Around Monmouth Beach – A time to be thankful

(left to right) Kenneth Snyder, Karyn Jarmer (owner), John Barchuk, Samantha Irace and Eileen Woodbury work tirelessly to get My Kitchen Witch up and running for Thanksgiving; despite the 3-4 feet of water the endured.

In the days after Super Storm Sandy as we began, like so many others, to deal with the Herculean cleanup efforts I had the oddest question posed to me by a family member in another state not deeply effected by Sandy; “Are you still planning to do Thanksgiving at your house this month?”
It was like my brain was looking through the wrong end of a pair of binoculars. What day was it? Month? Is it really November? How weird it seemed that the rest of the world was moving forward and needed to secure their holiday plans. Right now our lives are a sea of ripped up flooring, half sheet rocked walls, extension cords, noisy generators, flashlights, batteries, muddy rugs and carpets, dripping noses and unshaven faces and legs, blower fans and dehumidifiers, doors that won’t shut because of the cords running through them or because they are too warped from the salt water, paper cups, instant coffee, low flying planes, helicopter fly-bys and insurance adjusters who never arrive.

Bob & Helmi Konderock, Doris & Don Woolfenden, Bernie & Bea Villa, John Collins, Lois Geyer, Pat Keller, James Heath and Kamille Terrell.

Was it even possible to cook a 25 lb. Thanksgiving turkey on a gas stovetop? The frozen pizza hadn’t turned out well the other night. I just couldn’t wrap my brain around celebrating any holiday. However, it did get me thinking about our family’s Thanksgiving tradition of going around the table before we began our dinner with everyone saying what they were thankful for this year.
Each and every one of us here in Monmouth Beach and almost every single person who was affected by Sandy has a list a mile long of things we are thankful for this year, starting with the fact we are alive. I know it is hard for many of you out there right now, who have lost so much to even try to look on the bright side, but that is in fact what we must do to move forward. I am lucky to be able share my list with you this year in hopes that it will inspire you to think of your own.

Sue & Lou McDonald, Steve Adams and Craig Ryan with the gator.

First and foremost I am thankful for the Monmouth Beach Police, Fire and First Aid departments; you are all truly amazing and selfless individuals with courage and dedication I cannot even comprehend. Mayor Sue Howard, you are an inspiration to us all; we could not have had a better leader during this difficult time along with the OEM team that kept us informed and up to date. It seemed like the moment we had a question about trash, water, electric, safety, looters, tides or weather, it was answered on the end of some sort of electronic device or in person at Borough Hall by Jerry Chismar. (I think we can all agree that Dennis Cahill could have a lucrative second career in voice-overs).
Thank you Al Miller and the Public Works department who cleared our roads and picked up our debris. Also to the scores of help that came from neighboring towns and states, the police, firemen, utility workers, waste management teams, volunteers, Red Cross, FEMA, National Guard, the list goes on and on
Personally, I am ever so thankful to the following individuals; My husband Frank for coming up with the perfect word to describe everything; “compromised!”; as in the floor, the walls, the front steps, the furnace, the AC units, the hot water heater, the electric box, the windows, the roof, the stove, the refrigerator, duct work… pretty much everything on our first floor and garage was compromised. My teenaged daughter Olivia for refraining from commenting on my increasingly odder outfits and lack of hygiene as the days went on and for attempting to boil water all by herself on at least two occasions. My son Jaden who insisted that we pick him up from and return him to Rutgers just before the Nor’easter hit so he could vote in his very first presidential elections in his beloved hometown of MB. Olivia’s boyfriend Dennis for keeping her calm during Sandy and for helping us move furniture with his broken arm. Our Chihuahua Teeny who made an excellent hot water bottle despite her snores and our beagle Jackson who literally walked through walls to be with me and constantly reminded me that a full stomach comes first.
We are so thankful to the Bordiuks for taking our old golden retriever Kashi to their safe, warm, dry house for 10 days, providing us with a peace of mind no fruit basket in the world could ever be big enough to repay.

Students from Roosevelt Ave School in Attleboro, MA raised $585 and bought supplies from Amazon.

