What happened to the summer of 2023? Wasn’t it just Memorial Day weekend? Time goes by too quickly, doesn’t it? We were so fortunate to have great weather this summer and fall. Now, we move into the most special time here on the Seven Mile Beach – the holidays!

A day full of fun activities has always been the signature of Snowfest Saturday in Avalon. And this year, the Avalon Volunteer Fire Company will add even more to that tradition with the dedication of its newly renovated firehouse and a celebration marking the company’s 110th anniversary.

The bad news is that the summer season has come to an end. The good news? The holiday season has arrived! With our annual holiday dining guide, we provide a list of fabulous places to eat this season along with the various specials being offered for all your holiday celebrations. Indulge in delectable dishes, specialty cocktails, social events and more.

Get ready for an epic Thanksgiving weekend on Seven Mile Beach, friends! Complete with twinkling lights, several chances to visit with Santa, great shopping deals throughout Avalon and Stone Harbor, and endless fun for the entire family, this is one weekend you don’t want to be anywhere else.

Mayor McCorristin and Santa arrive to light up Avalon and celebrate the kickoff to the holidays. Join in the fun at Veterans Plaza as they light the giant tree as well as Dune Drive.

It was shortly after the great ‘nor’easter of March 1962 when Elizabeth Blythe, known to her friends as Betty, convinced her husband Morris to move back a bit closer to home. The couple’s first child, a boy, was born in Pennsylvania’s Delaware County. Two girls would follow to round out the family, both born while the Blythes were living in Florida.

What’s not to love about the Santa Express? The folks at Cape May Seashore Lines have managed to combine two things that fascinate children and adults alike: an actual, real locomotive and Santa Claus. The Santa Express is a very special excursion of the Cape May Seashore Lines. If you aren’t familiar with the line, you should be because it’s one of South Jersey’s best-kept secrets.

Although a common sight in and around Seven Mile Beach waters these days, No Wake Zones weren’t even a distant thought on a warm Labor Day weekend afternoon in 1928 when a teenaged summer resident from Upper Darby, Pa., won a silver-plated trophy for having the fastest boat in a race on Avalon’s Princeton Harbor.

There are so many people to shop for each holiday season, it can be quite overwhelming. It’s hard to find something unique for every person in your life. You want something that will wow your boss, touch the hearts of family members, and of course you need to have things on hand for when you need a hostess gift. The list goes on and on!

It’s the late 1960s in Avalon. The town is covered in cute beach cottages, the sunscreen of choice is baby oil. The days are hot, the nights … probably even steamier. Murray Wolf is the young captain of the lifeguards, a group of all-American athletic guys (no girls yet) who worked hard and played harder. Two hundred dollars could buy them a share in a beach shack for the whole summer.

Christmas seemingly came early when the Avalon Yacht Club Women’s Auxiliary fused fashion with philanthropy at its annual summertime fashion show fundraiser.

Running a tight ship is a cliché for most corporate executives.

It’s the literal truth for Quinn Matt.

The longtime Avalon summer visitor, whose parents Mike and Carol own a home here, recently gained the assignment of a lifetime.

The Stone Harbor Property Owners Association named a unique Citizen of the Year for 2023.

The honoree is not a SHPOA member, liaison for the organization, or a local representative tracking Stone Harbor development … or even a resident these days.

There’s a brand-new bakery on the corner of 27th and Dune Drive where Kohler’s used to be, the 27th Street Bakery. You can stop in for seasonal favorites over Thanksgiving when the bakery hosts its opening weekend – Wednesday, Nov. 22; Friday, Nov. 23; Saturday, Nov. 25, and Sunday, Nov. 26 from 8am-2pm.

A late-summer pickleball heat wave rolled through Avalon in early September as hundreds of professional and amateur players competed side by side in the Association of Pickleball Players Sunmed New Jersey Open at the 8th Street courts.

It might come as no surprise that the Delaware Bay, long known for its oysters, also supports a population of American oystercatchers, but we are just beginning to gain a full understanding of these birds on the bay.

Tim Carney and incumbent Robin Casper, Republicans who ran unopposed in the Nov. 7 general election, have won the two available three-year terms on the Stone Harbor Borough Council.

Avalon Mayor John McCorristin turned 70 on Oct. 24. He celebrated his first birthday as mayor with a family dinner. His grandchildren John, Meena, Gemma, Kiley, and Lily were on hand to make sure he had a happy birthday.

I always find it interesting when parents are more than happy to sign up their kids for sports with maximum effort sprinting and uncontrolled collisions but are very skeptical about weight training too young.