Jersey Shore Magazine

j e r s e y s h o r e • s p r i n g 2 0 1 5 41 continued on page 42 Worth was born and raised on Manasquan Beach, living her entire life by the Inlet, the cove, the jetty, and the beach. A true clamdigger, she is a trustee of the Manasquan Beach Improvement Association. However, her words of wisdom and creativity are what make her truly unique. Every year since 1991, Worth has painted an original, six-line poem on the risers of her First Avenue steps. A writer at heart, her yearly poems are both a record of history and of her own life. Her step poems have includ- ed such events as the Millennium, the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster, 9-11, the 2009 presidential elec- tion, the Olympics, reflections upon beachside living, and her own life milestones. Worth enjoys when people walk by her home, stop to read the year- ly poem, and then talk about what they read. She said, "I want people to want to read my poetry. I love the fact that people come looking for the poem, stop and ask when it will be out, and tell me that they are looking forward to it. It's for the masses." Worth's 2011 step poem is one of her favorites, because she wrote it about her beach friends who came for a three-day reunion that summer. "Mine and my brothers' childhood friends and playmates, that we met on the beach, who vacationed here from North Jersey, lifelong friends came that summer. It was a great time, and that (poem) was their 'Welcome Back' that greeted them," said Worth. Two years later, in 2013, her step poem reflected upon the heartache brought by Superstorm Sandy. Worth courtesy of Bette Worth Worth's beach friends at her three-day reunion in 2011 were the focus of her 2011 step poem, her favorite to date. had over a foot of water in her house, which is currently being renovated. She has been living in Avon-by-the- Sea since, and hopes to return to her Manasquan home this year. Worth explained, "I've lived close to the ocean in Manasquan Beach all my sixty-five-plus years, and that was taken away. Now I'm estranged from my step poems, too! Some people have stepchildren. I have twenty-five step poems to show for the last quar- ter of my life. It has been more than two years since I have been down there with them." Worth's love of Manasquan, beach living, the Jersey Shore, and of life itself have all been memorialized upon her steps over the last twen- ty-five years. Worth promises that there will be a 2015 step poem this year, but she has not penned it just yet. She chuckled and said, "It might mention new windows that don't stick." Both Bette June Worth and her step poems are examples of what make the Jersey Shore notably dis- tinctive. With so many kids growing up reading her steps, and a large following year after year, Worth is happy that she can make people smile through her poetry. "Maybe they have become my legacy, my reason for being put here on earth," she said. On the following pages, we present the Step Poems of Bette June Worth. To learn more about Bette June Worth and her step poems, please visit her website at www.poemsofworth.com. 25 Years Of "Step Poems" By Manasquan Poet Bette June Worth

• Cover