Steve’s Dirty Dozen

Dias Creek, NJ: The Thursday morning breakfast soiree, otherwise known as ʻBreakfast with Daveʼ, descended upon Steveʼs Cafe 47 on Route 47 in the Dias Creek section of Middle Township to share some pancakes and eggs on the last Thursday in April. A record number of 12 attendees gathered this week: Eddie Jurewicz (just back from France), Eddie Sherretta (just returned from three weeks in Italy), Paul Mathis, Jim Ridgeway, Jim Colubiale, Capt. Bill Garrison, Dave Smith, Doug “D.” Letterman, John Wilsey and Steve Riley were joined by first-timers Henry Wiegel and Bill Carr. If one more person would have arrived, we planned on re-creating da Vinciʼs “The Last Supper”. Doug would probably be given the nod for the role of Jesus because he did play an arch-bishop once in MAME. Besides, heʼs the only one who has a beard.

Steve and Henry were the last two to arrive not so much because they were directionally challenged, but because they parked next to each other in the designated meeting parking lot for 15 minutes before they fully recognized each other. Once they both took their places at the end of the table, Bill Garrison, who was once the head of the Physical Education Department at Lower Cape May Regional, observed that there were more Phys. Ed. teachers at the table than at most of the meetings he held back at school!

Steveʼs Cafe 47 offers standard breakfast fares, including eggs every which way, pancakes and meats. The menu offered a rather interesting version of ʻPigs in Blanketsʼ which is actually an egg, bacon and sausage each wrapped in individual pancakes for $5.95. We had to laugh as each time the waitress came back to the table, a few more people arrived. However, she handled the groupʼs order with great poise and patience. Whatʼs more, she constantly kept the regular and decaf coffee coming throughout the meal. In fact, she was so attentive at the end of the meal, Jim Ridgeway refused another refill by saying if he had any more caffeine, he would be able to bench press the booth we were sitting in–with us in it!

While we waited for our orders, Ed Sherretta set out some venison jerky as an appetizer, which was very tasty. Dave used some slices on top of his omelet. In addition to out pre-breakfast starter, Steve Riley shared some photographs from his personal archives. One picture was of a very young, but still very stylish, Elton John taken at the Tower or some other Philadelphia venue back in the day. John, Jim and Dave particularly liked the picture of a teenaged Steve standing next to his 10ʼ Gordon and Smith longboard. Then, Paul brought up the idea that since the ʻBreakfast with Daveʼ contingent was not invited to the Royal Wedding, we should create our own “coat of arms” or a royal shield, like Kate Middleton needed to do in order to conform to tradition. Paulʼs vision is acorns and squirrels across a syrup-soaked pancake crest.

Once the waitress, with the help of some staff, served all of our meals, Bill Garrison suggested that we all pause for a moment of silent prayer for a very good friend and past-colleague as well as a past president of the Lower Cape May Regional Education Association, Irma McVey, who was undergoing preliminary testing for a brain tumor. We all whole-heartedly agreed, and bowed our heads in prayer for Irma.

Once the group emerged from silence, conversations and eating began in full ernest. As various discussions crescendoed through the dinning area, Bill Garrison leaned across to Jim and told him to just shut his eyes and try to listen to the conversations swirling around the table. Jim reported back that he now knows the utter frustration of a true ADHD student whose brain is constantly bombarded by the stimuli around them unable to focus on one thing for any real length of time. With that said, an exact account of what was discussed at the table would have to involve some type of out-body-experience.

One notable Jim Ridgeway story brought back memories of the old (or original) Playpen, a night club in Diamond Beach in Lower Township. He recounted a time that John Kay and Steppenwolf were to play at the Playpen, and as manager he had to pay him for the concert. The usual procedure is to pay a percentage before the show and the balance afterwards. However, John Kay shows up with a metal case hand-cuffed to his wrist and demanded all the money before the band took the stage. JR said considering how John Kay cleaned-up his life from the early years of his rock and roll career, he trusted in the seriousness that Kay projected concerning his new run at Rock and Roll. Meanwhile, Jim C. added that Steppenwolf was the very first concert he ever attended; he saw them at Villanova University in the early 70ʼs.

Under the heading of “ITʼS NOT A SMALL WORLD; ITʼS A BIG CAPE MAY,” Bill Carr offered a story about how he traveled to London once with his wife, and while they were in a London Pub, they literally bumped into a couple who sat on the beach with them every summer in Wildwood Crest. Adding to this “Small World” phenomenon, Paul mentioned that once his sister-in-law, while taking the tour of the Grand Canyon, met her one time boss, Ross Simon, principal emeritus of Cape May Courthouse Elementary, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Toward the end of breakfast, the first reference to Seinfeld was made when Smitty mentioned the ʻbrisʼ episode, which launched Paul into the following joke of the day: “A moil was cleaning out his desk after thirty years of service when his wife walks in and sees these slivers of skin in the drawer. When she asks her husband what they were, he tells her that they are the remains of all the bris ceremonies he had presided over. The wife would hear none of this and demanded that they be removed from the house immediately. Giving in, he gathered them up and was about to throw them out when he had an idea: “Why not make them into something I can keep with me?” So, he found a leather-worker and told him of his dilemma. The leather-worker said to come back in two days. When the man returned two days later, the leather-worker handed him a wallet. The man was amazed! “Wow!” He says, “This is great! How much do I owe you?” The leather-worker says, “$3,000.00.” The man, incredulous, says, “$3,000.00 for a wallet?” The leather-worker replies, “Itʼs not JUST a wallet. If you rub it, it will expand into a suitcase!”

As we waited for Doug to tally the bill, Eddie Jurewicz, who recently returned with Lynn Massimiano from visiting Strasbourg, France to see his son Chris (along with the Army of Freshman) perform at a local music festival, offered everyone an after breakfast piece of french chewing gum. Final bill came to be $10 each, which included a very gracious tip and two complimentary breakfasts for first timers, Bill Carr and Henry Wiegel. Although the food was delicious and the service outstanding, what really made this weekʼs ʻBreakfast with Daveʼ so great was the experience of 12 retirees reuniting to rekindle old memories and deepen new friendships. Rock on!

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