Photo/Elaine Van Develde
There’s nothing quite like a little tiki party in the snow in Sea Bright.
Continue reading Retro Donovan’s Barren Snowcapped Tiki DazeRetro Donovan’s Barren Snowcapped Tiki Daze
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Tag Archives: Superstorm Sandy
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Retro Sandy-Ravaged Donovan’s ‘DO’
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
It was 10 years ago that the havoc wreaked by Superstorm Sandy left monumental wreckage in its wake in Sea Bright.
Once the ghost-town kind of calm settled in after the storm, people flocked from all over to witness the devastating damage done first hand.
One iconic spot that Sandy decimated, hoisting up its buildings and fiercely slamming them down onto twisted tar, was Sea Bright’s Donovan’s Reef.
Continue reading Retro Sandy-Ravaged Donovan’s ‘DO’
Retro Sandy Heroes: Alabama Power
Nine years ago there was an awful lot of darkness and confusion in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.
Then came a band of power company heroes to shed some light and offer a whole lot of relief for weary residents in the Rumson-Fair Haven area who went without power for roughly two weeks.
Continue reading Retro Sandy Heroes: Alabama Power
Focus: Remembering Superstorm Sandy’s Wrath
A reprise from 2017. Taking you back again after eight years … Remember?
It was the year that Halloween wasn’t, but was in a sense. People in the area woke up to a nightmare, if they slept at all the night before. It was 2012 and Superstorm Sandy had pummeled the Jersey Shore. It decimated Sea Bright and destroyed low lying parts of Rumson. Fair Haven was a bit war torn and powerless.
Continue reading Focus: Remembering Superstorm Sandy’s Wrath
Retro Powering Through: Light in Dark Sandy Times
A thank-you to Alabama Power from Fair Haven children in the wake of Superstorm Sandy 2012
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Autographed Alabama Power hard hat left to Fair Haven in the wake of Superstorm Sandy in 2012
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Well, Tropical Storm Isaias ripped through the Rumson-Fair Haven area like an angry NIMBY, leaving lots of carnage, uncanny sun and power outages in its wake.
Continue reading Retro Powering Through: Light in Dark Sandy Times
Looking Back: Donovan’s Sandy Demise
By Elaine Van Develde
Seven years ago it began. And when Superstorm Sandy stopped its swirling on the sliver of peninsula that is Sea Bright, it plopped the iconic Donovan’s Reef down in bits and pieces.
People of the Rumson-Fair Haven area mourned the loss to a relentless, remorseless Sandy. And when they were allowed to travel over the bridge into Sea Bright, many diehard loyalists of the tiki hut by the sea could be found just sitting and staring at what once was. They walked the sea wall looking for souvenir scraps reminiscent of their glory days at Donovan’s. They talked. They even cried.
Continue reading Looking Back: Donovan’s Sandy DemiseRetro Sandy: High Profile Helpers in Sea Bright
It was six years ago when people piled onto the Sea Bright municipal parking lot to get and give help in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.
Continue reading Retro Sandy: High Profile Helpers in Sea Bright
Focus: Remembering Superstorm Sandy’s Wrath
It was the year that Halloween wasn’t. It was 2012 and Superstorm Sandy had pummeled the Jersey Shore. It decimated Sea Bright and destroyed low lying parts of Rumson. Fair Haven was a bit war torn and powerless.
Continue reading Focus: Remembering Superstorm Sandy’s Wrath
Retro Sandy Troops in Sea Bright
Five years ago people piled onto the Sea Bright municipal parking lot to get and give help in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.
Focus: Sandy, Five Years Ago
It was the year that Halloween wasn’t. It was 2012 and Superstorm Sandy had pummeled the Jersey Shore. It decimated Sea Bright and destroyed low lying parts of Rumson. Fair Haven was a bit war torn and powerless.
Beach cabanas landed like Dorothy’s house to the Witch of the East on West Park lawns. Boats were hoisted by surging water onto dock tops and back yards. Gunning Island, in the Shrewsbury River, was loaded with the moored belongings of Sea Bright and Rumson people. Trees were downed. Transformers exploded.
Sea Bright residents were homeless. The beach was in the road. Sea Bright Rising began with some good-hearted burger flipping by Woody’s owner Chris Wood and chef Onofrio Moscato. The U.S. Army National Guard was parked in the Sea Bright municipal lot. There was no electricity.
There was a curfew. At nightfall, people scurried back into their homes, if there was anything left to go home to, like moles burrowing into cold, still night. Things were awfully dark. And Halloween was cancelled. There was no treat in Sandy’s trickery, just in the kindness of those who were good neighbors.
Take a look back … (and click to enlarge).
— Elaine Van Develde
Photos/Elaine Van Develde
Retro Sea Bright Beach Romp
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Oh, the recent cold snap after unseasonably warm days has unleashed an bitter chill in the air. It makes Rumson-Fair Haven area folks long for warm summer beach days in Sea Bright again.
And the revamp of Donovan’s Reef brings back memories of a Sea Bright ravaged by Superstorm Sandy.
So, the Retro Pic of the Day warms the heart and dank air with memories of fun in the sun at Sea Bright beach and the peninsula borough on the mend.
This snapshot in time takes us back to the summer Sandy and some kids making the most of a sunny day at the beach.
Know them? Remember those days?
— Elaine Van Develde
Focus: The Donovan’s Rebuild
When it comes to the rebuilding (and expansion) of the iconic Donovan’s Reef in Sea Bright, things are looking up … and out.
It will be five years ago this October that the mainstay locals’ summer hangout and RFH reunion spot was tossed and flattened to bits by Superstorm Sandy.
So its rebuild has been a particularly long-awaited one by townies and Rumson-Fair Haven area folks.
The plan is for the new, improved and indestructible Donovan’s to be open for business by the start of the summer season.
Much progress has been made to date.
Take a look and see for yourself …
— Elaine Van Develde
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