The Bay Head Beacon

The Jersey Shore just experienced its first bout of extremely cold weather this year. Below freezing temperatures coupled with biting winds created some truly uncomfortable conditions. Warm weather fans were left wishing spring would hurry up and get here. But for those people who like winter weather, Mother Nature provided an amazing surprise. Local residents awoke Saturday morning and discovered that the Point Pleasant Canal had turned into an outdoor skating rink. Dr. Sven Ranedere, Professor of Climatology at Stockton University, said that the freezing of the canal is very unusual. "I checked the records and it has only happened 4 other times in the last 75 years," said Dr. Ranedere. "The reason it is so rare is that it takes more than cold air to make this happen. The water in the Manasquan River has to be frigid to begin with. That doesn't happen too easily, but when it does, and you get a blast of arctic air, it can be magical." Many local residents would...

The first time that Werfen Hakilo went to a hatchet throwing bar in Chicago, he thought it was amazing. "What could be better than a place where you can drink beer and throw axes?" he said. "It was such a blast that after only one visit, I knew I had to own my own hatchet place one day." Now, after almost five years, Hakilo's wish is about to come true. Later this month he is opening his own pub called Ye Olde Hatchet Catch-it!  in downtown Point Pleasant Beach. This is not Hakilo's first foray into trendy bars and eateries. Four years ago he opened a barbecue and billiards restaurant called B-B-Cue Stick . "The idea was that people could play pool while enjoying barbecued meats served on a stick," said Hakilo. "It seemed like a great idea, but we didn't count on how messy and greasy all of the pool cues and tables would get from the barbecued food. We couldn't keep the place clean. We wound up closing after six months." "The...

When the Centennial Park playground re-opens this spring, there's going to be a BIG surprise. The little park in Bay Head will be home to the highest playground slide in New Jersey. "It's going to be amazing!" said Recreation Department spokesperson Joy Spielplatz. "The slide will be 60 feet high! The tallest playground slide in the state and maybe even in the country." When the Recreation Department realized they had some money left in the budget, they wanted to find an interesting way to use it. They got the idea for the epic slide when they started doing some online searches for unusual playground equipment. "The slide we are getting is almost identical to one that already exists in New Zealand, although ours will be quite a bit taller," said Spielplatz. "There will be a 60 foot central tower with two tube slides coming down. When kids go down the slide, they can achieve speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. It should be really exciting!"...

Point Pleasant Borough Councilman, Dominic Asino, believes that his town does not get the recognition it deserves. "Being next to Bay Head and Point Beach, we sometimes get lost in the shuffle," he said. "I'm not taking anything away from our neighbor towns; I just think that we're a great town in our own right." Asino has spent a lot of time trying to figure out ways to promote his borough, and he believes he has come up with a great idea. "What we needed was a mascot! Something that is instantly recognizable and that people will associate with the Borough of Point Pleasant." "I was reading a news story about a petting zoo in Pennsylvania that was closing," said Asino. "They were looking for people who would adopt their animals. The article said that they had a donkey that they described as a 'pleasant burro.' Something clicked in my head when I saw that. I knew a burro would be the perfect mascot for our borough!" Coun...

When Mrs. Kelly O'Kelly started teaching in the Point Pleasant Borough School System, she didn't realize that she would become one of the most well-loved teachers the town has ever known. Principal Ann Dinterest has nothing but praise for Mrs. O'Kelly. "In all the years that I have worked in education, I have never seen any teacher who inspired her students the way Mrs. O'Kelly did. She had a way of reaching the children that was truly unique." Mrs. O'Kelly remains humble about her career. "It was simple. I showed up to work every day and did the job. But in all my 47 years, I never liked it. Not at all. I've just never been crazy about kids. I see them as 'unfinished' people. Like a sandwich with one piece of bread and no mayo. Or a couch without any cushions. Who would want that? And that's what kids are, until they become adults. It was only the thought of my pension that kept me going." In 1973, when she started her career, Mr...

It's the time of year when people start thinking about their new year's resolutions, trying to decide on ways they want to improve themselves in the coming year. Bay Head dentist, Dr. Horton Hoo, is also thinking about new year's resolutions, but he is thinking about the ones he made last year. "I got too ambitious with my resolutions l ast year," said Dr. Hoo. "I don't know why I thought I could do so much. Unfortunately my daughter recently reminded me that of the five resolutions I made, I haven't done any of them!" Dr. Hoo is not one to give up easily. He has decided that he will accomplish all of his resolutions in the few days he has left this year. Dr. Hoo's 13 year old daughter, Cyndy Lou, is skeptical of her father. "There is no way he's doing it. He made five resolutions: lose 10 pounds, learn a new language, clean the garage, be nicer to people, and read ten books. How is he going to get any of those done in just a few day...

Santa Claus was kind enough to sit down with us and answer some questions about his "Christmas Magic." BHB : Thank you for giving us a bit of your time, especially during your busy season. Do you prefer to be addressed as St. Nicholas? Santa: Ho-ho-ho! Please call me Santa! And I'm a big fan of the Beacon! It's my pleasure to talk to you. Ho-ho-ho! BHB:  Santa, I imagine that you have millions of children asking for presents. How do you and your elves manage to produce so many toys? Santa; Ho-ho-ho! This year we got requests from 13,073,211 children. The elves could never produce that many toys. Ho-ho-ho! These days the elf toy production is limited to specialty, handcrafted items. They still do some beautiful work. Ho-ho-ho! But that only accounts for about 7 percent of the toys we distribute. The rest of the toys, Barbies and video games and what not, we get through a series of agreements with toy manufactures worldwide. These toys are kept in a network of warehous...

