Volunteers needed to plant dune grass in Strathmere

To all Strathmere and Whale Beach Homeowners and Visitors,

Many of you have volunteered to help with dune grass planting following the beach replenishment. As you can see, the replenishment has left lots of sand ready to blow around...
The Strathmere Fishing and Environmental Club (SFEC) has purchased 2500 dune grass plants and is asking everyone to volunteer to help plant them this weekend.

We've been asked to gather at Webster Road and the beach at noon on Saturday.
Discussion with the Township indicates that in their experience, the best tool for planting dune grass is a broomstick! They've promised to furnish some, but if you have an old broom, bring it along and you can poke one end into the sand for the plant and sweep the sand back with the other end! A hand trowel could also work. We expect to go back on Sunday to finish the job.

The Fishing Club has a surf fishing tournament scheduled for Friday and Saturday, and they have generously invited all who participate in the planting to take part in the awards dinner at the Firehouse at 6:00 pm Saturday at the Firehouse. While refreshments and dinner are courtesy of the SFEC, you are asked to bring non-perishable food items or make a cash donation to benefit local food banks whose stocks are greatly depleted. Some donation suggestions are: cereal, coffee, juice, pancake mix, syrup, catsup, mustard, mayonaisse, canned fruit, tuna, canned meat, paper towels, dish detergent, bar soap or deodorant, but all non-perishable items are welcome.

One proviso - this project is going to involve our entire village and the SFEC needs some idea of the expected turnout.
If you plan to help plant (and/or come to dinner), please reply sia6@comcast.net  or call 609-263-6846.

More information of the Surf Fishing Tournament and a registration form is available on the SFEC website here, or call Randy Roash at 609-263-9500.
If you weren't sure about coming to the shore this weekend, come on down! It's Indian Summer Weekend in Ocean City, with the Fall Block Party (400 crafters/vendors) on Asbury Avenue starting at 9:00 am. Take this in and come back to Strathmere in time to plant at noon!

After our dinner at the Firehouse, Ocean City is planning a spectacular fireworks display from a barge off their 9th Street beach at 9:30 pm. This show will be as big or bigger than Ocean City's 4th of July fireworks!
See you Saturday! (But let us know you're coming).


Thanks to all for your continuing support!


Butch Vandegrift - President

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

New Cape library features exhibit on shipwrecks

By ROB SPAHR, Staff Writer Press of Atlantic City, 609-272-7283
Posted: Monday, October 5, 2009

Capt. Ronald Sinn, left, and Paul Anselm, of the Ocean City Historical Museum, introduced the exhibit on local shipwrecks Saturday 10/3/09 at the Schiavo Library in Strathmere, Upper Township.
For a list of New Jersey shipwrecks, visit: www.PressofAtlanticCity.com



.. UPPER TOWNSHIP - Less than a mile east of the Schiavo Library in Strathmere, the wreckage of the General Slocum - which was involved in one of the most notorious maritime disasters in U.S. history - lies beneath the sea.

Several miles northwest of that shipwreck, the remains of the Sindia sit under the sand of Ocean City's 17th Street beach.

They are only two of the thousands of known shipwrecks off the coast of New Jersey, which has the highest number of shipwrecks per square mile in the nation, but they are undeniably two of the most famous.

The newly opened Schiavo Library, a privately funded library at Putnam and Commonwealth avenues in memory of the late Dr. Rita C. Schiavo, unveiled a small exhibit of these shipwrecks Saturday night that is expected to be on display for most of the winter.

"Strathmere is a community whose people do a lot of boating, sport fishing, surfing and scuba diving. They are water-type people," said Marion Ingram, a volunteer at the library. "And since one of our main goals here is to promote New Jersey history, an exhibit of shipwrecks seemed fitting. Especially considering one of them is right off the coast from us."

Maritime safety expert Ronald Sinn and Paul Anselm, the past president of the Ocean City Historical Museum, helped introduce the exhibit by discussing the General Slocum and Sindia shipwrecks, respectively.

According to Sinn, the General Slocum, a steam excursion boat, was carrying a boatful of parishioners from St. Mark's Lutheran Church in New York when it caught fire in New York's East River on June 15, 1904.

More than 1,000 people - mostly women and children - died as a result of several safety-related problems, including faulty life preservers.

Sinn said what was left of the General Slocum was converted into a barge named The Maryland that sank off Strathmere's coast while hauling coal Dec. 4, 1911.

"We wouldn't care about it, if it weren't for that tragedy. It would just be some barge that sank," said Sinn, who is attempting to get the wreckage put on the National Historical Register. "But more than 1,000 people lost their lives in that fire. Five generations later, that basically translates to 50,000 people who never existed because of it."

While Sinn is attempting to get the General Slocum the recognition he feels it deserves, Anselm said the Sindia is already a "big deal" in Ocean City and mentioned on the National Historic Register.

"That's probably because it has always been a mystery on how it ran aground, and also because it was still visible on the beach up until 1985," said Anselm, adding a beach replenishment project covered the ship's remains.

The four-masted, steel-hulled Sindia ran aground Dec. 15, 1901, as it neared the end of a five-month voyage from Japan to New York.

There are many rumors surrounding the cause of Sindia's crash, Anselm said, including the crew being drunk, poor navigation and even a scenario involving the ship crashing while attempting to unload goods and materials from Asia that were hard to get in the U.S. during the Boxer Rebellion.

"As technology moves forward, with computers and everything, we're getting a better idea of what really happened," Anselm said.

And even though the exhibit gives just a small glimpse into the rich history of these wrecks, Anselm said it could help those who see it gain an appreciation that could inspire them to seek out more information about them.

"It gives people a chance to see a piece of history they haven't seen before," Anselm said. "And what better place to do that, then a brand-new facility such as this."

E-mail Robert Spahr:
RSpahr@pressofac.com

Special Presentation at the Strathmere Library 10/3

This Saturday at The Strathmere Library -

Join us for a special presentation:

Cape May County Shipwrecks: the Slocum & the Sindia
Mini Museum Exhibit Opening & Guest Speakers -

October 3rd, starting 7PM

http://www.strathmerelibrary.org/

Strathmere Library Book Sale - 22nd to 26th

Schiavo Library
BOOK SALE

September 22 thru September 26
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM daily

Proceeds to benefit the purchase of
New Books for the collection

SCHIAVO LIBRARY
801 S. Commonwealth Ave., Strathmere, NJ
609.486.6265

A message from the Schiavo Strathmere Library

VOLUNTEER LIBRARY AIDES NEEDED!

If you live in Strathmere (or the surrounding area) year-round and would like to volunteer your time one or two days a week, please contact the Schiavo Library to indicate your interest and sign up for our next Training Session.

You do NOT have to have experience working in a library, just a willingness to help keep the library open this fall and winter.

Call the Schiavo Library 486-6268 today. Thank you!

CANCELED - Strathmere Star Party

Because of the bad weather, the Strathmere Star Party has been CANCELED.

Also, The *WHAT GOES UP! demonstration that was to have been given by Derrick Pitts at the Schiavo Library on Saturday will also be canceled due to the weather.