Echoes of LBI - 2020 Spring into Summer Edition

elcome back to LBI. This year, for many reasons spring and summer seemed to arrive simultaneously. Winter was frequently spring-like, with warm air and cold ocean temperatures coalescing into cinematic-like foggy mornings and mist covered days. Spring roared in with record-breaking rainfalls and high winds — and quickly gave way to summer. With the advent of COVID-19, life seemed to change as rapidly as the weather.

I grew up in Harvey Cedars on Essex Avenue. Before the March 1962 storm, in my neighborhood there were many long tracks of land — from the boulevard to the ocean with a single house on the ocean front — where stands of small cedars, bayberry bushes, and beach plums grew. It was our favorite place to play. On the ocean side were the woods, and on the bayside were meadows and marshes. Most of our time was spent searching for and playing with the small creatures that inhabited the Island. Every day was a thrilling, nature adventure. Our mother was not thrilled. It was the 1950s, polio had reemerged; at the time scientists believed it was caused by insects. As a mother of six vulnerable children, our mother was worried about insects and germs. As a result, the box turtles, rabbits, and frogs we brought home were carefully groomed by our mother. They left our house cleaner and healthier than when we collected them.

After the March storm of 1962, there were no trees or shrubs left in my neighborhood. Even the beloved wildlife had been swept away. All that remained was the white sand that covered Harvey Cedars. Over the decades the small creatures have slowly returned to LBI. Despite suffering a setback in 2012 from Hurricane Sandy, rabbits and frogs have reappeared. Even foxes and box turtles are coming back. Seeing them now is more thrilling for me than ever before.

In mid-January, Denis, our poodle, Gigi, and I traveled west to immerse ourselves in the joys of grandparenting. In Colorado, we visited Nicole, Mark, and the girls. We nearly burst with pride over our granddaughters’ dance classes and singing. Nicole opened her own law firm and has settled in nicely. In San Diego, we visited Noel’s family. Seeing grandsons Jake and Reid in action was a marvel. Jake plays baseball and Reid is a mountain biker racer. Time with granddaughter Megan, her husband, Brian, and great-grandson Jackson was a joy. On the last part of our journey, we traveled with Noel to Rosarito in Baja, Mexico. K41 is known for considerable swells and Denis had a great time surfing. We dined daily at Noel's locally-sourced restaurant Colectivo Surf Club, and brewery.

Last February, as we drove from the west coast back to New Jersey, Denis and I followed the news intently. We arrived home in time to prepare for COVID-19. Over the past months, we kept busy painting our house and finishing long overdue projects. We also used this time to prepare for the safe reopening of the store when New Jersey reached that phase.

The twelfth annual LBI Sea Glass and Art Festival at Things A Drift in Ship Bottom is scheduled for October 3 and 4, 2020.

Artist will be on hand to showcase their works and demonstrate their skills. Masks and appropriate outdoor social distancing will be observed. Check thingsadrift.com and Facebook @lbiseaglassfest for updates.

Many thanks to all the great volunteers, family, friends, and islanders who helped us set the new Guinness World Record™ for Most People Blowing Conch Horns last year to reclaim the title.

Sadly, this issue marks the passing of many loved ones, family, friends, and neighbors from COVID-19. They will be greatly missed.

As always, it takes an island to bring each issue of Echoes into being. Thank you.

Every sunset brings a new day.

Cheryl Kirby, Publisher Echoes of LBI Magazine

@echoesoflbi • echoesoflbi.com • issuu.com/echoesoflbi

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obert Sakson believed that art chose him. If that is so, art chose well.

For during a career that spanned his lifetime, he became a highly lauded watercolorist and was awarded Dolphin Fellowship in the American Watercolor Society.

With tenderness, intimacy, and bracing inventiveness, Robert’s paintings channel scenes of contemporary life, usually of historical places and time-tested landmarks in New Jersey. He was among the first artists to paint these sites on Long Beach Island.

Robert painted plein air, surrounded by the light and the feel of the day of places that inspired him. His works translate the mood of the landscape and captures the moment. A still-proud lightship on dryland awaiting salvation, The Lightship Barnegat, is a glorious mixture of red hull and blue sky. In Fishing at the Light, anglers stand in quiet solitude; in the background, Barnegat Lighthouse soars skyward — red and white into blue. Some subjects, like Shack, the abandoned hunting hut turned LBI icon, have since been lost to time, progress,

or storms. The halcyon summer days of Gloucester Avenue, Harvey Cedars and Kelly’s Ice Cream offer glimpses of a not-too-distant past, of an LBI some never knew, and touch the hearts of those who did.

For more than a decade, Robert’s paintings have graced the pages of Echoes of LBI. We are proud to have known him and called him friend. He leaves behind a body of work that is a monument to his memory. He will be greatly missed.

Robert Sakson, watercolorist, teacher, and Dolphin Fellow of the American Watercolor Society was an iconic artist. He earned signature memberships in the Garden State Watercolor Society, New Jersey Watercolor Society, the Pastel Society of America, and the Philadelphia Watercolor Society.

His works amassed numerous prestigious awards include three silver medals from the New Jersey Water Color Society, and the highly coveted gold medal from Allied Artists of America. His watercolors are included in many private and corporate collections. —Susan Spicer-McGarry

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Dick Claffee photo

1501 Long beach blvd. · surf city, nj · (609) 494.4155 Answers: (1) If you thought the answer was vanilla, you’re wrong. Chocolate was actually invented first.

(2) The magic number is 50. (3) The real word for brain freeze is sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia. To combat it, hold your tongue against the roof of your mouth. This will help warm your sensors and get your brain out of panic mode.

THE LONG BEACH ISLAND HISTORICAL MUSEUM I turn the key and enter the quiet room.

Shards of sun with dust motes shed light on the gloom.

My shoes strike the floor.

I feel a presence near.

No menace, just people, who used to live here.

Old dolls, old primers.

The school smells of chalk.

Eyes seem to follow Did I hear someone talk?

Sepia photos of long gone hotels.

Victrola and records and musty old smells.

Sara Caruso photo

A coal stove and ice box, an ancient old table.

What tales could be told, If spirits were able...

Into the chapel I sit in a pew Stare at the ceiling, It’s a wonderful view.

It looks like a ship for whaling and fish No phones, no loran, put sailors at risk.

Visitors arrive, I turn on the lights.

Ghosts seem to vanish.

They do prefer nights!

—Kathleen Donnelly

LBI

THE OLD JACK-TAR The old Jack-Tar stands at the ocean’s edge His leathered hands clasped behind his back Past the dunes and the windblown sedge He watches the sailboats as they tack Playfully among the breeze-fed waves His teeth fast on a tarnished scrimshaw pipe Brown stains about its hand carved bowl And all those ships within his sight Remind him of his sailing days of old Gliding atop the breeze-fed waves On his head, a weathered oil skin hat No longer needed from where he now stood But there the battered Sou’wester sat Out of habit, and because it feels good As he watches the breeze-fed waves And how the waves crash as they come ashore And how the gulls cry as they circle above Yet through all the din of the surf ’s roar He feels at peace by the sea that he loves Just beyond the reach of the breeze-fed waves —Randy Rush

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The island is a place Where time stands still Echoes of the past Blend with whispers of the future Creating a beautiful melody Which is the present.

—Catherine Wiegand

RETURN TO THE SEA Five years ago you played on the beach, You collected seashells with sand in your hair.

We challenged the waves and laughed at the gulls.

You never complained about green flies or the hot sticky day.

Smiles drenched your face, so tan from the sun.

As I gaze at the photo of you with shovel and pail, I long to return to the sea to build castles in the sand.

—Lynn Reebe

Estelle Bayer photo

The Conch Shell Listen children and you will hear The story of the conch shell The story of the years…

Lift the hollow to your ear Press down firmly until the sounds come clear Now close your eyes and see the sights Take a deep breath and behold the flight Of soaring birds and flying fish Swimming schools and oars that swish Tales of icy Arctic blues, shipwrecks, treasures and crabs with shoes Warm tropic waters of turquoise greens Of Pirates and sailors, mermaids and dreams Count the stars Study the vault Lift your tongue and taste the salt!

Hear the drum beat of distant fleets The slap of flags and the crisp sails billowing sheets Kiss the foamy waves and feel the slippery skin Of stealthy creatures, tail and fin Shower beneath the white whale’s spout Splash and swim, cry and shout!

The ocean shell tells eons of stories Sand, sea and sky—all of earth’s glories…

Sophia. Guinness World Record Attempt, Ship Bottom, October 5, 2019. Cheryl Kirby photo

Shhh, just listen.

—Marie O'Hara

COVID VIRUS BLUES As I sit here all alone In quarantine with just my phone And computer to pass the time With perhaps a bit of wine Slowly do the facts come clear And realization brings a tear My toilet paper now is done There is no more for anyone On top of that my hair is grey No beauty salon open today No bar to go to or crowd to meet Just a quiet Island and empty streets This COVID virus is real bad news So I’m singing the bars, beauty and bathroom blues —Maggie O'Neill Artwork by Carol Freas

FLAGS OVER LBI As I walk along the beach today barefoot in the sand, I am filled with pride and honor to be part of this land.

