A community that chooses the cold waves

To get ready for this feat, Robinson has been swimming 30 miles a week and training with a group of open-water swimmers on the Jersey Shore.

Even after training for hours in the pool, Robinson finds himself drawn to open water.

Brian Shea is the founder and head coach of the Jersey Shore Masters Swim program.

Every weekend, Shea brings people together — from beginners to folks like Robinson — to join mile-long swims across the shore. They’re in open water, running from the spring until November, and for people of all levels.

“Even the person that’s going to do an ocean mile swim that finishes dead last, you know, it’s like saying you’re the dumbest person at Harvard, you still got in, you still made the cut,” said Shea.

The joy of swimming in open water comes from the community it fosters. Not everyone wants to commit to open water swimming beyond a polar plunge. Shea mentioned the people who swim this intensely are driven by a desire to undertake a challenge when sticking to such a discipline.

“That’s the thing with the groups that I have, there’s nobody that has lax motivation that’s walking into my pool tomorrow morning at 4:45 a.m., everybody there is motivated by some goal.”

But for New Jersey–native Nancy Steadman-Martin, the discipline of swimming has always been a part of her life.

“For me, it’s always been part of my family and I think when I swim long distance, I can always hear my father, my coach saying, ‘Good job, Nancy,’” said Steadman-Martin. “I feel like it’s a part of me. I need to do it just the way I need to eat and sleep. I need to swim every day.”

This August marked 20 years since Steadman-Martin set the world record for the fastest woman over 50 to cross the English Channel. She swam the channel with her longtime swimming partner, Michelle Davidson.

The pair have been swimming together almost every day since 1996, and mostly without wetsuits.

CHERRY HILL, N.J. (CBS) — Monarch butterflies are not on the endangered species just yet, but climate change, the use of pesticides and suburban sprawl have all had negative impacts, decreasing their numbers. 

The Camden County Parks Department hosted a party Tuesday night in an effort to help reverse the trend. 

There was food, face painting, balloon animals, bubbles, music and a call to action to save monarch butterflies.  

“We are here today to help save the monarch butterfly. It’s more to bring awareness, to tell people what they can do and what we have done as a county,” Lauren Bonus, the superintendent of the Camden County Mosquito Commission, said. 

Bonus, affectionately known as “the bug lady” by her colleagues, explained why the monarch is so important. 

“They’re pollinators,” Bonus said. “They’re beautiful, and they are just a spectacle in the insect world because they are the only butterfly to have such a large two-way migration.”

One generation of monarchs migrates all the way down to Mexico, and three to four new generations then migrate back north, she added. 

Potted milkweed, a plant the butterflies need to survive, was handed out to all attendees so they can plant them at home.

“It was great, you get to see the butterflies come out. … It was just a lot of fun, and it was great for the kids,” said Brent Rovner, of Haddon Heights, who was at the event with his family.

Because of the large turnout Tuesday night, there’s already discussions about finding a bigger space for next year’s party. 

An enormous custom estate is now up for auction in southern New Jersey — and although it cost its creators some $27 million to build, the reserve price is just $10 million. 

Located a 30-minute drive from Philadelphia, straddling the border of two townships — Moorestown and Cinnaminson — the approximately 40,000-square-foot compound is currently accepting bids through Oct. 9, the Wall Street Journal first reported. 

The megamansion’s owners, the pharmacological entrepreneurs Calvin and Orsula Knowlton, decided to try the auction route after struggling to find a buyer through a traditional listing, the married couple told the Journal. 

“It’s extremely unique, but it’s extremely unique in particular for this neighborhood and this particular marketplace,” added Misha Haghani of the auction company Paramount Realty USA, which is handling the sale in collaboration with Kevin Steiger of Kurfiss Sotheby’s International Realty. “It’s a home for which there are almost no comps.”

The Knowltons paid $640,000 for the 7-acre property in 2017. They initially, and simply, planned to restore and expand the early 1800s era farmhouse on the lot. 

The farmhouse turned out to be moldy beyond repair, but demolition of it proved a bureaucratic nightmare involving both townships’ zoning and planning authorities. 

Finally, in 2018, construction started on what ended up being a colossal and still not entirely finished homebuilding endeavor (the Knowltons eventually decided to stop working on the behemoth, as its next owner may have different preferences), according to the Journal. 

As it stands, the four-story residence boasts amenities including a chapel, a home theater, a wine cellar, six fireplaces, a golf simulator and an English-style pub. There’s even what Calvin Knowlton called “the most giant reflecting pool I’ve ever seen,” a double-height foyer with dual curved staircases, a sprawling dining room, and a sauna-equipped gym that can be accessed by what the listing describes as “a unique tube elevator” in the primary suite’s bathroom.

The exterior was inspired by Philadelphia’s Second Empire-style city hall building. 

Although the Knowltons moved into the manor back in 2022, they’ve been spending the majority of their time at their home on North Florida’s Amelia Island, and are selling as they anticipate continuing to mostly be there, they told the Journal.