Smilestones
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS STEPS UP IN UKRAINE DONATION DRIVE
When the request came to donate items for Ukrainian children who are refugees in Poland, members of Knights of Columbus Madonna Maria Council #3560, of St. Joseph Church, immediately sprang into action. The request came from Knights of Columbus at Vineland Council #2531.
“We put the word out in the church bulletin, and lo and behold the drive exceeded our expectations,” says Mike McHale, chancellor of the KofC in Sea Isle. “We had more than a hundred and some backpacks filled with soaps, coloring books, crayons, baby supplies, you name it.”
On June 7, the filled backpacks and other items donated by Catholics in the region were shipped to KofC Council #15267 in the Polish town of Tomaszow Lubelski on a 40-foot shipping container obtained by the Vineland Knights. The donations will be distributed to Ukrainian refugee children in Poland, in addition to displaced citizens living inside Ukraine. According to Albert Karwowski, a member of Christ the Good Shepherd Parish in Vineland and a former KofC District 48 deputy, Sea Isle City’s Knights were among the largest contributors of supplies for the children.
“It was a very successful drive and our parish really stepped up,” says McHale. “It’s a sad situation. Russia is being a big bully taking advantage of that country. It’s a sad day, for not only the Ukrainians but for the world, that there is still that mentality.”
FATHER BATTISTI MARKS 60 YEARS OF PRIESTHOOD
There are special priests. And then there is the Rev. Lewis Battisti, who this year is celebrating 60 years in the priesthood. A beloved priest, Battisti spent 30 years as an educator at Holy Spirit High School in Absecon, where in addition to being a teacher, he served as vice principal and principal. Now retired, Battisti is busy saying Masses at several parishes in South Jersey, including St. Joseph Church in Sea Isle.
Mike McHale, a eucharist minister and usher at St. Joseph’s, has great admiration for Father Battisti.
“He is a very holy and religious priest. When he says Mass, it’s like he’s Christ himself,” says McHale, who also formerly served as a trustee and parish council member for the church. “Father says a respectful and in-depth sacred Mass. He puts so much feeling into the Mass. We feel that we are blessed to have him become part of our parish.”
That sentiment is shared by Jim McGowan, who has been attending Mass at St. Joseph ever since he started coming to Sea Isle with a bunch of friends when he was 16. Recently, McGowan, a member of the Knights of Columbus, surprised his wife Carol by asking Battisti to bless a Miraculous Medal for her. It’s something very special and cherished by the McGowans, homeowners in Sea Isle for 28 years.
“We first ran into Father maybe five years ago at St. Joseph’s,” McGowan says. “And all I can say is when he says Mass, it’s such a sincere and wholesome Mass, that it doesn’t compare with a normal Mass. Every Mass that he says is special.”
Originally from Hazleton, Pa., Battisti attended seminary in Michigan and New York, and went on to serve as pastor at Blessed Sacrament Church in Margate.
AT 76, FRANNY DOLAN BIKES 78 MILES
Members of the Overbrook Bike Association at the end of their 57th ride.
In 1966, four men began a physical and spiritual journey when they took a 78-mile bike trek from the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge to Sea Isle City. The adventure commemorated their accomplishment of finishing their first year of study at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa. That first time was such a big success that Marty Costello, Franny Dolan, Joe Fitzpatrick, and Jim D’Angelo formed the Overbrook Bike Association.
Although none of the four young seminarians became an ordained priest, they committed to a friendship to each other that continues to this day.
Fifty-six years later, the 76-year-old Dolan, who has a home on Roberts Avenue in Sea Isle, upheld the longstanding annual tradition. Due to scheduling conflicts, Dolan was the only one of the original four who made the trip on June 6. A real family affair, in past years children and grandchildren of the group have participated, including Dolan’s daughter Emily and son Brendan. This year, it was Dolan’s son Kevin and son-in-law Jim Multari who joined him in a group of 21 riders.
The morning began with Father Bernard Farley, a co-chaplain of the Overbrook Bike Association with Father “Slim” Callahan, saying a prayer before they set off on their journey at 8am. Along the way, there were several stops, including Tuckahoe Bike Shop, where they were given juice and water, and had a flat tire fixed. The day culminated at JFK Boulevard at 5pm, when members of the Sea Isle City Police Department provided an escort to the Promenade.
“It’s a trip we consciously have not turned into a fundraiser,” says Dolan, who started his bike training for the journey in November. “We started on a lark as fun. And we keep that as part of the culture. It’s a call to come out and play, something we don’t always do as we get older. And so, we cherish the first Saturday in June each year.”
