The Big 80s

The economy was riding high during Reagan’s first term. His landslide re-election in 1984 had Wall Street on a tear. Michael Douglas played a Wall Street shark who remarked, “Greed is Good”.

Real Estate was recovering from Paul Volcker’s 13% mortgage rates of the early part of the decade. Big bonuses from rising financial industry success fed the demand for summer homes.

But the Monmouth Shore was struggling. Needles began washing ashore in early 1987. Then, several storms washed a slick of medical waste onto Monmouth’s beaches. Soon, an entire 50-mile stretch of beach was closed from Sandy Hook to Island Beach in the peak of the summer. Billy Joel put a line into his song We Didn’t Start the Fire; “Hypodermics on the shore.”

Beach rakes became standard equipment after the syringe tide

Sea Girt purchased a used Beach Rake sand sifter from Manasquan for $8,500, but the reputational damage would linger. People’s vacations were ruined over the “syringe tide”. Governor Tom Keane wanted to blame New York. Mayor Ed Koch, who replied, “We are not missing any garbage, are we?”

There were plenty of targets for the culprit. Ocean dumping included medical waste. Wastewater treatment plants often overflowed into rivers and bays. This was the era of AIDS, and fear of contamination was high.

Massive spending on Superfund cleanup sites from New Jersey’s industrial past also gave the impression that New Jerseyans lived in a toxic state.

Researchers eventually pinned NYCity Sanitation and Staten Island’s Fresh Kills Landfill for the waste, but the damage was done. The Jersey Shore lost about $1 billion in tourist revenue. The Ocean Dumping Act of 1988 banned all forms of medical waste and towns worked to limit pollution from sanitation overflow. New York City paid only $1 million in fines. The Amusements in Long Branch were destroyed by a fire that started in the Haunted Mansion. Asbury Park’s Palace Amusements were in their last season, and despite Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band giving life to the Stone Pony, much of the city was a drug-infested nightmare.

Uncertainty hit markets when in April, stocks fell in one day by 22%. Despite the global fear, markets recovered their losses over the next two years.

Actor Danny Devito advocated for the re-birth of Asbury Park, long before it actually happened

In Sea Girt, while the beach and the stock market were struggling, the Elementary School hit its stride, achieving several excellent results.

100% of the kids sent to Manasquan HS from Sea Girt scored as proficient in standardized testing, the only sending town to do so. The SAT scores of those educated at SGES were consistently above the area’s averages.

The School Library and Librarian Shirley Norby were recognized by the Federal Department of Education. They were one of only 62 schools in the nation to be awarded for modern technology and state-of-the-art research capabilities. The school was one of the first in the area with Apple II GS Computers in its media center. Students had word processors, spreadsheets, and educational games like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and Oregon Trail.

William J. Petony, the first Principal and now Superintendent, enjoyed the acolades for his 17 year investment in education in Sea Girt. He had learn to listen, and accept the generosity of the community. He asked parents if they wanted full-day Kindergarten, but the parents liked the three hour session.

Realtor Philip Schweir, who was a baseball coach and held the Sea Girt Spring Lake Little League season home run record as a child, worked with the Boosters and donated a significant upgrade to the baseball field at the Elementary School. The world outside might be difficult, but people smiled when they arrived in Sea Girt. It was a respite from a complicated world.