Volunteers enjoy a complimentary buffet lunch at Mike's Seafood and Dock Restaurant after the beach cleanup.
By Donald Wittkowski
Connie and John Allen shook their heads in disbelief while looking at the four trash bags containing all of the litter that they had removed from Sea Isle City’s beaches.
“Beer cans, soda cans, beer bottles, plastic water bottles,” John Allen began while recounting some of the junk he plucked out of the sand.
After pausing for a moment, he continued, “We also found balloons, balloon strings, cigarette butts and candy wrappers. There were also a lot of sandals and flip-flops. I also found some old beach chairs and some boogie boards.”
The Allens, a sister and brother who live in Quinton, Salem County, were among 180 environmentally conscious volunteers who picked up litter and debris Saturday morning during Sea Isle’s fall beach cleanup that spans the entire length of the barrier island.
“We covered every beach, almost,” said Annette Lombardo, chairwoman of the Sea Isle City Environmental Commission, which organized the event.
John and Connie Allen take stock of the trash they found on the beach while talking to Sea Isle City Environmental Commission member Abby Powell, at right.
Wearing rubber gloves and carrying large trash bags, the volunteers fanned out from First Street to 94th Street to remove trash from the beaches and dunes. Some of the discarded items were unusual.
“I found a hat,” 12-year-old Lauren Owings said of one of the stranger things she came across.
Lauren was joined on the beach cleanup by her father, Tom Owings, of Marlton, her cousins, Megan and Kaitlin Cleary, and their father, Ed Cleary, of Lansdale, Pa. Their family has a vacation home in Sea Isle.
Among the odds and ends they picked up were cans, bottles, cigarette butts, children’s shoes and some plastic toy shovels.
“We also found a lot of plastic shopping bags,” Ed Cleary said.
Despite their young age, Lauren Owings and her cousins, Megan, 16, and Kaitlin, 13, hope they are doing their part to protect the environment and marine life by participating in the beach cleanup.
“I love the animals in the ocean,” Lauren said. “I don’t want them to die. Trash can get caught in their digestive system and they can die.”
From left, Tom Owings, Megan Cleary, Lauren Owings, Ed Cleary and Kaitlin Cleary pick up trash from the beach and dunes.
Twice a year, in the fall and spring, Sea Isle organizes the beach cleanup in partnership with the New Jersey environmental group Clean Ocean Action.
Lombardo said the event began in 1986. Over the years, the beach sweep has become multi-generational, she pointed out.
Jerry McManus plants dune grass on the 42nd Street beach while his wife, Mary, watches.
While some volunteers were busy cleaning the beaches, others were planting vegetation in the environmentally fragile dunes to help protect them from storms.
Down on his hands and knees, Jerry McManus used a trowel to plant dune grass on the 42nd Street beach. His wife, Mary, watched.
“I just want to keep the environment nice – to keep things up,” McManus said. “I’m protecting the dunes and protecting the environment.”
McManus and his wife, who live in Springfield, Pa., have a summer condominium in Sea Isle on 42nd Street. They said they are regulars at the annual beach cleanup.
“Whenever I see trash around, I pick it up,” Jerry McManus said. “I just don’t like to see trash around.”
Ed Cleary gets ready to throw out some old soda and beer cans he found in the dunes.
Keeping the dunes, beaches and ocean as clean as possible is especially important in the summer season, when throngs of tourists arrive on vacation. Sea Isle wants to make a good impression on the visitors by having pristine beaches, city officials say.
As a community, the residents of Sea Isle seem particularly serious about protecting the environment, Lombardo said.
“They’re just very environmentally conscious,” she noted.
Lombardo said the strong turnout Saturday of 180 volunteers underscored the community’s commitment to the environment. She praised them for braving the rainy skies and chilly temperatures that gave the morning a gloomy feel.
After the cleanup, the volunteers were treated to a free lunch buffet at Mike’s Seafood & Dock Restaurant, a bayside eatery on Park Road. Mike Monichetti, the owner of Mike’s Seafood, and his family have sponsored the buffet for about 10 years.
The buffet has proved to be a popular way of attracting more volunteers to the beach cleanup. Prior to the buffet being started, the beach sweep would usually have only 40 to 60 people, but in recent years it has drawn up to 200 to 250 volunteers, depending on the weather, organizers said.
Volunteers enjoy a complimentary buffet lunch at Mike's Seafood and Dock Restaurant after the beach cleanup.
