PLEASANTVILLE _ Even when they aren’t fighting fires, members of the Pleasantville fire department are fighting to save lives.

During the weekend of April 27-28, the Pleasantville Professional Firefighters IAFF Local No. 2616 raised more than $2,000 for diabetes research.

Store Manager Ann Marie Morrison, left, of Absecon has volunteered at Forsythe for five years. Terry Meyer of Galloway is a four-year volunteer. Terry enjoys meeting people from “all over the country and even out of the country.” Morrison loves being store manager but says job one is being a mom to John, 10, and Rachel, 7. (Steve Prisament)

GALLOWAY – From the halls of Congress, to the shores of Galloway, they came to celebrate the opening of Wildlife Drive at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge here Saturday, May 18.

photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Kelley/ Jeannie Sansone is presented the award for Civilian of the Year for 2012 by Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert J. Papp and Curtis B. Odom, director of personnel management for the Coast Guard.

CAPE MAY – A civilian employee at the Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May has been named the Coast Guard’s Civilian Employee of the Year for 2012.

Arc Thrift Store Manager, Irv Singer of Margate stands at the check out of the store with cashier Heather Weaver of Absecon. Posters of the Arc success stories surround the store and lets customers know that every dollar they spend in the store helps Arc clients.

NORTHFIELD—When the Arc Thrift Shop opened its doors in the Tilton Plaza Shopping Center over Memorial Day weekend two years ago Manager Irv Singer had a mission for the store. What he did not realize is how much that would expand and grow in a relative short period of time.

Laura Stetser/This picture of a coyote was taken in Egg Harbor Township on a foggy spring morning.

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – “Wake up, there’s a wolf in our yard,” I said to my husband early one spring morning about two years ago.

“Well, maybe it’s not a wolf,” I excitedly corrected myself as I peered out the window. “It’s a coyote. Can it be a coyote? I really think it’s a coyote. You have to see this!”

 I quickly grabbed my camera and started taking pictures of the canine, which showed no fear of me as it crossed our yard. Black, brown and tan, it looked like a skinny, off-color German Shepherd. But this dog had no collar and knew its way around the woods that surround our English Creek-area home.

photo by Bill Barlow/ Lifeguard stands are lined up at 46th Street recently, waiting for the beach patrol to begin guarding beaches. A limited number of beaches will be guarded this weekend.

OCEAN CITY -  The city’s beaches are scheduled to be opened noon Friday, May 25, with the “unlocking” of the beaches by Ocean City Beach Patrol officials.

The event includes and a celebratory parade of sorts, with flags and an assortment of costumed characters, including the annual businessman’s plunge into the ocean.  Participants dress in business suits, carry brief cases and march into the ocean to the strains of Pomp and Circumstance to welcome the new season.