Sandy 4 Sandy: LBI Vigil for Peace reset for Saturday, Dec. 29

The Sandy 4 Sandy: LBI Vigil for Peace has been rescheduled for Saturday, Dec. 29, at 4 p.m. The event was originally planned for Friday, Dec. 21, at the Barnegat Lighthouse, but officials said the surrounding bulkheads are still not structurally sound enough due to storm damage. Friday’s weather forecast is also calling for gale-force winds, making it a tricky time to hold a candlelight vigil. The event will now take place at the James “Moose” E. Morrison memorial gazebo on Seventh Street in Barnegat Light, next to Kubel’s restaurant.

Photo by Ryan Morrill

A number of people came out in June for the 

dedication of the James "Moose" E. Morrison 

memorial gazebo. Residents will make their way 

to the pavilion once more  for next week's vigil.

“Koconut” Kate Schulze-Bahn, a third-generation LBI-goer who grew up vacationing on the north end of the Island, has coordinated the event in the hope of drawing LBI’s residents together following the devastation of Superstorm Sandy and the recent Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Conn. Although she now lives in Chester Springs, Pa., with her husband and four children, all younger than 6, she said she wanted to host the event in Barnegat Light, where “Old Barney” stands as a strong, shining symbol for the surrounding community.

“Home is where the heart is, and LBI is my heart and soul,” she said. “Every special, best memory I’ve ever had in my life has been there. So I want to give back and bring everybody together because it means the world to me, that place.”

Although Schulze-Bahn said all tragedies affect her, the Sandy Hook massacre “really struck a chord.” As a mother and a survivor of a five-year stint with post-traumatic stress disorder, which she said nearly cost her life in 2011, she hopes the vigil will help people put aside their political and religious differences and really think about the way our nation views mental health.

“I made it out alive, and it’s almost one of those things where you wish you didn’t because in the beginning it was so stressful to deal with,” she stated. “I almost lost my battle. Right at the beginning of 2011, I was in such a bad place that I was suicidal. I was at the worst, worst, worst of my PTSD.” At that time she thought about breaking into the lighthouse and jumping off the top after nearly being killed by a man she went on vacation to Hawaii with in 2005.

Schulze-Bahn said she dealt with a lot of depression, paranoia and anxiety following the incident and often suffered through nightmares. She also dealt with her fair share of perinatal and postpartum depression when she was pregnant with her children.

“Lucky for me, I found some really, really good help: some really great therapy, some great medicine, some great doctors. It helped me through that year, and since then I’ve been medicine-free, therapy-free and just free of all that pain. Had I not gotten that help, I probably would not have been here,” she said.

Schulze-Bahn said the man who massacred those elementary schoolchildren and school staff in Connecticut “was sick and clearly had mental health problems.” She noted that many people often suffer through their own emotional battles, something she said no one should feel ashamed about.

“It’s almost 2013; people suffer from mental illness,” she said matter-of-factly. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of; it’s like physical health. If you’re physically sick, you go see a doctor, you take medicine. If you’re sick with emotional or mental health, you do the same thing. There’s no shame.”

Schulze-Bahn said she hopes the vigil will bring a sense of peace to everyone who attends. She wholeheartedly believes that every animal and every person in the world deserves a life free of pain, hunger, abuse and violence.

“If we can just all come together and try to hold onto that and stand strong just like the lighthouse has always been strong for us, I think we can actually make a difference. It has to start somewhere,” she said.

Although there are many different towns on Long Beach Island, Schulze-Bahn believes that coming together as a community, especially after being hit by a natural disaster, will show people how strong the little town really is.

“Even though we’ve gone through Hurricane Sandy, we still stand strong for other people who are going through other tragedies. That’s what LBI represents to me. Everybody is so giving. They come together in the worst times and rebuild. We regroup and we rebuild,” she declared.

Schulze-Bahn is encouraging people to bring donations for local charities. Besides monetary gifts, she suggested new, unwrapped toys for the Toys for Tots Foundation, pet supplies for the Friends of the Southern Ocean County Animal Shelter and nonperishable foods for a shelter in need.

Although she would not say what celebrity guests she has invited to the event, she said there is a chance someone famous might show up. Andrew Pearson, a New Jersey filmmaker, will be creating a documentary of the evening.

After the event, the public is invited to gather at Kubel’s. A tentative band is set to play, but anyone is encouraged to contact Schulze-Bahn to volunteer. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/SupportSandyVictims, email her at koconutkate@gmail.com, or call 609-618-1357.

This article was published in The SandPaper.