🍁 What Canadians in Wildwood told us | Down the Shore

I went looking for Canadians in Wildwood this week. Despite canceled vacations over tariff threats, rhetoric about the 51st State, and a tough exchange rate, they were still there.

Not as many Quebec license plates in town as in years past, or as many big family groups chattering in French by the ocean’s edge — but they were there. In the heyday of Canadian visitation (really the 1970s and 1980s) some Wildwood beaches would be nearly nothing but French-speaking families, and those families came back year after year.

This week starts the two-week “Construction Holiday” in Quebec (a mandatory vacation for the province’s construction industry and a traditional summer travel time), when Wildwood would be welcoming its many visitors from Quebec. The families I found were as nostalgic as anyone about their decades of Wildwood vacations, though one family said they’d felt a cold shoulder in town this year. (Also, no wait time crossing the border.) As Marina Marra of Quebec put it, “It’s a political conflict, but it doesn’t change the love we have for this place.”

Click here to read what else what the Quebecois in Wildwood told me about why they still came and how they’ve been treated.

Trekking the spacious beaches of Wildwood does not always make the case for beach replenishment, though possibly for sharing, and this week, my colleague Frank Kummer broke the news that the federal government has earmarked zero dollars for beach replenishment.

📮 While most Shore towns feel they desperately need these projects, many people think they’re just subsidies for wealthy Shore homeowners. What do you think? Should taxpayers fund beach replenishment projects?

Let me know by replying to this email, and I’ll include your most interesting responses.

Have ideas or news tips about the Shore or this newsletter? Send them to me here. Keep scrolling for interviews, news, tips, trivia, and memories!

🌞 It’s been hot and the water’s warm. Stop complaining!

— Amy S. Rosenberg (🐦 Tweet me at @amysrosenberg. 📷 Follow me on Insta at @amysrosenberg. 📧 Email me here.)

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🌪️ Beachgoers in Island Beach State Park were surprised by the sight of a waterspout that briefly came ashore.

🤑 Ocean City Council voted to charge vacationers a 3% tax if they book through third-party sites like VRBO.

🚴 Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway and his wife, Lindsay, raised $30,000 during the Ben to the Shore charity bike ride benefiting the Children Behind the Badge Foundation.

⛽ 800 gallons of fuel spilled at the Wildwood Wawa.

🏖️ TikTok had some thoughts about the lack of money for beach replenishment.

🍕 The pizza slap in Ocean City that went viral.

🍦 Visit classic ice cream stands from Philly to the Shore, courtesy of Inquirer photographer Tom Gralish.

🛥️ Party at Ocean City’s Night in Venice boat parade this Saturday, with grand marshals Bernie Parent, Vince Papale, and Ruben Amaro Jr.

🏋️ Attend the grand opening of the Fusion gym and resort outside Showboat to see if Bart Blatstein has figured out the winning formula.

🦌 Go hear Asbury Park’s Pontiacs at the Brigantine Elks Club (if you’re a member or know one.)

🚣‍♂️ Watch the iconic Dutch Hoffman lifeguard races in Wildwood on Friday (and keep scrolling for our slam book interview with Hoffman biographer, Wildwood patrol captain Ed Schneider.)

🎶 Dance and eat a fish sandwich at a free concert at Gardner’s Basin in Atlantic City featuring Russell Thompkins Jr. & the New Stylistics, GQ, Wilbert Hart of the original Delfonics, and the return of the beloved Fish Heads Food truck.

☎️ Volunteer with El Pueblo Unido, which needs bilingual volunteers in Atlantic City this Friday to help local families make consulate appointments.

Bruce Goldberg was first with the answer to which bridge is stuck in the down position: the Dorset Avenue Bridge in Ventnor.

This week:

In defending the cost of beach replenishment, officials noted that in 2024, visitors spent a record $50.6 billion in New Jersey, producing $5.4 billion in state and local tax revenues. How much did this reduce the tax burden of a single household in New Jersey?

A. $1,545

B. $300

C. $945

D. $2,100

Email us with your answer, or if you think you know the answer, click on this story to find out.

Wildwood Beach Patrol Capt. Ed Schneider of Fishtown is a teacher of philosophy and history and wants people to know the legacy and history of Dutch Hoffman, of Germantown, one of the original beach patrol captains who served from 1927 to 1962 and helped professionalized the beach patrols of the Jersey Shore.

The iconic Dutch Hoffman Memorial Lifeguard Races are Friday. Schneider answered our questions.

Favorite beach: 26th Street or Lincoln Avenue beach in Wildwood.

Favorite summer breakfast: Egg and cheese omelet with mushrooms and pepper, wheat toast, and side of bacon at the Key West Cafe or the Crow’s Nest.

Your idea of a perfect beach day: Wake up and watch the sunrise, go for a row up and down the coast, come in and meet the 50 staff that I work with and plan for a day. The rest of the day is just moving up and down the beach, taking care of my responsibilities and watching people be happy.

Perfect night? Fourth of July. After work, we generally go out and have a couple drinks. I meet friends and family, have dinner, and watch fireworks on the beach.

Best Shore sandwich: I’m not a sandwich guy. Two mushroom slices from Sam’s.

As the end of summer approaches, I feel: When you hit July, the summer’s full of magic. Then comes August, and the magic is slipping away.

It wouldn’t be the Jersey Shore without: the people.

Best thing for kids: Go onto the beach, put the cellphones down, learn to swim, enjoy the ocean, enjoy the seagulls, the dolphins, get outside, and put the computer stuff down.

Surfing or fishing? Rowing.

Sunrise or sunset? Sunrise. Every sunrise is the fingerprint of the day.

Shore pet peeve? People who are angry. You’re here on vacation. When people are angry because there’s a line. Or because of the weather.

The Shore could be improved if: People took better care of making the world better in terms of their attitude and just being happy. But also cleaning up after themselves.

The story about South Seaside Park wanting to secede from Berkeley Township prompted this memory from Stephen Gambescia, whose family bucked the Philly trend and went north of LBI, where he recommends a visit to Bum Rogers,

It was odd coming back from a vay kay and mentioning Seaside to my buddies. My parents bought a house in Seaside Park on the bay in 1967. One of the oldest homes on the island, as we call it. We lived the summer months as teens like the kids in Jaws going out to Cable Junction. Even when of college age I did not see the Shore as a nighttime bar crawl or hangout. We had our dance card filled with swimming, skiing, crabbing, fishing, sailing, rowing a boat, surfing and anything water sport. We even went surfing at night from the lights from Funtown pier. When the moon is full and the tide and water variables just right.

The Barnegat is 1 and ¾ miles across. As a teen, I paddled a surfboard across the bay and co-opted my younger brother and younger cousin to follow me. My mother was not pleased.

At 67 those water sports are not my go to. Now I swim a few miles along the coast from the end of LBI north, through So. Seaside, to Seaside Park, to the Heights, to Ortley Beach, to Lavalette.

🏖️ Send us your Shore memory! In 200 words, tell us how the Shore taps into something deep for you, and we will publish them in this space during the summer.

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