Times Talk
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY … THANKFULLY!
Jim Piazza on his boat docked in Sea Isle City.
A great white shark just outside of Townsends Inlet in June.
It seemed like a nice, normal Saturday afternoon fishing trip in June for Jim Piazza. Piazza and his young son were taking their center-console outboard out for a day of fishing. Under the Ocean Drive Bridge, they settled about six miles off Townsend’s Inlet and fished the reef.
“We hadn’t caught very much,” Piazza said, “so we decided to pack it in.”
What happened next would make him an instant celebrity. Television stations in Philadelphia, New York City and as far south as Washington would soon be telling his story. That, and there were thousands of hits on social media.
On their way in, Piazza’s son and his friend spotted something in the water. “I damn near ran it over,” Piazza said about a week later. They were about a half-mile off the coast, just outside the inlet, near the first red buoy. That’s when Piazza’s son pointed in the water, just beside the boat. What they were seeing was a great white, or, as they are also known, a mackerel shark! Yup, just like the one made famous back in 1976 in the movie “Jaws.” This one was about 12 feet in length, meaning that it was probably just a youngster.
Although Piazza’s sighting was a bit unusual and attracted media attention from all over the East Coast, sharks just off Cape May County are not unusual. We may not like to admit it, the ocean, even close to our shores, is their natural habitat. But relax, the movie was fiction, for the most part.
This type of shark is very productive; it helps to keep our oceans healthy. You may not be aware, but when a shark biting a human occurs, it’s usually the result of mistaken identity. Sharks typically do not hunt humans. In fact, you are more likely to be struck by lightning than to be bitten by a shark along our coast. It might surprise you, but in contrast, humans are a greater threat to sharks than sharks are to humans. Hundreds of thousands of sharks are killed by humans each year.
According to Piazza, the shark that he sighted “just kept swimming. It wasn’t aggressive at all. It swam nice and easy beside the boat for a little bit. We circled him for a bit, but he just kept swimming north.”
At the very least, armed with their photos, Piazza and his son have a fish story to last a lifetime.
VFW 1963 Auxiliary members enjoying treats from Mr. Softee Ice Cream Truck, compliments of local Girl Scout Troop 41012.
VFW POST 1963 BOASTS LARGEST AUXILIARY IN SOUTH JERSEY
The auxiliary of VFW Post 1963 in Sea Isle City is now the largest in South Jersey with 381 members strong.
“Our mission is to serve our veterans and community,” said auxiliary president Patti Lloyd. “Being active in our community helps to continue our growth. The veterans who fought for our freedoms are our No. 1 priority. The bigger our auxiliary becomes, the more veterans we can assist.”
On May 9, VFW Commander Mark Lloyd, led a ceremony in which Sea Isle City Mayor Leonard Desiderio congratulated the auxiliary and presented it with a plaque. The mayor also treated the members to a pizza party in acknowledgement of their success. In addition, local Girl Scout Troop 41012 arrived at the ceremony’s conclusion with a Mister Softee ice cream truck, providing frozen sweet treats for all.
Earlier in the well-attended ceremony, the auxiliary, following its April elections, installed its officers for the coming year. The 2022 auxiliary officers include: Lloyd, senior vice president Peg Moore, junior vice president Diane McCool, treasurer Ruth Brown, secretary Ellen Myers, chaplain Stephanie Jones, guard Brian Moran, patriotic instructor Maryanne Hamilton, historian Karen Haugh, conductor Terry Moore, and trustees Barbara Cummins, Barbara Haines, and Linda White.
VFW HOSTS VA OUTREACH PROGRAMS
The VFW Post 1963 Auxiliary hosts a Veterans Community Outreach program in its meeting room at 401 JFK Blvd. on the third Tuesday of each month from 2-4:30pm. The purpose is to provide veterans and their family members with an opportunity to get much-needed information.
“We thought it would be great to have the VA come to our post to make it easier and a more comfortable atmosphere for any veteran who wants to come and has any type of questions or needs, and then gets some direction with what they need to do next,” said Patti Lloyd, president of the auxiliary.
