SpeakEasy
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•July 11, 2012
A Bracelet in the Bay
It was July 1, Sunday Funday, as every Sunday in the summer is so lovingly called, when boaters make their way to the sandbar in Ship Bottom for sun, fun and good times. We had hamburgers packed…
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•July 4, 2012
Telstar: Recalling a Miracle in the Sky 50 Years Ago
A life-changing event took place 50 years ago at the prestigious Bell Laboratories, a subsidiary of AT&T, located in Murray Hill, N.J. Modern society’s first active communications satellite, Telstar…
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•June 27, 2012
‘Ac-a-me’ Is a South Philly Family Affair
A new Acme! Be still, my heart. I had to raise myself from my rehabbing bed somehow. OK, maybe I just rolled over and grabbed my laptop.
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•June 21, 2012
Education Reform Is Easy
What’s the matter with our schools today? I think I know the answer to that question.
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•June 13, 2012
LBI Fishing Ritual Strengthens Father-Daughter Bond
“Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad.” I can tell you that this ancient proverb rings true still today.
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•June 6, 2012
Winter Wonders on LBI: Blinking Lights and Teardowns
Hope you had an enjoyable winter and are rested up for another beautiful summer on LBI. I was telling my lovely wife that I bet you wonder what it is we who live here year ’round do all winter. She…
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•May 30, 2012
Reopening the LBI House With Fanfare and Trepidation
Remember that Christmas song “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”? It was running through my mind like a broken record since we pulled onto the Garden State Parkway. We were on our way to LBI…
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•May 25, 2012
Sea Sisters
The scrubby pines, tall grasses and cattails hid the scrappy marina where the Penn-Yan was kept. From the big Causeway Bridge, it was nearly invisible behind the overgrowth of bushes and the…
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•May 16, 2012
Apps Fill in the Gaps But …
The morning Philadelphia paper the other day had a short article about “dog apps.” It seems there are software “applications” available for tech devices that are geared toward caring for man’s best…
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•May 10, 2012
Let It Be: The Shack Deserves Death With Dignity
It’s a place we all know well. Those of us who lived or grew up on the Island have seen it practically every day. It’s not anyone’s home, but to some I understand it makes them feel at home to see…
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•May 3, 2012
Election 2012: What Would Jesus Do?
By October 2008, I had accumulated dozens of nagging questions and indecisions about the political candidates, causing me to write “Questions on Issues, Policy Besiege a Baffled, Undecided…
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•April 26, 2012
Philly Native Recalls ‘American Bandstand’ Infatuation
“Me, too. The kids can really dance to it.”
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•April 19, 2012
Waiting Is No Game in the Checkout Line
Whether it’s standing in the coffee line at 7-Eleven, sitting in your car at a traffic light or just scanning the tabloids in the checkout at the supermarket, the average person wastes precious time…
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•April 12, 2012
Surf Shack Leaves Behind Good Vibrations
While this weekend may be the closing of just another business on Long Beach Island to some, as an employee of the Surf Shack since its inception I want to give a brief history of the store to…
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•April 4, 2012
’62 Storm Survivors: Holgate Unscrambles to Recover
March is said to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. Well, the coastal storm that developed in early March 1962 would make lions look like little kittens.
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•March 28, 2012
Golden Anniversary of an Unforgettable Storm
Fiftieth anniversaries are considered milestones in any history. If you live past 50 you will automatically be celebrating one golden anniversary after another. In 2008, for example, I joined my…
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•March 21, 2012
House Washes Away in ’62 Nor’easter: Where’s Mother?
At Christmas in 1961, my parents went to their shore house on 34th Street in Beach Haven Terrace (now Beach Haven Gardens). My mother stayed for a brief respite, taking a break from her home in…
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•March 14, 2012
’62 Storm Survivor: Family Home Untouched Amid Destruction
In March 1962 I was 11 years old. Being”up home,” we heard all the reports of the destruction caused by the storm at the shore. News coverage was very limited 50 years ago. My parents decided that…
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•March 5, 2012
‘Life Changed’ for Surf City Native After ’62 Storm
I am a true native of Surf City. Although my mother delivered me at the nearest hospital, in Lakewood, in 1953, I hit the beach crawling at six months that summer and every summer thereafter.
