The sunshine made a brief, strategic appearance Friday morning, Aug. 22, in Beach Haven, when local residents, officials and business owners gathered around the newly rebuilt beach patrol headquarters building on Centre Street to celebrate the area’s recovery following Superstorm Sandy. Overlooking the beach crowd – a mix of lifeguards in blue swimsuits and families and friends dancing and toting beach gear – the Billy Walton Band kept the beat going atop the watch deck as Fox 29’s “Good Day Philadelphia” show aired live.
Quincy Harris, one of the show’s entertainment reporters, was filling in for regular host Jennaphyr Frederick who left at the last minute for vacation. Harris interviewed the audience for the station’s second to last “Comeback Down the Shore” segment, a special series that began in Cape May in July.
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| Photo by Ryan Johnson Elvis gets a little help from Jon Runyan in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. |
“A lot of my family is from South Jersey, and Sandy really hit hard,” Harris told The SandPaper in an interview. “Last year was the resurgence, but I feel like this year everyone’s kicking in and kind of getting back to normal here. We’ve been to a ton of beach towns this summer. Last year was the bounce-back, but this year it’s about getting back to normal.
“This is a good time,” he added, peering around at the ocean, where kids frolicked in the drift and surfers rode in the waves. “It’s a really good time just to have everyone back at the beach, everyone participating, helping the economy, relaxing and really just continuing family traditions that they started before Sandy happened, and just having a good, old time in the summer.”
The day started bright and early at 7:45 a.m. with a mock lifeguard rescue led by Beach Haven Beach Patrol Chief Mike Lawrence. Town Mayor Robert Keeler was particularly proud of the segment.
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| Photo by Ryan Johnson Steve 'Smiley' McNamara and Chris Esibell of the Beach Haven Beach Patrol dig into 16 scoops of ice cream. |
“One of the areas I feel unappreciated is the lifeguards,” he said. “I think it was good just to see what happens. They do so much; most of these kids are fully trained in CPR and paramedics. They’re extremely busy during the summer, and very few people actually see what they do. So I thought it was a real positive segment, watching them go through a drill and telling them step by step what was going on.”
As children waved their arms in front of the TV camera, thoroughly enjoying their 30 seconds of fame, cast members from Surflight Theatre’s “Spamalot” show were filmed during the second segment, which highlighted the part of local businesses. A treasure hunt hosted by Barry’s Do Me a Flavor sent kids in search of gift certificates. Fantasy Island’s Mayor Gator joined in the fun, as other local merchants handed out coupons and other goods.
“We’re a small town with small-town values,” Keeler emphasized to The SandPaper. “These businesses here are mom and pop businesses that were homegrown, and the people have been here all their lives. I think the reason people enjoy coming down to Long Beach Island, and hopefully spend time in Beach Haven, is because there is a difference. We don’t have (many) franchise businesses. We’re all local, homegrown people here, and I think little by little small towns are disappearing. They’re being taken out, and I think the fact we have these small-town values shows through in the business, how we greet the vacationers when they come down here and appreciate the fact they’re here.
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| Photo by Ryan Johnson Fox 29 entertainment reporter Quincy Harris fills in for regular host Jennaphyr Frederick. |
“I think getting them a little visibility on TV is nice,” he added. “I always like to see the people in town here, who work so hard, to get any type of press because if our businesses are healthy, even in a very short season, our town is healthy. I obviously feel very good that (Fox 29 has) come to Beach Haven to spend time with our business people. Anything done on the Island, whether it’s Beach Haven, Harvey Cedars or Barnegat Light, is good for LBI as a whole.”
During the event, Keeler unveiled the town’s new T-shirts, adorned with the logo, “Visit Beach Haven: The Heart of Long Beach Island,” and “Eat Shop Beach Repeat.”
During the culmination of the show, the crowd gathered around to cheer on contestants who volunteered to stuff their faces during a food-eating challenge. Local resident Nolan Andersen and Joe Mangino, founder of Stafford Teachers And Residents Together, went head-on in a Chicken or the Egg wing-eating contest. At the next table, Chris Esibell and Steve “Smiley” McNamara, both members of the Beach Haven Beach Patrol, teamed up against Lauren Liquori from the Beach Haven Borough Clerk’s office, and BG Braun of the Beach Haven Police Department in a Boardwalk ice cream challenge. Local resident Emily Frank took on Pat O’Donnell, a member of the local fire department, in Uncle Will’s “Clean Plate” pancake challenge.
In the midst of the five-minute time allotment, special guest Congressman Jon Runyan, who stopped by to talk football, doused cold water on a local Elvis performer in honor of the ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) Ice Bucket Challenge, which has been circulating the Internet as well as up and down the Island.
The Billy Walton Band played until the show wrapped up and the crowd headed back to work or home, closing out another summer at the shore in celebration of the revival after Sandy.
“We’re one of many towns that were highlighted (in the show), and I think it’s very important for tourism in New Jersey that people get to see that all these towns, not only Beach Haven, have done a wonderful job trying to get back after Sandy,” said Keeler. “It’s been two years; we’re in our second summer, and I think if people see in some way that we’ve come back, we’re actually even better than we were before Sandy. We have new buildings; people’s attitudes are great. I think it’s just wonderful that Fox 29 did this because a lot of people just don’t have the time to get down to see it, and they really have no idea what’s happened here after the storm.
— Kelley Anne Essinger
This article was published in The SandPaper.
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