For because of all the Veterans who sacrificed for me, I can enjoy the freedom of America wherever I may be.

The wars have left their many scars both inside and out, But they have also shown what our troops are all about.

The honor and respect for our country is truly utmost, It is felt in the cities, the country, and along the coast.

America is and always will be the home of the brave, Our focus is simple, it is our people we want to save.

From the destruction and threats that face us every day, For our Vets and Servicemen, we need to take time to pray.

We are blessed to have our flags wave in skies of blue, To those colors each and every one of us need to be true.

From the mountains to valleys, on land, sea, and sky, We salute each of our Soldiers and our flags over LBI. —Written and photographed by Diane Stulga

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A unique display of local artists and poets inspired by one another's works.

Precipice We step forth from rosy hues of childhood, tremble on the verge of Tomorrow.

Like spent clam shells, shared memories lie dormant at our feet.

Still we clasp our fingers tight around precious treasures of the unforgotten.

This joyful summer day will ever define close friendship between us, its blessings inhaled like salt air.

Poetry by Norma Paul • Interpretation Artwork: The Shell Seekers by Lois Mullen • Original

You Are What You Love (Based on the film adaptation) What is it I love? the ocean two blocks over when it is as flat and bottom-reflective as one of David Hockney's pool paintings when it is frothed all over by winds that can't make up their minds when the wave tops are frizzy with seaweed and especially when a pelican rides the scant inch of air between its feathers and the foam.

What I love most is how close I am to home.

Poetry by Jeanne Sutton • Original Artwork: Loving the Ocean by Joyce Ecochard • Interpretation Page 28 • Echoes of LBI

Simple Pleasures This morning, at the dawn of first light, when the moon refused to relinquish its place in the western sky, sun demanded the day.

Night clouds gave way to gold-rimmed shapes, and the heavens came alive with promise.

There have always been stories in the sky, angel soul-seekers, going about their business in flowing gowns with wisps of cirrus halos.

A huge bear trudging not far behind with arms out-stretched, chasing but never, ever catching, the horizontal Snoopy.

As a child I would watch as one by one forms emerged, lingered, stretched, dissolved or morphed their way into another life taking their secrets and magic with them.

Sandpiper Little bird feathered in a palette plucked from the local landscape wet sand dried grasses on dunes wisps of white from mounded sky skittering to and fro on angled legs ending in a trinity of toes scrawling temporary runes in the margin scrolled by the constant sea beaking tiny creatures from beach debris to fuel your frenetic pace suddenly still back to the morning star a purple pool of your other self spills to the west place of unseen nest possibility of rest a sand flea flicks the corner of your eye and you turn to resume your ordained communion with land and sea and sky Poetry by by Jeanne Harpster • Interpretation Artwork: Sandpiper by Lee Collins • Original

Now, as day moves west and birds wing their way to evening nests, back-lit clouds of sunset, without an angel in sight, drift slowly toward night.

Venus comes out of hiding, dark descends, and one by one stars break through the quiet.

Poetry by Nancy Kunz • Original Artwork: Peace by Donna Wightman • Interpretation

A love as faithful and steadfast as Ol’ Barney’s light guiding ships on the inlet of the north end of LBI. As far reaching as the southern shore of Beach Haven.

Sweeter than taffy at Lucille’s.

As stubborn as the Lindsay L trawling for scallops during a perfect storm.

As wide as Ship Bottom to the narrowest corners of Harvey Cedars.

Thankful as travelers lined down Route 72 gazing at the bay’s sunset over Manahawkin Bridge.

From Loveladies to Surf City, to Holgate to Brant Beach; a stalwart kind of love that stood the test of time.

With the caress of a lapping low-tide.

The glee of pulling in flounder and blues on the rod ‘n reel.

As sweet as a boy grandchild’s smile building castles in the sand.

These are the memories where you will find me.

Where we will always be together.

On the white sands of the shore, standing hand-in-hand.

—Alison Paul Klakowicz To Chippi, in loving memory of Joe

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LBI FLY features giant kites, including a full-size whale, fairytale creatures, flying scuba divers, sports, and so much more! Events throughout the weekend include the Mayor’s Cup Kite Battle with all six LBI mayors, a night fly at Barnegat Lighthouse, a kite garden installation by local school children, indoor kite flying demonstrations, children’s kite making, buggy kite rides, and a special candy drop.

This event is free to the public. LBI Shuttles will be running throughout the weekend. For more information visit lbifly.com

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Want to see your furry or scaly friend in Echoes of LBI? Send a high resolution image with name of your pet and the owner/photographer to echoesoflbi@gmail.com Limited space per issue.

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dopting a new pet is exciting for everyone. Providing an animal with a good home and watching it thrive is rewarding. And with supervision, caring for an animal can teach responsibility and compassion. The summer season sees many hermit crabs entering their forever homes. Despite their names, hermit crabs live in groups and need to socialize with other hermit crabs to stay happy and healthy.

When adopting, it is important that you adopt only healthy hermit crabs and that you adopt three or more at once.

In the wild, hermit crabs like the Purple Pincers (Coenobita clypeus) shown here, live in large groups called casts. Hermit crab casts have a social hierarchy or pecking order where larger crabs tend to feed first.

This social hierarchy can also be seen when a hermit crab finds an empty shell; a conga line of crabs in receding sizes forms behind it.

Once the leader changes shells, a chain reaction occurs, and the crabs change into the shells in front of them. This organization is possible thanks to the cast social hierarchy.

If you have had your existing hermit crabs for six months or longer, it is important to prepare them to meet the newest members of the family by gently dipping each crab into a solution made of one-half gallon of chlorine-free bottled water and a half capsule of aquatic tetracycline (250 mg). This will act as a barrier and prevent the spread of bacteria from the old crabs to the new crabs.

When introducing a new crab to your hermit crab family, it is important to do it gradually. Keep them separated for about a week to allow the new crab time to adjust to his new surroundings. The best time to place them together is the daytime, after the main crab group has eaten so there is no food competition. Listen for chirping and communication between crabs. If it escalates, remove the new crab to give everyone time to calm down, and try again the next day. They will eventually get used to each other. Once hermit crabs become friends, they will often lay next to each other, and feed together.

Like most humans, friends and family are an important part of a hermit crab’s life and necessary for a happy, healthy crustacean. —Sara Caruso

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aving a furry friend, especially during hard times, can help keep a mind occupied and happy. Adding a new member to your family, however, comes with many responsibilities. Cleaning up after your new furbaby is a big part of a new pet owner's life — so here are some tips. Dryer sheets can pick up loose pet hair on fabric and furniture. Baking soda is a safe, chemical free way to remove urine from carpet. Sprinkle some baking soda over the spot and let sit for twenty minutes, then vacuum to remove both stain and scent. Cat scratches on the wood furniture can be hidden by rubbing them with a walnut. The oils will seep into the wood and cover up small scratches. Hopefully, these tips will help you as your new family member gets acquainted with his or her new home.

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ast year I wrote an article for Echoes of LBI Magazine about Betty Sullivan and her journey to return a gold Maltese cross necklace she had found while metal detecting on LBI to Joe, the New York City firefighter who had lost it.

My husband, Vic, knew how inspired I was by Betty’s stories about her hobby and for Christmas he surprised me with a special gift — a metal detector. Vic even wrapped my gift in special paper he created using the title from my story about Betty.

Shortly after New Year’s Day, Vic and I headed to the beach to try out my exciting new gift. Making our way down the beach, we discovered two massive pieces of driftwood the tide had left on the sand. It looked like a good spot for metal detecting, and I began searching for treasure in the sand around the driftwood. In just a few minutes I heard a ping from my metal detector. After digging through the sand, I discovered a 2000 Sacagawea dollar coin. For my first time out, it was a rare and amazing find. I also found two old rusty bolts. All in all, it was a great day!

I am continuing to pursue my new hobby of metal detecting and things are picking up in 2020. I cannot wait to discover more buried treasure along the way. —Diane Stulga. Photographed by Vic Stulga

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hroughout the winter of 2019, my husband, Vic, and I continued our metal detecting. Venturing out on many cold but sunny days we found a good amount of lost pocket change and couple of old rusted out bolts. Though, our luck was about to go from loose change to two LBI magical moments.

we just stared at our find. Finally, I looked into Vic’s eyes and said “Another LBI magical moment.”

One day in January as Vic and I combed the beach I got a ping from my metal detector.

We dug and sifted through the sand and were very surprised to discover the handle of an old silver spoon. We were so happy with our new find and continued to carefully search that entire area of the beach. We didn’t find anything else.

Vic and I frequently talk about those two magical moments of finding both pieces of this old spoon on an LBI beach. We wonder about its history.

