How I Spent My First Summer Vacation - Hint: Murray Wolf Didn’t Spend It All at the Beach
You remember the drill back in grade school: The teacher bought herself some quiet time the first week of school by assigning everyone in the class to write a composition detailing what they did on their summer vacation.
OK, our assignment here, to Murray Wolf, the recently retired captain of the Avalon Beach Patrol, was similar, although perhaps a bit more complex. You see, Murray Wolf hasn’t had a summer vacation in more than 65 years – dating back to when he was a teenager.
Each summer since, Wolf, who followed in his father’s and uncle’s footsteps by joining the Avalon Beach Patrol, has spent his summers protecting the beaches of Avalon: first as a guard, then as a lieutenant, and finally as captain. And since there was never a drowning on any protected beach during that amazing span, one might conclude that he performed his tasks admirably.
So, what’s it like when Memorial Day weekend arrives and it’s no longer your worry about how many local teens signed up over the winter to join the beach patrol?
“It was different, that’s for sure,” Wolf says with a sly smile in what can only be described as a massive understatement.
Wolf is tanned and relaxed as he settles into a chair in late August, with Labor Day weekend on the horizon.
“I enjoyed not having to be up and out every morning,” he adds. “Sure, I miss the interaction with everyone on the patrol, but it was time for someone else to be in there.”
Wolf goes on to explain that he had a “nice conversation” with Mayor Martin Pagliughi last winter.
“I told him that I thought it was time to make a change. He couldn’t have been any nicer. The town took it from there and put together a process for the search.”
The search not only yielded Wolf’s successors but also a change in hierarchy – replacing Avalon’s long-held system with a single captain overseeing operations. In its place there is now a new captain and the newly created position of chief – a structure like other beach patrols throughout South Jersey.
But now back to the question: What did Wolf do with all his free time in the summer?
“Truthfully, I did what I normally do in the offseason,” he says. Wolf explains that he retired from teaching several years ago.
“So, I typically work out by riding my bike around town and walk my dog Ruger.”
Or is it Ruger, a large black lab, who takes Wolf for the walk?
Probably the best aspect of my retirement? “I’m able to spend more time relaxing with my wife [Vicki],” he says, a luxury not often afforded in the summer when you’re watching over the beaches full-time.
After 65 years on the beach, Wolf maintains that he didn’t spend very much time in the sand this summer: “I really didn’t. I attended some of the beach patrol races and stopped down the beach occasionally, but I really wasn’t there all that much. So sure, I do miss it, but I have really enjoyed my time off.”
Wolf also mentions that he was impressed by the patrol’s new operation under newly named Captain Ryan Black and Chief Matt Wolf, one of his sons. “I think those guys did a great job this summer. They implemented some new programs and procedures, which is great. As I said to the mayor, it was time for a change.”
By and large, people don’t like change. But admittedly, sometimes change is good. As it pertains to Murray Wolf, that seems to be the case. One might say that it was an uneventful summer. Which was good for him.