Jersey Shore Magazine
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/141619
Sandy and The Artists by Anne LaBonté Neff Margie Moore is the illustrator of the Jersey Shore children's books "A Gull's Story, Parts 1, 2, and 3" by Frank Finale as well as "Bear of My Heart" from Simon & Schuster. She grew up and lives in Belmar. Harris Street in Bay Head after the 1962 "storm of the century." This photo, taken by the late artist Dick LaBonté, hung in his home for the past fifty years as a reminder of the power of the sea. photo by Dick LaBonté bridge railing, did my best in the intense wind to adjust the settings, and took some pictures. The ocean was raging, but it was still incredible to see the fury of nature. I have seen many storms here, but never like this, and never have been so close to the ocean in that state. It was really time to get out of there. One oversized wave could have been disastrous. I am happy with the pictures I took. I am glad I went down when I did. Maybe next time, I will think twice about getting so close knowing now what the ocean was capable of that day. It is one for the records. I s h o r e • s p r i n g 2 0 1 3 (mom's, his, and mine) after the storm, the first thing I did was collect the artwork hanging on the walls. Everyone had preferences as to what to save. Mine was my dad's original paintings and artwork by many other local artists. While our homes were flooded, all the artwork hanging on the walls survived, including those 1962 photographs. Unfortunately my father's studio was on a lower level and five feet of water washed through the room. Historical photos he had collected over the years, prints of his work, art books, equipment, and memorabilia were destroyed. I had not had the heart to empty the studio after his death, and while I had started removing some items, I had left his unfinished painting on his easel, supplies in drawers, and so on. In some ways I was spared having to say good-bye to this special room by Sandy. I can keep the memories of watching my dad work at his easel and not have to move each item out, mulling over what to save and what to throw away. Those decisions were made for me. For that, I am grateful. Artists see the world in a different way. They speak from their souls through their work. The artists of the Jersey Shore are very precious to us, as their work evokes the feelings we have when we think of this unique area of our country. We "wear a wistful j e r s e y n March of 1962, a nor'easter hit the Jersey Shore, so devastating that it was dubbed "the storm of the century." Boardwalks and homes were washed away, three new channels in Ocean County were cut by the Atlantic Ocean into Barnegat Bay, the Loveland Town Bridge collapsed, and the face of the Jersey coastline was changed forever. I was thirteen years old. My father, artist Dick LaBonté, took photos of the beachfront, and later hung them in our summer home in Bay Head. For fifty years those photographs hung in our home, a reminder of the power of the sea. As I grew up, I would only glance at them in passing, but never thought I would ever see that kind of devastation in Bay Head again. I was wrong. When dad retired, he and mom became full time residents of Bay Head. Dad bought an art gallery and started painting. He enjoyed a fortyyear career as a local artist, historian, and active member of the community. He died in April of 2011 at age ninety. His paintings tell stories of life on the Jersey Shore, primarily at the turn of the century, concentrating on Bay Head and Mantoloking, but extending to Spring Lake, Manasquan, and other shore towns. Many of the old hotels and homes in the paintings are gone. Many more were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. When my brother and I returned to our three homes in Bay Head continued on page 20 19