Did The Kid Who Came In Second Really Win The Treasure Hunt?

Jimmy then put the condom up to his mouth, as one would a balloon, with the intention of blowing it up.

Many families living at the New Jersey shore had an upside down economic existence. Instead of having employment opportunities mainly in the spring, fall, winter and having a vacation for all or parts of the summer; we folks at the Shore found employment in the summer mainly catering to tourists from North Jersey and New York.

My family was no exception. Dad was the bread winner, mom maintained the home front. Dad had a summer camp but always looked for respectable jobs to do in the winter. Sometimes they were scarce. Typical Jersey Shore family in the 1950's.

After listening to some of the local wealthy summer camp parents talk about how they lived their lives, my dad thought there was an opportunity to start a winter camp during the school year. The kids would attend on Saturday only, giving the parents a break in the action on winter weekends.

After some of the wrinkles were ironed out, the Saturday camp became a modest success.

The only counselor was — me.

Because the weather off the Atlantic is so unpredictable dad would take the 9 campers attending most Saturday mornings roller skating at the indoor Shore Rollerdrome. The kids attending camp ranged in age from 5 to 10 — so there were lots of short attention spans. After a home cooked lunch consisting of hot dogs and orange soda, there was the still the afternoon to fill with an athletic endeavor. My father came up with, what he thought, a perfect activity. It was something the delights of which could be shared by a 5year old and 10 year old alike and it was cheap— hiking. Although unsure how excited the kids could get hearing that they were slated to go hiking every Saturday afternoon until summer he renamed hiking — mountain climbing.

Now you Jerseyites are probably asking “Where do you find mountains at the Jersey Shore??”

Bring on Atlantic Highlands, the highest elevation point that the East Coast has to offer the Atlantis Ocean — elevation 266 ft. Before there was the state park, Mount Mitchell Scenic Overlook, before there was a Henry Hutson Trail, there was the Bob Barrabee Saturday Camp traipsing through the woods and briars. The kids emerged scratched and exhausted by afternoon’s end. Joyful for the experience.

It was an inverted mountain climb; you started at the scenic overlook parking lot, primitive at the time but functional. The climber walked down the mountain to the beach, then after usually hiking on the 1/4 beach, climbed back up the mountain to the parking lot..

Because the whole process took around an hour and the campers were with us until 4:30, there was always the question of how to make the rest of afternoon pass and still be interesting for the kids. We needed the campers to report the day enthusiastically to their parents when seated around the dinner table to ensure their attendance next Saturday.

Ever the creative one when it came to devising motivational activities for kids, my father thought of having a treasure hunt when the campers reached the beach on their upside down mountain climb. The hunt would be more direct that most other treasure hunts. For the most unusual piece of flotsam and jetsam found by a camper, my father would flat out give the winner $1.00 — he’d be the judge.

At that time, New York City dumped it’s trash, treasures and probably some dead bodies straight into the Atlantic Ocean in a wedge in the conventional shelf called the NewYork/New Jersey Bight.*1 There’s estimated to be over 165,000 pieces of plastic and other imperishable items still floating around the Bight a good 30 years after legislation passed to discontinue using the Atlantic as a dumping ground.*2

Naturally, with this constant replenishment of treasures in addition to the normal sea life one would expect to find on a Jersey beach: muscles, clam shells, ugly sea robins, an occasional star fish…..the treasure hunts were spirited.

My father would make a big show of examining each kid’s submitted treasure; often holding it about an inch from his eyes in a dramatic display of attempting to get a closer inspection. He’d roll the newly found beach trophy around in his hand in a demonstration of feeling the texture of the object. I’ve seen him do this with jellyfish, half rotted flukes that were beach weeks before, starfish. All sea life got the same attention from my father. It was equally true with the trash from the Bight: baby bottle nipples, plastic items of all sorts. Everybody got a fair shake to win the $1.00.

One particularly cold and windy Saturday afternoon, Jimmy McMullen came racing up to my father:

Jimmy (addressing my father, wild with excitement): Bob! Bob! How about this?

He offered up a used condom. It hung down from his proud little fingers spotted with sea tar and I won’t comment on what else it may have experienced.

Jimmy (already counting his $1.00): A balloon, at the beach! That’s REALLY unusual.

My father: “Throw that thing away Jimmy.”

Jimmy (still bursting with enthusiasm): No! No! I want to enter it in the treasure hunt contest!

Jimmy then put the condom up to his mouth, as one would a balloon, with the intention of blowing it up. He didn’t get the chance. My father quickly jerked it out of his hand. “Gimme that damn thing!” he exclaimed. He proceeded, like any ecologically inclined person in the 50’s, to throw it as far out in the ocean as he could. He then hustled on down to the shoreline of that very same ocean and washed his hands. As an afterthought called Jimmy over and cleaned his hands with the next wave.

After we climbed back up the mountain to the parking lot where it was my job to present the award. My father instructed me to announce that the $1.00 prize be presented to John Nolan who found a perfect starfish.

Surprising all of us, after the presentation and the 9 campers were ready to crawl into the van, my father held up his hand (campers emergency signal for attention).

He proclaimed he had a special announcement!

9 pairs of ears perked up.

My father: “We have a special award for originality in today’s treasure hunt. Jimmy McMullen found an unusual balloon. It was washed back in the ocean but he should be recognized.

With that my father gave him 2 quarters.

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• 1 CleanOcean.com
• 2 NY/NJ Baykeeper