During the mid-70’s I spent several years as a student at Ocean County College, looking to “find myself” which I guess in some ways I still am.

 

Kinderhook today (L to R)- John Korba, Jerry Kopychuck, Jim Ryan, Craig Barry and Andy Fediw. Missing from photo is Gary Oleyar.
Kinderhook today (L to R)- John Korba, Jerry Kopychuck, Jim Ryan, Craig Barry and Andy Fediw. Missing from photo is Gary Oleyar. (Kinderhook Music)
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One of our favorite hang-outs at that time was the Beach House in Point Pleasant Beach, a popular nightclub that catered to locals in the off-season. At that time the legal drinking age was 18 so the crowd was often pretty young. One of the more popular bands who played regularly was “Kinderhook Creek” and to be honest I was not a fan of the country-rock music they played but many of my friends were.

What I seem to remember most was Thursday nights at The Beach House with them rocking away and free fried chicken. You put those two things together and the place would be packed, even on a weeknight in the middle of the winter. “Kinderhook Creek” had a huge following for many years throughout the shore and across the state and like most bands eventually broke up, never to be heard from again. Actually that’s not the case here.

Now known simply as “Kinderhook” they got together again in 2010 and with four original members the new six-man band will be making their first appearance in the shore area in over three decades this Saturday as part of the fifth annual “Rock for the Nurses” fundraiser at the Idle Hour Restaurant & Bar in Point Pleasant. Also performing between 1-7pm will be other popular local bands, The Mangos, Timepiece and Ned Ryerson and his new band, The Groundhogs.

Barbara Konopka Forfar's 1965 graduation photo from St Joe's Nursing School
Barbara Konopka Forfar's 1965 graduation photo from St Joe's Nursing School (Walt Konopka)
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There will be other special guests and Saturday’s event will include an all-you-can-eat BBQ buffet, pig roast, games, prizes, giveaways, cash bar and more for the entire family. Tickets are $20 per person (under 12 is free) and available at the Idle Hour on Route 88 or can be purchased on line at eventbrite.com.

The fundraiser will benefit the Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship which was established in 2011 and is part of the Ocean Medical Center Foundation family of funds. The money raised helps qualified nurses and nursing students continue their formal education in the form of scholarships and so far some $16,000 has been raised in the name of Forfar, who spent more than 40 years as an operating room nurse at Ocean Medical Center and before that Brick Hospital and Point Pleasant Hospital. She died in January of 2011, only five months after retiring. For more information on the scholarship fund you can visit forfarscholarship.org.

Saturday promises to be a great day for a great cause and for “Kinderhook” fans a chance to go back in time, without the fried chicken.

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