Is it from a shipwreck? Or perhaps, it was owned long ago by an LBI family and lost during a storm. Was it dug up and broken by the heavy equipment used during beach replenishment? It’s unlikely that we will ever know. We have started to research the markings on the back of the spoon and are interested to see what we will find out about it.

The next day, still pumped with adrenaline we returned to the same beach. Once again, we searched within five feet of the original area as the day before. Suddenly, we got a ping. As we dug and sifted through the sand — we found another treasure — the other half of the silver spoon! Speechless,

When we got home, we put the two halves of the broken spoon together. They were a perfect match! It was almost unbelievable.

In the meanwhile, the mystery continues as do the LBI magical moments. —Written and photographed by Diane Stulga

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ore than one thousand locals and visitors made the rounds during the 2019 Garden Club of Long Beach Island Holiday Tour of Homes.

If you had your druthers, which would it be? Beach or Bay? Sunrise or sunset? Sit high up in the dunes? Or snug beside the runabout by your dock on the bay?

This past holiday season, dwellers on LBI could consider both, and even one in-between, thanks to the generosity of neighbors who open their homes for our holiday inspiration. Chosen from thirty-five entries, five homes were selected — two by the beach, two by the bay, and one in the middle.

Now in its fifth-fourth year, the Garden Club of Long Beach Island Holiday Tour of Homes is an event full of inspiring ideas and little flourishes, grand rooms and cozy spaces, a madly popular and well-attended two-day get-together blending

Beach Comfort • Beach Haven Traditional greenery and classic blooms combine in a refreshing way lend LBI style to a Nantucket inspired house. House Decorating Chair, Dianne Pleyn. Co-chairs, Jeanne Sivori and Cindy McGrath.

the design choices of the homeowners with holiday décor and floral designs created by members of the Garden Club.

Regretfully, the 2020 Holiday Tour of Homes scheduled for December 10th has been canceled due to the impact of COVID-19. “We’ve had successful tours for fifty-four years,” said Garden Club President, Diane Barbieri.

“The 2019 holiday tour raised enough money for us to continue our support of local environment initiatives, to provide scholarships for graduating high school seniors who are pursuing environmental and conservation studies, and to support our youth and senior services.” The Garden Club of LBI looks forward to the 2021 Holiday Tour of Homes. For future events and to view the Garden Club of Long Beach Island – June 2020 Virtual Garden Tour, please see thegardencluboflbi.com.

—Andrew Flack

Industrial Chic • Brant Beach Nontraditional florals and classic greenery pair beautifully with the bold colors and unexpected angles of this unique home. House Decorating Chairs, Bonnie Korbeil and Cathy Sutton.

Sea Heart • Loveladies The delicate shells of razor clams and iridescent mussel shells gathered from the beaches of LBI were fashioned by hand into organically elegant votive holders and flowers. Diane Barbieri, president, Garden Club of Long Beach Island.

Sea Heart • Loveladies Chinoiserie in blue and white, beach-found elements and a bounty of fresh holiday greenery impart a look of polished natural luxury with a coastal sense of place. House Decorating Chairs, Diane Barbieri and Mary Stevens.

All About the View • Loveladies The panache of a contrasting nautical palette creates an unforgettable Christmas tree that leans into the relaxed elegance of a house with unrivaled views. House Decorating Chairs, Lois Perry and Bev Reitinger.

Sunday Mornings • Beach Haven The understated elegance of natural greenery and fairy lights reflect the charm of this home’s lowcountry décor. House Decorating Chairs, Judie Alloway, Debbie McWilliams, and Michele Farias.

—Susan Spicer-McGarry. Photography by Andrew Flack

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his summer will be very different, but we can still have fun and look our best. Whether you are splashing in the surf, walking on the beach, or hanging out at home, one thing’s for sure — Summer days are the best days.

The only thing that can make a summer day even better is the perfect outfit. And when it comes to pulling together that perfect outfit, in addition to the basics, like a pair of frayed bottom jeans and a great summer sweater, we have a few recommendations to help sculpt your style interest for summer 2020.

The soft bucket hat and tie-dye making the biggest impact for summer.

The pastels we saw this spring are carrying over into summer too. We are seeing pastels everywhere, in tops and bottoms, swimsuits, and tie-dye as well.

The styles from the early 2000s are once again having a huge influence on fashion for 2020.

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Bucket hats have been around for a long time. Updated for summer 2020 in soft fabrics in pastels and florals or even crocheted, soft bucket hats pair great with almost anything.

Basket bags are popular again this summer.

Tropical and casual, they go with everything.

This summer, it’s not just a little bit of tiedye — it’s entire outfits in tie-dyed pastels.

Add your personal touch with accessories to give a tie-dye outfit a different look.

Pair it with a soft bucket hat and colorful Converse for casual. Or go fancy with sandals and a butterfly necklace.

You can get super creative with a trendy clear bag. From backpacks to beach totes to fancy purses, clear bags come in many colors and are fun. We can see why they are so popular.

To us, the perfect outfit is comfortable and always makes you feel great. With so many great fashion trends for summer 2020; the choices are endless! —Jordyn, Sophia, and Mia

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ife as we know it has changed in the past months. We are at home now more than ever before. And while we spend more time there — we can take solace in the familiar — good times past, shared experiences with loved ones, everyday life right outside our doorstep and inside the comfort of our living room.

Inspiration can be drawn from the simple things that bring us contentment and happiness without great expense, energy, and effort. An invigorating morning swim in the pool, an evening retreat beside the outdoor fire pit or a relaxing soak in the therapeutic waters of the hot tub — daily activities that provide comfort and restoration. Likewise, satisfaction from a good book read in the comfort of an alfresco room or birdwatching from the concealed vantage of a screened-in porch are equally enriching activities that can be enjoyed without leaving home.

Slowing down the pace of life with a stroll through the garden, noting the emergence of new flower blooms and the return of butterflies and seasonal birdlife, evokes vivid memories of good times past and reminds us of the hope for renewal and rebirth. Old-fashion plants from our childhood are particularly uplifting, providing both a sense of stability along with a reminder of the endless endurance of the natural environment. Shrubs like sun loving mop-head hydrangeas with their large purple and pink summertime orbs and late summer blooming Rose of Sharon — so appealing to hummingbirds and butterflies — conjure up thoughts of the good ole days and simpler times.

Sweet-scented plants further enhance the appeal of these heirloom favorites to channel our thoughts to wonderful times with family and friends. The inviting smell of late-spring blooming lilacs or the universally appealing fragrance of hybrid tea and English roses lull us with memories of grandma’s garden — a further reminder of times past. Finally, the classic charm of summer-blooming perennials like Shasta daisies and Blackeyed Susans reassure us of the enduring cycle of life.

As we wait for the return of normalcy and the hopes of a brighter future ahead, let us be thankful for and find pleasure in the simple things in life already present in our home and on our property. Let us be safe and vigilant for the immediate future and find reassurance in the abilities of science and nature to heal and renew our environment and our lives.

For more information along with the latest service updates for Reynolds Landscaping, please visit our website at reynoldslandscaping.com. For inspirational gift ideas and to peruse our collection of merchandise for your home and garden, we invite you to shop on-line at reynoldsgardenshop.com. We wish you good health during these unprecedented times. And with a spirit of hope for a speedy and lasting recovery, we look forward to seeing you soon. —Elaine Sisko, Reynolds Landscaping. Photography: Copyright John Martinelli Photography

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onarch butterflies have always been a favorite of mine.

They are beautiful creatures with a somewhat magical and mystical life-cycle story.

Many years ago, while relaxing in our Brant Beach backyard, Ted and I were treated to a spectacular display. Just before sunset a trail of monarch butterflies flew in and settled on a 25-foot long stand of Japanese Black Pines at the western end of our property.

As we watched, the trail became a swarm, and before long the trees were covered with countless monarchs that had chosen to roost overnight in this group of trees. Adorned by the colorful beauties, the trees were gorgeous. With each flutter of every monarch wing the sight changed like a kaleidoscope.

Unfortunately, the event occurred before the advent of cell phones which could have recorded and preserved every detail. But the memory is still vivid.

Some years later, the Garden Club of LBI sponsored an enlightening program about Monarch butterflies that suggested

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ways residents could help raise the declining numbers of these beauties.

Later, while shopping I saw a pot of a variety of milkweed plants and instructions on how to encourage butterflies to multiply.

Inspired to do what we could, Ted and I planted the sunny side of our yard with milkweed and other flowers that attract butterflies.

We refrained from using insecticides of any kind and waited for the butterflies to find us.

In 2018, we released fifteen beautiful Monarch butterflies. Each release is exciting, and even more so, if children are involved. Even more butterflies found our garden an attractive place to lay their eggs in 2019. By summer’s end, we had released more than ninetyfive Monarchs into the southbound population.

