Sea Isle City beach tag checker Rocco Docimo talks with beachgoers Eileen and Tom MacDonald at the start of the Labor Day weekend.
Eileen and Tom MacDonald stopped to say hello to Sea Isle City beach tag checker Rocco Docimo while heading to the beach Saturday for the start of the Labor Day weekend.
They also said goodbye.
“Hey, Rocco, this is your last weekend working and then you’re off,” Eileen MacDonald said.
Docimo wistfully noted that he will indeed be “off” after the Labor Day weekend is over. Labor Day marks the traditional end of the summer vacation season, meaning that beach tags – and beach tag checkers – will no longer be needed in Sea Isle and other shore towns.
“It’s been busy. But soon summer will be over,” Docimo said of his duties as a beach tag checker.
Vacationers and beachgoers are also facing the sad reality that their summer at the shore is fast fading away.
Eileen and Tom MacDonald consider themselves among the lucky ones. They live in Audubon, N.J., but have a summer home in Sea Isle and intend to use it for more trips to the shore through September.
“We’re always sad when summer is over,” Eileen said. “But we’ll keep coming down to the shore for the most beautiful month of September. We love coming down to the beach, rain or shine. It’s a blessing.”
Brothers Brian and Jerry Givnish, who live in Pennsylvania, were spending the start of their Labor Day weekend on the beach with their children. Their parents have a summer home in Sea Isle on 47th Street.
“We’re sad that summer is nearly over, but also excited for school to start. We both have three kids each,” Brian Givnish said of him and his brother.
Brian Givnish and his daughter, Stephanie, left, are joined on the beach by his brother, Jerry Givnish, and his daughter, Nora.Brian Givnish’s 7-year-old daughter, Josephine, emerged from the ocean soaking wet after riding some waves on her boogie board. Jerry’s 3-year-old daughter, Nora, sat on the sand at the water’s edge.
Although the curtain may be coming down on summer, Brian noted that his family will continue visiting the beach.
“I like the fall at the shore,” he said.
Even the ice cream man was savoring what little time he has left in Sea Isle for the summer. Sean Ryan sold ice cream from a cart that he wheeled along the beaches in Sea Isle and Wildwood.
“It was very busy, and fun. It flew by so quickly,” Ryan said of summer.
Once he finishes up selling ice cream on the beach, Ryan will head to the Palmer School of Chiropractic Medicine in Florida to study to become a chiropractor.
Ice cream man Sean Ryan sells some frozen treats to beachgoers.The holiday weekend started with a gorgeous Saturday afternoon featuring sunny skies and temperatures flirting with the 80s.
While tens of thousands of visitors will hit the beaches over the holiday, others are heading out on the water for a relaxing time.
Jim Boggs steered his 23-foot boat, named “Good Tides,” along the lagoon at 42nd Place in Sea Isle while taking his family back to Avalon.
Onboard with Boggs were his wife, Jackie, his daughter, Stephanie and her husband, David Magagna, and their children, Charlotte, 3, and Madeline, 2. Also sitting in the bow of the boat was the family dog, Mogul.
The family was planning an easygoing day that included soaking up the nice weather, barbecuing and watching football.
“It’s awesome at the shore in the summer,” Magagna said.
Although the clock is ticking away on summer, Boggs had no worries about the end of the traditional vacation season. He plans to continue boating at the shore through September and October.
“All the shoobies are going away and we will enjoy the next six weeks of summer,” he said while using a slang term for the tourists. “My boat comes out of the water on Halloween.”
Jim Boggs navigates his 23-foot boat along the 42nd Place lagoon with his family aboard.
