BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer

RED BANK - Antiques and gardens complement each other like history and youth. One celebrates the artistry and resilience of the past and the other celebrates the beauty and transience of the present.

The Two Rivers Antiques Show and Garden Tour, held on June 10-11 at the Red Bank Armory Ice Complex, 76 Chestnut St., Red Bank, exemplifies that dynamic. The 30 high-caliber antique dealers at the armory will display their finest antiques and the five gardens on the Little Silver and Middletown tour are nothing short of breathtaking.

Proceeds from the two-day event will go to The Jacqueline M. Wilentz Comprehensive Breast Center at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch.

Traci Turi, a Two Rivers Antiques Show and Garden Tour committee member, said the tour and show have become known as one of the best small shows in the country.

"Not only is it the largest fundraiser for Monmouth Medical Center, but the second largest for the entire St. Barnabas Health Care System," she said.

The unique fundraising event began 12 years ago with the mission to raise significant funds to enable the Jacqueline M. Wilentz Center to remain on the forefront of breast cancer detection, diagnosis, treatment and overall wellness for its patients. Historically drawing well over 1,000 attendees, the show and tour has raised in excess of $2 million over the past decade.

Turi explained that the event is the brainchild of three dedicated women: Barbara Goldfarb, of Little Silver, Geri Skirkanich, of Rumson, and Gale Grossman, of Spring Lake.

For many of the committee members, this effort is very personal. Most have been impacted, in one way or another, by the disease. Goldfarb has dedicated the antiques show to her friend Carter de Holl, a well-known antiques dealer who died of breast cancer in 1991.

Gardens on the tour will be open to the public on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The antiques show hours are Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission is $25 in advance, $35 at the door and $10 for the antiques show only.

For reservations, contact the Monmouth Medical Center Foundation at (732) 923-6886 or visit the Web site at www.mhcf.org and click on "Foundation."