Ocean County Weekend Guide, Oct. 23-25: Bernard Purdie, Railroad Fest, BioBlitz

Good morning, Ocean County. Drummer Bernard Purdie, who backed Aretha Franklin and Steely Dan, plays a small room in Tuckerton on Saturday night, the Berkeley Township Historical Society reopens its museum with a first-ever Railroad Fest in Bayville, and Sunday brings a cars-and-coffee benefit in Toms River and a nature count at the Lighthouse Center in Waretown. In between: a Beatles, Zeppelin and Doors tribute at the Grunin Center, a witchy market in Jackson, and Halloween crafts at library branches across the county.

Friday

Freedom to Create: Lecture & Art-Making, Point Pleasant Beach Branch, 2–4 p.m. A talk on the artists who shaped America, then hands-on art-making. Registration required; a few seats were left Friday morning.
Create a Cryptid, Island Heights Branch, 3:30–4:30 p.m. Kids 6 to 12 build their own monster from spare parts and write its legend.
Drop-In Craft: Build a Paper Vampire, Plumsted Branch, until 4 p.m. Ages 3 to 12, while supplies last.
Cinderella's Pumpkin Bar, 3000 Route 88, Point Pleasant, 6–7 p.m. Decorate a pumpkin, then a meet-and-greet and photo with Cinderella. Tickets required.

Saturday

Berkeley Township Historical Society Museum Reopening and Railroad Fest, Atlantic City Boulevard, Bayville, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Narrow-gauge locomotives running, antique engines from the Pinelands Antique Engine Association, model train layouts, fire trucks and antique cars.
Witches Day: A Magickal Market & Psychic Faire, 99 South Cooks Bridge Road, Jackson, from 10 a.m. Vendors, readers, food and entertainment. Admission is $5 to $7, and it goes to a nonprofit cat rescue.
Advice from a Professional Genealogist, Lacey Branch, 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Genealogist Debbie Hadley's 10 best tips for finding your ancestors. Registration recommended.
Calming Coloring: Halloween Masks, Beachwood Branch, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Drop in and color a cat or pumpkin mask.
Hall-o-Lympics, CeeGee's Bar, 400 South New Prospect Road, Jackson, 1–5 p.m. Teams compete in eight backyard and bar games, with $100 for the best team costume.
Magical Mystery Doors, Grunin Center, Ocean County College, Toms River, 7 p.m. A tribute to the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and the Doors. Tickets $46 to $50.
German Night Dinner at the Mathis House, 600 Main Street, Toms River, 7–9:30 p.m. A German menu with live piano in the Victorian house.
Bernard Purdie with the Keyes-Bergson Hooks Band, Lizzie Rose Music Room, 217 E. Main Street, Tuckerton, 7:30 p.m. Often called the world's most recorded drummer, Purdie plays with pianist Dave Keyes, guitarist Chris Bergson and singer Hooks. Tickets $45.

Sunday

Cars & Coffee: Cruisin' for a Cure, Burger 25, 199 Route 37 East, Toms River, 8–10 a.m. A ticket reserves a parking spot for your car and a free breakfast item, and every dollar goes to David's Dream and Believe for a local family fighting cancer. Rain date is Nov. 1.
Lighthouse Center BioBlitz, 140 Camp Lighthouse Road, Waretown, from 8:30 a.m. Help iNaturalist ambassadors Josh Gant and Jason Nargiz record as many plants, mushrooms and animals as possible in one day. The driveway entrance is at 7th Street and Navajo Drive.

All weekend

Early voting. In-person early voting for the Nov. 3 general election is scheduled to open Saturday, Oct. 24, and run through Sunday, Nov. 1. Locations and hours are on the Ocean County elections page.
Friends of the Library Week wraps up Saturday. The Lacey Branch has a drop-in craft until then, and more library programs are on the County Brief events calendar.

Around the county

Open space on the ballot. Voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to raise the county's open space preservation rate. In September the commissioners approved preserving 89.54 more acres in Eagleswood, Berkeley and Plumsted, including a 78-acre Route 9 tract in Eagleswood bought for $850,000.
No new roosters in Brick. The township council voted unanimously to ban owning roosters after crowing complaints. Birds already in town are grandfathered in.
Test drives for Brick High. Pine Belt's test-drive fundraiser raised nearly $9,000 for Brick High School.

Know of something happening next weekend? Submit an event, and it may make next Friday's guide.