Americana: Blue Sunday

Quiet Sundays are one thing, but in Ocean Grove (pop. 7,000), N.J., which was founded as a seaside Methodist campsite 110 years ago, they are carried to extremes. Heavy chains block the roads into town, and no cars are allowed to move on the streets. Outdoor work, including gardening around the Victorian cottages, is banned. No one is permitted to go swimming, fishing, skating or buy even an ice cream cone. Until a newsdealer won a court suit several years ago, papers could not be delivered on Sunday.

But now the peaceable kingdom is threatened. Louis Celmer Jr., of nearby Belmar, was...

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