The program can be a real help, according to Jacqueline Hinker, Veteran Community Outreach Specialist for Wilmington (Del.) VA Medical Center, which covers several counties in South Jersey. “This offers veterans an opportunity to connect maybe for the first time with the VA, find out what they’re eligible for as far as the Veterans Health Administration and as health care is concerned,” Hinker said. “Or, if they’ve never filed a claim for a service-connected injury, didn’t know how to, or didn’t understand what it was all about. We have accredited veterans services officers there to assist.”
Hinker further explains that eligibility for VA health care has many different criteria. And that there’s a lot of information. “Having this ability to come to the local VFW Post that someone is coming in to get this information, one-on-one, face-to-face with, it can really shed a broader light of what the VA has to offer,” she said. “That’s why we try to be the best navigation tool.”
She adds: “We have a brand-new clinic in Rio Grande. In that clinic, it houses primary care, behavioral health, telehealth. There’s group therapy. There’s physical therapy. We have an orthopedic surgeon who comes into that facility as well. There’s also women’s health. We have multiple services within that new clinic.”
Many veterans don’t realize how close to home they could be getting their VA care. Said Hinker: “We also offer care in the community through the VA, which offers veterans the opportunity if they are eligible to get care closer to home with one of our community partners.”
Brendan Schaffer’s artwork at the Green Fair/Art Fair uses recycled materials.
ART MEETS RECYCLING AT GREEN FAIR/ART FAIR
Five artists from Sea Isle City were among 15 from Cape May County who participated in the Green Fair / Art Fair event June 4 at Excursion Park.
“We’re trying to encourage artists to use recycled materials,” says Christie Ostrander, assistant to the director of community services for Sea Isle City and its liaison with Sustainable Jersey. “Sustainable Jersey asks us to create ways to bring people into our municipality through environmental issues, and we figured out we could combine the Green Fair with an Art Fair that was environmentally friendly.”
One participating artist, Brendan Schaffer, wowed the crowd with a giant snake made out of automobile tires that he made into a planter. “Everyone stopped to look and couldn’t believe it,” Ostrander says.
In addition to demonstrations on recycling, fair-goers also benefited from learning how to create their own artistic works using recycled materials.
“We had one staff person take all of our old recreation T-shirts that we have, like leftover odd sizes, and she had a table where she showed people how to cut the shirts and make recyclable shopping bags,” Ostrander says. “That was pretty popular, mainly because everyone liked the bags, but they also liked that they said Sea Isle City.”
In addition, Environment Commission chair Annette Lombardo reported success with this year’s tree raffle, which culminated the successful day. “We had 277 entries for 30 trees,” says Lombardo, who reports that the winners of the raffle received their choice of a crepe myrtle, little gem magnolia, or limelight hydrangea.
David Tapper’s family poses with his photo at the street-sign dedication ceremony.
DAVID M. TAPPER STREET SIGN DEDICATED
Hundreds of supporters joined the Gold Star family of late Navy SEAL David M. Tapper on June 11 for a street-sign dedication in his honor at 89th Street and Landis Avenue, near the summer home of Tapper’s youth. Mayor Leonard C. Desiderio hosted the event to honor the fallen hero. A sign honoring Tapper now sits above the 89th Street sign at the intersection. Tapper was a member of SEAL Team 6 when he died during combat operations in Afghanistan.
The boy who grew up summers in Sea Isle and served his country, has never been forgotten. And now, Tapper’s memory is being memorialized by the shore town he loved. Tapper’s grandparents owned a home on 89th Street, a few houses from the beach, until the 1990s.
Veterans advocate Joe Griffies said it was a proud day to see the street-sign dedication to Tapper become a reality.
“We have Memorial Day one day a year,” says Griffies, who hosts the popular weekly radio program “Welcome Home Veterans” on WIBG radio. “We have Veterans Day one day a year, and Fourth of July one day. But we have freedom every day.” He hopes people will realize what soldiers like Tapper have sacrificed in order to preserve freedom for us all.