Sea Isle City Mayor Leonard Desiderio
This month marks the 15th anniversary of Sea Isle City’s E-News system, which includes this E-Newsletter as well as our “E-Alerts,” which offer a variety of information, including from my reports to City Council, reminders about utility payments, and the other timely messages.
As you know, we include an image of City Hall at the top of our E-Newsletters and E-Alerts to indicate that those mailings come directly from the city’s Administration – and to differentiate them from other emails you may receive from private organizations that also share information about Sea Isle City, such as The Sea Isle Times and SeaIsleNews.com. We do this because we realize that most people receive many emails in their inboxes.
Over time, we have tried to fine-tune the messages in our E-Newsletters and E-Alerts, so they are as helpful as possible, because we take the phrase “keeping you informed” very seriously.
To date, we have over 7,200 registered recipients on our mailing list, and we feel our newsletters and the other messages we send you are “hitting the right mark” because for quite a while we have been able to maintain an open rate of more than 60% (which is reportedly above the average of many other e-mailing systems).
Knowing that so many of our subscribers are happy to read what information we send them says a lot about how much people love Sea Isle City and how they want to know about what’s going on in this community. Therefore, even though fifteen years have passed since our first E-Newsletter was launched on October 19, 2010, you can rest assured that we will continue to supply you with pertinent information through our E-News system well into the future, because we believe that a well-informed community is a strong community.
Now that autumn is in full swing, there are several upcoming events worth mentioning. First, Father Perry, the pastor of Saint Joseph Church, has invited all pet owners to bring their dogs, cats, hamsters and other beloved animals to the parish auditorium parking lot on Saturday at 12 noon during the his annual “Blessing of the Animals” gathering. I was told that this event is open to pets of any size and shape – and, to prove they mean “any size and shape,” one year someone even brought their donkey to be blessed!
Later this month, our Recreation employees will host Sea Isle’s annual Halloween Parade and Family Dance Party on Friday evening, October 17. The parade will begin at 7 p.m. along Landis Avenue from 45th to 40th Street, featuring decorative floats, live music, and a variety of costumed participants.
Then, immediately after the parade, families are welcome to attend our annual Halloween Dance Party at Excursion Park, where a DJ will play music and awards will be presented to the parade’s top entries.
Because a parade is only as good as its participants, each year we happily invite members of the public to grab their favorite costumes and appear in Sea Isle’s annual Halloween Parade – and this year is no different. Anyone wanting to stroll on foot, enter a float, or cruise along on the golf cart in this year’s parade can phone the Recreation Office at 609-263-0050 for more details.
The day after our Halloween Parade, don’t miss the Chamber of Commerce’s annual “Harvest Classic” on Saturday, October 18, at Excursion Park, where there will be plenty of seasonal fun for the whole family.
In addition to pumpkin painting, live music, and other activities, the Harvest Classic will also feature merchandise vendors, a Pie Baking Contest and hayrides on the beach (beach conditions permitting). For more info about the Harvest Classic, go to https://www.seaislechamber.com.
I am very happy to announce the winners of this year’s Beach Tag Art Contest, which resulted in more than 200 students submitting an array of amazing artwork. Here are this year’s winnings artists and the 2026 beach tags that will bear their designs…
• Sonia Bonita (Winter Holiday Beach Tag)
• Genevieve Conte (Saint Patrick’s Day Beach Tag)
• Michael Marchio (Veterans Beach Tag)
• Owen Thomas Kates (Seasonal Beach Tag)
My congratulations go to all the winners, and my thanks go to every youngster who submitted an entry in this year’s Beach Tag Art Contest.
Last week I had the pleasure of touring our future Community Center twice – and each time I was thrilled to see new work that had been completed since the time before. On Thursday afternoon, I walked through the building with City Council members Mary Tighe and Ian Ciseck, and on Friday morning I had the pleasure of exploring the building with the members of Sea Isle City’s Recreation Committee and Councilman Mike Jargowsky (who is also a member of the Recreation Committee).
Next week, I will meet Council members Kehner and Edwardi at the site and show them the wonderful facility we are creating – and explain precisely how each of the areas will be used once the building is open to the public. In the meantime, I hope you will read this week’s “Project Updates” so you can follow along as we get closer and closer to a Grand Opening date.
This week’s “Shout Out” goes to every spectator who attended the 2025 New Jersey Run for the Fallen as it passed through Sea Isle City on September 23. I appreciate those of you who took the time to be there as New Jersey’s many fallen service members were honored at each “Hero Marker” – and I ask everyone to continually keep America’s Gold Star Families in your prayers!
Smile … You’re in Sea Isle!
Mayor Leonard C. Desiderio
