Wednesday, May 16, 2012
It's what sells; can it work (partially) in Point Pleasant Beach?
Imagine riding a bike upside down ... with barely a strap to keep you from falling on the street. That's what the Loop-O-Plane felt like, a zippy ride that turned in ovals - and all that kept it running was an old motor with something that looked like a bicycle chain pulling through it. First it was in Point Pleasant Beach, the scariest of all the scary, stitched-together rides at the now defunct Herman's Amusements on the Boardwalk. When Herman's disappeared in 1987, I thought the ride would, too. When I worked at Herman's in the early 1980s, we kept this ride together with practically tape and glue. When it needed to be cleaned, the maintenance guy sounded the same alert: "Get the hose!" Back in the 1990s, while I was walking on the …
Friday, April 13, 2012
At Pasola's Barber Shop, time freezes and memories linger
Before my eyes was the man who always cut my hair, ready to chop away again, and give me the news about town that no newspaper ever could. Jack Pasola was still clipping away Wednesday morning, after decades of doing this, even if many of his customers are all gray now, including me. Or they just have a few strands left that Pasola, a former Point Beach mayor, nips off with the ends of his scissors and does the best he can to comb over their scalps. He'll spend the time he would have spent chopping off clumps of somebody's thick mop - the time he used to spend when everybody had long hair in the 1970s - reminiscing about the way things used to be. "I went to the Ocean Road School," said Pasola, who's now 68. "Then I went to the Beach high …
Monday, April 9, 2012
A day of sun, half-price ride tickets and even a little swimming at Jenkinson's Beach and Boardwalk
Sunny skies helped tourists enjoy the 60-degree temperatures on the Point Pleasant Beach Boardwalk this Easter weekend. It was also the day of the annual Easter Parade, sponsored by the Point Pleasant Beach Chamber of Commerce. Many were also there for the annual half-off sale on tickets, but they also appreciated the fact that they had a spring-like day at the summer resort. At St. Peter's, St. Martha's and the Point Presbyterian Church, among others, religious observances marked the high holy day.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Long Branch, and a new book, remind me of what shaped my career
I once dreamed of being a war journalist, a guy who dodged bombs in Beirut, barely avoiding capture. Or I could have been a Washington D.C. guy, shouting questions over the tired press corps, showing them how much better - or louder - I was than the rest of them. I got a taste of all that, traveling with an Air Force unit during the Afghanistan war in 2001; and, earlier, being among the first to reveal the twisted, molten remains of the World Trade Center that were temporarily stored at a Staten Island landfill, just a month after 9-11. In the end, however, what really mattered to me was what was here, just a half-hour from my house, just a half-hour north from where I was born. I see Long Branch, and I remember why I came home. I remember…
Saturday, February 18, 2012
I grew up at the Jersey Shore, and I admired her from afar - but I was closer to her than I thought
Growing up, I wanted to be the greatest at whatever I did, the guy who'd rise above the troubles of my family. I wanted to become the Muhammad Ali, even the Whitney Houston, in my corner of the world. I wanted to be the best runner, the best baseball player, the best surfer, even if I couldn't swim until I was 8. I grew up at the Jersey Shore but, for so many years, I was too afraid to swim in water that went over my head. I wanted to be the best writer, even as my college roommate at Rutgers made fun of it, calling it "a bad imitation of Shakespeare." I wanted to be a musician, even if I didn't know my octaves from my falsettos, or my piano keys from my car keys. I wanted to be a star, but not one of power, money and fame. I wanted to …
Friday, February 17, 2012
One accident on the North Jersey Coast Line was too much. Now it's up to five since April 1, 2011.
The voices are getting louder now. They're getting louder than the thunderous waves that crash on the beaches of Manasquan, Long Branch, Point Pleasant and Seaside Heights in the middle of a Nor'easter. They're louder than the voices on that MTV show that co-opted the Jersey Shore name. Seven dead in three years. At least three of them were suicides. From 2008 to 2009, four Manasquan High School students - or recent graduates at the time - were hit and killed by NJ Transit trains. Now Wednesday, when a teenager from Spring Lake Heights died after he was hit by a train. He apparently made no attempt to get out of the way, officials said. These tragedies on the Jersey Coast rail tracks were once thought to be isolated and independent. Now …
Monday, February 6, 2012
No longer feeling like a fool
The first football player I ever liked was a quarterback who got sacked all the time. Every year, his New York Giant teams lost more than they won. Every game, he got battered, booed-at and berated, tossed-around, tackled and "turfed." Every snap, he was there, ready to give it another try, preparing himself for another heap of abuse. His name was Phil Simms, and guys with 300-pound Herculean bodies mauled his protectors and threw themselves on his blindslide. The QB would lift himself from the rock-hard artificial turf, his shoulder pad popped out of his sleeve, and his helmet slightly askew. After each brutal pounding, all he'd do is tuck that pad back in, just behind the number 11 that was sewed to his sleeve, and get ready to call …
Friday, November 11, 2011
A look at Jersey Shore residents who lost their lives in battle this year, including a Seaside Park Army officer who died just two weeks ago
Once they were boys who liked to ride bikes, read books and go to the beach in Seaside Park and elsewhere. Then, so quickly, they became men carrying guns, finding themselves in harm's way. Too soon, they were gone, their lives ended in wars that never seemed to end. At least 12 soldiers from Ocean County have died since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. On Veterans Day, Patch remembers Jersey Shore residents who died in war this year. Here are three of their stories. Sgt. John A. Lyons, Seaside Park, Oct. 26 Berkeley Township Patrolman Richard Breitenbach rose early Thursday and began the trip to Dover, Del., to escort the body of Lyons, a young Seaside Park Army officer killed in Afghanistan on Oct. 26. "We're showing a soldier some respect," …
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
In a time of need, people are reaching out to those who don't normally provide it. Like me.
Some come in, wearing well-pressed jackets and ties, looking like they don't have a worry in the world. They shake my hand and smile. Then they tell their story, their stories of broken families and lost jobs, and frown. Along the way, they may try to force a smile out, and clench their teeth. But they can only fake it for so long. Others wear flannel shirts hanging out of their pants, with deep lines in their faces, showing the wear and tear of their lives. They force a smile, too, but the storyline is the same: failed relationships, layoffs and loss. Everywhere I've talked about my book, "A Legacy of Madness: Recovering My Family From Generations of Mental Illness," there's always the person who comes not necessarily to buy. They've come…
Friday, October 7, 2011
Jersey Shore Patch Regional Editor Tom Davis, a Point Pleasant Boro native who is appearing at a Manasquan bookstore, talks about recovering himself and his family from generations of mental illness.
Tom Davis is not only regional editor of Jersey Shore Patch and an adjunct professor of journalism at Rutgers University, he is author of the poignant new memoir, A Legacy of Madness: Recovering My Family from Generations of Mental Illness. Davis, a Point Boro native, was a recipient of a Rosylnn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism and received a ringing endorsement for the book from the former First Lady. "A Legacy of Madness breaks down the barriers of silence that shroud mental illnesses within families for generations," Carter wrote. "By sharing the story of his family history and his own personal journey, Tom Davis provides hope and inspiration to others." Tom Davis will be signing copies of Legacy of Madness at 7 p.m., …
whatdontyouget
8:29 pm on Thursday, May 17, 2012
PPB has not but should be with all the partying going on. That is all the residents think and talk about is drinking and they are passing it down to their kids too. It is just one big partying town. Then they want to blame everyone else for all there drinking problems. more ›