John Goslee chatting with Eileen on Mt. Zion Way. Paul Goldfinger photo. 2 days after Sandy hit on Oct 29, 2012.
By Eileen and Paul Goldfinger
We met Grover John Goslee while he was cleaning up near the Great Auditorium after the storm. He was raking the neighbors’ properties on Mt. Zion Way.
One of his jobs is to take care of some homes for people who are away. While he was checking their houses, he emptied their refrigerators and freezers. The food was destined to spoil due to the power outage.
So John took the food to a fire house in town, and the firemen cooked it up for people who didn’t have food.
Mr. John Goslee is a carpenter whose card says, “No job too small.” 914- 262 -5673 (2012)
“Trade them for a package of sunshine and flowers
If you want the things you love
You must have showers
So when you hear it thunder
Don’t run under a tree
There’ll be pennies from heaven
For you and me”
BILLIE HOLIDAY From the album: Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia. “Pennies from Heaven” is from the 1936 movie of the same name. Music by Arthur Johnston; words by Johnny Burke. First performed in the film by Bing Crosby.
August, 2015: “May what we do and how we do it strengthen and rebuild Ocean Grove.”
“These words introduce the booklet just distributed at the Together Campaign dedication of the newly renovated Cupola in Auditorium Square Park on Sunday, August 2, 2015. The booklet lists all the contributors, volunteers, organizations, fund raiser events, citizens, businesses, Together Campaign workers, and others who deserve recognition for their contributions to achieve the Campaign’s goals. Over 2,000 people contributed money, large and small amounts.”
“The recognition list of all these groups and people is huge and will make great bedtime reading. The booklet contains a history of the Sandy super-storm in OG along with many photographs. It will become a treasured memento.”
“Dale Whilden, President of the OGCMA said (August 2, 2015) , ‘The great and overwhelming success of the TOGETHER Campaign was achieved by the generosity of dedicated donors, valuable volunteers, extraordinary organizations, and commitment of the Campaign Steering Committee, each of which worked hand-in-hand to accomplish a virtually miraculous outcome’ ”
Editor’s Note, April, 2019: The OG Camp Meeting Association accomplished quite a few projects with this fund including boardwalk repairs, Great Auditorium roof reconstruction, and Thornley Chapel project, among others.
The Blogfinger Film Festival is mentioned among that large list of contributors. We brought film students from 6 universities in the area. The event was held in the Youth Temple with the help of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and the OGCMA. All profits went to the Fund.
Soon the CMA will embark on another fund raising drive which will have multiple goals including restoring the Pier. We will report on the details.
–Paul Goldfinger, Editor@Blogfinger.net
ALICIA MORTON and VICTOR GARBER from Annie—-“Leaping lizards, together at last, together forever”
Saturday 8 am: 25 degrees; visibility zero; high winds; up to 60 mph gusts. 5 inches snow as of 4 am. Time for storm surge. Another high tide around 7 pm
(Sunday will be 36 degrees and partly sunny).
No power outages so far in Monmouth County, but strong winds can change that. JCP&L has crews ready to respond. If your power goes out, use your cell phone and call 1 888 544 4877 or 1 800 662 3115.
JCP&L had done tree trimming during the warm weather to help prevent downed power lines at times like this–preventive medicine
9:30 am. Governor says that flooding will be mild. Awaiting flood reports from the OG southside. Bands of snow will create waxing and waning snow fall all day into the evening.
9:39 am Report from Rick Cuttrell:
Snow: Severe blizzard continues into tonight with heavy snow through this morning and then snow at varying intensities this afternoon and evening.
There is still the likelihood that sleet will mix with the snow over coastal sections of Monmouth and Ocean Counties for a period later this morning and early afternoon. Any sleet will change back to snow this afternoon.
Snow will taper off and end between 9pm and midnight tonight.
Coastal Monmouth/coastal northern Ocean, including the Neptune area: 18-24 inches (will mix with sleet for a period Saturday morning)
Flooding: No flooding reported from OG Southside. Sunday morning will be 1/2 to 2 feet above normal and will produce minor to moderate street flooding in the usual flood prone areas.
