By Donald Wittkowski
Kathy McFarland understands the nuances of Sea Isle City’s economy perhaps as well as anyone in town.
From her perch at the entrance to the beach at John F. Kennedy Boulevard, she can tell just how things are shaping up for the big Fourth of July weekend.
“I think it’s going to be a busy weekend. They’re coming,” said McFarland, a beach tag seller for the city.
The beaches were already packed when McFarland started working at 10 a.m. Saturday. By early afternoon, she had already sold 170 daily, weekly and seasonal beach tags, compared to about 25 on a typical day, she noted.
This small seashore town, which has a year-round population of about 2,100, is expected to swell to between 65,000 and 75,000 people throughout the holiday weekend, city spokeswoman Katherine Custer said.
“The island seems quite full. We seem to be running full steam ahead,” Custer said. “People really love to be down at the shore for the holiday. It’s a wonderful tradition.”
Falling in the sweet spot of the summer season, the Fourth of July weekend is critically important for vacation retreats like Sea Isle. The Fourth of July is to the Jersey Shore what Christmas is to the shopping malls.
“This is sort of the granddaddy of shore holidays,” Custer said.
Sea Isle has a weekend-full of concerts and other entertainment events – capped by a 9 p.m. fireworks display on Independence Day – to draw visitors to town.
An additional attraction this summer is the city’s replenished beachfront. Nearly 3 million cubic yards of new sand, costing $40 million, has been added to the entire shoreline, creating wide, powdery beaches for 4 1/2 miles from First Street to 94th Street.
Sea Isle resident Fran Cardaci, who lives on Veterans Way, was lounging on a tranquil stretch of beach Saturday along with her sister-in-law, Christine Dennis, of Warminster, Pa., and her friend, Claudia Vansaders, of Tinton Falls, N.J.
Cardaci explained that her family and friends have been vacationing in Sea Isle for decades. For the past 16 years, Cardaci, Dennis, Vansaders and their husbands have made it a tradition to celebrate the Fourth of July in town.
“We call this the lost weekend,” Cardaci said, laughing. “We have a barbecue, hang out, dance and drink. It’s a big party.”
Lisa and Charles Jantz, who have a vacation trailer in nearby Clermont, were ready to hit Sea Isle’s beaches after fighting heavy holiday traffic Saturday afternoon.
Lisa Jantz said it took them about 45 minutes to make a seven-mile trip. The Jantzes, who live in Bordentown, N.J., unloaded their chairs, an umbrella and a cart from their car as they prepared to march to the beach from a parking lot at the foot of John F. Kennedy Boulevard.
“We’re glad we finally made it,” Lisa Jantz said of their crawl on congested roads into Sea Isle. “This is a fun town. It’s got a lot of activities for everyone. There’s always something good to do.”
Exit 17 of the Garden State Parkway, which feeds traffic to Sea Isle, was bumper-to-bumper by early Saturday afternoon. A steady procession of cars entered town over the John F. Kennedy Boulevard bridge, passing by packed parking lots along the way.
Brisk beach tag sales weren’t the only indicator of a strong holiday weekend. Custer said that the Sea Isle Inn and the Coast Motel at La Costa are both sold out all weekend, indicating strong demand in the lodging industry.
Sea Isle Ice, an iconic local business marking its 50th anniversary this year, has a fleet of 65 trucks making deliveries to restaurants, liquor stores, campgrounds and other locations along the Jersey Shore over the holiday, owner Joe Romano Jr. said.
“Business has been good – nice and steady,” Romano said. “I think it’s a fairly good indicator of how well the economy is doing.”
With temperatures hovering in the low 80s under sunny skies, Sea Isle Ice’s business on Park Road was one place in town where people could really cool off, other than taking a dip in the ocean. Romano and his workers stood amid stacks of bags of ice in a 20-degree, walk-in freezer.
Just down the street from Sea Isle Ice, there was a rush on beach chairs, umbrellas and carts rented out by G&T Linen and Crib Rental.
“We have whatever you need but don’t necessarily have room for when you come down here,” said Brendan Gallagher, the manager of G&T, which mainly supplies linens, beach chairs, umbrellas and other items to vacation rental properties.
Gallagher said the Fourth of July weekend was off to a blockbuster start, suggesting that the entire summer could be strong if the weather cooperates.
“It’s excellent,” he said. “It’s been going great for the weekend. Even our future orders are looking good.
