For the first time since 1992, Avalon boasts repeat South Jersey Lifeguard Championships. That’s back-to-back victories over 14 strong rival patrols guarding the beaches from Brigantine to Cape May Point.

Avalon’s best and bravest helped prevent a tragedy this summer, saving eight teenage sailors and two instructors in Townsend’s Inlet.

“When things go terribly wrong, people mostly just want to feel less alone. I’ve prayed for an answer and all I’ve gotten in return is silence.” Those are the words of Tom Brandis, FBI agent and former priest, and the latest complex character to spring from the mind of Brad Ingelsby, creator of 2021’s Emmy-winning “Mare of Easttown.”

Molly Quinn was thrilled that she and her twin sister Maura, lifeguards for the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol, won the doubles row championship at the Bill Howarth South Jersey Women’s Lifeguard Championship on Aug. 6 in Ventnor.

It seemed like just another July evening at Springer’s. But amid the ice cream-eating congregation stood a family hard to miss. The members assembled like an Army, decked out in T-shirts proclaiming Stone Harbor memories and a special occasion. This was the Blair Reunion, celebrating the extended family’s history here that goes back more than 100 years, one of the longest family threads on the island.

The end of summer was always a sad and tough time for generations of kids lucky enough to spend their summers at the Jersey Shore. For them, the dog days of August signaled the inevitable: the coming of Labor Day weekend.