To protect them from predators, we learned how to raise the butterflies indoors. Watching every step of the transformation from egg to caterpillar, to chrysalis to butterfly is yet another validation of our wonderful world. —Carol Kish. Photography by Anthony Pitale

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network. The closer your device — laptop, PC, smart phone, or tablet — is to that point, the stronger the signal is, and the better your connection and download speeds. And the farther away you are from that point, the weaker the signal is.

It seems like almost everything we use is connected to the Internet.

We work and communicate on our computers. Our security systems are online. Even our music services are online. Like our phones today, most of these devices are connected wirelessly.

Hardly anything is tethered to a wall anymore.

This is where mesh access points can help. They are unobtrusive devices installed throughout your home to spread out the signal from your network more evenly. Your unintended home schoolers can download digital library books in their rooms or at the kitchen table, while you can be ensconced in your office having a video chat with your co-workers. Your SONOS system can be playing throughout the house, while your Clare security camera system lets you see the delivery service pull up, and your Ring doorbell will allow you to talk to them without answering the door. It’s all on one network with one password, and no one loses signal.

ell, it’s a good thing they invented the Internet before we had this pandemic! Without it, our worlds would have really come to a standstill. Fortunately, we’re still able to stay in touch with family and friends through email and video chats. Groceries and home goods get delivered to our doorsteps. And we can access digital books and magazines and films, as well as online courses for free from the library.

If you and your family are all spending more time at home — your company has you working remotely, and/or your children have been distance learning — you might be experiencing lower and spotty Internet reception for downloads. If everyone is huddled in one room with their laptops trying to get the best reception by being close to the modem, there is a solution for you: wireless mesh access points.

First, though, you will need to make sure you are getting the level of Internet speeds you need from your Internet Service Provider (ISP), e.g. Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, Dish Network, et al. The connection to the Internet is made from their service points to your modem. Some people also call that their router. That is where the Internet becomes your Wi-Fi — wireless — network, and the signal is broadcast out into your home. Each device in your home that wants to be connected to the Internet needs to log in to that Page 56 • Echoes of LBI

We don’t know what will happen after the summer. Will schools reopen, or will students still be learning from home? Are offices going to be deserted in favor of working from home? How long will visiting family and friends be a virtual activity? Until this pandemic is over, will armchair travel have to suffice for adventurers who want to see other lands? None of us can know.

The Internet and Wi-Fi networks are intrinsically incorporated into our lives and the things we do, and they have allowed us to live more comfortably while in relative isolation. Island Audio Video can help you prepare your home now by making sure your Internet and Wi-Fi networks are set up to meet your future needs. —Linda H. Feaster

Providing architecture and interior design on LBI requires constant adaptation and innovation.

Mike Pagnotta explores the evolution of costal home design.

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n Long Beach Island it’s not all that rare to see a thirty-year old home razed and replaced by a new one, popping up with all of today’s technological advances, lifestyle conveniences, and creature-comfort upgrades. Like it or not, it’s the way of the world. And for those involved in the process, it’s an exciting fact of life.

Local architects are often privileged to participate in this work, and the best ones do their homework about which innovations are in the air and what products will deliver the highest style and greatest durability.

Mike Pagnotta, an LBI leader in this field, has been providing custom home design since 1987 and has seen the ebb and flow of trends come and go. For instance, he’ll tell you that interior finishes in the 1990s would have most likely featured pickled oak cabinets, forgettable berber carpeting, Page 58 • Echoes of LBI

and the famously hard-to-clean Corian counter tops. But no more.

As he keeps up with today’s everchanging environment, Mike is able to offer his clients a staggering assortment of innovations, for both inside and outside the home, tailored for new family configurations and lifestyles not imaginable thirty years ago.

“The home’s interior is where the greatest changes are occurring,” Mike says. “Beach houses have evolved since the early days of the fishing shack and seaside bungalow. Today’s designs need to be more flexible and adaptive to fit the lifestyles of their owners, since these homes are often the tangible proof of a dream come true.”

For examples of his architectural approach, Mike takes us on a virtual tour of this new world of beach house design.

INTERIORS • The creative use of space remains a design priority. Builtin custom shelving, under-stair storage, wet bars, window seating, and especially bunk beds have all become wildly popular.

• Bathrooms are becoming more

elaborate, featuring an incredible selection of internationally sourced tiles and materials, as well as custom showers with frameless glass doors.

• The kitchen has been en-

hanced as the central hub of a beach home where family and friends like to gather. Owners are finding when hosting large groups, it’s often easier to stay-in and entertain than going out for a reservation. And the appliances now rival what you’ll find at your favorite local restaurants.

• Ceilings with recessed, indirect

lighting add another dramatic dimension. Exposed wooden trusses in an open vaulted ceiling offer soaring visual excitement. And when paired with perimeter LED lighting — get ready for post-sunset drama!

• Wall surfaces have also been upgraded

to shiplap, v-groove, or library paneling, replacing the knotty pine so often found in Cape Cods from the 1950s.

• While wood floors at the beach have

always been popular for their ease of care, wide-plank engineered products — which will not warp or cup and are resistant to sand and moisture — are even better.

• COVID-19 has also resulted in design

changes—home offices have become more important and are essential additions to the new home program.

• Utility rooms, once the least favorite

place in a home, have enjoyed a resurgent in popularity with creative storage solutions and transitional spaces from the beach to the home’s interior.

• And last, but not least, the elevator has

become nearly essential in this new age of reverse-living, where the primary gathering spaces are found on the uppermost floors.

EXTERIORS • Low-maintenance Nu-Cedar is a cellular PVC product that looks just like cedar shingles, but without the staining or fading.

• Cultured stone

and brick veneers are used handsomely inside and out.

• Solid PVC trim with stainless steel

fasteners has replaced painted cedar trim and moisture-concealing, coil-wrapped pine fasciae, windows, and door trim.

• Fiberglass columns have replaced

wooden columns with their propensity to decay.

• Vinyl guardrails now come in a

multitude of colors, spindle styles, and accents.

• Glass panels and cable rails take the place of horizontal pipe column guardrails.

• Window improvements provide better energy efficiencies and vinyl cladding now comes in any number of colors.

• Roof decks are accessed from inside the home via fiberglass steps. Gone are the slippery and awkward exterior spiral stairs.

• Even garage doors — from carriage

house style to contemporary overhead versions with translucent panels — have been upgraded to become works of art.

“Times change, tides change, and trends do, too,” Mike says. “Since opening Michael Pagnotta Architectural and Interior Design on LBI in 1990, we’ve been able to stay at the forefront of beach home design with constant adaptation and innovation.

Today is no different, as it remains our formula for success.” —Andrew Flack.

Photography by Mike Pagnotta

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o be a successful business woman, mother and wife requires hard work, dedication, talent, integrity, and superior work-life integration.

For Laura Hutchison, owner of Hutchison Fiberglass Pools & Spas in Brant Beach, these attributes are among the many that she strives to teach her daughters through example. “I want to show my daughters that strong women can be good mothers, and successful CEOs,” said Laura. “I tell my daughters women no longer have to choose between career and family.

Today, women can be both.”

In recognition of her professional excellence, Laura was recently nominated to represent New Jersey as one of the best business women in the country and unanimously selected for inclusion in the Trademark Women of Distinction 2020 Honors Edition.

In addition, Laura’s company, Hutchison Fiberglass Pools, received the Viking Pools 2019 Gold Sales Award.

Congratulations Laura!

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he ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused major changes in our lives. We’re staying home, practicing social distancing, and postponing family gatherings. Many people are working from home. Schools are closed, leaving parents and grandparents with the responsibility of filling their children’s days with fun and educational activities. Many of the places we routinely go, like shops and restaurants, have temporarily closed their doors. These new challenges are inspiring everyone to find new ways of doing the things we're accustomed to simply going out and doing. We’re making greater use of the internet for online shopping, takeout, education, entertainment — and for library services.

Hoopla provides on-demand e-books, audio books, and streaming music, movies, and videos. Thousands of films are available from the streaming library at Kanopy, including a wealth of videos from The Great Courses catalog. And for crafters and makers, Creativebug provides online videos of arts and crafts workshops and techniques for all ages.

The Ocean County Library has long been a library-without-walls.

Their website (theoceancountylibrary.org) has a sophisticated wealth of resources available to their customers of all ages. Take a few minutes — or an hour or two — to tour the OCL website.

Here are some of the amazing digital resources that you will find there.

Children and teens home from school can keep the learning going by checking out Just for Kids and Teen Zone. There they will find age-appropriate e-books, audiobooks, and magazines, as well as homeschooling resources, games and videos that are as entertaining as they are educational. TumbleBook Library is a collection of animated talking books from the website. There’s even homework help and tutoring from Brainfuse HelpNow. Facts on File features modules on American and world history, geography, culture, and science, with primary sources, such as the Declaration of Independence, diary entries, the Executive Summary of the 9/11 Commission Report, and more, as well as maps and charts, diagrams, experiments and timelines. Facts on File also includes curriculum resources and materials for teachers and parents.

