Tag Archives: Sea Bright

In Memoriam: Rumsonite, Sea Bright Resident, Volunteer, Nurse, Anne W. Lee

Former Rumsonite, Sea Bright resident, volunteer and former substitute nurse at Forrestdale School, Anne Whitney Lee, passed away peacefully on Sept. 29.

Born in Passaic, Anne graduated from Saint Vincent’s Nursing School in New York City, where she was a nurse for a number of years. She lived in Rumson and then Sea Bright, where she and her husband, Timothy Patrick, raised their three daughters.

Anne W. Lee … Photo/family via Thompson Memorial Home

“Known as a ‘caring mother and beloved friend,’ Anne was very active in her community.  In addition to Nursing at Saint Vincent’s Hospital, she was a member of the Junior League, volunteered at multiple community health and wellness organizations in Monmouth County, and was a substitute Nurse at Forestdale School in Rumson. Anne touched many lives and will be dearly missed by her friends and family. “

Loved ones of Ann Whitney Lee in her obituary

Anne is survived by: her children, Mary Pat Molke and husband Richard, Connie Fox, and Susan Lee; her grandchildren, Krista, Joanna, Richard, Conor, AJ, Brendon, Cody, Alexis, and Whitney; and three great-grandchildren, Noah, Caroline and Quincy.

Visitation will be Sunday, Oct. 4, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Thompson Memorial Home, Red Bank. A memorial mass will be celebrated on Monday, Oct. 5 at 10:00 a.m. at Church of the Nativity, Fair Haven. Burial will be private.  

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Family and Children’s Services (FCS) of Monmouth County.

Simple Summer: Guarding a Sea Bright Dawn with a Friend

On Monday morning, I’m going away with my friend …

It may have been a Saturday in the Sandpipers’ famed song Come Saturday Morning, but it sure looks like this Monday captured at Sea Bright’s sunrise today by longtime Fair Havenite and Knollwood School teacher, Andy Dougherty.

When morning has broken on a final summer’s day, nothing compares to the serene veracity of the moment, especially when shared with a childhood friend.

The softness of the vivid colors, the loud silence, the magic in the clouds’ formations, the whole world inside each droplet of a wave’s crash. The hush frozen in time in a minute’s worth of snapshots.

The simplest of moments atop a lifeguard stand with a best friend. Saturday or Monday, the awakening calm of the dawn, the moment remains, many of them …

“Just I and my friend. We’ll travel for miles in our Saturday smiles. And then we’ll move on. But we will remember … long after Saturday’s gone.”

The simplest of summers. Remember the moments. Savor them. Exhale with a smile.

Pandemic Time Beaching it in the R-FH Area: Access & Rules

With showers washing out most hope for a good beach day on Saturday to kick off a less restricted pandemic time Memorial Day weekend in the Rumson-Fair Haven area, beaches in Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach and on Sandy Hook are open and poised for a sunny Sunday and Monday — with COVID-19 caution.

And barbecues and other outdoor activities are on New Jerseyans’ plates. as well. NJ Gov. Phil Murphy has also called for a cautious easing of outdoor gathering restrictions.

Continue reading Pandemic Time Beaching it in the R-FH Area: Access & Rules

Iconic Spot: Beaching it at Donovan’s on Memorial Day Weekend

No sooner did NJ Gov. Phil Murphy sanction opening beaches for Memorial Day weekend than management at the iconic Donovan’s Reef in Sea Bright announced that only those with season badges would be permitted on the beach at their back door.

Continue reading Iconic Spot: Beaching it at Donovan’s on Memorial Day Weekend

Scene Around: Socially Distanced Dog Days of Spring

Call it a howling success of a dog day of spring. Sunday was all about some bright sunshine washing away the pandemic fear. It was also about a bit less solitude, with NJ Gov. Phil Murphy opening the state’s parks.

Continue reading Scene Around: Socially Distanced Dog Days of Spring

Retro Oceanfront Softball Team Home Run

Oceanfront Softball Team circa 1980
Photo/Chip Irish via Facebook

As we continue to mourn the loss of the baseball season, among other athletics, due to COVID-19, thoughts, and a memory scroll on Facebook bring us back to the days of another kind of ballgame camaraderie — the softball league of the past.

Continue reading Retro Oceanfront Softball Team Home Run

Area Restaurateurs Filling Plates with Comfort Food During Covid-19 Crisis

With full plates of COVID-19 stress, area eateries’ are approaching the crisis with a plates-half-full and cups of comfort running over mentality. NJ Gov. Phil Murphy’s stay-at-home edict has prompted the closed for eat-in area delis, markets and restaurants to heap a good portion of help onto that stressed dinnerware — at a safe distance.

Continue reading Area Restaurateurs Filling Plates with Comfort Food During Covid-19 Crisis

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 Demise

Scene Around: Beached for Locals’ Summer

Starting a locals’ summer weekend with the sun and a beach stroll was the way a couple of Rumson-Fair Haven area folks and four-legged friends got their jump start on Friday.

It’s the only way for locals when the sun, sand and surf beckon for a big shoreline hug. They walk, even romp with it — the rejuvenating solace of it all.

Fair Haven Councilwoman Susan Sorensen and Rumsonite Sue Hill Spakowski (and friends) were there in Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach to capture the moments and relish the start to, by all fair weather accounts, the perfect locals summer weekend. Sorensen caught the sunrise in Sea Bright and Spakowski’s best buddies (her dogs) caught the best of times “digging” the beach at Little Monmouth.

From the National Weather Service …

Skies will be clear and sunny with temperatures in the high 70s during the day and high 60s in the evenings all weekend.

Thanks to Sue and Susan for sharing the start of their day and a little beach motivation with all!

Have a locals’ summer moment you’d like to share? Send us your photos at [email protected] … Enjoy the weekend!