Monday Thoughts

June seems but a faint memory as the first two weeks of July have been about as nice as you could hope for. Warm days with low humidity, cool evenings in which you can open the windows and shut off the air conditioning. It’s been nearly perfect and one can only hope it will continue.

The Ocean County Fair takes place this week and it seems like usually it’s hot, humid and sticky with temperatures in the 90’s for the annual event at the Robert J. Miller Airpark. Alan Kasper’s forecast calls for ideal temperatures for humans and animals alike this week.

Movies come in all categories and we go to them for different reasons. If you’re looking for one that will not be nominated for any Academy Awards but will have you leaving the theatre with a smile on your face then let me suggest “The Hangover.” It’s sort of in the same category as “Wedding Crashers” in that it’s sort of juvenile…very juvenile actually but you’re not going expecting “Dr. Zhivago.” It’s certainly not for everyone and is very adult but if you need silly humor on a summer evening than “The Hangover” fills the bill.

Don Fioretti struck me as a no nonsense kind of person who was not interested in getting credit but rather getting the job done. He graduated from Point Pleasant Beach High School 51 years ago and returned for his alma mater where he would spend 35 years as a teacher, coach and athletic director. He spent many of those years coaching the Garnett Gulls football and baseball teams and also helped build the wrestling program at ‘The Beach.” 1983 was a special year for Fioretti’s teams. Bob MacDonald, who would later play in the majors, led the baseball team in the spring and he was WOBM’s Coach of the Year. Then in the fall Quarterback Paul Struncius led the pass-happy Gulls on the football field where they were a thrill a minute.

Don spent nearly four decades running the beach operations in Bay Head and continued in that role after after retiring from Point Beach High School.
He was a dedicated family man and all three of his sons married and stayed close to home to raise their own families, something he was very proud of.
As tough as Don was he lost his battle to colon cancer last week and this morning at 11am his life will be celebrated during a funeral mass at St. Peter Church in Point Pleasant Beach. So long “Coach Fio”…the Beach will never have another one like you.