While libraries specialize in age groups — youth, young adult, and adult services — many of the digital resources provide onestop shopping for all ages, with the convenience of sorting the information into age-appropriate versions. For instance, Access Video on Demand provides informative videos on thousands of topics from around the globe for teens and adults, while Access Video Just for Kids provides streaming videos for children from preschool to grade five. OverDrive, a digital library, is available through the downloadable Libby app, and provides thousands of fiction and nonfiction books for school assignments and leisure reading for children, teens, and adults.

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Databases, like EBSCOhost, Proquest, America’s News Magazines, and more provide instant access to not just articles, but whole issues of thousands of magazines and newspapers, including Consumer Reports, The Atlantic, and The New Yorker for children, teens, and adults.

LearningExpress Library is a one-stop database for math, science, language arts, and social studies. There are learning centers for everyone: elementary school, middle school, high school, and college, as well as an adult core skills section that includes how to

become a U.S. citizen in both English and Spanish. Video courses for computer skills let you learn computer and internet basics, Microsoft, and Adobe programs and more at your own pace. And for high school and college students, LearningExpress Library features a wide variety of college and graduate school admission test preparation and practice tests.

If you’ve ever wanted to learn about finance, study history or world religions, get help learning a computer program or just brush up on your grammar, now is the time to take advantage of your new-found free time by creating a personal account with Universal Class. From business to health and medicine, Do It Yourself to personal development, real estate to social work, and many more categories, there are more than 500 non-college credit, continuing education courses to choose from, all taught by real instructors.

There are many more digital resources available online for FREE from the Ocean County Library. All you need is an internet connection and an Ocean County Library card. How

does one obtain a card while the library system is temporarily closed? Free, temporary — 60 day — digital library cards are being issued online. For details and an online application, go to theoceancountylibrary.org, and click the Digital Library Resources box at the upper left part of the page.

Once you have your card, or if you already are a customer of the Ocean County Library, you have access to the Digital Concierge Service where you can get help choosing a book, and answers to other questions.

In challenging times and all the time, the Ocean County Library is always here for you. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s even more essential. Visit us online. Explore the website and be inspired. Play and learn with your children. Learn a new hobby or a new language.

Watch a film, or read a book that’s outside your comfort zone. Make this challenging time one of opportunity.

—Linda H. Feaster, Branch Manager, Ocean County Library, Long Beach Island and Program Chairman Friends of the Island Library

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here is nothing more beautiful than the sea. This is my first thought every time I set foot on a new shore. In late September of 2019 I sailed on my first boat delivery, working as a mate for my friend Captain Kayla Grant. We met a few years ago in Key West while working as crew for a sailing tourism company.

Having both eschewed the corporate world for a life of adventure, she from accounting and I from insurance, we found much in common.

Now a captain, Kayla offered me the opportunity to work with her on a short trip for a nautical delivery company. I jumped at the chance to work on the water again and gain more sailing experience.

We took a brand new thirty foot Beneteau Oceanis from Norwalk, Connecticut to Annapolis, Maryland. During the three day voyage we hugged the coastline, staying in the shipping channels by night.

Seeing the twinkling lights of the northeastern shore from the deck of a sailboat is an experience I’ll never forget. My first night on watch was intense. Each moment felt like the first and the last. As I became accustomed to using the navigation system, the channel markers began to feel like friends lighting our way. The bite of the wind, the glowing moon, the rolling sea; you are connected to the elements in a way that is not possible on land. As Kayla said, sailing is the

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ultimate freedom. A former accountant in the banking industry, she described it in economic terms, “I love having a multitude of factors to assess and react to in a very small amount of time. There are so many things that have to be considered; you can’t just go from Point A to Point B. At the macro level you have your overall route, the data you get from the GPS, the channels, etcetera. On the micro level you have to consider the wind, the current, the direction of the waves, the specifics of your boat. Then you must react instantaneously to it all.”

That may sound intimidating and it can certainly be hard to leave familiar land, especially the first time. For both of us, as well as many people in the nautical industry, that act is a compulsion. As a freelance artist and writer, I am always seeking out new experiences to inspire my creations. Seeing the Jersey Shore by night from the deck of a sailboat made me all the more excited to explore my new home. About a month before our passage, I had moved to Mystic, New Jersey, situated barely a half an hour from Long Beach Island.

Recalling the lighthouses that Kayla and I passed during our trip, I made a sojourn to the Barnegat Lighthouse one blustery afternoon in December. The red and white tower soared over the inlet while clouds decorated a sandy dune landscape dotted by sea birds in flight. The panorama of LBI is full of opportunities for tranquil reflection. From both land and sea, I appreciate the northeastern coast now more than ever. —Written and photographed by Tara Coughlin

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B

eachcombers are good at finding things in the sand that others miss. Whether it be tiny shells or hidden fossils, they somehow end up always coming home with their pockets filled. One of the rarest finds for a sea glass loving beachcomber to come across is also one of the smallest.

Glass beads have a long history in human culture and traditions.

Beads have been made from glass for more than 5000 years.

Evidence of glass bead making has been found at sites dating back to 2340 B.C.E. in Mesopotamia. Known as core-forming, a metal mandrel with a piece of glass attached was gradually heated, causing the molten piece of glass to wrap around the mandrel, forming the bead. Early beads were considered valuable and sacred.

They are often found in burial tombs and at grave sites.

Bead making in Venice dates to the 13th century when glassmakers began replicating gem-like glass beads from Asia. Over the years, Venetian glassmakers perfected the art of making glass beads.

For a time, Venetian glass beads were used as a form of currency in some parts of the world. As demand increased, tons of glass beads were shipped far and wide. Occasionally, glass beads were even used as ship’s ballast. Many of the exported Venetian glass bead were the style of millefiori, or thousand flowers. Millefiori beads have been found washed up on beaches throughout the world. It is believed that some beach found glass beads were lost cargo from ships that wrecked close to shore.

Not all beach found Venetian and millefiori glass beads were lost at sea, as most of these same types of glass beads have been

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in continuous use for centuries and are still in use today. Many beads found at the beach are from jewelry. In the Victorian era, along with glass buttons, glass beads became incredibly popular.

Like many factories during wartime, Venetian, Murano, and other European glassmakers lost most of their workers to the front lines. As such, women were recruited to work in the factories.

Women kept the beads flowing well after the 1930s; often they simultaneously took care of their children while blowing glass.

Hundreds of women worked in thirty factories spread across Europe.

Another source of sea glass beads is discarded fishing line. Fishing beads are used by fishermen for various reasons. One is to protect the knots from the sharp edges of lead weights. Another reason is that certain colors can attract fish. Red glass beads were used to mimic blood from injured prey. Additionally, the sound of glass beads clicking together can also sound like struggling prey.

Today’s fishing beads are made of plastic and do not make noise underwater. It is still possible to find glass beads in old clumps of fishing line that wash ashore. But beware of hooks and take care to remove old fishing line from the beach and dispose of it properly.

Fishing line left on the beach can tangle and kill sea life.

It may seem impossible to find something so small as a bead on the beach. And though sea glass beads are rare, they do wash up.

These tiny jewels roll around in the surf and go unnoticed by many people. So, search along the strand line among the shells and stones; perhaps give that washed up fishing line a second look. Sea glass beads are a part of history and a truly amazing find.

—Written and photographed by Sara Caruso

New from LBI artist Carol Freas

Personalized original watercolor with genuine LBI sea glass Your one-of-a-kind watercolor will be painted just for you with your initials and real sea glass in the color of your choice. A great gift for sea glass loving couple. $90 plus tax – includes white mat and 8” x 10” black or white frame and one piece of genuine LBI sea glass in your choice of green, white, or brown. Rare blue is available for an additional $5. For more information, contact Carol Freas at freasart@aol.com. Pick up your order at Things A Drift in three weeks.

W

hen many people think of snakes, they envision venomous deceptive monsters. Unfortunately, this long held misconception has made snakes a target of humanity’s wrath throughout the ages. As a result, through fear or ignorance, snakes are often mindlessly destroyed. Despite their slithery, scaly appearance and unfounded reputation — snakes have a very important place in the ecosystem. By consuming pests that damage homes and gardens, they help to maintain the balance in nature. One local species of snake is doing its part to keep some of the worst pests at bay.

The eastern garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis), a subspecies of the common garter snake, is native to the eastern United States. They are found throughout New Jersey in a wide variety of habitats which frequently include our Long Beach Island yards and gardens. Eastern garter snakes are small, generally ranging from 18 to 30 inches long. Their body color may vary from green to brown with splotchy or checkered markings along the sides, and typically has three yellowish longitudinal stripes — one down the center of the back and one on each side of the body.

Like many snakes, the eastern garter snake has garnered an unfair reputation despite being an important form of natural pest control.

Destructive small rodents like mice and moles, and plant damaging pests like slugs, snails, crickets, and beetles make up the primary diet of the eastern garter snake. Some experts believe garter snakes may also dine on termites and spiders. Snakes themselves are an all-important food source for owls, hawks,

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ospreys, and other birds of prey, as well as herons, turtles, raccoons, and otters.

