Between the Bridges in Broad Channel

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Peter Mahon in Arts // 0 Comments

If there were no schools to take children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with parents!  With that in mind, if you listened carefully last week you would have thought that Christmas had come early as children all over town headed out the front door back to school and our community of Broad Channel resonated with happy refrains of “It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” As a parent I have always tried to impress on my two girls the importance of a good education and the need to study hard.  After all, I know for a fact that if my friend who sat next to me throughout my 8 years in grammar school had studied harder my grades would not have always indicated my schoolwork as drowning below "C" level!

Summon your inner wolf later this month on Sunday evening, September 27^th and make your way outside around 8 pm, look skywards, and then prepare to howl!  For the first time in over 30 years, our town will have a front row seat to a rare supermoon lunar eclipse combo. The last time we got to experience such a phenomenon was in 1982 and the one that will appear later this month will be clearly visible from our area in Broad Channel providing it is not a cloudy night.  The upcoming supermoon lunar eclipse will start right around the time of that evening’s 8:30 pm high tide.  If you miss this rare celestial treat, you won't get another chance until 2033!

The Dougherty family of Broad Channel has inadvertently brought new meaning to the phrase “keeping it in the family.” Jeannine Dougherty (nee Corbett) recently sustained a broken leg while her son, Kevin, managed to break his arm.  Not to be outdone, the young Sarah Dougherty also suffered an injury to her ankle.  Word has it that DOT is planning on installing several “SLOW - Dougherty Crossing” signs along Cross Bay Boulevard!  All kidding aside, our sincere wishes for the speediest of recoveries go out to all of the afflicted members of the Dougherty clan!

Ever wonder where the term "flea market" comes from? The name originated with the legendary marches aux puces, or flea markets of Paris. Legend has it that back in 1880, at the largest, and most famous market, St.-Ouen, just outside the city's ring road at Porte de Clignancourt, an unknown bargain hunter observed junk dealers selling scrap metal, rags and old furniture and remarked, "My word, but it's a market of fleas!"  Well flea markets have come a long way in the past 135 years and today they can actually be have given great fun, an ultimate treasure hunt if you will, as long as you remain open to the fact that you never know what you may find hidden among all the items for sale.  So, if you are in the mood for some treasure hunting head on up to the Broad Channel VFW on Saturday and Sunday, September 26^th and 27^th between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. and scour the tables filled with all manner of wonderful and eclectic items you never knew you needed! If you are looking for antiques, they can always be found seated at the bar in the hall's canteen, including myself!

You could not have asked for more perfect weather earlier this month when, led by an Honor Guard from Broad Channel’s American Legion Post 1404, our town’s annual Labor Day Mardi Gras Parade strutted its stuff along Cross Bay Boulevard to the wonderment of all the spectators who lined the streets.  The floats were nothing short of incredible this year, attesting to the fact that the residents of our community are nothing short of creative geniuses.    As always the rear of the Parade received the biggest applause along the route of march consisting of the men and women of our terrific Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department.  Anyone attending this year’s parade had to come away from the event thinking to themselves…..

Broad Channel – Why would anyone want to live anywhere else?                                                     

Contact Info: rtbetweenthebridges@gmail.com