SpeakEasy
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•July 25, 2018
Scoring on Old LBI With Phone Booths and Mosquito Truck
Is it odd to be amazed by the increase of men on the beach during the work week? With this observation, the lost vestiges of my “Island summers” surface, moving me to the late ’50s and early ’60s…
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•July 18, 2018
How to Help a Grounded Seagull
On the afternoon of July 5, I noticed an injured seagull on our neighbor’s property on Bay Terrace in Harvey Cedars. Then I saw another seagull land next to the injured one and move toward it. Unable…
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•July 11, 2018
Seagull Shenanigans
A small bridge, wedged between the picturesque boat slips of Harvey Cedars Marina and Harvest Cove, a tranquil lagoon, is known more for crabbing than bird watching. On any given day, the bridge…
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•July 4, 2018
‘Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes’ on LBI
In this climate of political uncertainty and scattered insecurity, one tends to question every day whether we’re coming or going. Now don’t get your feathers ruffled. I am not going to dive into any…
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•June 27, 2018
1968-69 LBI: The Great Escape, in More Ways Than One
I graduated eighth grade in 1968, 50 years ago. That summer I was invited to join my best friend Lynne, whom I nicknamed Bic, and her family at a place called Long Beach Island. I was excited to pack…
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•June 20, 2018
The Urge to Purge
Well, I finally did it! I opened my closet doors and all my drawers and purged all those things I know would no longer fit me.
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•June 13, 2018
Another Summer Begins on LBI With Growing Grandkids
I am grateful another summer has begun in Beach Haven. Our older son and his family came to our LBI house for the long Memorial Day weekend. The weather was not completely wonderful, but they and…
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•May 23, 2018
An Island Keepsake for a New Generation
Scrapbooking is a wonderful hobby. You don’t need Facebook to access memories. It is more than just an old photo album or handwritten journal. It is rather a concrete, three-dimensional way to…
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•May 16, 2018
Dock Road Renaissance – Good and Getting Better
As a 50-year summer resident of Dock Road in Beach Haven, and someone who worked many summers at Morrison’s Seafood restaurant (before it burned down), I have seen many changes to the street and its…
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•May 9, 2018
Food and Life Lessons, Served With Lots of Love
I was very lucky, as I’m sure many have been, to grow up around friends and families from different cultures. All the different foods from a variety of countries were very interesting to me. The…
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•May 2, 2018
From Toxic Gas to the ‘Moonies’ – Behind the Scenes in Reporting
It was a bit like a case of déjà vu, only with a new dimension.
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•April 25, 2018
Don’t Dress Up Your Dog!
I’ve always liked dogs. I grew up in a home where we had wire-haired terriers and hunting dogs. My father trained pointers and setters, which were kept outside in a kennel. He always had two dogs and…
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•April 25, 2018
Life Lessons: Letter to My Younger Self
Jim, you have to be very respectful to your teachers, who are nuns and priests. Try to understand that there is a procedure in your church that will help you do things.
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•April 11, 2018
Morrison’s Kitchen Made Me a Shucker for Life
In February 1955 The Bergen Record printed an article that Exit 63 on the Garden State Parkway had opened. My father rejoiced upon hearing the stories of magical fishing off the shores of LBI and did…
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•April 4, 2018
Student of Adult Education Makes It a Career
The spring adult education brochure arrived in early February. I poured a cup of coffee and plunged into the list of options. Having dabbled in many classes throughout the years, I‘ve had my…
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•March 28, 2018
LBI Aficionado Goes West – Beach Haven West
Now, bear with me before you pounce. I hail from Philadelphia but had the distinct pleasure of moving to Long Beach Island full-time years ago. Not only was I lucky enough to live on this beautiful…
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•March 21, 2018
Century Ago WWI ‘Gov’t Girl’ Did D.C. Before LBI
My mother, Josephine Lehman Thomas, who spent the last half of her life in Harvey Cedars, was a “government girl” in Washington, D.C., during World War I. She lived as a determinedly modern young…
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•March 14, 2018
Enough of the Snow, Bring on Summer 2018
Are you getting tired of the snow? I certainly am. I’m ready for spring and summer to arrive.
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•March 7, 2018
Feeling Fearful Again, 50 Years After Turbulent 1968
Not long after the election was over, it was clear that the newly elected president had committed treason. It was a known fact within our own government that, during the campaign, he had one of his…
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•February 28, 2018
Thoughts from a ‘Gun Guy’ Following FL Tragedy
Fear and anger – these two emotional states of mind, the by-product of the fight or flight reaction within all of us – are in full display as the debate over common sense gun control rages on in our…
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•February 21, 2018
Why the Eagles’ Win Means So Much to Me
I’m sort of embarrassed at how much joy the Philadelphia Eagles winning the Super Bowl has brought me. I mean, I had absolutely nothing to do with it. It was a bunch of guys I had never met -although…
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•February 14, 2018
All I’m Asking for Is a Little Respect – Please!
I’m calling my doctor’s office to make an appointment. “Hello, your call is really important so please stand by.” Ten minutes after hearing that my call is really important I hang up.
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•February 7, 2018
Consumers Getting Squeezed by Squirt Containers
Have you ever wondered what happened to the brilliant graduates from M.I.T. to Cal Tech? Have they found careers as engineers and scientists? Maybe one of them will find a cure for cancer or build a…
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•January 31, 2018
Speaking of Shoveling Snow … Odd Jobs Back in the Day
The “bomb-o-genesis” snowstorm that started out as3 to6 inches and ended up being at least 18 inches at our place – before drifts, “BD” – was the gift that kept on giving. Five days later, I was…
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•January 24, 2018
All I Still Need to Know I’m Learning from My Grandson
It’s now the fourth day of being snowed in and I’m reminiscing about better days, like fall of 2017; it was still warm! I could go for walks and take my grandson to the park. Ah, those are now my…
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•December 20, 2017
Ringing in the New Year With Non-Resolutions
Another new year is upon us: 2018! Gotta tell ya, I never thought, hanging on the corner in South Philadelphia back in the ’60s, that I would ever be talking about the year 2018. Back then, I thought…
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•November 29, 2017
Thanksgiving 2017 Served Up With Love and Gratitude
I was humbled to attend a magical event on Thanksgiving Day, and I would like to share just a bit of that magic with you before it evaporates in my mind.
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•November 22, 2017
Recalling a Moving Thanksgiving Dinner
In the last 54 years, I’ve not made Thanksgiving dinner only twice, once because of our daughter’s wedding, and last year they wouldn’t let me out of the hospital.
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•November 15, 2017
Open Letter to the NFL From a Local Gold Star Mother
On Oct. 1, it was 11 years since two Marines showed up at our door to tell us that my husband’s first child, my stepson and our two children’s brother, Lt. Cpl. Christopher B. Cosgrove III, 23, was…
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•November 8, 2017
Rite of Passage: The Dreaded Driver’s Test
Got an invitation to my high school 50th reunion earlier this year – Class of 1967, 50 years! One of my special “50th” moments was the anniversary of my getting my driver’s license in 1965. Freedom…