In early spring, eastern garter snakes are frequently seen sunning themselves on rocks or in the street after emerging from brumation – a deep sleep induced by winter temperatures.

During their spring mating season garter snakes are known to form mating balls comprised of multiple writhing snakes. These mass matings are mostly made up of males searching out a female to pair with. Garter snakes are ovoviviparous as they give birth to live young instead of laying eggs.

A female snake can have a litter of three to eighty babies.

Unlike vipers, Eastern garter snakes do not have fangs.

Instead they have very tiny teeth that are useful for grasping and holding onto slippery prey. Garter snakes produce a mild neurotoxin that aids in the process of swallowing live prey whole by inducing paralysis.

However, it is not dangerous to humans.

Eastern garter snakes are shy and generally flee upon encountering people or predators. But like any wild creature, if handled, the garter snake may bite to escape. Though startling and somewhat abrasive to the skin, their bite is harmless.

Like all creatures, eastern garter snakes have a vital role in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. They are beneficial to our gardens and are an important part of the wildlife of LBI. They deserve our protection and our respect. —Written and photographed by Sara Caruso

W

hile tending your garden you may come across a bright yellow strange visitor with what appear to be large eyes staring back at you. At first glance, you may think a child has left a toy in your yard.

But in fact, this cute fellow is a Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar.

The unusual markings of the Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillars (Papilio troilus) are useful against potential predators. When very young, the caterpillars or larvae resemble bird droppings and can release a potent stench which predators find unappealing. While in the larvae stage, the caterpillars feed on Spicebush leaves, milkweed, honeysuckle, and thistles. During daylight hours, the caterpillars spend most of their time wrapped in a leaf for protection and come out at night to eat.

As the larvae get closer to pupating, the process of metamorphosing into a butterfly, they become bright green and yellow, and their thorax becomes enlarged to resemble the head of a tiny snake. The larvae search for the perfect leaf to wrap themselves in and begin metamorphosis. The entire life cycle from egg to adult butterfly can take about a month.

Adult Spicebush Swallowtail butterflies are among the largest butterflies in North America, with a wing span ranging from 3.5 to 4.5 inches. Their large black wings are primarily black with a blueish green to blue sheen with white and orange spots along

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the outside edges. It is believed the dark color helps the butterflies thermoregulate, allowing them to feed and breed at lower temperatures than other species of butterflies. Depending on predators and the availability of food, the lifespan of an adult Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly is anywhere from two days to two weeks.

As adults, Spicebush Swallowtail butterflies are important pollinators for a wide variety of North American plants. So, if you come across one of these funny looking caterpillars in your yard, offer it a leaf and you may have a beautiful butterfly in your garden in no time. —Sara Caruso. Photography by Jerry Milano

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aptain Bill Wasilewski smiles as he reflects on his life at sea, “I started working on commercial fishing boats out of Barnegat Light when I was 13 years-old.

In the ‘80s, I worked on shrimp boats in the Gulf of Mexico, and even did some offshore drilling. I’ve been a captain for more than thirty-seven years.”

In 1973, after years of vacationing on LBI, Bill’s parents, Stanley and Marilyn, relocated their family from Rutherford, New Jersey to Barnegat Light. “I loved it,” said Bill. “I spent my days crabbing and fishing.” Living on LBI also brought opportunities to work on commercial fishing vessels and soon his weekends, holidays, and summers were spent at sea.

By age 15, he was working on Captain Larson’s Miss Barnegat Light, a local commercial fishing boat, when they encountered bad weather 100 miles offshore. “We were forced to dock in Montauk, Long Island for ten days to ride out the storm,” said Bill. “My mom was frantic.” Once safely home, Bill returned to school at Southern Regional High after a ten-day absence. He recalls being greeted by his favorite teacher, Mr. Waters. “He handed me a huge pile of makeup work and said with a big smile, ‘Welcome home Popeye’.”

Bill obtained his U.S. Coast Guard License in 1980. As an independent commercial fisherman, Bill has been running his boat, William & Lauren, out of Barnegat Light since 1990. No two trips are the same and that’s what Bill loves the most.

Over the years, Bill has dragged up more than scallops in his nets. Among the more interesting things brought onboard were prehistoric walrus skulls, cannonballs, and old liquor bottles that may be from the days of rumrunning. Some of his historic finds were donated to the Smithsonian Institute.

Bill has weathered many a bad storm which he attributes to good vessel maintenance, a lot of luck, and a crew that works together.

Still the unexpected sometimes occurs. Once while dredging in stormy weather, the nets got hung up and had to be cut to break free. Another time, the ropes got caught up in the prop of William & Lauren and the Coast Guard had to tow her in.

Conservation regulations to rebuild scallop stocks have changed scalloping since Bill’s early days. Bill believes these measures are the best way to ensure the future of scalloping. In the old days, crews were larger, up to twelve men. Today, crews are limited to seven members. Because some zones are now off limits, all trips are monitored via satellite 365 days a year by The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, and every boat has an observer on board twice a year. In addition, dredging nets have larger holes to allow the baby scallops to slip through to continue to grow.

Each scalloping trip is about 400 miles out. Due to warmer ocean temperatures scallop boats travel further north. The length of the average trip is seven days: two days of travel and five days of scalloping. Catches can be up to 40,000 pounds per day. To ensure freshness, scallops are processed onboard the boat at sea. As soon as the scallops are hauled onboard, the crew of William & Lauren

immediately begins to process them. The collected catch is sorted; the scallops are manually shucked, washed, bagged, packed in ice, and put in cold storage. An ice machine is onboard as is a backup generator in case of an emergency. Processing scallops is hard work.

After shucking, the crew’s hands are sore and swollen. A standard joke among the crew is that they won’t be wearing button-down shirts for quite a while.

Back at the docks the scallops are sold to a wholesaler in New Bedford, Massachusetts at the Buyers and Sellers Exchange (BASE) Seafood Auction.

Bill loves to be at sea. And he loves to be at home with his wife, Gwen, and their three children, William, Lauren, and Daniel. He is thankful that Gwen is the captain of their home and his anchor. Being a fisherman’s wife isn’t always easy. Bill credits Gwen with helping him to pursue his boyhood dream of being a commercial fisherman.

Life at sea is different from life on dry land. According to Bill, occasionally one difference becomes apparent when sitting down to dinner with his family after a trip. He laughs as he recalls Gwen’s reaction when he suddenly stops eating and grabs his dinner plate.

Living a life at sea, has conditioned Bill to hold onto his plate to prevent it from sliding off the table onto the floor. Welcome Home, Popeye the Scallop Man. —Diane Stulga. Photography courtesy of John Kauterman

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UPDATE • REMODELING OF THE DUTCHMAN’S BRAUHAUS RESTAURANT

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n the past months, The Dutchman’s Brauhaus Restaurant has been cut into sections, rolled across the parking lot on steel beams, and the ancient pilings beneath the building, docks and substructures pulled. The next phase of the project is currently underway — the driving of new piles.

In June, the project entered the foundation phase with the delivery and erection on site of a 140-foot boom crane. With attention toward preventing the disturbance of the bay during whitefish and shellfish spawning season, 65-foot hollow steel alloy piles are being driven into the bay floor. The depth to which the piles are driven is determined by resistances measured by on-site engineers using special instrumentation attached to the piles during the driving process.

In keeping with the project’s commitment to the welfare Barnegat Bay, the steel alloy piles have been designed, manufactured, and finished specifically to prevent saltwater corrosion and water intrusion over time.

To further ensure resistance to the effects of saltwater, a marine grade finish was applied that is environmentally friendly to biological life in the waters of the bay. Once in place the piles will be cut off at a height exceeding current FEMA flood elevation, filled with concrete, and embedded with structural rebar to eventually support the new concrete slab where the original Dutchman’s building will rest.

In the interim, the current bulkheads will be replaced with a vinyl bulkhead system. Unlike conventional wood bulkheads, the new system is impervious to insect infestation and environmentally friendly to marine life.

“Right now, as we are setting the steel piles, we have a boat coming from Guyana bringing seventy-five Greenheart piles,” said project designer and manager, Hal Banker. “Greenheart piles were selected for their extreme strength, long-term durability, and unique natural insectresistant properties.” Greenheart piles are natural wood. They are not chemically treated and are environmentally friendly. These piles will be set landside to support the portion of The Dutchman’s that will sit over dry land.

A total of 131 piles, both steel and timber, will support the new concrete slab that will become the long-life underside of The Dutchman’s Brauhaus.

It is anticipated that the foundation phase of The Dutchman’s project will be finished and the building ready to be moved back into place by late October 2020.

Once the building has been moved, the project will enter the building rehabilitation phase with significant structural work, all new utility infrastructure, and interior and exterior building finishing work. In the final phase of the rebirth of The Dutchman’s Brauhaus Restaurant a new series of docks will be set in place to expand the original boat slip capacity.

