Sea Isle City Deputy Clerk Shannon Romano brought her 8-year-old daughter, Juls, to the Community Day festivities.
By Donald Wittkowski
Clare Neff, just 3 years old, and her 5-year-old brother, Tyler, stood on the steps of the Sea Isle City Welcome Center, munching on soft pretzels and holding plastic pinwheels that spun furiously in the brisk breeze.
Their grandmother, Janet Reynolds, of Malvern, Pa., had brought the children to Sea Isle on Saturday for a little getaway trip to see a flower show, buy some beach tags for the family’s summer vacation and grab a bite to eat.
“We’re doing it all on this trip,” Reynolds said, laughing.
By accident, they also discovered something else to do. Just behind the Welcome Center, the city held its annual Community Day celebration Saturday showcasing an array of local charities, civic groups, the business community and government services.
“It brings the entire community together,” Pattianne Ponichtera, assistant to Mayor Leonard Desiderio, said of the event, now in its eighth year.
Sea Isle's Community Lodge was crowded with visitors and display booths for the event.
One highlight of Community Day is the mayor’s “Do the Right Thing” awards that honor members of the community for their contributions to the city. Recognized this year were Sis Borden, Tom Breazeale Jr., Bill Keller, Tom Owings, Joe Robinson and Bob Thibault.
From left, Councilman Jack Gibson, First Bank of Sea Isle City President Frank Roach and AARP Vice President Bill Keller celebrated a $2,000 check presentation.
Another set of Community Day awards included the Sea Isle City Chamber of Commerce and Revitalization presenting scholarship money to local students.
Community Day, held in Sea Isle’s Community Lodge, also featured local organizations that educate the public about the Jersey Shore’s diverse environment. There were live animal exhibits by the Cape May County Zoo and a display by Sea Isle Cats, a group that spays and neuters feral felines before releasing them back into the wild.
Juls Romano – an 8-year-old girl who enthusiastically told everyone that the unusual spelling of her first name has no “e” – got a nature lesson from wildlife experts at the Stone Harbor-based Wetlands Institute.
Sea Isle City Deputy Clerk Shannon Romano brought her 8-year-old daughter, Juls, to the Community Day festivities.
“Horseshoe crabs, turtles, red knot birds,” Juls, a second-grader and daughter of Sea Isle Deputy City Clerk Shannon Romano, said while listing some of the wildlife she became acquainted with.
Among the child-friendly activities at the Community Day celebration was a face-painting and crafts booth. Juls had her face painted like a cat.
