Ortley Beach Holding Remembrance 5 Years After Sandy

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Stroll down nearly any street in Ortley Beach, and you'll see them. One here, one there. Empty lots, with nothing but a "for sale" sign.

Sometimes you'll see a pair next to each other. More often, they're sandwiched between homes that rise two or three stories above the sand — homes that have been raised or built to escape the kind of flooding that wiped out so many five years ago.

On Sunday, residents of Ortley Beach — ground zero when Superstorm Sandy blasted the Jersey Shore — will hold a community-wide commemoration of Sandy and a celebration of the ongoing recovery, a celebration that's open to the public. The event is free.

The “Commemoration of Superstorm Sandy and a Celebration of Survival” — a joint effort of the Ortley Beach Voters and Taxpayers Association in partnership with St. Elisabeth’s Chapel — will start with a Mass at St. Elisabeth’s, which is located at 5 Third Ave., adjacent to the public parking lot and across from the boardwalk, ocean and Lord House lifeguard station. Refreshments will then be served in the Fellowship Hall, and community members will be given the opportunity to share their Sandy survival stories.

The “celebration of survival” will then move to the nearby boardwalk and beach, where Anthony Colucci, president of the OBVTA, will lead a colored-sand ceremony to symbolize the community’s coming together and its recommitment to the sea and shore.

St. Elisabeth’s Chapel-by-the-Sea graced the beach community from 1885 until 2012, when Sandy washed its charming façade, stately steeple, and all its contents – from crosses to pews – across the island and into the ocean and bay, the chapel's website says. After four years of effort, the Episcopal church celebrated its rebuilding in July with a dedication ceremony.

The Ortley Beach Voters and Taxpayers Association is a nonprofit organization that has been in existence for several decades. Its mission has been to improve the quality of life in Ortley Beach, with its members advocating for the section's needs with Toms River officials. "Since Sandy, the OBVTA continues to fight for resources for Ortley Beach and to protect its natural resources, while also taking steps to rebuild the fabric of the family-oriented community," the organization said.

St. Elisabeth's by the Sea Chapel in October 2015. Photo by Karen Wall, Patch staff