If all goes as planned, the Schmid family anticipates The Quelle section will re-open in the spring of 2021. —Susan Spicer-McGarry

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ear-round residents are often asked, “How can you stand the winter here? It’s so desolate! What do you do for fun?”

Sixty years ago to stave off the dismalness of winter, off-season folks on LBI and the mainland would see a movie at the Colony Theatre in Beach Haven, with minimal heat, or, if they were fortunate enough to have a color TV with three channels, watch Ozzie & Harriet or Lawrence Welk on Saturday night. Otherwise, the biggest entertainment in winter occurred at local taprooms. These were gathering places to catch up on news, socialize, and to play a game more popular at the time then football. Table Shuffleboard.

Island bar keepers saw the market value for winter residents to play this friendly game and sponsored their own teams during the 1950s and 1960s. Among the hot spots for the game were Britz’s and the Moose Lodge in Beach Haven, The Sea Gull in Ship Bottom, Tompson’s in Manahawkin, Tower Tavern and Cidas in Barnegat, and Sabus in Tuckerton. Each establishment provided a free dinner buffet half way through the night during tournaments. Serious competition, along with Schmidt or Schaefer beer on tap, led to much laughter and ribbing. Practice was held throughout the week, possibly with a few side bets for upcoming tournaments.

Shuffle board is a challenging table-top game using accuracy and strategy with a deft touch to slide a weighted disk or puck along a smooth shuffleboard table. Tables can range in size from 9 to 22 feet in length, with regulation size for tournaments set at 22-feet. Alternate players standing together, take turns to knock the opponent’s puck into a gutter that surrounds the surface. The stroke is soft and measured, a slow controlled motion and steady follow through. To decrease friction, corn meal, with silicone beads added today, is sprinkled on the table. At each end, red scoring lines separated sections for points of one, two, or three, while a Page 84 • Echoes of LBI

puck on the edge, a hanger, was four to win the frame at twentyone points. Players recognized the value of the table insisting no bottoms, wet beer glasses, or fried flounder grease be allowed on the surface.

Historically called Knock Off or Shovel Groat, the game was originally played by English royalty in the 15th Century and eventually, in English pubs where commoners slid a four Pence coin down the bar. During the American Revolution, the game traveled across the pond with British soldiers. Its popularity continued to grow over the years with regional variations. By 1941, the National Shuffleboard Association standardized table sizes and rules.

Sweeping the country, this classic game of skill, not chance, offered diversion during the Great Depression and World War II. The height of popularity occurred during the 1950s with nationwide tournaments televised to excited local players here on LBI. By 1970, its popularity dwindled since it did not attract a new generation of players. Today, dedicated older players across the country have revived the sport and are again passing along the social fun. Do you want to try your hand at shuffleboard? There are still shuffleboard tables at several bars here on LBI. Try your hand. Go knock off a few pucks. —Artwork and story by Carol Freas

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n 1996, concerned individuals from Southern Ocean County Hospital, Saint Francis Community Center, and representatives of seven area congregations met to discuss the needs of the elderly, vulnerable, and homebound residents of Southern Ocean County. Their goal was to form an organization by bringing together healthcare professionals and volunteer caregivers to help bridge the gaps in services available to those in need.

After much work, in 1997 Interfaith Health and Support Services (IHSS) was incorporated as a non-profit organization. Just one

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year later, IHSS opened its doors. Within ten months, the small startup had grown to serve 160 clients.

Today, Interfaith Health and Support Services is a coalition of different faith-based communities, healthcare, and social service organizations that provides volunteer physical, emotional, and spiritual support to the vulnerable aged or disabled residents of Southern Ocean County who are living at home. In 2019, more than 275 volunteers provided over 8,000 hours of services to those in need. All services are provided free of charge.

Twenty-three congregations from Barnegat, Little Egg Harbor, Long Beach Island, Manahawkin, Tuckerton, Waretown, and West Creek participate in providing volunteers. Volunteer caregivers provide support through visits, transportation, shopping, telephone reassurance, and Alzheimer’s disease respite care. IHSS volunteers are typically people who want to help others through volunteer community services.

Marie Logue of Long Beach Island is a retired administrator from Rutgers University. For the past five years Marie has been a volunteer with IHSS and currently serves as Vice President. “So many retired people in this area depend on friends and neighbors for help with daily living because they do not have family living close by,” said Marie. “We are all dependent on each other.” That is where IHSS comes in.

Judy Struble, from Manahawkin, has been a volunteer with IHSS for nineteen years. As a retired nurse, Judy assesses the needs of a potential client and the safety of the environment for the volunteer. “The sooner I can do the assessments, the sooner people can receive the services they need,” says Judy. Judy’s husband has Alzheimer’s disease; they have benefited from IHSS’s respite care program. In addition to volunteering as a retired healthcare professional, Judy has spent many afternoons as a volunteer caregiver. “I visited with an elderly woman every Sunday until she passed recently at the age of 101.”

As a pro baseball player, Norm Dermody pitched for the Dodgers before becoming a coach and teacher for thirty years. Now retired and living in Waretown, Norm and his wife, Helen, volunteer with IHSS. He has even inspired some of his friends to volunteer. “I meet people who need assistance and I think how lucky I am to be able to help,” says Norm. “People are so grateful.”

Kathi Cheeseman retired from a fulltime job as a professional assistant at Southern Regional Middle School and one month later answered the call for IHSS volunteers. Now serving as Director for IHSS, Kathi says, “It is a pleasure to help those who are in need, who so appreciate the care they receive, and whose stories are fantastic to listen to.” As director, Kathi faces the important challenge of finding volunteers. Volunteers are always needed, especially in the off-season.

“In the winter, we lose thirty-percent of our volunteers when they leave the area,” says Kathi. “Volunteers are the heart of the organization.”

Recently, Interfaith Health and

Support Services was selected by OceanFirst Bank, the Grunin Foundation, and Townsquare Media to receive special recognition through the Acts of Kindness Program for continuing to provide services to their clients and assisting anyone in need during the current COVID-19 pandemic. In the face of this crisis, IHSS has not closed its doors, but instead expanded assistance to anyone within the community who is in need. Since April, in addition to continuing client services like grocery shopping and transportation to vital appointments, IHSS volunteers have raised money and collected goods to help restock area food pantries. The small volunteer staff created emergency boxes containing food and supplies for those in need. Interfaith Health and Support remains open to assist anyone in the community. —Arlene Schragger.

Photography by Joan Sorge Interfaith Health and Support Services of Ocean County is located on the campus of Hackensack Meridian Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, New Jersey. Volunteers and donations are always welcomed. For more information, please visit them on the web at interfaithsoc.org follow them on Facebook at facebook.com/ihsssoc/ or call the office at 609-978-3839.

S

outhern Ocean County Hospital, more commonly known to the community as SOCH (pronounced Soosch), opened in 1972 with fifty-six beds and a medical staff of seventeen physicians to care for the growing population. Over the next several decades, numerous investments to facilities and services brought new treatments, breakthrough technologies, and skilled expertise here and expanded throughout the community.

In 2010, SOCH became a member of the Meridian Health network of hospitals and services, enhancing access to an advanced level of care and services. The hospital’s new name, Southern

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Ocean Medical Center (SOMC) reflected its continued growth and future direction. Developments and advancements expanded when Meridian Health joined Hackensack University Health Network in 2016 to form Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey’s largest, most comprehensive, integrated health network.

This powerful alliance provides Southern Ocean Medical Center with new treatments, research, technology, and expertise right here, in southern Ocean County. The support of Hackensack Meridian Health was especially critical during the

COVID-19 pandemic as Southern Ocean Medical Center took the necessary precautions to ensure that the hospital continues to be a safe place for all patients during this pandemic – not just COVID-19 patients. The network made sure that team members always had adequate levels of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to keep themselves and patients safe. With the support of Hackensack Meridian Health, Southern Ocean Medical Center entered patients into a promising convalescent blood plasma trial to recruit recovered COVID-19 patients to assess their blood and test it for antibodies in response to the

virus. These antibodies may help other patients who are infected with COVID-19.

Southern Ocean Medical Center continues to serve as a place the community can turn to for outstanding, compassionate care. It is important for residents to know the hospital is prepared to take care of you, for whatever your health care needs may be – just as we always have been. You can trust the hospital to provide you with the compassionate, high-quality care you deserve. —Anne Green

A

86 the creamed herring!

Up or on the rocks?

Is that with a cherry or a twist?

s college students, we were accustomed to long hours of learning.

But our summer employment as waitresses at the Schmid family’s restaurant The Dutchman’s Brauhaus taught us things that were never covered in our undergraduate classes.

The Dutchman’s course of study included mastering restaurant jargon and kitchen tasks while working a hectic pace to serve German cuisine, fresh seafood, American fare, and cocktails to locals and visitors.

During those memorable summers, we worked hard and formed lasting friendships.

