Office of the Governor | Press Pool Coverage: Governor Murphy Kicks Off Memorial Day Weekend at the Absecon Lighthouse

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ATLANTIC CITY — Gov. Phil Murphy climbed Absecon Lighthouse’s 228 steps Friday morning to kick off Memorial Day weekend on the Jersey Shore, the place he discovered the view fogged in and the wind considerably fierce.

“I am not nice with heights,” he stated as he stepped out on the viewing platform briefly, bought buffeted by gusts, and rapidly got here again inside.

Murphy selected to open the summer time season right here as a result of he had heard of 94-year-old volunteer Lighthouse Keeper Buddy Grover, and wished to fulfill him.

“I am all the time with the workforce every year considering, ‘How do I kick the summer time off?’ It is a large day for us — for the state and for the Jersey Shore,” Murphy stated. “I stated, ‘I ought to go meet Buddy and climb the Absecon Lighthouse,’ and that introduced us to immediately.”

Atlantic Metropolis Press meteorologist Joe Martucci is predicting the vacation weekend might be a “B” in his shore summer time weekend climate report card. The shore’s climate will get higher because the weekend goes on, Martucci stated, with Monday trying to be the most effective seaside day.

Grover gave the governor a presentation on the lighthouse, which was inbuilt 1857 and is New Jersey’s tallest.

And he put in a pitch for the state-owned construction to get slightly TLC. It wants $3 million in work to repair a moisture  downside, Grover stated.

Barnegat Lighthouse is now present process a renovation mission to repair its water intrusion issues, Grover stated. That sister lighthouse to Absecon is closed till October for the work, however the park arounds it stays open.

Grover additionally informed Murphy about his household’s historical past in New Jersey, which matches again to the seventeenth Century.

“You’ve got heard of Grover’s Mill … in Struggle of the Worlds?” Buddy requested of the city the place Orson Wells had aliens land in his well-known 1938 radio rendition of the  H.G. Wells novel. “That is my household.”

Grover’s fast tempo up the steps was spectacular.

“I am having a tricky time maintaining with Buddy,” Murphy stated. 

Some guests had been shocked to see the governor on the high as they completed their climb.

“Oh, my gosh, that is the governor!” stated Northfield resident Peter West, there along with his 3-and-a-half-year-old grandson Landon McCloud. “I voted for you. I might prefer to get an image.”

The 2 had their photos taken with Murphy, as did two brothers visiting the resort from Washington, D.C.

“I used to work for the Democratic Occasion in South Carolina,” stated Jonathan Wang, 30, as he stepped up for his picture with Murphy.

His brother Justin Wang, 27, at first declined a photograph, prompting the governor to joke, “So you should have labored for the Republican Occasion in South Carolina.”

Justin modified his thoughts and posed with Murphy.

Grover volunteers twice every week, he stated. Meaning he should climb the lighthouse to station himself on the high, the place he talks concerning the historical past of the 165-year-old construction, the way it went from kerosene to electrical powered in 1925, after which was decommissioned in 1933 as a result of newly constructed tall lodges on the town had been brighter and outshone the lighthouse.

He is been volunteering for 12.5 years, Grover stated. He lives in an condo complicated simply three blocks away.

Murphy stated goodbye to Grover, who stayed on the high to greet extra guests, and headed for stable floor.

The governor stated he would spend a lot of the weekend making appearances at veterans ceremonies, and spending time with household.

Michelle Brunetti-Put up
The Press of Atlantic Metropolis

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