Winds: Along the coast, Northeast winds of 25mph to 40mph, with gusts to 60mph today. Winds will slowly decrease after midnight tonight and Sunday.
10:30 am. Ocean Grove. Blogfinger.net photo
11 am: While you are waiting for the storm to pass, find something to do, but be careful—in 9 months there will be a surge of births.
JAMIROQUAI
11:30 am. From Neptune Mothership, land of good and evil—-: PLEASE stay off the roads.
As of 8:30 AM, 10.5″ of snow has fallen in Neptune. It is possible that we will receive another foot of snow between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM with snow falling at a rate of 3″ per hour at times.
Snow plowing continues, however our efforts are being hampered by flooding along the Shark River and dozens of vehicles stuck in the roadways.
4 pm: from Megan Williamson on Asbury Avenue: “The winds have been relentless blowing up from green way. But credit should be given to Neptune Township. They have run a plow down the street a couple of times an hour since about 2 am.”
Screenshot from JOH. Fishing clubhouse disappears into the deluge.
1992 nor’easter along the east coast. National Weather Service depiction.
JOH of Ocean Grove sent us a video link showing the fishing pier coming down during the 1992 nor’easter—-see below:
It is good to remember important events in our town’s history, because we all can learn from history and it gives us the opportunity to talk about the OG fishing pier (currently the non-fishing pier as its remnant remains land bound on the OG beach. See comments linked below) —–Paul Goldfinger, editor @Blogfinger December, 2015.
News story from Newswork:
An intense nor’easter struck New Jersey 23 years ago today, generating some of the worst damage since the Ash Wednesday storm of 1962
Dubbed “The Great Nor’easter” by the National Weather Service, the storm, which forced the evacuation in at least 20 Jersey Shore municipalities, destroyed sections of the Bradley Beach and Belmar boardwalks and swept away a significant chunk of the Ocean Grove fishing pier, according to a New York Times report.
As the storm surge peaked and wind gusts increased during the morning hours, small private boats were called to rescue some from houses along the Manasquan River, as drawbridges ceased to function due to power outages and Coast Guard boats could not access the area, the report said.
According to the report, some residents in low-lying areas in Monmouth, Ocean, and Atlantic counties were evacuated by police boats and National Guard trucks.
The National Weather Service found that the storm “resulted in unprecedented flooding and coastal erosion, which may have permanently changed the coastline.”
The flooding lasted for days. The National Weather Service report stated that the hardest hit coastal areas included Union Beach, Atlantic Highlands, Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach, Sea Girt, Long Beach Island, and Longport.
“As a result of the full moon on December 9 and an unusually long storm duration that affected several tide cycles, the resulting tide caused the most severe flooding along the New Jersey coast in nearly 30 years,” a U.S. Geological Survey study found.
In Union Beach, 300 cars were destroyed by sea water and 690 houses were damaged, according to the National Weather Service report.
The highest wind gusts of the storm was recorded in Cape May, peaking at 80 miles per hour. The storm killed two in New Jersey, damaged 3,200 homes, and caused $750 million (1992 dollars) in damage.
Portions of the state were declared a federal disaster area.
What do you remember? My house shook, but had no significant damage or flooding. I recall the sights when we went down to the beachfront on the morning of October 30, 2012. People hesitatingly came down to see. We had seen the horrible images of places like Mantoloking on television, so we knew that we were lucky—lucky to not live on a barrier island.
Ocean Grove has some low areas, such as the southeast precinct where flooding occured, but much of the rest of the town had enough elevation to avoid water damage. A couple of days later a solitary surf fisherman came from out of town just to fish in Ocean Grove, a place that he loved.
Now, most of our boardwalk is complete except for the North End and the pier. We are better prepared now with dunes and bulkheads. The boardwalk was specially engineered to be extra strong. Many homeless victims who needed a place to stay came to the Grove. Some of them remained for quite a while, and there are probably some who are still around town. We cannot ever forget the volunteers who showed up, often with everything they needed including food and they gave and they asked for nothing in return.
John Goslee chatting with Eileen on Mt. Zion Way. Paul Goldfinger photo. 2 days after Sandy hit on Oct 29, 2012.