Brett Heritage flanked by his parents Brian and Jamie and Lisa Iannone.
Carmen “CJ” Conti with Heritage, Nicole Conti, Ruth Conti, Iannone and Carmen Conti Jr.
SICCCR AWARDS SCHOLARSHIPS
Five college-bound Ocean City High School seniors from Sea Isle City were honored with a parade through town June 3, acknowledging their selection as recipients of scholarships from the Sea Isle City Chamber of Commerce and Revitalization.
The recipients and the colleges they plan to attend are Madeline Keefer (Jacksonville University); Madison Majors (Virginia Wesleyan University); Carmen Conti (Kutztown University); Brett Heritage (College of Charleston); and Ryan Gaudet (Merrimack College).
The program was initiated by the SICCCR more than 20 years ago to encourage graduating high school seniors to attend college and bring revitalization back to Sea Isle City. If the students maintain a 2.5 grade point average, then at the conclusion of their first semester, each will receive a $500 scholarship from the Chamber. “Hopefully it will help defray some of the costs,” said SICCCR board member Lisa Iannone.
Both Iannone and Chamber president Brian Heritage were active throughout the day celebrating the deserving graduates.
“We are so proud of our seniors this year,” said Heritage. “We know each of these students will continue to make Sea Isle City proud and we hope they succeed in everything they do in reaching their full potential.”
“We love honoring our students,” Iannone said. “It’s nice to award local kids. We gave them certificates, and a yard sign. The girls got flowers. The boys got balloons.”
Madison Majors
Maddie Keefer with Brian Heritage and Iannone.
Ryan Gaudet with SICCCR’s Iannone and Heritage.
Italian American Club vice president Marie Peltier with club scholarship recipients Carmen Conti, Sophie Mammele, Brett Heritage, and Isabella Steelman.
FOUR RECEIVE ITALIAN-AMERICAN CLUB SCHOLARSHIPS
The Italian American Club of Sea Isle City awarded four graduating seniors from Ocean City High School with a $1,000 scholarship during its event on May 24.
The students were on hand to be honored. The 2022 Italian American Club Scholarship recipients were Carmen “CJ” Conti, Brett Heritage, Sophie Mammele, and Isabella Steelman.
“These are an extraordinary bunch of kids,” said club president Colleen Buch. “They are scholars, they are athletes, super smart, super kind and leaders of the community.”
When Conti isn’t playing football, he’s working on his family’s fishing boat, and still finds time to volunteer by reading books to kindergarteners. He will be attending Kutztown University.
For the past nine years, Heritage has been volunteering for the Italian American Club by helping run its parades. He also takes part in running Thursday Open Mic Night at Excursion Park, through the Chamber of Commerce and Revitalization. He is headed to College of Charleston.
Mammele volunteers at Sea Isle City Recreation camps, and also takes time to coach kids in basketball. She will attend the University of Delaware.
Steelman has taken part in multiple beach cleanups with the Sea Isle Environmental Commission, and she volunteers for Upper Township baseball tournaments. She will be going to Stockton University.
ROBERT BOWMAN TURNS 80
On April 3, Robert A. Bowman Jr. became an octogenarian. It’s just one of the latest milestones of a man who has had a full and interesting life.
After high school, Bowman played in a semipro football league, Rockney AC. In 1965, he was drafted to serve his country in Vietnam, where for 2 years he was a member of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. Upon returning, he finished his college degree at Villanova University’s night school. After graduating in 1969, the same year he married, he worked as a cost accountant for Women’s Medical College of Philadelphia.
In 1982, following a divorce, he moved to Sea Isle City. In 1990, he began working for the City of Sea Isle, and in 2008 he retired after having served as Building Inspector, Construction Official, Zoning Official, Code Enforcement Officer, and Housing Inspector.
During this time, love was also in the air. In 1990, he met Lynn Quesada. The two fell in love. And in 1995 at age 40, Bowman remarried. It’s a union that lasted 25 years, until his beloved wife died on Dec. 22, 2020.
Today, he enjoys golfing at Avalon Golf Club and The Pines at Clermont Golf Club, in addition to spending time with his son, Robert III, daughter-in-law Cara, and three grandchildren: Cole, Chase, and Campbell. He also attends St. Joseph Church.
“When I went to Vietnam, I went to Mass as much as I could,” he says. “But when I came back from Vietnam with all the stuff going on with the country, riots, etc., I was disenchanted. I stopped my religion. I didn’t go back until 2013 when my wife got cancer.
“I go to church and thank the Lord for bringing me back from Vietnam, and for keeping Lynn alive for eight years after she got sick. I’m so grateful. I’ve had a wonderful life.”