By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
It was such a great start to the Labor Day weekend that even the air and water temperatures were in perfect harmony Saturday afternoon in Sea Isle City.
Julia Damiano savored the 73-degree water and air temperature while wading about knee deep into the surf along with her husband, Dave, and their rambunctious 2-year-old son, Aiden. Julia’s mother, Anne Cranny, and Shane McKenna, 10, who is Aiden’s cousin, joined with the family.
“It’s a perfect day in many ways. It’s a great way to end the summer,” Julia said.
“It doesn’t get any better than this,” her mother added.
The Damiano family, of Springfield, Pa., and Cranny, who lives in Drexel Hill, Pa., were among tens of thousands of visitors who were lounging on the beach or enjoying the ocean during the holiday weekend in Sea Isle.
Carole Yoder, one of Sea Isle’s beach tag inspectors, said big crowds turned out on Saturday after a bout of chilly and breezy weather on Thursday and Friday.
“It’s very busy. There is a lot of activity. A lot of people are enjoying themselves,” Yoder noted. “After two chilly days, we have some nice weather now and the people are really coming down to the shore.”
Labor Day weekend is the traditional unofficial end of the summer tourism season – a bittersweet time of year. Beachgoers soak up the sand and surf for a relaxing holiday getaway at the shore, but are faced with the reality that summer is fading fast.
Patricia Donohue described being at the beach as “the ultimate” way to celebrate the last few days of the summer season.
Patricia and her husband, Patrick Donohue, who are Sea Isle residents, watched in amusement while their grandchildren, Lily, 7, and Jon Jr., 6, used their artistic ability to create a birthday cake sand sculpture and a makeshift pool on the beach.
The kids’ father, Jon Donohue Sr., of Newark, Del., pointed out that the family’s beach time was part of what would be a busy holiday weekend.
“We’re going to do a little bit of everything – go to the arcade, get some food and hit the beach,” he said.
Beachgoers Larry and Darlene Lane were joined by their son, Larry Jr., who was vacationing in Sea Isle from his home in Seattle. The Lanes live in Cherry Hill and have a summer home in Sea Isle.
“We’re enjoying the sand, the surf, the people and the weather,” Darlene said.
Asked where he would prefer to spend the Labor Day weekend – in Sea Isle or Seattle – Larry Jr. gave an answer that made his parents smile.
“I would rather be here, just because of my parents,” he said.
The pristine weather also allowed boaters to get out on the water for some fishing, tubing or sightseeing.
Mike Flood, of Philadelphia, took out some family members in his 22-foot boat for about a three-hour trip in the back bays around Avalon.
“It was great. But it got really busy out there,” Flood, who has a vacation home in Sea Isle, said of all the boats that were in the back bays.
Flood’s boating party at Sea Isle’s marina included Terri and Scott O’Brien, of Conshohocken, Pa., and their daughters, Sienna and Delaney. Also onboard were Antonia Allswan, of Haverford, Pa., and her son, Luke.
Luke, 13, who won a family tubing contest on the back bay, made it clear that he preferred to continue his holiday vacation at the shore rather than having to return to school on Tuesday.
“I wish that summer would never end,” he said.
Just across from the marina on 42nd Place, pickleball players were battling it out in the third annual Sea Isle Summer Social Pickleball Tournament, a Labor Day weekend tradition organized by the company Universal Rackets.
Among the pickleball players were Carter Libercci, 11, and Tyler Gorman, 10. They teamed up in a match against adults Matt Lagowski and Bill Ryan, who both live in Fort Washington, Pa., and have summer homes in Sea Isle.
Carter and Tyler were having fun playing pickleball and cramming in other things in Sea Isle for the holiday weekend, including going to the beach and getting some ice cream.
Both Carter, who is going into sixth grade, and Tyler, who is entering fifth grade, acknowledged that they wished they had some more time to enjoy their summer at the shore before returning to school at their homes in Pennsylvania.
“I’ve been talking to my friends for one last time because I’m not going to see them anymore,” Carter said of leaving his Sea Isle buddies to head home to Pennsylvania for the rest of the year.
Some of the proceeds from the Sea Isle Social Pickleball Tournament benefit the Peyton’s Promise Foundation, a group that raises money for research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to conquer the potentially fatal birth defect known as Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, or CDH.
The foundation was inspired by Peyton Laricks, a Sea Isle girl who was born with CDH and has since made a remarkable recovery from the disorder that nearly took her life. Now 15, Peyton will attend Ocean City High School this fall as a sophomore.
