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Book takes readers on a treasure hunt through Cape May County
Last Updated on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 01:33 pm Written by Staff Reports Saturday, June 30, 2012 01:00 am
A new children’s book written about Cape May County could be just the thing to pique kids’ interest in reading and treasure hunting this summer.
Written by Denise Blum, “The Oceanfront Treasure Hunt” is about a young pirate who receives a treasure map as a birthday gift. She sets out on an exciting journey, following the map to claim her treasure. Her quest takes her to many of the seaside’s popular destinations, such as Morey’s Piers, Johnson’s Popcorn, the Deauville Inn, the Victorian homes of Cape May, the beach and other locations.
Published by Mainstay Publishing, the book is full of colorful illustrations by Brandon Hildreth. For information contact Mainstay at 302-223-6636 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
The book can be purchased at various locations, many of which are stops along the treasure hunt.
Read more: Book takes readers on a treasure hunt through Cape May County
Service with a Smile in OC- Jun. 29, 2012
Last Updated on Friday, June 29, 2012 09:25 am Written by Staff Reports Friday, June 29, 2012 02:22 pm
Stefan Zareba, Maddie Howell and Ernest Phillips of Blue Dolfin Bakery in Marmora.
Beach Reads > June 29, 2012
Last Updated on Friday, June 29, 2012 10:45 am Written by Marjorie Preston Friday, June 29, 2012 10:40 am
My Extraordinary Ordinary Life by Sissy Spacek, Hyperion. She’s a star but without the mega-wattage or tabloid appeal of, say, Angelina Jolie, and in her new biography Sissy Spacek comes across as homespun, friendly, family-centered and utterly charming. The book details her tomboy girlhood in the small town of Quitman, Texas, to her adventurous early years in New York and L.A. as she tracks her unlikely rise to stardom (she had to fight for the role of Carrie, and showed up at the audition in a sailor dress handmade by her mother). Spacek initially resisted playing country singer Loretta Lynn in “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” the role that won her an Oscar. She changed her mind after meeting Lynn, and asking for and getting a “sign” that convinced her to take the role. Spacek shares the childhood loss that shaped her life, the happiness she found in marriage and family, and her wry, knowing perspective on Hollywood. An easy read with no shattering revelations – and that’s a relief.
One Kook's Safari > Locals take first and second at kite surf contest
Written by Bill Barlow Friday, June 29, 2012 01:30 am
Teddy Lyons Jr. gets a lot of time in the water.
“The beauty of it is, it’s never a matter of ‘Should I go kiting or surfing.’ If the wind’s offshore and there’s a wave, let’s surf,” he said. If the wind picks up from the south, chopping up the waves, it’s time to go kiteboarding, he said. Lyons almost always has a way to move on the water.
“Except for today,” he said from the beach in the south end of Ocean City, where he was hanging with Mark Miedama. Things were fairly flat.
Lyons is 19, Miedama 20, and they have both grown up soggy. Miedama started surfing at 4, he said, and has been kiting for about eight years.
“I’ve been in the water my whole life,” Miedama said.
Read more: One Kook's Safari > Locals take first and second at kite surf contest
Crest offers fitness classes by the beach
Last Updated on Thursday, June 28, 2012 12:30 pm Written by Staff Reports Friday, June 29, 2012 01:00 am
Wildwood Crest will be offering outdoor fitness classes beginning Saturday, June 30.
Yoga, Pilates, aerobics and other fitness activities will be offered 8:30 a.m. daily through Aug. 25 at the Beach Pier on Heather Road and the beach.
Yoga will be offered on Sunday, Yogalates on Monday, cardio pump on Tuesday, aerobics on Wednesday, kick box boot camp on Friday, and Pilates on Saturday.
In addition, sunset yoga classes will be offered starting Tuesday, July 3. Classes will be held 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday along Sunset Lake at New Jersey and Miami avenues through Aug. 16.
Who’s the fittest of them all?
Written by Brian Cunniff Thursday, June 28, 2012 06:31 pm
Lifeguard races put local patrols to the test all summer long
The South Jersey beach lifeguard competition season is set to begin next week.
The South Jersey Chiefs Association, which indirectly oversees the competitions, will feature a whopping 36 official events jammed into the months of July and August.
