. . - j • m 58 _opinion_ Herald & Lantern 18 April '84

Our Readers Write Vocal Minority Outnumbered To The Editor: I would like the time to describe. the scenario for a normal commissioners meeting in Sea Isle City. The particular one I am reporting was held in the afternoon of March 27, with Mayor Dominic Raffa and the two commissioners in attendance. Numerous property owners . also were there, and the usual matters, relating to our city ^ were discussed. The interested and concerned people sit in silence tso orjlained i until we finally arrive a} the public portion of the meeting. This is frequently interesting because the mayor gets quite belligerent if things do not go his way. He does have a "short fuse. Here we have a mayor, whose position is listed as parttime. at an annual salary of $15,000. Then, in the course of discussion, we find another city employe, very much in attendance just lately, who is listed on the city payroll as a clerk typist at an annual salary of $12,000. The same individual is on the payroll as grants coordinator at a salary * of $4,000 a year. IMAGINE the surprise when it was revealed that, aside from being themavor's right arm; so claimed.publiclv by Mayor Raffa: he is also Sea Isle'e PR. man. at an additional hourly salary ahd an expense account. It was brought to the public's attention that, while performing as public relations man snapping photos, greeting important city visitors, etc. he is away from his salaried Clerk-typist job. Also, astonishing to learn, that same individual is president of Cape Associates, which handles his publicity photos. Could this be a conflict of interest? I hesitate to mention that not very much of the above photography appears in our local newspapers. It woifld seem, as the meeting progressed, that A1 Zurawski. the man of many positions, also pens letters, to selected persons, this, of course at the mayor's request. The recipients of a recent letter were requested to attend this March 27 meeting and outnumber the "vocal minority" who apparently have the temerity to disagree with the way city pffairs are being handled. This so-called "vocal minority" consists of interested people who regularly attend town meetings and express concern at the manner in which the town is being administrated. It is quite obvious, dissention with the mayor is not welcomed in Sea Isle. What is one to do? * ISABEL R. GILLESPIE Sea Isle City Coping With Storm To The Editor: 7 The Cape May County Office of Emergency Management wishes to express our thanks to the coordinators of Cape May County's 16 municipalities, to county departments. and to all public service and safety agencies related to our operation for their unselfish and profes- > sional actions in coping with the northeast storm of March 29. We also thank all the volunteers who gave of their time and efforts; and wish to express our appreciation to the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders, who supported our every action. As usual, the media performed well in their coverage of the storm. Thank you for your continued cooperation in our efforts. - LYNDON H. SIMMERMAN County Coordinator Office of Emergency Management Cape May Court House

"""" Hrralfr Published Every Wednesday By P.O. Bos 43S Hie Seawase Corporatlop Cape May Court House. SJ. <C|6 Joseph R. Zelnik Editor Bonnie Reina General Manager Gary L. Rudy Advertising Director John Dunwoody Special Promotions Director DArrell Kopp Publisher t7r S*owavB Corp. No part Haraof may bo reproduced without prior written ton— at. DEADLINES News & Photos Thursday Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. Classified Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. | 465-5855 For News or Advertising Information | Neither partidpaUng ady ertfeers nor the publisher* of the HKK AI I) AND LANTERN will be responsible or liable for misinformation misprints, typographical errors, etc.. in anv issue. The editor reserve* the right to edit any teller or articles submitted for publication. foK'rr Township ~ ~ " LANTERN 3 Published Every Wednesday By P O Box tx **"""• Corporation Cape Ma? Court House. NJ man y

* ** r rV ~v ^ 'V, ' \ What T^is Countr^^^^Are Elected Officials With Enough Courage To Publicly State Their Views But Don't Quote Me On That

Hospital Appreciated To The Editor: I would like to express my appreciation to Burdette Tojnlin Memorial Hospital for the wonderful care I rceived during my recent stay. I'm proud to know that we have a new and wonderful hospital in our county. It is comforting to know that it has an excellent staff to conduct all the necessary needs of their patients. FRANK ALEARDI | Sea Isle City Firemen Praised To The Editor: I would like to congratulate the Avalon Volunteer Fire Department for the splendid job it did containing a house fire on 23rd Street. About 6 a.m. March 29. they responded to a house fire I had reported. It was no time before they arrived at the scene. It was the morning of the storm and flood. They were unable* to bring the big fire equipment from Dune Drive to the house fire because of the flooding. The firemen had to wade through the water, waist-deep, carrying the hoses, which were about 200 feet from the fire. And it was no time at all before they had the fire unaer control. Congratulations to Avalon's Fire Department. HAROLD KELLEHER Avalon

