Hundreds of die-hard Bruce Springsteen fans known as “Spring-Nuts” will descend on Asbury Park once again this weekend for three days of festivities known as Seaside Serenade Four.
The events had been cancelled for two years because of the pandemic, but Spring Nuts founder Howie Chaz says fans will come from all over the world for this year’s reunion, which is raising money for WhyHunger.com, a nonprofit started by singer-songwriter Harry Chapin to combat world hunger.
Chaz says fundraising from ticket and t-shirt sales are all going to the charity and he says nearly 25 thousand dollars has been raised.
SBN News Director Steve Lubetkin spoke exclusively with Spring-Nuts founder Howie Chaz about the group and its activities. You can hear the interview in the player below.
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The weekend includes music events and gatherings all over the Shore area, at bars including Salty’s in Belmar, The Transparent Clinch Gallery and Asbury Hotel in Asbury Park, and on Sunday, a six-hour Springsteen music marathon at the Stone Pony, with Pony club DJ Lee Mrowicki, host of “Radio Jersey,” a streaming Internet radio show featuring all New Jersey artists, playing Springsteen music for the fans.
The Spring-Nuts Facebook page features posts by fans reporting on their travel progress as they make their way to the Springsteen Mecca from as far away as Austria, Australia, and other parts of the world.
Steve Lubetkin is the news director for StateBroadcastNews.com. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. He refocused on multimedia journalism and podcast production after a long career in corporate branded journalism and public relations.
He has won numerous awards for his audio and video news reporting from the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced a wide range of audio and video podcasts in his other role as managing partner of State Broadcast News’s parent, The Lubetkin Media Companies.
Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional.
In March 2021, he was elected to the board of directors of the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and in July 2021 he was named secretary of the chapter. In August 2021, he was honored by SPJ with one of the organization’s 2021 Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Pro Member Awards, given to regular members of an SPJ chapter who go above and beyond in serving their chapter.
Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996.
Steve also has reported on-camera and produces virtual conferences for NJSpotlightNews.org, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC.
From May-November 2019, he produced and reported a weekly podcast, The CRE News Hour, a news and features program focusing on the commercial real estate industry.
From 2014 to 2019 he was New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com and filled in covering Chicago/Midwest and Atlanta.
Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies.
Earlier in his career, Steve reported on rock music at the Jersey Shore for the Asbury Park Press, and was a broadcast news anchor and production engineer for WJLK-AM & FM, then owned by the Press. He also worked as a general assignment reporter for the Red Bank Register, Shrewsbury, NJ.
You can email Steve at steve@statebroadcastnews.com.
