Magical Garden / Mitzi & Emily's Playground

You are at stop #26 on the Belmar Treasure Trail. The Magical Garden community garden brings members together to grow and share organic vegetables, herbs, berries and flowers, as well as a lot of camaraderie. This flourishing garden and the adjacent playground used to be a vacant lot. But a group of determined residents set the wheels in motion, and with the help of local, county, state and private partners, the unsightly property was turned into one of the first community gardens of its kind in New Jersey in the year 2000 and has been thriving and expanding ever since. The garden, by the way, got its “Magical” name from a contest held with Belmar Elementary School students. On a more somber note, Mitzi & Emily’s Playground was dedicated in honor of Emily Gonzalez-Perez and Mitzi Hernandez – fifth and sixth grade cousins and beloved elementary school students who drowned while swimming unattended in the ocean in 2017. Prior to that, it was the E Street Playground, named not only for its location, of course, but also to recognize the young Bruce Springsteen who used to rehearse with his E Street Band in the home of original keyboardist David Sancious, whose mom lived on the famous street. But with its new name, we will always hold the beautiful memories of Mitzi and Emily as children enjoy this playground for years to come.