Dear Readers,

Welcome back! I realize that spring has only just sprung, but I want to be the first to welcome you to the Summer of 2023! Memorial Day weekend will be here before we know it.

Imagine Marie Ascolese’s surprise in September 1952 when the Philadelphia seventh-grader asked her mother about attending a neighborhood friend’s birthday party the next month. “My mother said that I wouldn’t be able to attend,” Marie still clearly remembers some 70-plus years later. “’Why?’ I asked,” she said. “My mother said that we wouldn’t be here, we were moving to Avalon.”

Spend the afternoon at the Play With Jack Fashion Show featuring trendy fashions from Coco Blu and Gingy’s, lunch, refreshments, and an auction. Proceeds from this event go to the Play With Jack Foundation, created in memory of Jack Cremin and offering financial assistance to those battling life-threatening illnesses.

The Avalon municipal election is scheduled for Tuesday, May 9, and Mayor Martin Pagliughi recently announced Team Avalon 2023. It includes councilman John McCorristin running for mayor, and incumbent councilmembers Barbara Juzaitis and Sam Wierman seeking re-election.

Spring has finally arrived on Seven Mile Beach! The sun is shining later, flowers are popping up all over and we are starting to see more traffic and houses filled with people for the weekends. It will be summer before you know it and guests will be arriving to stay at your beach house. Now is the best time to renew and refresh your home. Fortunately, we have everything you need conveniently located close by.

Until the turn of millennium, those “in the know” about the sport of pickleball were limited to a fanatical core of players who had become consumed with the sport as a way of staying in shape and socializing around a quirky backyard game invented 60 years ago by a trio of dads looking to keep their kids busy.

Seven Mile Beach visitors embrace a rare phenomenon.

It might be the summer version of Christmas magic, in which wide, sand-fortified beaches resemble presents placed under the tree.

Spring is in the air and that means it’s time to sign up your kids for summer camps! There are plenty of options here at Seven Mile Beach that will take kids everywhere from the beach, to the library, to the marshes of the wetlands. Surfing? Yes, there’s a camp for that. Basketball? Yup, that too. Soccer? You’ve got it! Lacrosse? Absolutely.

The forces behind the successful “Save Our Historic St. Joseph’s Church” movement are at it again. This time they saved a stunning painting now mounted in the midst of colorful stained-glass windows within the original St. Joseph Church in Sea Isle City.

It was a cold and blustery afternoon. I was driving south through Absecon Island and passing through Margate. I was in a bit of a hurry, but something inside me told me that I should make the slight detour and drive past Memories, the legendary nightclub owned by Jerry Blavat that recently marked its 50th anniversary in “Maaar-gate, New Jersey.”

Opening and running their own store was something the Vassalotti family had always dreamed of but never planned. When the opportunity arose with Capt’n Chucky’s Crab Cake Co., they jumped at the chance.

The 2023 edition of the Stone Harbor Shiver coincided with St. Patrick’s Day weekend, so you know it had to be another one for the books! The weekend kicked off on Friday night with a Pre-Shiver party at the Yacht Club of Stone Harbor and the opportunity for last-minute Shiver registration.

What has eight arms, can change colors at will, and is both a master puzzle-solver and expert escape artist? The common octopus, of course! Octopus vulgaris – as the species is known in scientific circles – is one of the more fascinating residents of our local waters. Despite its name, people rarely see octopuses in their native environment, and most know very little about these incredible creatures: “Common” refers to their distribution rather than your chances of encountering one.

You’re obviously familiar with the adage of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. That’s what it’s like sometimes when we try to introduce some new, non-native plants or species into the environment of a barrier island, like here, on the Seven Mile Beach. Even worse when a species is invasive in nature and causes long-term harm to our environment. You might be surprised to find out how often this occurs.

Sometimes you get a storybook ending.

This was not one of those times.

For months, listeners knew that Angelo Cataldi, the firebrand host of the SportsRadio 94WIP morning show would end his 33-year broadcasting career when the Eagles’ 2022 season ended. And for a while, it seemed Cataldi and The Birds were destined to share a storybook ending. Until they didn’t.

Favorite thing about Philadelphia fans?
“Loyalty. They’re always there for you, tell you what they think. I love that.”

Favorite Philadelphia athletes?
Wilt Chamberlain. “He was the reason I love sports. He will always be my favorite.” Allen Iverson “was a great player and a fun guy to talk about.” Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins: “Those were spectacular guys who really resonated with the city. “Nick Foles. “Nick gave us a gift. He gave us a championship.”

We spoke with Philadelphia sports media giants Ray Didinger and Howard Eskin, along with Sea Isle City Mayor Leonard Desiderio, to hear their stories and reflections on Angelo Cataldi’s incredible broadcasting career.

“He brought a level of energy and passion to the morning, day after day for over 30 years. There was never a single day when you tuned in and felt like he mailed it in.

A new initiative by the Avalon Historical Society is intended to help preserve memories of the people, places, and events that shaped Avalon’s early years. Avalon Borough Council approved the Historical Society’s proposed Historical Marker Program at its March meeting.

I recently had the pleasure of trying some great new wines from Italy. The wines are being imported by a new distributor in New Jersey owned by Giacomo DiLisi. He has brought in some great wines from very small producers in Italy who are making high-quality wines that are farmed organically or biodynamically.

It seemed like the winter just took forever to end this year. While I spent a whole lot of time being the taxi driver for my kids, I was also fortunate enough to spend some time in front of the fireplace reading great new titles! There have been a lot of terrific books published recently, some from authors we love and others from debut authors.