of other roles, but she is most proud of her biggest “productions” to date: her son, Joseph, and daughter, Abigale.
Girls Weekend features hotel and bed-and-breakfast packages, dining offers, shopping discounts, prizes, yoga and wellness classes, craft projects and demonstrations at various locations throughout Ocean City. For a detailed schedule of Girls Weekend events, accommodations and participating businesses, call 609-399-1412, visit the Girls Weekend blog at www.oceancityvacation.com or check out the Facebook pages “Downtown OCNJ” and “OceanCityNJVacation.”
MORE APRIL EVENTS
DOO DAH PARADE (April 14): The Doo Dah Parade was first held in Ocean City in 1986 as an event to herald the end of income tax season. It featured unusual entries like beach chair drill teams and fan clubs of legendary comedians. The free parade begins at noon on Asbury Avenue at Sixth Street, proceeds to 12th Street and turns east to the boardwalk, finishing at Sixth Street. For more than a decade, the parade has been anchored by a legion of dogs from the Basset Hound Rescue League. The annual Pie-asco will move to Sixth Street and Boardwalk this year. The finale to the parade invites everybody to smoosh a friend with a shaving-cream pie.
MR MATURE AMERICA PAGEANT (April 14): The event is the first and only pageant of its kind in the United States. Erik Estrada, who captured the hearts of millions of fans worldwide in his six-year run as highway patrol officer Frank Poncherello in the TV series “CHiPs,” will be host of this year’s show. The historic Flanders Hotel returns as a founding sponsor this year. The madcap pageant celebrates men 55 years and older with competitions in talent, poise and interview categories. Tickets for the show ($18 to $30) are on sale now and available at oceancityvacation.com/boxoffice, by calling 609-399-6111, or in-person at the City Hall Welcome Center or the Roy Gillian Welcome Center on the Route 52 causeway.
2018 SPRING FESTIVAL OF GUARANTEED AMERICAN HANDCRAFTS AND FINE ART (April 21 and 22): A show where every offering is guaranteed to be made in the U.S. by the artisan in the booth. Features jewelry, glass, watercolors and oil paintings, beach and bay photography, candles, soaps, lotions, leathergoods, gourmet food items and more. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Ocean City Music Pier on the Boardwalk at Moorlyn Terrace. The $3 admission benefits the Ocean City Food Cupboard, Atlantic City Rescue Mission and Gilda’s Club South Jersey. For more information, call JoAnne Schaut at 609-365-2239.
CYSTIC FIBROSIS WALK (April 28): 10 a.m. registration and 11 a.m. start at the Sixth Street practice field near the boardwalk. For more information, call 610-325-6001.
BOARDWALK AND DOWNTOWN MERCHANT TABLE SALES (April 28-29): No Vendors. Sixth Street to 14th Street on the Boardwalk and Asbury Avenue.
SPORTS MEMORABILIA SHOW (April 28-29): A weekend of events and table sales dedicated to athletes and fans. Perfect for collectors. Ocean City Music Pier. For more information, call 609-399-6111.
MARCH FOR BABIES WALK (April 29): 11 a.m. registration and 12 p.m. start at Sixth Street basketball courts near boardwalk. For more information, visit www.marchforbabies.org or call 856-874-9050.
