26.2 Miles Around Bayview: Belford Means Business

Bernie Daus – Middletown BOE Candidate

My 26.2-mile Community Run through Belford took me past two firehouses, an active fishing port, the ferry terminal, Monmouth County’s waterfront park at Compton’s Creek, the Post Office, a World War I memorial, the Elks Lodge, and Naval Weapons Station Earle. I also passed Bayview School, Church Street Park, Belford Park, Fisler’s Landing, and plenty of side streets in between.

Somewhere along the way, I thought: Belford means business!

There is a lot of essential work getting done here. Fishing boats head out into the bay. Ferries carry commuters to work. TOMSA, our sewer authority, operates here, and Monmouth County also has a roads department depot here. Most of us don’t think much about these kinds of operations and infrastructure until something stops working.

Then there are all the contractors, a lot of them, particularly on the wet side. Your “go-to” tree guy, plumber, HVAC contractor, carpenter, snowplow service, paving contractor, mechanic, or auto body shop may very well work out of Belford. Driving the main roads, you might not appreciate how many businesses are tucked away here, keeping our homes, properties, and other businesses running throughout Middletown.

And, of course, there is the "Junction.” Cafés, shops, restaurants, barbers, florists, ice cream, pet grooming, pharmacies, a laundromat, dry cleaning, and places to stop for a soda, a beer, or something to eat. So many everyday needs are met by people who decided to open a business and make a go of it.

I suspect Belford has the greatest concentration of small, locally owned businesses in Middletown. I have tremendous respect for our local entrepreneurs. Owning a business means taking risks, solving problems, serving customers, creating jobs, and being accountable for the results; entrepreneurship is thriving here! Compared with the RTE 35 corridor, Belford has very few big-box, national, or chain stores and restaurants; these are LOCAL businesses here.     

If Belford went on strike, Middletown would fall apart pretty quickly.

But spend some time on the side streets, and there is another Belford to appreciate. Large suburban pockets, quiet residential streets, and neighborhoods that feel removed from the harbor, contractors’ yards, and nearby commercial activity. Just a lovely slice of suburbia, with all that work going on around it.

That is what I enjoyed discovering on this run. Belford has places to work, places to gather, and places to come home to. It contributes a great deal to Middletown's everyday life, often without much fanfare.

Belford means business. And Middletown is better for it.