Not every beach patrol will participate in all of the races, but you get the idea – there is plenty of opportunity for the lifeguards who protect us on the beach and in the ocean to showcase their skills.
Copepods are a tiny ally in mosquito fight
Written by Alex Davis Thursday, June 28, 2012 04:13 pm
Surrounded by reeds, state agriculture Secretary Douglas Fisher picks up three white buckets and dumps thousands of tiny shrimp-like crustaceans into a pool of water near the Middle Township Performing Arts Center on Friday.
The copepods feed on mosquito larvae.
“What a learning experience for all us,” Fisher said.
The land is part of Middle Township High School, and according to state officials, pesticides cannot be used on school property to fight mosquitoes.
Peter Bosak, superintendent of the Cape May County Department of Mosquito Control, said that using copepods is another option for fighting the flying bloodsuckers.
Copepods live in ocean and freshwater habitats and are about 1 to 2 millimeters long. Shaped like a teardrop, they have long antennae and an exoskeleton that is so thin it is largely transparent.
Offshore action is off the charts
Written by Heather Holtzapfel James Thursday, June 28, 2012 04:01 pm
What a difference a week can make when it comes to fishing. Last weekend there were reports of a lull in the flounder fishing. This past week, the action turned back on and there are even reports of some of the best offshore fishing in 25 years. All thanks to warmer weather and lighter winds.
Joan Barrett of Dolfin Dock in Somers Point had some notable catches to report. Gene Dobley of Somers Point landed a 4.22-pound flounder on minnow out of Ships Channel. Also catching fish from Ships Channel were Bob Bloom of Egg Harbor Township with a 7.96-pounder and Bill Wilson of Somers Point with a 3.84-pound fish. Jack Sweeder of Ocean City caught a 4.73-pound fluke on green Gulp from Kennedy Park in Somers Point, and George Stapelton of Somers Point picked up a 4.5-pounder while using Gulp from the Great Egg Inlet.
Cinemania > Pixar’s ‘Brave’ is beautiful, inspiring
Last Updated on Thursday, June 28, 2012 04:37 pm Written by Marjorie Preston Thursday, June 28, 2012 02:58 pm
Brave
The latest from Pixar turns the conventional Disney-style princess into an independent, forceful character capable of her own decisions and responsible for her own future.
Princess Merida, voiced by Kelly MacDonald, has been raised all her life to become queen. Though she struggles to maintain a prim and proper attitude, she’d much rather be galloping through the Scottish moors on her faithful steed, slinging arrows and seeking adventure.
When three suitors vie in a contest to win her hand, Merida enters the competition herself, defying tradition and her parents and sending the kingdom to the brink of turmoil. She soon realizes her wish has consequences, and she must fight to undo what she has done.
Read more: Cinemania > Pixar’s ‘Brave’ is beautiful, inspiring
Doo-wop tour takes riders back to the ’50s
Last Updated on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 09:10 pm Written by Staff Reports Thursday, June 28, 2012 01:41 pm
THE WILDWOODS -- The Doo Wop Back to the '50s Tour is a nighttime bus tour that showcases the wacky doo-wop architecture that made the Wildwoods famous.
The tour will take riders past examples showing the neon lighting, boomerang-shaped rooflines, tiki thatching and plastic palms and other architectural elements characteristic of the doo-wop style of the 1950s and ’60s.
According to the Doo Wop Preservation League, the island’s 1950s-era motels, diners, restaurants and vintage signs comprise the largest collection of mid-century doo-wop resort architecture in the United States.
This organic farm is really growing
Written by Marjorie Preston Thursday, June 28, 2012 12:32 pm
Beach Plum Farm supplies local restaurants, with some to spare
WEST CAPE MAY – Organic farmer Jaime Alvarez would rather grow an ugly tomato that tastes like heaven than a photogenic fruit that tastes like wax.
This summer – his second year running Cape Resorts’ Beach Plum Farm – Alvarez will grow about 11,000 pounds of less-than-lovely tomatoes, along with a bumper crop of strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. He has planted rows of asparagus, broccoli, kale, carrots and other vegetables, plus fields of corn, acres of herbs, and of course, the signature beach plums, a hardy flowering shrub prized for its sweet, plum-like fruit.
