156 Years Old 1854-2010600 Park Blvd., #28,

West Cape May,New Jersey 08204USPS No. 519-020

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Star and Wave, 600 Park Blvd. #28,

West Cape May, NJ 08204.

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Thursday, April 29, 2010Page A2 Cape Ma WaveStar

FatherContinued from page A1

Wildwood, my father wouldsell sweets, soda pop and pop-corn to Jersey shore localsand tourists alike. Dad tellsme of his paydays, “I wouldmake 45 dollars a week andgive 40 dollars to my parentsand keep five for myself.” Hewould usually spend the fivedollars on movies – a meansof escapism, I suppose.

As my father aged, he grewinto an education zealot ofsorts. After graduating fromhigh school, he attended theUniversity of Florida andreceived a bachelor’s degreein landscape architecture.During a stint at University ofMexico, he took courses andgot hooked on economics. Helater received a master’sdegree in city and regionalplanning at University ofOklahoma. Later, a job landedhim in Tallahassee, Floridawhere he took business cours-es at Florida State University.

Bitten by the business bug,he eventually scurried upnorth to New Jersey and man-aged a restaurant in our veryVictorian seaside town ofCape May. At the age of 30, hecaught wind that a beachsidehotel was up for sale and hebought it with his modest sav-ings. Now, let’s be clear here– this was no Hilton or Hyatt.This was a fleabag hotel on

the Jersey shore where dogswere welcome as long as theirowners forked over theirhard-earned dough. The hotelwas named La Mer, Frenchfor “The Sea” and on mostdays the hotel’s roomssmelled like the sea and itsfishy contents; but hey, with alittle tender loving care, mydad was convinced he couldmetamorphose this ugly rockinto a precious diamond. Andwith gusto, he ultimately did.

In 1969, my dad marriedfellow Greek, Fotini. Anyonewho really knows “Fofo” willtell you she’s extremely ener-getic, loyal, generous, dili-gent, an excellent cook andnot one to hold her tongue.She’ll kick your butt in tennis,too. Together they tirelesslyworked at the hotel. And likemost in the hospitality indus-try, they did it all – from soupto nuts – from attending thefront desk, cleaning rooms,servicing broken televisions,fixing air conditioners to put-ting up with absurd calami-ties like irate guests flippingout over the rainy weather asif it were my parents’ fault.Once my siblings Vasiliki,Vivian, Yioryos and I wereold enough, we were put towork and I’m being modestwhen I tell you there wasnever a dull moment workingsummers at the La Mer.

Eventually, the hotel grew

from a dumpy motor inn intoCape May’s most contempo-rary hotel. And yes, they keptthe name. And no, the rooms

don’t stink anymore. And no,we don’t accept pets. And yes,we still have customerswho’ve been visiting sincedad bought the joint back inthe groovy ‘70s.

In conjunction with the suc-cess of the hotel, my father’sfamily life crumbled topieces. His brother Yiannisand sister Katerina passedaway at young ages, and so

did his parents, leaving myfather all alone in terms of hisimmediate family. I, like you,personally cannot grasp los-

ing a sibling or parent andfind the notion of dealing withso much emotional painunfathomable. But myfather’s can-do-it attitudealways keeps him moving for-ward and simply said, it’s aquality I hold in high regards.

Thankfully, with every ebbfollows a flow, and my fatherwas able to enjoy the new joyfamily can bring. My siblings

and I graduated from fine col-leges and some went on tomarry and have grandkidsDylan, Ava and Yiani. Dadgets a real kick out of spend-ing time with our ever-expanding brood – that is,until one of them starts get-ting out of line, which is quiteoften.

At the age of 72, my fatheris spry as a fox. Oftentimes, Iwill find him tinkering withhis tools at odd hours, hound-ing his dearly loved employ-ees, cursing the invention ofcomputers and waxing poeticon the great Greek philoso-phers and the benefits offiber. And most are unawarehe is an excellent painter. I,for one, feel he missed theboat on being an extraordi-nary fine artist as his worksare breathtakingly beautiful.And yes, he still works everyday from 9 to 6 (sometimes 10p.m.!) at his pride and joy –the La Mer Beachfront Inn.He loves this little town ofCape May with a huge hunkof his heart – anyone will tellyou that.

In his free time, he is anadvocate for freeing Cyprusfrom Turkish oppression andreturning the Elgin marblesto Greece, which are causesnear and dear to hisMediterranean heart. Youwill never find him gossiping.You will never see him brag

or boast about his manyaccomplishments or waste ameal – he’s a modest mouse.But piss him off and he willlet you know. It’s a Greekthing. Trust me on this.

So why did I feel compelledto write this story? It’s a cul-mination of things. As a jour-nalist for The Miami Herald,I wanted to share his rough-and-tumble story with you.Every human has a uniquestory to tell. As for my father,in particular, I respect thefact that he continues to live afull and busy life after all he’sbeen through such as surviv-ing a war, moving thousandsof miles away from his coun-try, adjusting to the Americanway, losing loved ones, sur-viving those losses, parentingfour children, supporting avast family and working hardevery day until this day.

You know, looking back onhis life dad once told me,“Never in a million years didI ever expect my life to turnout this way.” So if there’sone thing my father hastaught me it’s this: life is whatyou make it. And you’ve got toadmire the man for simplythat.

Maria Tettamanti is thedaughter of Gus and FofoAndy. She writes for theMiami Herald.

Mayor

Photo courtesy of Maria Andy-TetamantiAva Tettamanti, this article’s author Maria Andy-Tettamanti, Gus

Andy and Yiani Tettamanti.

Continued from page A1

The post in its entirety is asfollows:

Thu, 03/11/2010 – 7:34pm –Posted by: wcm resident

“Thie (sic) presentation bypublic works was very good.It showed the problem hasbeen going on for a number ofyears. I am sure public workshas worked hard to identifythe problem, however thegoverning body, for the last

three terms has not spent anymoney on the neededimprovements to boroughbuildings or grounds. What isconsistant (sic) with thosethree terms? Mayor Kaithern!At last nights (sic) meetingthe mayor was very focusedon keeping the mike awayfrom Ms. Gallagher. Why!Because Ms. Gallagher hasdone the research and

obtained the “public” docu-ments to support the loss involume and the $ paid out bythe users for the past 10years.

The borough does not payfor the water it uses in thepublic buildings or the vol-ume used to “flush” the watersystem or the volume used forfire Hydrant maintenanceevery year. Other municipali-

ties track their useage (sic)and suppliment (sic) thewater utility for that volumeused.

Perhaps, the governingbody of WCM should take alesson from a sourounding(sic) town like Lower town-ship and pay their fair shareof the water used by themunicipality.

Perhaps the residents of

WCM should think twice atthe next election and vote fora new mayor.”

Geyer, who was out of townthis week, responded to ques-tions via telephone.

“There is obviously nosecret. I’ve been in conversa-tion with numerous people.The mayor and I do not agreeon procedure and dealingwith people,” Geyer said.“I’m more interested in whatthe people have to say. I don’twant to make my determina-tion of what needs to be donewithout the involvement ofthe people.”

Geyer said he believes

Kaithern involves the com-munity far less in boroughbusiness.

“The mayor tends to keepthings close to the chest andonly shares things when shehas to,” he said.

Geyer said his anonymouscomments were intended toget West Cape May residentsto wake up and pay attentionto what is happening in gov-ernment. He said peopleactually starting to pay moreattention with the waterissue.

“People are just used to

Please see Mayor, page A3