Smilestones
Jason Kelce, with Angelo Cataldi, was his usual entertaining self on the WIP broadcast from Sea Isle City on June 29.
CENTER OF ATTENTION
Eagles five-time Pro Bowl center Jason Kelce was back in town June 29, for his second annual summer charity bartending event at the Ocean Drive. The day began with SIC’s own Angelo Cataldi broadcasting live on 94 WIP from Paddy’s Green, which is just about a mile from his shore home in the south end of town. The large crowd on hand for the broadcast, with a special appearance by Kelce, was a good indicator of things to come later that afternoon. The line started outside of the Ocean Drive more than an hour before the event. Eagles fans packed the OD hoping to be served by the beloved Kelce from behind the bar. Kelce was joined during the event by his brother Travis, the Kansas City Chiefs’ star tight end, and Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata.
Proceeds and contributions benefited the Eagles Autism Foundation. Kelce was initially attracted to the cause after meeting students on the autism spectrum who were taught by his wife, Kylie. It was hoped that the event this year would raise in excess of $150,000, which includes a $50,000 personal contribution from Kelce for the second straight year.
JOE BELLUCCI IS A YOUNG 90
If Joe Bellucci had his druthers, he’d be skydiving. Only, his loved ones have reservations.
“My kids are trying to talk me out of it,” says Bellucci, who celebrated his 90th birthday this year. “They’re worried I’ll get hurt.”
Try telling that to a man who has checked off his bucket list parasailing, white water rafting, and riding on a biplane and a WaveRunner. He also recently had a ride on a seaplane.
Bellucci says the secret to his longevity is simple. He smiles a lot, and he likes to laugh. He also stays physically active.
“Every morning I make it a point not to sit around. I get out. I move around quite a bit, that’s what I do. If I go to ShopRite, I walk down every aisle just for the exercise,” says Bellucci, a Korean War veteran and father of four adult children: Joe, Carla and Anthony Bellucci, and Louise Hurst. He also has nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Longtime Sea Isle City residents will fondly remember Joseph J. Bellucci Washer and Dryer Specialist, the business Bellucci started in 1958 in South Philadelphia, where he was born and raised. His business would also service West Philly and Delaware County before expanding into Sea Isle. In 1963, he and his wife Marilyn purchased a house here for $8,900. And in 1971, they moved their family to Sea Isle full time, raising their children on 47th Place. Bellucci retired in 1993. His wife died in 2019.
Their love story began in 1958. When he was 26 and vacationing in Florida. While swimming in a pool, he happened upon a pretty brunette. Smitten, he asked Marilyn out on a date. Two months later, they married. And they had 60 years together.
Today, Bellucci is busy. He goes to the casinos. He attends Mass at St. Joseph Church. He fishes, plays bingo at the Italian American Club, is active with the local AARP chapter, has a few drinks with friends at VFW Post 1963. He is a lifetime member of Knights of Columbus #3560, and is a Fourth Degree Knight, the highest and most prestigious degree. He is an active member of the American Legion Post 524 in Ocean City. He works on cars. It all helps to combat loneliness.
“I always liked old cars all my life and as I got older, I started to collect them,” Bellucci says. “I have a ’92 Roadmaster Estate Wagon and I have a ’93 Lincoln Town Car. The ’55 Buick Century was the old one. It was temperamental working on it. I figured, let me sell it.”
Bellucci was born Feb. 9, 1932. And on Feb. 13, 2022, he celebrated becoming a nonagenarian at the Avalon Links Restaurant with more than 100 guests, a DJ, and dancing.
“I was out on the floor,” he says. “I promised everybody that I’m going to reserve it for my hundredth, but now I’m thinking about changing it to 95. I don’t want to push it.”
TYING THE KNOT
McCANN-LADD NUPTIALS SET
Myra Brennan McCann and Ryan Ladd will be married Oct. 21 at St. Agnes Church in Cape May Point, with the reception to follow at the Grand Hotel in Cape May.
Myra, the daughter of John and Kathie McCann, grew up in Ocean City and graduated from Holy Spirit High School and St. Joseph’s University, where she earned All-Atlantic 10 honors as the varsity 8 coxswain. She is a special education teacher at Cape May County Special Services and is active with a new family business venture: Captain Chucky’s seafood market in Sea Isle City.
Ryan, the son of Bruce and Susan Ladd (Patricia A. Ladd is his late mother), grew up in Upper Township and graduated from Ocean City High School before attending Flagler College in St Augustine, Fla. He was a member of the OCHS soccer team that was recently inducted into the school’s hall of fame. Ryan is a Realtor with Goldcoast Sotheby’s International Realty in Ocean City and for the last 15 years has also worked summers at Oves Restaurant in Ocean City.