I am so thankful to the following wonderful friends and neighbors in no particular order because each gesture meant so much; Erich and Beth Walsh for lending us their generator to get our sump pump working and our crawl space dried out, Kelly Lang for being the only one to show up in costume on Halloween dressed as a hotdog, charging my phone and providing us with our first hot meal and shower in four days, and her husband Tim for handing me his baby grandson K.J. to hold so I would stop crying once I finally got warmed up for the first time.
I want to thank Bruce Bradley for letting us store our boat in one of the only safe places in MB, the Englishes for the coffee press and finding Teeny when she wandered off during all the commotion, the Kwoks for getting past the National Guard on the second day to deliver gas, 10W30 and thermal coffee cups, my brother Steven Walker for driving 300 miles twice to bring us gas, batteries, cookies, brownies, chocolates and cash from our parents in Vermont; Alison Silver for the ice, water and walkie-talkies; Glen Wagner for his expertise as an electrician so our house didn’t burn down before Larry’s Electric got us up and running again; Kenny Shaw for giving us a plan with Larry, Pat the plumber and R.F.D. roofers who actually repaired our shingles, and flashing just before the Nor’easter hit; Mike Cullen and Jamie for the gourmet picnic basket, oil and space heater; Homeira Walter always staying grounded and focused on others and for arriving just when I went in to a panic, calling the fire department for our neighbor’s gas leak; Victoria McDougal for the positive energy and space heater, my son’s friends Phil Paxia and Matt Brando for helping move heavy objects; Harrison Baker, Bob & Carolynn Diakon, Carrie & Al Tenuto for the dog food,; J.E. Boehles for being my MB Mom; Patrice Carden for the hot meal and staying in touch with me by text the night of the storm along with Alison Silver, Norm Viano, Nancy Zarriello, Big Joe, Heather L. and our families.

MB students, teachers and parents unload the trailer of new supplies at Shore Regional HS.

Thank you to Renita Pruchnicki, Ed and Angela Moro and Dennis and Eileen Cusack for the red wine we will be enjoying for months to come, David Baker for pumping out all our neighbors basements for free, Ronnie Gironda for helping move our furniture to safety, Carolyn O’Connell for the contractor bags, Gary Dunzelman and his friend for the food and supplies, Courtney and Joe for the water and contractor bags, Angela Karklin and her sons Jack and Connor for showing up to help my girlfriends pack up their belongings.

Ernie Brina holds his First Annual Bocce Blitz Tournament on the Saturday before Sandy

I am thankful for Gloria Nilson and my Mom for letting me sob on the phone with them as our personal belongings were crushed and lifted by a backhoe into the dump trucks and carted away. I am thankful that even though FEMA was unable to help us in any way, our agent Dante was caring and kind.
I am eternally thankful to my knights in shinning armor; Mark and the entire CDS Flood Team who showed up in their blue and yellow trucks at just the right moment; cleaned us up and dried us out with professionalism and deft efficiency (I also thank them for eating the 800 pieces of Halloween candy before I did).
Thank you to my former neighbor April Rudman for driving up from Virginia Beach in the Nor’easter to deliver two generators, gas, oil, electric cords and solar phone chargers before turning around and driving right back and to my former classmate Wendy Norton-Moss who organized my BFUHS alumni in Vermont and sent a care package of supplies and real maple syrup.
Thank you to the inventors of; waterproof boots, hotties hand warmers®, hot chillys long underwear® polar fleece, gas generators, paper cups, bottled water, contractor bags, peanut butter, canned soup, extension cords, space heaters, flash lights, zip-lock baggies®, cell phones and Facebook®!

My former home office drying out.

A big thank you to the countless friends, family and strangers who offered us places to stay, shower, charge phones, get warm, hot meals and asked us over and over if we were okay and if we needed anything. Most of all, to my sweet hubby of 22 years, thank you for being my partner and support during these difficult last weeks and for misplacing your glasses during the storm; so you thought I always looked beautiful and  never once said; “Yes, honey, those six layers of clothing really do make you look fat!”
Finally, I am thankful to The Link for providing me with a platform to share my experiences and express my gratitude.
Thanksgiving at my house NEXT year!

Around Monmouth Beach
There were several happy events around MB the weekend before Hurricane Sandy. The Cultural Center held its annual Volunteer Dinner. As the artwork was removed from the walls in preparation for bad weather ahead, the crowd dined on pasta, salads and chicken francaise while listening to the lovely piano playing of Lynford Graham of Short Hills.
Although now it is clear that the Cultural Center will be in need of repairs as well, at the time it was mentioned that there was a need for more volunteers, especially from the younger generations to help with computers and the newsletter.

Post Sandy, James and the gang at Booskerdoo give out free coffee at the corner of Beach and Michael Angelo’s to shell-shocked but grateful Monmouth Beachers.

I mentioned to Mayor Sue Howard that I had seen folks taking bags of sand from the beach that day to shore up their homes and she seemed appalled, hoping that they would return it after the storm. It is safe to say now that MB’s approximately $700,000 share of the 12 million dollar beach replenishment project was money well spent; imagine how much worse it might have been!
If you have any sand in your yard, please return it to the beach.

Sallee Tee’s will be open for business again vows Owner Joe Amiel although it suffered a tremendous hit.

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Please email or call Teja Anderson with news and events in Monmouth Beach dicopouli@aol.com or 917-797-1324