SpeakEasy
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•February 27, 2013
Let’s Substitute Ice Cream for Ice in Frigid February
It was a cold day in February. A blizzard was possible the next day with snow, freezing rain and ice. Just the thought of it depressed me. I tried to think of something else to cheer me up – ice…
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•February 20, 2013
Our Gift From the Sea – A Pre-Sandy Sequel
In this chilly February moment it’s hard to imagine, but just a few short October weeks before Hurricane Sandy decided to reconfigure not only the shoreline, but also the spirit of LBI – and failed –…
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•February 13, 2013
Wind Pants and the ‘Senior 17′: A Perfect Fit
I’ve noticed an alarming trend since I’ve been retired. And it is beginning to concern me.
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•February 6, 2013
To Rebuild or Not to Rebuild: That Is the Question
The following was addressed to Stafford Township Councilwoman Sharon McKenna and copied to the other members of council. A response from Stafford Township Mayor John Spodofora follows.
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•January 28, 2013
Keeping a Passion for Knitting Under Wraps
Years ago I churned out a hand-knit sweater a year for each of my three children. As they grew, they gently informed me my sweaters were too warm for wearing in school. Well, they probably were too…
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•January 23, 2013
Absurdity at All Levels – Squirt Guns to AK-47s
I have a confession to make, and the start of a new year is, I suppose, as good a time as any to make it: Back during my school days, I was once detained for possession of a pistol.
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•January 16, 2013
Holgate: That Special Place at the End of the Road
Shown here are two photos you might think are completely unrelated. Normally, you would be right. One shows the end of the Island in its current state, a veritable quarry. The other is the 2014 Chevy…
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•January 9, 2013
LBI Manifesto: One Island, One Love
Calling all … Come and stand upon my shore. Loving hands are restoring my sand. Loving hearts are mending my broken parts. The lights on the Causeway shine for you. Watch me rise, stronger than…
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•December 24, 2012
To Take or Not to Take: That Is the Question
It is said, “You never take anything off Long Beach Island; what is on the Island stays on the Island.” That’s what I’ve heard from day one of coming back from yard sales with the truck full, or…
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•December 12, 2012
All I Want for Christmas Is … a Return to Normal on LBI
The gift I’m looking for under my tree this year is “normal.”
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•December 5, 2012
Here’s to ‘Old’ Long Beach Island
Some would say I had it all backward during and immediately after Superstorm Sandy; I was practically worried more about the fate of Long Beach Island and my dad’s summer house in Surf City than I…
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•November 28, 2012
‘Poor Helen’ Is One Lucky, Little Landmark
For many of us who live on or near or have visited Long Beach Island, we mourn the loss of the Shack. Although dilapidated, it had grown to be a symbol of our entrance to the Island. What people may…
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•November 21, 2012
The President, the Governor and the Mayor
One is a Democrat, one a Republican, and one is nonpartisan.
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•November 8, 2012
Escape From Holgate
I was one of the people who stayed on LBI during Hurricane Sandy. My husband, my son and his girlfriend, and our dog Quincy stayed in our bayfront house in Holgate. My husband had brought home a…
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•October 31, 2012
Scary Times 50 Years Ago
This time of year reminds me of being scared. Remember the first time you were really scared of something? Not that first scary movie you watched or your sister jumping out of the closet screaming…
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•October 17, 2012
With Obama, Ignorance Is Not Bliss
Well, boys and girls, it’s just about time to elect a president for the next four years. We have two candidates with stark differences: Romney, a self-made millionaire with a traditional approach to…
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•October 10, 2012
Sketches Capture Indelible Memories
There is an old saying that to see something as it truly is, you must draw it. Sketching has been a self-taught hobby of mine my whole life. Even as a child, for example, I copied human figures from…
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•October 10, 2012
Elephant in the Room or White Elephant?
Elephant in the room or white elephant: Has the Grand Old Party painted itself into a corner by aligning itself with its extremist fringes, which seem to have transcended into being referred to as…
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•October 3, 2012
Postseason Sarcasm — All in Good Fun
It’s good to have the Island back, isn’t it? I probably don’t have enough time in as a year-round resident to make that statement, even if we did come to LBI for more than 20 years before we retired…
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•September 26, 2012
No Place Like Long Beach Island in September
There was a diner close to where I used to live that had been there as far back as I could remember. It must have opened in the 1950s when charbroiled burgers were the rage because it had this big…
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•September 12, 2012
Tails Wagging: Beaches Going to the Dogs
Led about on leashes, confined behind sturdy fences, shuffled aside as all those they love trot off laden with chairs, beach bags, food and water and umbrellas, it is no wonder dogs hereabouts are…
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•September 5, 2012
Critics’ ‘Best All-Time Film’ Is Enough to Make One’s Head Spin
Back during my “basic training” for a journalistic career as editor-in-chief of my college newspaper, I was approached by an eager-beaver-type chap who said he wanted to write movie reviews. Since…
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•September 5, 2012
Look What Became of the ‘Old Borough Hall’
On a hot, humid Saturday afternoon this summer, the phone rang. It was my son asking me to come to the store “because Sherry has something for you for our anniversary.” Anniversary? What anniversary?…
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•August 29, 2012
Straddling the Ocean’s Edge
My wife, Z, and I have been making the trek to LBI to the same house, on the same street, a few steps from the same beach in Peahala Park every July, going on nearly 20 years.
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•August 22, 2012
Bracelet Is But One Memorable Link to Sikhs
I was in Africa in 1972 when I met my first Sikh. There were actually two of them, Cocky and Mohinder. I was walking the streets of Nairobi with my husband and an Australian we had met at the youth…
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•August 15, 2012
Five Generations Have Stakes in the Island
I don’t know which was more challenging: the homemade tent on the beach in Holgate, first used by my grandparents in the 1920s, or the middle cabin on the Beach Haven dock. The tent promised a week…
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•August 8, 2012
To Kenya With Love, From Beach Haven Park
It was Friday morning, June 29, and I was boarding an Emirates airplane at JFK.I sat down and asked myself, why am I doing this again? For the eighth time, I was going on a 16-hour flight to Dubai in…
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•August 1, 2012
Grandpa Takes on the Olympics
As theSummer Olympics were approaching, I started thinking about the events and what they would be like for people such as myself. I am a healthy 67-year-old who participates in casual sports and…
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•July 25, 2012
LBI’s Nice People Keep Us Sane in the Summer
We’re beyond the middle of July, one more week until August, and Labor Day lies on the horizon. We can see the light. Sounds like, from reading the letters to the editor, the last few weeks many…
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•July 18, 2012
At the Beach Everything Is Relative
Einstein formulated in his Theory of Relativity that time varies, depending on the observer. This is very apparent at the shore, although many observations seem to contradict his theory. For example…