SWAVELY, O’CONNOR GET ENGAGED
It’s June 1. The calming sound of the surf is in the background. As Meghan Swavely lies on her back in the Savasana pose at the end of the yoga session, her life is about to change.
Jimmy got up and went to Meghan, on bended knee, and popped the question. And when she said, “Yes,” it was joyful for all.
“I adore Meghan and knew it would be a big surprise at the end of class,” said Teri O’Connor, owner of NJ Beach Yoga.
The date had special significance for the couple. Jimmy and Meghan first met on June 1, 2014, when Jimmy was assisting at his mom’s yoga class, helping with sign-ups on the beach.
The two dated steadily throughout their senior years at college. But post-graduation, their respective careers took them to different parts of the country: Jimmy to Colorado, Meghan to Pittsburgh. Then, several years later, they both moved back to Philly. They met up, reconnected, and found they had a more mature relationship the second time around.
He says Meghan makes him a better version of himself. Meghan says Jimmy helps her not to take herself too seriously. The two are enjoying the time to plan a wedding and are busy decorating a home they purchased in Cherry Hill.
“Yoga, in its simplest meaning, means to unite,” says Teri O’Connor. “How perfect for two amazing souls to find each other and get engaged at NJ Beach Yoga. Waves of love forever!”
CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2022
SEAN McCANN ST. JOSEPH’S UNIVERSITY
Sean Millar McCann graduated from St. Joseph’s University with a master’s degree in finance. The son of John and Kathie McCann and a graduate of Holy Spirit High School, Sean also did his undergraduate work at St. Joe’s. He received a bachelor’s degree from the university’s Haub School of Business with a dual major in accounting and finance before earning his CPA. Sean rowed crew for St. Joe’s and was an 11-year member of the Ocean City Beach Patrol. He works for Grant Thornton as a member of their Center City Philadelphia office and John Swanick’s Insurance Risk Advisory team.
FAMILY REMEMBERS BIG DADDY WITH MEMORIAL BRICKS
Keely Boyle is missing her father, something terrible. It’s been a hard 10 months since her dad, Edward Gudonis – known to legions of fans as “Big Daddy Graham” – died on Sept. 8, 2021.
Big Daddy Graham was a sports radio host and personality on WIP in Philadelphia for 25 years. He had a 40-year career as a stand-up comedian. He was an actor, and writer.
To his own family, Big Daddy was a loving husband, a caring father, and doting grandfather, whose injuries stemming from a health incident on July 21, 2019, left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. Debbie and Eddie would have been married 40 years this past April. For 25 years, Sea Isle was a second home, first on 49th Street and then 35th.
Keely and her sister, Ava Graham, a morning radio personality on WIP (94.1-FM), say their father’s dedication to his family meant everything.
Keely wanted to do something to memorialize her father in Sea Isle, where he also was known for his popular columns in the Sea Isle Times.
“I was trying to figure out to do something, because they no longer do the benches in Sea Isle,” says Keely. “That’s something I really would have loved to have done. So, I was looking for other options. When I was Googling, I found that you could do the pavers at the Historical Museum. And so, I had only ordered one. And then, Abby [Powell], who works for the museum, called me back and said, ‘Oh, my gosh we love your father.’”
“They actually bought the other paver for me,” says Keely.
Today, if you visit the Sea Isle City Historical Museum’s Memorial Library, you’ll find Big Daddy’s name etched on two pavers in the pathway. One is etched with the words: BIG DADDY GRAHAM ED GUDONIS. And the other reads, “BDG AKA “SIC BODY SURFING CHAMPION.” Flanking the word “Champion” are two hearts.
You just can’t forget Big Daddy.
Big Daddy’s memory lives on with Debbie, Keely, her husband Matt Boyle, their children Jameson and Lucy, and Ava and her husband, Bill Matz.
Look What the Stork Brought
SEAMUS FRANCIS CURRAN
Seamus Francis Curran was born March 9 at Pennsylvania Hospital to Steven and Megan Curran of Conshohocken, Pa. At birth he weighed 7 pounds and 15 ounces. Seamus’s grandparents include Francis Teesdale, Patricia Meiluta, and Gerard and Catherine Curran. His great-grandmothers are Adele Meiluta and Carolyn Jones. Siblings Brynn and Rowan are so excited to welcome Seamus into the family. Sea Isle City is a very special place to the Currans as they grew up spending summers there and have made many great family memories going to the beach, riding bikes around town, and attending all the fun town events.