Felicity Walker lives east of the Point Pleasant Canal in the Borough. Her parents live on the west side of the canal. Their houses are less than a half-mile apart, but to get to each other's homes they have to drive or walk about two miles. "It's so frustrating," said Walker. "If the canal wasn't there it would be like walking down the street to see my family. Instead, I have to walk all the way to either the 88 or Lovelandtown Bridges and once I'm on the other side, it's still about another mile. I realize it's not all that far, but it's such a nuisance to drive there and it's too far for my parents to walk." Felicity and her husband, Alan, have gone so far as to petition the mayor to build a pedestrian bridge. They argued that it would encourage more walking and reduce traffic. The mayor's assistant, Holden DeLine sent a response to the Walkers that simply said, "Are you kidding?" DeLine explains that he and the mayor...

You may recall seeing the Andrews Triplets of Mantoloking when they appeared on America's Got Talent several years ago. The identical sisters, Patty, Maxine, and  Laverne, wowed the judges, and the country, with trick tricycle riding while singing in perfect unison. They finished in third place, but to all their fans, they were winners. Now, two years later, the girls have moved on to bicycles, and their act has become even better. It is so good, in fact, that they have been recruited by the world famous Cirque du Soleil. "It's very exciting to be part of Cirque du Soleil!" said Patty. "We love working with Costello! He's so cute!" Costello is the dancing giant panda that was partnered with the girls' act. When they perform, the girls will ride their bicycles while they sing, and Costello will dance. "Mr. Abbott is the panda trainer, and he's been great," Maxine said. "When we have any questions about working with Costello, we just...

About two weeks ago, a strange, metallic monolith was discovered in a remote desert area in southeastern Utah. No one knew what it was or where it came from. Theories ranged from an eccentric artist creating the structure, to space aliens depositing it there for some unknown purpose. Whatever the origin, people were fascinated by this anomaly in the desert. Then, two nights ago, the monolith suddenly vanished. No one knew what had happened to the strange object... until now. Early this morning, Basar Monolito, a custodian at Point Pleasant Borough High School, was stunned to find a ten foot tall, shiny monolith in the school's basement. "I had no idea what it could be," he said. "I thought maybe it was a science project, or something. I couldn't even guess how they got it down there." Monolito immediately went to ask Vice Principal Ecole Rektor what was going on. Vice Principal Rektor was as confused as Monolito. "I recognized the monolith from the news...

Today we are featuring the winning entry in our essay contest for elementary school students. The topic was: The Story of Thanksgiving and What it Means to Me. We received hundreds of entries and (sadly) this one by ten year old Sarah Quiggly of Point Pleasant was the best. Pilgrim Party: the Story of Thanksgiving by Sarah Quiggly Back in Olden Times, people didn't always have religious freedom like we do now. One group that didn't have religious freedom was the Pilgrims because the mean king said the religion of Pilgrimage was bad. They decided that they should go someplace where they could practice Pilgriming in peace. So they wanted to go to America where there was lots of freedom and corn. The Pilgrims set sail in 1492 aboard the Nina, the Pinta, and the Mayflower. Their leader, Myles Standish, promised he would bring the Pilgrims to a land of plenty and also prove the world was round. The journey wasn't easy. The evil king tried to stop them by sending his U-Boats afte...

Ever since she was a little girl, Bay Head Council Member Macy Day has loved parades. Her favorite was always Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. "My father used to work in one of the buildings along the parade route. Every year our family would go into the city and watch the spectacle from his office. The giant balloons would fly right in front of us, and we could see all the floats and marching bands going by. It was our best holiday tradition." This year, the parade in New York is not going to be happening as usual. It was decided that it would be a health risk to have such big crowds, so the "parade" will now be a scaled down televised event. When Ms. Day heard this news, she was heartbroken. "I understand why they decided to cancel, but it just wouldn't seem like Thanksgiving without some sort of real parade." Ms. Day decided that she wanted to do something about it.  It occurred to her that Bridge Avenue would be a great location...

Just over 1,000 unmailed ballots have been found behind the Bay Head Post Office leading to concerns of invalid elections. "It was an honest mistake," said Wayne Knight, District Manager for the USPS. "Someone just forgot to load them on the truck when they were being shipped out. Later, they must have just been mistaken for garbage, but nothing was done intentionally." Bay Head resident Dolion Votazione isn't buying it. "There's definitely some shenanigans going on here. I posted my vote at the Bay Head Post Office with plenty of time to spare. I was careful to follow all the instructions when I filled out the form. Now, I don't even know if my vote counted or not! Having someone say it was just a 'mistake' isn't an acceptable answer!" Balla Mendax of Mantoloking is equally concerned. "This decision was very important to a lot of people. It doesn't matter what your choice was, we all have a right to participate in the proc...

Dr. Magnus Piede of Brielle is considered one of the world's top experts on Bigfoot. He has devoted his career to studying the elusive creature throughout North America. He has written three bestselling books about Bigfoots. He has produced and hosted two documentary specials on the Discovery Channel focusing on his Bigfoot research. He travels the world lecturing and educating people about Bigfoots. Yet, in the 20 plus years he has been studying Bigfoots, he has never seen one. Recently the Bay Head Beacon was able to catch up with Dr. Piede at his home in Brielle to discuss his career and new documentary. BHB: Does it bother you, Dr. Piede, that you have never seen a Bigfoot in all the years you have been studying them?  Dr. Piede: I'd say it's more of a disappointment. I'm always examining evidence and chasing down leads, but mostly I have to work with blurry photographs and plaster castings of big footprints. But in some ways that makes me more passionate about my...