Columns
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•March 19, 2014
Tucker’s Lighthouse Loses Final Battle
For almost 200 years, man had inhabited what was known as Tucker’s Island or Tucker’s Beach. During most of that time people had tried to develop it for profit, but there was also a battle with…
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•March 13, 2014
Tucker’s Light Keeper Fights Losing Battle
It’s a tale of two resorts only a few miles apart. For one, Beach Haven, it was the best of times; for the other, Sea Haven, it was the worst of times. The powerful supporters of Beach Haven had…
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•March 13, 2014
Let Spinning Dogs Do Their Duty; Shooting a Sneering Snowy Owl
MAGNETIC DUMPS: Ever wonder why a dog often does a spin or two before hunkerin’ down to do his business? Neither have I. But Czech scientist Hynek Burda just couldn’t let the matter lie – and that’s…
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•March 6, 2014
Could St. Albans Save Sea Haven?
With the coming of the railroad in 1886, Beach Haven’s position as an elegant Victorian resort was secure, but for Sea Haven, just a few miles to the south and accessible only by boat, the future…
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•February 27, 2014
New Railroad Crosses the Bay
Following the Parry House fire, in 1881, the supporters of Beach Haven began construction of the massive new hotel The Baldwin, named for the Baldwin Locomotive Works run by one of them, Charles T.…
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•February 20, 2014
Killer Cocktails Losing Their Punch; Politically Correct Long-Tailed Ducks
A very odd news item has come my way, having to do with a crisis in the realm of lethal injections. Yep, I’m talkin’ those chemical cocktails given to the baddest of the bad – so they can ponder…
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•February 20, 2014
Lazy?! Some Local Millennials Seem Pretty Motivated to Take on All Conditions
I guess some folks call them Generation Y. Others might refer to them as “little bastards.” Apparently they’re official name is Millennials.
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•February 20, 2014
Sea Haven, Beach Haven Vie for Visitors
The post-Civil War era in American history was a time of unregulated growth and the rise and fall of fortunes in a cutthroat era of competition. With this as a background, two resorts only a few…
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•February 13, 2014
Beach Haven Overshadows Tucker’s Island’s Future
The story of Tucker’s Island had always been one of battling against the sea, but as with most things, money and power soon became involved. The island and the future of Tuckerton as a seaport were…
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•February 12, 2014
Serenity Design, Giglio Awarded
Serenity Design, of Ship Bottom, has been awarded “Best Of Houzz” in an annual survey of 16 million monthly users of Houzz, which is an online platform for home remodeling and design. The survey…
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•February 6, 2014
Winter 2014; Things Just Got ‘Real’
Think about how much smarter you are than this time two years ago. Back in early 2012, we were just naïve locals living on an idyllic spit of sand with a nice healthy bridge connecting us to a happy…
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•February 6, 2014
Tucker’s Island Lighthouse: On Shaky Ground
The story of Tucker’s Island seems to be one of trial and error, success and failure. As the people of Tuckerton petitioned the federal government for a lighthouse on the island, the U.S. government…
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•January 30, 2014
Tuckerton’s Port Erodes With Tucker’s Island
For the citizens of the village of Tuckerton, keeping its seaport operating was a matter of economic life or death, and the key to that was making sure the inlet at the southern end of Long Beach was…
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•January 23, 2014
Tucker’s, the Forgotten Island
Recently at the lighting of the recreated Tucker’s Lighthouse at Tuckerton Seaport, I was asked why I had never written anything about the lighthouse and the island on which ithad beensituated. Not…
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•January 22, 2014
Bridgegate as Comedy Rather Than Tragedy, Freaking Out Over a Wetsuit and Enjoying the January Thaw
“The nominees for best comedic take on Governor Chris Christie’s GWB Scandal are: …”
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•January 16, 2014
George T. Cranmer, Discovered Along the Way
There are times when while researching one topic, you come across documents or articles that help you fill in some of the other blank spaces in history. Recently I discovered an entry in the New…
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•January 9, 2014
Tying Up Last Year’s Loose Ends
The cold winds of January are blowing the across the beaches. The year ahead looks to be one filled with New Jersey history, the 400th anniversary of the first European on Barnegat Bay, the 200th of…
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•January 9, 2014
Bring Out Your Diamonds; Snowys Cruise Back Home?
SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND: Manmade diamonds are nothing new. But here’s an emerging facet of the industry I’m hoping will stay in the rough.
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•January 7, 2014
2014 Comes in With a Blast of Cold and Waves
The year is only a week old and what a week it’s been – sea smoke on the frigid ocean, snowy owls taking over in Holgate, big northeast swell, and icebergs flowing down the Boulevard. I’m waiting for…
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•December 18, 2013
Test Time: How Much Do You Know?
December is heading toward the shortest day of the year, and that means long nights to tackle the annual 200 PLUS history challenge. There will be 25 questions and 1 bonus that will test your power…
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•December 18, 2013
It’s Time for Time Off; Acid Makes Fish Jittery
The SandPaper is off on vacation until early January. It happens every year around the holidays. However, for me, this holiday hiatus is like manna spiced with nirvana and graced with a touch of…
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•December 12, 2013
Relentless Sea Beats at Old Barney
For Barnegat Lighthouse, the Roaring ’20s and the Great Depression would hold its greatest dangers, from the government and the sea. In the 1920s as the ocean eroded closer to the beacon’s base, the…
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•December 12, 2013
Snowy Owls Out of Crosshairs; GMO Salmon Could Sneak In
I’m proud to say we helped draw attention to the snowy owl massacre taking place at airports in the NYC Metro area.
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•December 5, 2013
Future Looks Shaky for Old Barney
1919 had not been a good year for Barnegat Lighthouse or Barnegat City. Winter gales and an August hurricane had washed away houses and endangered the lighthouse, along with the 20-room keeper’s…
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•December 5, 2013
Snowy Owls By the Number; Mushrooms Make Their Own Weather
The snowy owls have returned to roost in Holgate, and they are some lookers. That’s one gorgeously appointed species of bird. I went kinda crazy videoing our super-sudden influx of Holgate owls.…
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•November 28, 2013
Barney’s Survival at Politicians’ Mercy
In the years following Barnegat Lighthouse’s survival of the 1886 earthquake, the U.S. government’s battle to stop the erosion at the base of the lighthouse included other changes. In the early 1890s…
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•November 21, 2013
New Barnegat Lighthouse on Shaky Ground
How does an object become the symbol of something it wasn’t supposed to represent? The old Statehouse bell in Philadelphia started to be identified with liberty when it was used on the masthead of an…
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•November 13, 2013
Unexpected Action Finds Wall in Washington
In September 1862, the people of New Jersey were preparing to go to the polls. Joel Parker, the 46-year-old gubernatorial Democratic candidate from Freehold, had made an issue of Abraham Lincoln’s…
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•November 7, 2013
Wall Continues Fight for His Honor
The fall of 1861 saw a lull in the fighting in Virginia and gave President Abraham Lincoln some time to reflect and make changes in his attempts to restore the union. Lincoln waited as the newly…
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•November 6, 2013
For That Glowing Moon Snail Skin; The Deer History of Protein Bars
A beautician named Ellie sent me a story she just knew I’d want to groom. It has to do with the emerging financial potential of facial snail slime. At first, I took this tale with a grain of salt.
