"Oh Those Wildwood Days!"

  For me summer vacation has to include a
visit to Wildwood, New Jersey.
  My earliest vacation memory was being
allowed to blow the car horn over and
over and getting the biggest spaghetti
dinner I ever had!  I was 3-years-old.
  I now know it happened in Wildwood
on VJ Day when World War Two
officially came to and end.
  There have been very few years
when I haven't come back at least for
a couple of days. I'm still looking for
the place where I got that spaghetti!
   A lot of things seem the same at this
seaside resort.
   The Boardwalk still attracts thousands
of visitors every summer. There are the
piers with amusement rides, the fudge
shops, the pizza stands, and an
endless number of stands where
'Barkers'  taunt vacationers to try
their hand at knocking over the
milk bottles or sinking three
basketball shots in a row in order to
win some sort of over stuffed
novelty monkey or bear or the
like.
   I've lost a small fortune over the
years with not one stuffed monkey
to show for it!
   There's the constant blare of
a portable speaker calling out the
warning..."Watch the Tram Car
Please."  It almost seems like the
same recorded voice I remember
from 1945!
    The smell of the salt air here
seems unique to this island although
nearby towns like Cape May and
Avalon probably get exactly the
same scent.
   There are Volleyball Tournaments
right on the beach and colorful
kites flying high above the sand.
   They still hold a "Baby Parade"
on the Boardwalk every year.
    They've also preserved a lot of
buildings with the  '50's style
architecture' which was big during
Wildwood's Heyday!
    Chubby Checker first preformed
"The Twist" at a night club here!
    Of course some things have
changed!
    One of my buddies used to judge
the economy by the slice of a piece
of pizza here. That was back when
you could get a cut for about 60
cents. The same size cut will cost
you over a buck now. And that's
without any toppings.
   The area teens who used to
work those pizza stands and
game booths were replaced
by kids who came in from
Ireland a few years back.
  Now the Irish summer imports
have been replaced by young
men and women from places
like Azerbaijan.
  I don't know what happened
to the local kids.
  Maybe they're up in the Poconos!
  The vacationers have changed
some too.
   Instead of a book at the beach
you're just as likely to see a
laptop or a Kindle.
   But mostly a visit to Wildwood,
especially with he whole family,
is like a trip back in time....and
a 'good time' at that.
   Hope you're enjoying your
summer and that all your NEWS
is good!

   P.S.
   I can't let this day pass without
a quick comment on what was
probably the toughest story I
ever had to cover. It wasn't the
biggest or the most dangerous.
   But the crash of TWA Flight
800 on July 17th., 1996,
with the deaths of 16 students
and five chaperons from
Montoursville among the 230
total killed brought
challenges many reporters never
have to face.
   I was assigned to Montoursville
for weeks and weeks following
the tragedy. Some people
welcomed the opportunity to
express the grief publicly.
  Others truly hated the
reporters who were sent to their
community.
   I walked on the 'egg shells'
and did the best I could to tell
the stories while,often, holding
back tears.
  It's easy to 'blame the mesenger'
when we have trouble with the
message.
  I still think of the people of
Montoursville and their loss
to this very day!