Most of this bounty is destined for Cape Resorts’ group of restaurants, including the Ebbitt Room, Blue Pig, and Rusty Nail in Cape May, and Chelsea Prime and Teplitzky’s in Atlantic City. The rest will be available at a produce market open to the public starting this month.
Ris Gallery features work of Jane Hartley, Julia Sutliff
Written by Staff Reports Thursday, June 28, 2012 12:21 pm
This weekend marks the opening of two exhibits at the William Ris Gallery in Stone Harbor. The shows open Saturday, June 30 and will remain through July.
The first exhibit is “Knot Play” by artist Jane Hartley.
Hartley combines a background in graphic design and her appreciation of the old masters in her traditional-style figurative and still-life paintings. She has studied art both locally and abroad.
A graduate of The Maryland Institute College of Art, she pursued a career in graphic design and went on to create artwork for interior designers and private collections. Her fascination with the old masters led her to an apprenticeship where she studied the traditional formulas and techniques that are a part of her painting style.
Hartley's art is largely influenced by 17th and 18th century artists. Working mostly in oils, she also uses pastel for some of her figurative and portrait subjects.
Hartley, who lives just outside St. Michael’s, Md., has been displaying her artwork for 30 years.
Read more: Ris Gallery features work of Jane Hartley, Julia Sutliff
Crest native to train with U.S. Olympic triathletes this summer
Written by Brian Cunniff Friday, June 22, 2012 03:25 pm
Joe Maloy knows that many of his Boston College classmates have gotten on with their professional careers. Quite a few are probably already making a comfortable living while still only in their mid-20s.
Meanwhile, Maloy sometimes struggles to make ends meet. But at this point in his life, the Wildwood Crest native would have it no other way.
Maloy has been a professional triathlete for a little more than two years now. But unlike, say, professional baseball, basketball or football, there is little glamour and glitz in the sport of triathlon racing.
Still, there is much reward.
Maloy, 26, who recently finished in third place at a major international triathlon in Dallas, has been selected to train with the American triathletes who are participating in this summer’s Olympic Games in London. He will leave this country next week to set up base in Spain with the rest of the U.S. triathletes. He will train with the Olympians while also competing in a variety of races in three countries over a four-week span.
Read more: Crest native to train with U.S. Olympic triathletes this summer
Morey’s opens 2 new water attractions
Written by Christie Rotondo Friday, June 22, 2012 02:44 pm
Morey’s Piers has opened two new water attractions this summer.
The lazy river at Raging Waters has been renovated, and a six-lane racer slide has been added to Ocean Oasis.
“We’re in the entertainment business and we need to deliver freshness in our parks,” Jack Morey, executive vice president of Morey’s Piers said. “So we thought it best to make over the water parks.”
Adventure River is the new name given to the revamped 1,000-foot lazy river, which now has a frontier look to it. There are fallen trees, rocks, grottos, geysers and benches all along the river. Morey said larger decorations around the river are based on “wreckers” – ships that had washed up onto the Jersey shore that the locals would turn into homes.
“We designed it so it looks as if people are living and working there,” Morey said.
As part of the new theme, Morey said the “back of the house” – the river’s filtration pipes – are now on display. He said these pipes became part of the attraction to solve a problem with spacing in the park.
“We took a challenge and turned it into an opportunity to display something in a whimsical but truthful way,” Morey said.
The pipes are identified with kid-friendly labels, for example the backwash line reads “Icky yucky water on the way to the MUA,” Morey said.
One Kook's Safari > Surfing Day seeks to share the stoke
Written by Bill Barlow Friday, June 22, 2012 01:15 pm
The Surfrider Foundation works on numerous projects: cleaning beaches, advocating for the environment, working to protect the waves where surfers play.
But Wednesday’s event was pretty much just a beach party.
John Bonino of Marmora helped pull the annual International Surfing Day together at the 59th Street beach in Ocean City.
“It’s really just having a good time on the beach,” said Tom Hoops of Ventnor, another one of the organizers with Surfrider.
Throughout the world, International Surfing Day includes beach cleanups and paddle-outs, but Bonino said the Ocean City event was aimed at introducing people to the joy of the beach and the surfing lifestyle.
Read more: One Kook's Safari > Surfing Day seeks to share the stoke
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