{"id":98312,"date":"2025-12-17T14:08:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T14:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/98312\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T14:08:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T14:08:08","slug":"beach-badges-make-a-splash-for-gift-giving-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/98312\/","title":{"rendered":"Beach Badges Make a Splash for Gift-Giving Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

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ST. NICK\u2019S PICKS: Bob Kugel shows off his collection of holiday beach badges. Twelve years after starting he has accumulated 65 of the 80 that are available on Long Beach Island. In addition to his holiday badges, he has amassed roughly 800 local beach badges of all kinds dating back more than five decades. (Photos by Ryan Morrill)<\/p>\n

The lure of the beach remains strong even when the cold winds blow and the year-end holidays roll around. For those yearning for the return to the warmth of summer\u2019s embrace, holiday beach badges are a cherished reminder of the summer days to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s better than a flannel shirt,\u201d Bob Kugel, a Ship Bottom resident who has authored two books on Island beach badges, said of being gifted a holiday badge.<\/p>\n

He has collected 65 of the 80 holiday beach badges available on the Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cShip Bottom started (selling holiday beach badges) in 2011. Probably by the second or third year, I started collecting them actually,\u201d Kugel said. \u201cWhether Ship Bottom came up with the idea or another Jersey Shore town did, nobody seems to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long Beach Township and Barnegat Light have been selling holiday badges since the 2012 summer season while Beach Haven started in 2014; Harvey Cedars in 2017, and Surf City in 2017, he said. Kugel began collecting badges in his hometown before branching out to the other Island communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, now, each year, I actually go to the town hall to buy them, rather than trying to hunt them down,\u201d Kugel said. \u201cIt was too difficult to try and track them down from previous years. Years ago, they weren\u2019t that popular. Nobody knew about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he looked on Facebook for some of the badges he didn\u2019t initially have. Kugel is an administrator for a Facebook group, Beach Badge Collectors of Long Beach Island, where individuals share what they are willing to sell and what they\u2019re looking to buy, he said.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve sold them for $100, and I\u2019ve brought them for $100 because it\u2019s all about how much you want it,\u201d Kugel said.<\/p>\n

Some collectors are looking for badges for sentimental reasons like the year they purchased their Island home, met their significant other, got married or began their family, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey collect from that point on, and that\u2019s how this has grown,\u201d Kugel said. \u201cThis is like a big thing now. People will post (on social media) does anyone know what this year\u2019s badge looks like?\u201d<\/p>\n

He said his collection of badges wasn\u2019t exactly intentional, but it also wasn\u2019t by chance, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year I would go and buy eight badges for the regular season. And at the end of the season, I took them off the (beach) bags and put them in a (plastic) bag and I put them in the closet,\u201d Kugel said, adding he did it year after year until one year he took out all the badges.<\/p>\n

He kept four of each of the eight badges he had purchased, and after seeing some displayed on a fish net in someone\u2019s home, he decided to do something similar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started with \u201984 when I bought this house,\u201d he said of his bayside home in Ship Bottom. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018Let me see if I can go backwards, actually.\u2019 And I found like (badges from) \u201967.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The availability of holiday beach badges kicks off the start of badge sales for the following summer, beginning as early as late October and running until around Christmas or when the towns sell out, Kugel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially when the holiday badges were first offered, the manufacturer, Jersey Cape Tags, offered towns a few images\/designs of what was available,\u201d Kugel said. \u201cAnd so that was the case from 2011 through 2013.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Around 2014, developing technology allowed municipalities to submit their own artwork ideas for holiday beach badges, he said.<\/p>\n

In Barnegat Light, longtime employee Brenda Kuhns has been designing the holiday badges since the borough began selling them in 2014, Kugel said. This year\u2019s holiday badge is in memory of Kirk Larsen, who served as mayor for three decades prior to passing away unexpectedly in August.<\/p>\n

Beach Haven and Ship Bottom\u2019s holiday badges are designed by local elementary school students, while Harvey Cedars and Long Beach Township\u2019s badges are collaborative efforts among their employees, he added.<\/p>\n

Surf City jump started holiday badge sales in October, ordering 1,100 this year that are available until they sell out. The badge is $40 and comes in a gift box, Kugel said.<\/p>\n

Barnegat Light offers its holiday badge in the first week of November, and this year 450 were ordered, he said. Badges are available for $42 at borough hall. An online form is also available on the borough\u2019s website. All badges must be picked up at town hall.<\/p>\n

Beach Haven and Harvey Cedars begin their holiday badge sales in mid-November with 1,000 and 250 available, respectively, Kugel said.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This year, Long Beach Township\u2019s holiday badge sales began Nov. 28 with 4,000 ordered. Badges are available at the beach badge office on 68th Street, he said.<\/p>\n

Ship Bottom ordered 1,000 holiday badges this year and began offering them Dec. 1, Kugel said.<\/p>\n

Holiday badges and additional fun facts can be found in Kugel\u2019s book 55 years of Long Beach Island Badges,\u00a0published by Down The Shore Publishing in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Gina G. Scala<\/p>\n

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