A message from the Strathmere Improvement Association - A busy week in Strathmere

To all Strathmere and Whale Beach Homeowners and Visitors,
In this issue: General Slocum Ceremony; Busy Past Weekend; Fourth of July Parade


A ceremony Tuesday morning  will recognize one of the worst maritime disasters of all time, that eventually ended up as a wreck just off the coast of Strathmere.
On June 15, 1904, the excursion ship General Slocum had been chartered by St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Little Germany district of Manhattan. Shortly after the ship got underway a fire broke out on board. By the time the General Slocum was beached at North Brother Island, just off the Bronx shore, an estimated 1,021 people had been killed by fire or drowning, with only 321 survivors. This was the worst disaster in the history of New York City until the 9/11/2001 attacks.
After the fire, the General Slocum was converted to a barge named Maryland, which sank in 1911 off Strathmere's beach, not far from Putnam Road, where the Schiavo Library stands today.
The ceremony has been organized by Captain Ronald Sinn and will start at 10 a.m. on the beach near the Schiavo Library in Strathmere. After the service, Capt. Sinn will be at the library to answer questions and share his wealth of pictures and information about the General Slocum.

Below are some websites for more information on the tragedy.

http://www.archives.gov/northeast/nyc/exhibits/slocum-disaster.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_General_Slocum
http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the-general-slocum-disaster




This past weekend was a busy one in Strathmere.
On Friday evening, the SIA held our first meeting of the year. A great turnout, shown below, listened attentively to Christine Rohrman, Director of our Schiavo Library, describe events planned for the library this summer. The group enjoyed wine, cheese, beer and fellowship!

On Saturday evening, the Strathmere Fishing and Environmental Club, in conjunction with presenting awards for its Surf Fishing Tournament, held a benefit dinner in honor of our good friend, the late Jerry Bonsall, to benefit his son Matthew.
Here Matthew displays a trophy received for his catch earlier in the day, and then helps Randy select the fifty-fifty winner:

Jerry's family posed in a group, and then Brian gave a very moving remembrance of his brother...

and finally, the "Last Call"....

Also on Saturday evening, the Citizens for Strathmere and Whale Beach held a cocktail party at the bayfront home of Paul and Lydia Krueger.

Here is former Governor Jim Florio with George Welker

and many distinguished Strathmerians were in attendance:

Don't forget to get your floats and ideas ready for the Fourth of July Parade! This year the Fourth, and thus the parade, falls on a Sunday. Therefore service at the Strathmere Church will begin a half-hour earlier (at 9:00) and the parade will start a half-hour later - at 11:00 am. Registration will be at 10:00 and judging at 10:30. As always, awards and refreshments following the parade will be at the Deauville Inn.


The Strathmere Improvement Association includes all owners and many visitors to Strathmere. It was founded over 50 years ago as a community organization with the simple objective of making Strathmere a better place. We are proud of the organization's many accomplishments over the years.


Please let us know if you have comments or suggestions for the newsletter or for SIA in general, or if you'd like us to change your e-mail address in our records. You can contact us by responding to this e-mail sia6@comcast.net or by mailing SIA at PO Box 57.



Thanks to all for your continuing support!

Butch Vandegrift - President
Ken Weaver - Vice-President
Donna Diefenderfer - Treasurer
Debbie Vandegrift - Secretary