The Blogfinger trio amongst the rubble of Hurricane Sandy. Mary Walton is the one in the middle. Charles is on the left. Paul is ambidextrous. We are in Firemen’s Park near Main Ave. and New Jersey Ave. Nov 6. Photo by Eileen Goldfinger
We at Blogfinger.net have been touched by the many expressions of gratitude for the blog’s reporting on Hurricane Sandy. We thought you might like a glimpse behind the scenes.
All of us — Paul Goldfinger, Charles Layton and Mary Walton — were involved in the coverage full-time — Charles in Philadelphia, and Paul and Mary in the Grove.
Certain that a power failure was inevitable, Charles drove to Philly on Sunday afternoon and moved in with friends. His role was to post stories, edit comments and cull information from the Neptune Township website and other official sources that few Grovers, including Paul and Mary, could access. He also made calls and fed tips and suggestions back to Paul and Mary.
Paul handled most of the photography. Both Paul and Mary were “feet on the ground,” interviewing Township officials, Camp Meeting Association leaders and, of course, many, many residents about what was going on.
Says Paul, “Getting all those hits and comments caused me to feel the pressure of having so many people depending on us. I like the idea of public service, but this challenge was daunting. Getting online access was the worst part. Finally we found some creative ways to do it.”
Often that meant pre-dawn trips to Wegmans to be at the head of the line when the doors opened at 7 a.m., so that we could grab open outlets to plug in our laptops and transmit stories and photos to Charles. Wegmans had a 30-minute time limit per customer, and flashing our New Jersey press badges got us nowhere. Thirty minutes was 30 minutes.
Once they kicked us off the Internet we headed to the back of the store to buy ice.
Like everyone else, we had to spend a fair amount of time charging our cell phones and laptops. Even though reception was miserable and calls kept cutting off, those cell phones were all we had.
Most Grovers who remained in town were powerless (literally) to access the blog, but those who had evacuated or had gone away for the winter were concerned about their friends, family, neighbors and property. They logged onto Blogfinger.net by the thousands.
On an ordinary day, when there is no hurricane or other big news, Blogfinger draws around 1,500 hits from readers. On October 30, the Tuesday after the storm, we had more than 25,000 hits.
Recovering from Hurricane Sandy will be a complicated and lengthy process. Blogfinger plans to remain on the job.
— Paul Goldfinger, Charles Layton and Mary Walton
Thank you for your postings on Ocean Grove, we have loved OG since we first starting coming down, June 1977 our honeymoon. We were so worried about OG and we found you on the internet, the only info we could find I might add. Thanks again, Lanore
Got my cable back last night so now I finally have internet and i’m just catching up. Thanks for all the posts and the pictures.
Thank you so much for your efforts to keep us informed. It was a valuable resources not only for us, the residents, but for our families who were able to keep in touch on the happenings in the Grove. Blessings for your hard work.
Thank You for all your coverage on Ocean Grove. You have made such a differnce in Ocean Grove. With Appreciation and Thanks
THANK YOU so very much again. Paul, please don’t feel stressed out, we knew and know how hard it was for you to get information to all of us and appreciated all that you did. As the storm descended and I was 60 miles away from my OG home, I hung on Blogfinger’s every word to try to divine whether I was flooded or not. You were a godsend, Ocean Grove-style. No stress, dude! You guys rock the house!
Thanks for keeping us all informed. The three of you are doing a great job with all the information and great pictures.
Thanks for keeping us informed despite the obstacles. That is what I call true journalism!
Thank you all. A valuable resource for all in or in love with OG.
i was on vacation in St Thomas but I was constantly in touch with OG through your reporting. Great job. Thank you.
I am trying to reach my friend, Judy Buttler, who lives at 44 Abbott Ave in Ocean Grove.
I live in Vero Beach, FL, some 1000 miles away. As of yesterday, I read that her address is still without electricity . If you know her please ask her to call Kay Horner Ballinger at 609-501-4287. Thank you.
Thanks Ken. And you too should get an award. Since it’s election day, it is fitting that I present you with the” Blogfinger Commenter-in-Chief Award for 2012.” Paul @Blogfinger
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to providing us with information during these stressful times!
-grandson of 65 broadway
My daughter in Chicago passed on the blogfinger website info. to me . She thinks you guys should get a special award. So do I!!!
ken
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all you have done.
Kudos to you and your crew. Great coverage
Thank you. We want to post all the OG information that we can, but we need the help of citizen reporters and local officials to email us with news. Yesterday we had 8,500 visits, so we know that many people seek such information. Our email address is Blogfinger@verizon.net
— Paul @Blogfinger
Thank you from Karen and Ken Savis 93 Stockton Ave. You have kept us well informed and we appreciate your hard work in keeping us informed.
Even those of us outside OG found the blog to be a great source of info.
A tip of the hat to each of you for a job well done!
So grateful. I was one of those who couldn’t access the blog, but I would call my sons in Maine and Delaware, and have them look at it and fill me in. Reminded me of the snow storms two years ago; I had just found Blogfinger a couple of months earlier and thought it was just fun. Then it became so much more. Still fun, but so much more!
Thanks so much. Your blog has meant the world to my family! Elizabeth Mulcahy 57 Pilgrim Pathway
Thanks Blogfinger for keeping us up to speed on the status of our beloved “OG”. i am using your info to post to family and sustainable planning links – and most importantly to keep track of how things are going. We are planning on venturing north to visit and check on things this weekend. If you could post re:clean-up/volunteer efforts/anything needed we will do our best to help. All the best – and please stay with it – Blogfinger rules!
Thank you for being so ingenious and a life line of information for us. We
appreciate the amount of time and effort you all spend daily. We are grateful.
Thank you for all the effort you put in to keeping so many informed of what was happening in Ocean Grove. As the mother of a family in OG who lives in California it was so helpful to receive your news.
Thank you for your dilligence!
Thanks, Lynden and Susan, 108 Cookman OG……
Thanks to all the fingers that kept to the keyboards! (and shutter buttons)
Mary, Charles, Paul . . . .
A belated thank you for all that you have done and continue to do to keep the community and beyond so well informed. When the lights came back on Sunday morning, it was a BIG relief to be able to return to the Blogfinger.
Bravo
You guys ROCK!!!! Thank you!!!