Columns
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•May 3, 2023
Rumrunners Caught Red-Handed
The year 1923 began in Ocean County with a story that a two-masted schooner, Jeanette, had been rammed and sunk off Barnegat Light with a loss of two lives. Rumors spread that the schooner was a rum…
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•April 26, 2023
We’re Not as Hot as We Think; That Was One Big-Ass Kitty-Cat
For a fun kickoff to the column, let’s speak of body temps, something faithfully albeit spontaneously kept by all of us.
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•April 26, 2023
Rum-Running History of Clam Island
One hundred years ago, Ocean County experienced one of the strangest cases of the Prohibition era, a case still unsolved but open to speculation.
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•April 24, 2023
Secret Riders Within Wildfire Smoke; Nanocrystals That Make Humans Invisible
This week, we’re experiencing “red flag” conditions in our woodlands, with wildfire dangers way up there due to windy and dry conditions.
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•April 22, 2023
The Most Marvelous April Weather in Recent History and Updates on Skate Parks
The sun shone down gloriously from the heavens. Children literally pranced through the shallows of an unseasonable sandbar, each splash picking up the sunlight in a dazzling display. The dune grasses…
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•April 19, 2023
The Nation Watches Progress in Lakehurst
The early 1920s were a time of pride and optimism in the United States. There was still an afterglow of winning the war “to make the world safe for democracy,” and the dreaded Spanish flu was waning.
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•April 18, 2023
There Are Still Rentals for Those Running Late; Knowing Lane Names for Safety’s Sake
This week’s preview of summer sultriness will jack up the area’s weekend people presence – further jacked by the grown-traditional wringing out of “long weekends,” running Thursday-through-Sunday.
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•April 12, 2023
Air Travel’s Future Building in the Pines
1923 will be remembered as a year when the world’s newspapers focused on Ocean County, N.J. – not because of a shipwreck or other tragedy, but as a center for aviation.
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•April 10, 2023
Wax Jobs, March Radness, Nuisance Tourism, Skateboard Park Saga and Less Surf Between Seasons
Take a look at the wax on your surfboard this time of year.
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•April 5, 2023
Researchers Hit on What Is Killing Whales; Ideal Time to Make Bluefish Ch’arki
Hopefully, our awful whale “unusual event” is now in better hands than mine. Five U.S. senators, including N.J.’s Cory Booker and Bob Menendez, are on the semi-cold cetacean case.
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•April 5, 2023
Final Voyage Ends in Beach Haven
When you begin following the history of a sailing ship, you know the story most likely ends one of three ways: sunk, abandoned or sold for scrap. In March 1946, that’s what would have been predicted…
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•April 3, 2023
Tick Disease That Attacks Meat Eaters; Listeners Discover Dirt Has Much to Say
I have vivid anecdotal evidence that spring times are among the very worst tick times. In fact, throughout our mild winter, the bloodsuckers were pretty much out and a-grab nonstop.
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•March 30, 2023
Lucy Evelyn Heads for Home Port
In May 1946, newspapers across the country carried stories about the three-masted schooner Lucy Evelyn as it set sail from Massachusetts, bound for the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa. The…
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•March 26, 2023
Looking at Your March Meanness Bracket and Possible Best Case Scenario for Beachfill?
Lots of upsets this year. Small New Jersey schools are looking sharp. Did you see that Surf City’s Lifeguard in Training Team beat Purdue? I’m picking Stockton’s Co-Ed Intramural Volleyball team to…
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•March 22, 2023
Can Nothing Sink the Lucy Evelyn?
On May 9, 1946 the three-masted schooner Lucy Evelyn, destined to become a landmark on Long Beach Island, cast off her tow line off Massachusetts and set a course to the southeast toward the Cape…
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•March 22, 2023
The Big Return of Dogfish and Chips; Van Drew Draws in the Anti-Turbiners
This week there are mainly tids and bits to write about – along with yet another word change to pass along. Speaking of which, the seafood industry has dropped the creativity ball while trying to…
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•March 20, 2023
Wildfire Does Work of Controlled Burn; Rutgers Researchers Rally to Protect Cold Pools
The wildfire that recently blackened a goodly chunk of the Stafford Forge area, one of Ocean County’s finest natural zones, was quickly contained by the hugely underpraised N.J. Forest Fire Service.…
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•March 15, 2023
Destination: Cape Verde Islands
In October 1943, the schooner Lucy Evelyn, destined to become Beach Haven’s number one tourist attraction, lay beached and abandoned by its owners, at Vineyard Haven, Mass. In November of that year…
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•March 13, 2023
Bringing the Long-Gone Back to Here-and-Now; Early Welcome Back to Surfside Striped Bass
In real estate, it’s all about location. Ditto for daylight. This weekend, we take an hour from the start of the day and locate it at the end of the day, losing an hour’s sleep in the process, but…
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•March 11, 2023
Oh, the Things You Will See in Bridge Traffic; Winter Keeps Sending Surf
There was an interesting headline on the cover of our SandPaper last week that read “Many Questions Over Highway Work.”
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•March 9, 2023
Lucy Evelyn Just Can’t Win
The story of the Lucy Evelyn before it became Beach Haven’s most famous gift shop has been one of brushes with danger, escaping such disasters as fire on board, sinking in storms, and being reported…
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•March 2, 2023
Lucy Evelyn Faces World War II
Sometimes when you start a series on a topic like the history of Beach Haven’s most famous gift shop, the Lucy Evelyn, the projection is for a couple of weeks. Then there are times as you dig into…
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•March 1, 2023
Learning the Language of the Nonbinary Realm; Dead Whale Findings Are Being Hidden From Our Eyes
I’m dang decent at crafting words. I speak not of arranging them in a grammatically and aesthetically acceptable manner but manufacturing them out of the blue, with no expectation of acceptance or…
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•February 27, 2023
Our Winter Is Whistling Dixie; Shopping for a Mannly Lipstick
Our winter temps are heading down to South Carolina, according to a newscast meteorologist who used temperature chart averages to align this N.J. winter with climes far to our south. February is also…
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•February 23, 2023
Pickleball Plot Thickens in Beach Haven Amid Welcome Winter Waves and Warmth
I heard something at a Beach Haven municipal meeting on Feb. 13 that I have never heard before. It was in response to Councilman Michael Battista’s statement in lobbying for six new pickleball courts…
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•February 22, 2023
Taking the Long Way Around
Most LBI old-timers can remember the Lucy Evelyn only as a Beach Haven gift shop, high and dry on land; almost none can remember her afloat. Over the past weeks this column has dealt with its early…
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•February 20, 2023
We Must Do Our Civic Duty and Watch for UAOs; Their Bills Can Hold More Than Their Bellies Can
I’m compelled by the news of the day to reveal a revered life slogan: Never say things can’t get any weirder.
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•February 15, 2023
Lucy Evelyn Hits Rough Seas
Today you can still find quite a few Islanders who remember the Lucy Evelyn as a local gift shop and landmark in Beach Haven, N.J. Fewer can remember it afloat in the Bay during the 1940s, but her…
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•February 13, 2023
Not Falling for a Skaters vs. Pickleballers Battle; After Short Break, Winter Waves Return
Last July, alongside a nice turnout of local surfers and skateboard families, I attended and covered the regular Beach Haven Council meeting. It was there that I witnessed the most lovely and warm…
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•February 9, 2023
Getting Rid of Merciless Earworms; Colds, Viruses, Nurses and Unsliced Melons
That was a whip-fast cold snap. Saturday a.m. we were close to a real-time single-digit low and by Sunday up near 50.
