IN BLOOM: (From left) Long Beach Island School District staff members Liz Messec, Lauren Rothstein, Shelley Smith, Julia Townsend, Denise Lake and Lynda Scholey stop by Baker’s Port Hole in Ship Bottom to see the boat that once sat in the garden outside the LBI Grade School, which has since been sold and demolished. (Supplied Photo)
Baker’s Port Hole in Ship Bottom celebrated its 90th anniversary this past Memorial Day weekend, and the building is looking better than ever, with new siding and a new addition to the outdoor tableau: a boat that had sat in the garden at the Long Beach Island Grade School prior to its sale and demolition. The white and blue vessel is filled with plants and flowers, a charming reminder of a beloved school.
“I had been looking for a boat for the Port Hole for a couple years, and I saw this one on the school property when it was fenced off,” just prior to the razing, said Noel Baker Minami, who runs the business with sister Donna Baker Sefcik. Noel, Donna and brother Christopher all attended the LBI Grade School, which was just a few blocks away from the Port Hole – 20th Street and 16th Street, respectively.
The school opened in 1951, and held its last day of classes in 2025, after the board of education sold the lot to architect and builder Michael Pagnotta. The entire school community has since consolidated into the former Ethel A. Jacobsen Elementary School (now Long Beach Island Elementary School), in Surf City, and homes are going up on the former site of the grade school.
Minami said she asked friend Shelley Smith, the technology teacher and tech coordinator for the district, if she could take the boat before the school was torn down. Smith looked into it and then let her know the vessel was all hers.
Smith explained how the boat came to be at the school.
“According to teacher Karen Beetel, who was the LBI Grade School garden coordinator, she found the boat on Facebook Marketplace. A woman was giving it away as part of her mother’s estate.
“I was just so delighted that Noel put the time and energy into giving the little boat a new home, and it looks terrific,” she added.
“When I put the boat out there, it was just perfect,” said Minami, “and I wanted to put ‘LBI Grade School’ on the side because I want people to know where it came from.”
Zebra grass, impatiens, hostas and other flowers now grow in the garden dinghy. Sefcik added little pilings with lights, and the siblings also found a light that came from a boat that had sat in the Port Hole parking lot when they were kids, and that shines red and green. Now the lights illuminate the school’s old boat in its new home.
“For me, it was a great school,” Minami remarked. “I’m just happy we got a little memento of it.” —J.K.-H.
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