Lookin' and Listenin' Delaware Bay: Prosperity By DOROTHY D. FREAS Although the Atlantic Ocean washes the eastern beaches of Ca & May County, the Delaware Bay was the first scene of nnancial return from the waters. Several attempts at whaling occurred during the early 1600s. Either through lack of knowledge or inadequate equipment, failure followed the early beginnings of this industry. Then a group of men of New England, whalers all. came south and settled where Town Bank, named Portsmouth at first, was .built on Delaware Bay. Only a few miles from the ocean, where the waters of the bay were calmer, the men went out in small boats, a very dangerous enterprise, for the harpooned whale sometimes turned on a small boat, and occasionally the crew was lost. Obtaining whale oil was a calculated risk for the men whose livelihood was providing oil for light and fuel. By the early 1700s however, the whaling industry had peaked and declined. NOW THE BAY is also a source of many species of fish, arriving as the water temperature rises in Spring. Then various types of craft dot the lower bay, catching quantities of fish — weak fish, flounder, fluke and drum. Further up the Delaware, where the Maurice River joins it. has been for yehrs a center of the large oyster industry. Bivalve, a town appropriately named, is in the same area as"*Por|t Norris, well-known for its oystering and oyster-packing plants. Still further north there is a town on the bay. named ^(surprisingly?) Bayside.-and which was the end of a railroad branch in the 1870s. At that time the town's name was "Caviar" because of the sturgeon caught in Delaware Bay, thus providing great quantities of caviar for shipping to the north on the railroad. When the sturgeon disappeared, the rail spur tracks were removed back to the Bridgeton area. Delaware Bay has been a ^source of prospering industries — and delicious meals — for those who live near this body of water. Nix Live Bunnies To The Editor.: Live chicks and rabbits shouldn't be considered as Easter gifts because most children don't know how to care for them and they do not make good pets. Many of these live gifts will have the same fate as the little white duck and be abandoned at local parks and ponds. When parents are considering Easter gifts this year, please keep in mind that at Easter time, stores offer a variety of stuffed animals and chocolate rabbits that could fill any child's Easter with fun. . NINA

^ r^. . AUSTENBERG -Lot a Digestive Disorder? Stay Out of Middle's Plant

By JOE ZELNIK Friends? have challenged me to use three phrases in i this column: dewflicker, hard as Kelsey's nuts, and "You don't sweat much for a fat girl." I I just have, of course. Irving Kelsey was a companion of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Fellow writers (Kelsey was a poet, Burroughs a : novelist), they traveled together to Africa at the turn of i the century. ] Burroughs wrote "Tarzan of the Apes" and became rich and famous. Kelsey wrote a long poem called ■ "Yugoslavia, Gem of the Ocean." which was never < published. Then he wrote a song called, "On the Way to i Cape Town." It flopped. Jealous over Burroughs' success, Kelsey broke with ( him. Burroughs returned to Avalon where he did the weather on Channel 40 and lived a life of wealth and I privilege. Kelsey stayed on in Nairobi and bought a : macadamia ranch. i THE NUTS WERE lousy. The soil in Kenya was too dry for the macadamia tree, which flourishes in Australia. I But Kelsey has powerful connections. He knew the Hands 1 of Cape May County and they knew Charles Lindbergh. When Lindbergh made his solo transatlantic flight in I 1927, he slurped a malted milk from Dippy Don's and ' chewed Kelsey's nuts. Once the press (in general, not the "Atlantic City") got ahold of that, there was no stopping « Kelsey. His nuts were the talk of both continents and, thanks to no-bid contracts, served on every major airline. I The biggest problem with Kelsey's nuts was that it was 1 almost impossible to crack them open without using a hammer. Sale of hammers boomed and this had much to t do with the Iron Age, the Industrial Revolution, and the ] founding of Pittsburgh. Kelsey, now in his 90s, resides in Villas with a 120-pound 1 doberman pinscher for companionship and an 88-pound I waiter from an exclusive Cape May restaurant as his i cook. He stays busy editing a volume of the collected speeches of Dominic C. Raffa. t

Lest one of John McVey's students from Middle Township turns in this account for a history report. I have to say that not one word after the first paragraph is true. I've been writing bizarre things ever since I pried open the back door of the Middle Township Sewage Treatment Plant and got a whiff of the chlorine WHAT LESSON can we learn" from all this? Well, it shows the awesome power of the press. I can write practically anything in this column — as long as the publisher remains in Boca Ratan. And this opens up opportunities for you readers. If you want a message in this column, it can be arranged. Our classified department charges $2.50 for 20 words. I'm willing to negotiate. If you like, we cart be very direct: "Got a digestive disorder? Call Bob Beitman." You may want to push a certain item — "Three artichokes for a buck at Robinson and Sons" — or you may simply have a message: "Dear Bea, thanks for 20 wonderful years. Love, Gary." It can be done smoothly, almost subliminally : "As I was a bowl of soup at Mister Donut, 81 Dennisville ..." . WHEN THEY DO THIS in the movies — showing you the makes of cars and brands of cigarettes — it's called "product placement." In our situation, we'll just call it, "You take care of me and I'll take care of you." The only_ thing' I won't do is promote alcoholic beverages, except for beer, wine, whiskey. Vodka, gin and tequilla, all of which serve medicinal purposes. A mention will be more expensive at the beginning of this column, which quite a few people read, and less expensive toward the end. where few people get. What does this have to do with "You don't sweat fnuch a fat girl"? Not much. It's a line from a TV show and the first person to correctly identify who said it will receive a prize. And "dewflicker?" Your definition of jthat will be the tie-breaker.