Wednesday, June 20, 2012
He was 11 pounds, 5 ounces when he was born; his birth was deemed "life-threatening;" 14 years later, everybody's good
The doctors said his head size was "off the charts." It all seemed kind of funny. Then they warned the worst: Normal delivery could kill Tommy, and my wife. The only choice the doctors gave us was the date. The C-section had to happen in March, they said. The last week, just before Easter. In the OR, at what was known then as the Atlantic City Medical Center's mainland division, in Galloway. Just pick the day, we were told. When we sat down to eat what would be our last meal, on March 23, 1998, on the day before his birth, we sort of knew we'd get through this. Or, at least, that's what we coached ourselves into believing, because we coached ourselves through a lot of things before. The doctors warned us enough, we thought. We weren't …
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Patch is coming, today, to the place where President Nixon dined at Burger King; where the sand is soft and the seas are serene; and where my wife and I floated around in a boat
The lagoons that ran between the Manahawkin bungalows, each showing a metallic shade of grayish brown, were waist-deep in muck. The water had no waves, no wake. Not even a ripple. Come winter, the lagoon water was so solid, so still, it froze like a quarter-mile-long ice cube. In boredom, I threw pennies from my second-story apartment and watched them bounce like balls on the rock-hard surface. Those coins would rap against that ice so hard, they'd clang like tiny bells. All the while, and despite the noise, not a single light would pop on. Not even a T.V. I was in my mid-to-late 20s, and I was alone, in Manahawkin, N.J., living the southern Ocean County life. Life rarely strayed beyond the skinny, wood-panel walls of my apartment. In the …
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
School district chooses to keep quiet, as long as the criticism about it continues
In Lacey, the face of the school district has lost its voice. It lost what once gave it pride, a sense of openness that other districts could envy — even as it has endured, over the past two decades, tragedy as well as the trivial. Now, under Superintendent Sandra Brower, it chooses to stay silent - with Patch, in particular - even on the simplest of matters. Even on the trivial. Reporters and editors, such as Patch Local Editor Elaine Piniat, once could merely walk up to the superintendent, ask a question and get an answer, however short. Now Elaine and others find themselves filling out forms just to do the same thing. What little is revealed, when a question is asked, might as well not be revealed at all. What little is available must …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
It's what sells; can it work (partially) in Point Pleasant Beach?
Imagine riding a bike upside down ... with barely a strap to keep you from falling on the street. That's what the Loop-O-Plane felt like, a zippy ride that turned in ovals - and all that kept it running was an old motor with something that looked like a bicycle chain pulling through it. First it was in Point Pleasant Beach, the scariest of all the scary, stitched-together rides at the now defunct Herman's Amusements on the Boardwalk. When Herman's disappeared in 1987, I thought the ride would, too. When I worked at Herman's in the early 1980s, we kept this ride together with practically tape and glue. When it needed to be cleaned, the maintenance guy sounded the same alert: "Get the hose!" Back in the 1990s, while I was walking on the …
Friday, April 13, 2012
At Pasola's Barber Shop, time freezes and memories linger
Before my eyes was the man who always cut my hair, ready to chop away again, and give me the news about town that no newspaper ever could. Jack Pasola was still clipping away Wednesday morning, after decades of doing this, even if many of his customers are all gray now, including me. Or they just have a few strands left that Pasola, a former Point Beach mayor, nips off with the ends of his scissors and does the best he can to comb over their scalps. He'll spend the time he would have spent chopping off clumps of somebody's thick mop - the time he used to spend when everybody had long hair in the 1970s - reminiscing about the way things used to be. "I went to the Ocean Road School," said Pasola, who's now 68. "Then I went to the Beach high …
Monday, April 9, 2012
A day of sun, half-price ride tickets and even a little swimming at Jenkinson's Beach and Boardwalk
Sunny skies helped tourists enjoy the 60-degree temperatures on the Point Pleasant Beach Boardwalk this Easter weekend. It was also the day of the annual Easter Parade, sponsored by the Point Pleasant Beach Chamber of Commerce. Many were also there for the annual half-off sale on tickets, but they also appreciated the fact that they had a spring-like day at the summer resort. At St. Peter's, St. Martha's and the Point Presbyterian Church, among others, religious observances marked the high holy day.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
A look back last year, when tourists enjoyed the sun - and the half-price tickets - at Jenkinson's in Point Pleasant Beach. This weekend, the sun is expected to shine all weekend.
The sun is expected to shine all weekend as locals and tourists enjoy the 60-degree temperatures on the Point Pleasant Beach Boardwalk this Easter weekend. Also, today is the annual Easter Parade at 1 p.m., sponsored by the Point Pleasant Beach Chamber of Commerce. Registration is 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in front of Joey Tomatoes. Last year, the on-and-off rain and cloudy skies kept some away. But locals and tourists took advantage of the smaller crowds and enjoyed the fare at Jenkinson's in Point Pleasant Beach. Many were there for the annual half-off sale on tickets, but they also appreciated the fact that they were almost always at the head of every line at Jenkinson's rides. Here are some photos from Patch's Easter weekend experience …
Friday, February 24, 2012
Long Branch, and a new book, remind me of what shaped my career
I once dreamed of being a war journalist, a guy who dodged bombs in Beirut, barely avoiding capture. Or I could have been a Washington D.C. guy, shouting questions over the tired press corps, showing them how much better - or louder - I was than the rest of them. I got a taste of all that, traveling with an Air Force unit during the Afghanistan war in 2001; and, earlier, being among the first to reveal the twisted, molten remains of the World Trade Center that were temporarily stored at a Staten Island landfill, just a month after 9-11. In the end, however, what really mattered to me was what was here, just a half-hour from my house, just a half-hour north from where I was born. I see Long Branch, and I remember why I came home. I remember…
Saturday, February 18, 2012
I grew up at the Jersey Shore, and I admired her from afar - but I was closer to her than I thought
Growing up, I wanted to be the greatest at whatever I did, the guy who'd rise above the troubles of my family. I wanted to become the Muhammad Ali, even the Whitney Houston, in my corner of the world. I wanted to be the best runner, the best baseball player, the best surfer, even if I couldn't swim until I was 8. I grew up at the Jersey Shore but, for so many years, I was too afraid to swim in water that went over my head. I wanted to be the best writer, even as my college roommate at Rutgers made fun of it, calling it "a bad imitation of Shakespeare." I wanted to be a musician, even if I didn't know my octaves from my falsettos, or my piano keys from my car keys. I wanted to be a star, but not one of power, money and fame. I wanted to …
Friday, February 17, 2012
One accident on the North Jersey Coast Line was too much. Now it's up to five since April 1, 2011.
The voices are getting louder now. They're getting louder than the thunderous waves that crash on the beaches of Manasquan, Long Branch, Point Pleasant and Seaside Heights in the middle of a Nor'easter. They're louder than the voices on that MTV show that co-opted the Jersey Shore name. Seven dead in three years. At least three of them were suicides. From 2008 to 2009, four Manasquan High School students - or recent graduates at the time - were hit and killed by NJ Transit trains. Now Wednesday, when a teenager from Spring Lake Heights died after he was hit by a train. He apparently made no attempt to get out of the way, officials said. These tragedies on the Jersey Coast rail tracks were once thought to be isolated and independent. Now …
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