Who could ever forget how intimidating Bob Schmid was, when he wasn’t being funny, and all the conversations we had with his wife, Joan, in between seating

tables and ringing up checks? Just as memorable were the less-than perfect desserts the staff was allowed to eat at the end of the evening and the fact that no one ever asked how those desserts got smashed. Then there were the informative wine meetings when the merchants would teach us about various wines. As devoted employees and college students, we were eager to learn all we could about those important beverages.

At some point, Joan helped two of the staff connect to share living quarters in Ship Bottom in the rear of the old uniform shop, which is now the location of Things A Drift.

They lived there with Miss New Jersey, who was performing with the Surflight Theatre.

Our languid days on the beach in bathing suits were followed by fast-paced evenings dressed in Bavarian style waitress uniforms,

cramming to memorize the day’s specials and conversing with customers while carrying trays laden with specialty foods known through-out the area as traditional and delicious. The camaraderie among the staff with regular customers and vacationers made The Dutchman’s a great place to work.

It provided an easy social network for timeoff. The busy work schedule gave structure to our days.

As a waitress in The Dutchman’s bar, I had the pleasure of meeting many regulars.

A favorite drink on tap was the Half and Half, part Dortmunder and part HackerPschorr Brau dark. Presented in a frosted mug, it tasted great every time. One particular group of regular patrons was The Page 90 • Echoes of LBI

6 p.m. Martinis and Manhattans Crew.

With their drinks and bar stools lined up in a row the men congregated to discuss politics, fishing, family, and stories from their past. And when I wasn’t too busy, after serving their appetizers, I enjoyed talking with them.

One regular, a gentleman named Joe Ward, will be forever remembered by his challenge, “I bet you can’t bake banana bread.”

Needless to say, a baking relationship began that resulted in a friendship that lasted through his nineties. Joe was quite a cigar smoker. Occasionally, I visited him in his smoke infused apartment and marveled at the blooming violets he raised among the smog.

A beautiful painting of Germany’s Mosel River Valley hung near the entrance to the Dutchman’s dining room. In the evening, in the light of the florescent bulb that illuminated the painting, the tiny windows of the houses depicted on the hillside seemed to glow from within. One night a German patron, upon seeing the painting, exclaimed, “I left my lights on!”

The jukebox in the bar played a mix of rock and roll, big band tunes, and lively polkas.

Occasionally, I would be given quarters marked with red nail polish to play some of Bob Schmid’s favorites. The sound of nostalgic music would resonate from the bar for quite some time with that pile of special quarters.

Working at The Dutchman’s was truly a great experience. Filled with hard work and good times, summer seemed to melt too quickly away. Before we knew it, it was time to return to college life.

Forty years later, a few of us still get together. Many times, we have gathered at The Dutchman’s to share our own stories of friends and family, and to reminisce. We always go into the bar with the hope of seeing an old familiar face or two.

We look forward to visiting the newly renovated The Dutchman’s Brauhaus Restaurant in the future for a Herzlich Wilkommen.

—Photography and story courtesy of Linda Page McCardell

I

n Bill Lodge’s Loveladies bedroom there was a slotted opening in the wall. On nights when the weather was fair, Bill would slip his bed out through that opening onto an adjoining deck which faced the sea. He said the air was better out there for sleeping. And after a nudge or two, inside would be outside amid the thundering surf and shimmering stars.

Because Bill had been seriously wounded and exposed to poisonous gas on the battlefields of France in WWI, you can understand why he chose to live in the dunes and follow a regimen he’d devised for himself of regular exercise, healthy food, and proper life-giving breath — his recipe for building a strong body to serve a wellbalanced mind.

Bill, you see, was a man of vision and foresight. Today we might call him a wellness guru, or the practitioner of a holistic lifestyle.

He’d surely qualify as a social media influencer. Picture him as a 1930s version of fitness expert Jack LaLanne with a touch of the celebrated New Age author, Deepak Chopra. Three men of different eras pursuing the same results through the harmonious integration of body, mind, and spirit.

In fact, in 1926 Bill authored his seminal work, Youth Prolonged, published by the John C. Winston Company, which crystalized his Page 92 • Echoes of LBI

approach to health and wellness with chapters like How to Walk For Strength, Breathe Your Way To Youth, Eat And Grow Young.

Clearly, a lifestyle ahead of its time.

William Penn Lodge, Doc to his friends, was born in Philadelphia in 1890 and graduated from the Kellogg School of Physical Education in Battle Creek, Michigan. During the war years, Lieutenant Lodge served as Director of Physical Training for the United States Army, and afterwards, Director of Athletics at Southern Illinois University.

But by the early 1930s Bill was ready to return to LBI — a place he’d known and loved since his youth — first to a house in Brant Beach and a few years later to an oceanfront home he built in Long Beach Park, today known as Loveladies. Once settled in the dunes, Bill got to work in local government and civic organizations, helping to promote LBI as a destination for relaxation and rejuvenation, what he liked to call “the finest place in the world to live.”

In fact, for the next twenty years Bill assumed the role of LBI’s greatest booster. Town clerk for Harvey Cedars, and later an administrator for Long Beach Township, it was as president of the Board of Trade that he coined the marketing slogan, “Magic Long

Beach Island” and designed the iconic LBI Lighthouse logo which is still used today.

In those early years Bill was also the Island’s most eloquent spokesman, which no doubt coincided with his introduction to a young man destined to become his protege and follow in his footsteps.

Jack Lamping was just finishing college when he first met Bill.

Brought to LBI by his parents for his health when he was just a boy — Jack too had fallen in love with the wild island. Once he had finished school and had married Virginia Pedersen, the couple settled in Beach Haven Terrace, and under Bill’s tutelage Jack entered the world of marketing and Public Relations.

Jack thrived in the field and was soon elevated to a leadership role within the Board of Trade. Working side-by-side with Bill, the two men positioned their favorite 18-mile stretch of beach as a sportsman’s paradise, The Pride of the Jersey Shore.

In countless newspaper articles, radio programs, speaking engagements, promotional films, and paid advertisements their core message hardly varied; Come to Magic Long Beach Island for health, for recreation, to recharge and renew.

“I think Bill and my dad had a vision for the Island which helped shape its destiny,” says Joy (Lamping) Milano, daughter of Jack and Virginia. “They saw its natural beauty as a retreat from an increasingly stressful world.

Other seaside towns had flashy boardwalks and were known for their nightlife and entertainment. That wasn’t the image Jack and Bill were interested in cultivating for LBI.” Instead, they set about courting those who loved the outdoors, attracting families and supporting the arts. Bill established a theatre company and acting studio housed in a re-purposed chicken coop, as well as directing The Old Barnegat Light School of Ballet, which in the 1940s was a favorite draw for vacationing teens and local kids from the mainland.

As the Island’s popularity grew, Bill and Jack continued advocating for improvements to the infrastructure, upgraded water and sewer systems, a new bridge, better roads, greater life-saving resources for beach goers, and even a north-south parkway — all things which came to pass and benefit us today.

From those early achievements Jack went on to even greater glory as director of Ocean County Publicity, Secretary Treasurer of New Jersey Resort Association, and dozens of other committees and grass-roots affiliations focused on common sense development. In his heyday, Jack Lamping was known as Mr. Ocean County, but he never distanced himself from his first true love.

“LBI was always a very special place for my parents,” remembers Joy, “and the memories of Bill helping my dad get started in a career that became his life’s work would never be forgotten.”

Tragically in 1950, at the age of 60, Bill Lodge succumbed to a chronic heart condition at his cherished home in the dunes. The man who had been so influential in shaping what came to be known as the lure of Long Beach Island was gone. Others would Page 94 • Echoes of LBI

now be needed to carry on. Joy Milano thinks her mother, Virginia, summed it up best when after Bill’s passing, she wrote, “He will live in us as long as we live.” And so, he has.

It’s not often you can trace why a place becomes one thing and not another. What forces — subtle or bold, seen or unseen — define the character of a certain locale. But for LBI we have an indelible trail left by two men who spent the best years of their lives dreaming the dream for what became, and remains, this magical Island domain.

—Andrew Flack. Photography courtesy of Joy (Lamping) Milano

E

ver since I was able to hold a pencil, I have been sketching.

When not working or completing college assignments, I am usually busy with a drawing. I have always loved sharks and I am a huge fan of the 1975 summer blockbuster Jaws. Therefore, I decided to celebrate the beginning of Shark Week 2019 by creating a sidewalk chalk version of the Jaws film poster on my driveway.

In my search for the right colors, I bought every sidewalk chalk I could find in the local stores of Long Beach Island, Barnegat,

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and Manahawkin. With the help of my sister, Tori, the finished product was 27 feet by 20 feet, and took four days to complete.

Unfortunately, after only two days of having added the final touches, the picture was washed away completely by rain. Luckily, all that hard work will live on in photographs taken by my sister before the wash out. This was my first time trying my hand at chalk drawing and it most certainly will not be my last. —Artwork and story by Trevor Robbins. Photography by Tori Robbins

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