From Helen Pike’s History & Heritage Journal:

The countdown to the 12^th annual Light of Day is underway! From January 12 to 15, the city is going to be in its full winter glory with a musical festival that not only benefits Parkinson disease research but also shakes up the persistent misperception that Asbury Park is not a cold-weather destination.

Just ask the thousands of visitors from Europe who are at the forefront of a new seasonal tradition here. They think nothing of walking from all the oceanfront venues to those in the Downtown to listen to music, watch films, and patronize the city’s award-winning eateries. In fact, ask Stefano Pecoraio of Italy.

Taking his inspiration to fuse music to a cause from LOD founder Bob Benjamin, Stefano is the tireless force behind the 2010 initiative to create a “cultural sister city” with his hometown of Casalgrande. With a similarly sized population of about 16,000, Stefano’s base of operations is located in the province of Reggio Emilia, not far from Bologna, and perhaps best known for producing the sharply flavorful parmigiano reggiano cheese.

“We’re a fairly simple, hard-working people,” Stefano wrote in an e-mail as he prepared to travel here. “We cultivate a passion for live music, played in small clubs and we fight with taxes and economic hardship, especially in these times.”

No surprise, Stefano is an ardent Bruce Springsteen fan. So much so that he wrote a book whose title translates into English as Bruce Springsteen: Welcome to Asbury Park. Published by Aliberti Editore, it’s promoted as “Una guida ai luoghi e alle strade del Boss con immagini e testimonianze inedited”. (Full disclosure: I contributed the essay on the city’s history.)

“From that moment I met people, saw places, buildings, felt passions,” he wrote in his e-mail. “I stepped on Kingsley the first time was in “fans of Bruce” mode, as I believe most of the Italian and European tourists does.

“[But] I knew that Asbury Park wasn’t only Springsteen…the city [gives] history, music and American life.  What [more to want] for a lover of all three things?”

Want to know more? Check out his blog: http://www.asburypark.it/wordpress/

Or, this video about the “twinning” of the sister cities:

Welcome Casalgrande!

More varied even that last year’s, LOD’s 2012 celandar can be found by pasting this address into your browser: www.lightofday.org/calendar-of-events.php.