Celebrating Moms for over 100 years!!!

Celebrating Moms for over 100 years!!!

Today is Friday, two days before Mother’s Day, and the rental office here at The Storage Inn Self Storage in Egg Harbor Township, NJ is a buzz with people shuttling back and forth to and from their storage spaces, preparing for various spring activities and events.

Yesterday as one of our tenants, Mr. Hendry, was returning his van rental, I reminded him, “ Don’t forget about your wife this Sunday. It’s Mother’s Day!” “ Yeah”, he groaned, “ Another holiday made up by the greeting card companies.” As Mr. Henry shuffled out the door, and headed toward his storage unit, I realized that this was not the first time I had heard that comment made by someone. I wondered if it was true, so I checked into it, and here’s what I found.

I was surprised to find that Mother’s Day turns 103 this year! The holiday is known mostly as a time for brunches, gifts, cards, and general outpourings of love and appreciation, but the holiday has more somber roots: It was founded for mourning women to remember fallen soldiers and work for peace.

Mother’s Day and The Civil War

It all started in the 1850s, when West Virginia women’s organizer Ann Reeves Jarvis held Mother’s Day work clubs to improve sanitary conditions and try to lower infant mortality by fighting disease and curbing milk contamination during the Civil War. The group also tended to wounded soldiers from both sides of the conflict.

In the postwar years Jarvis and other women organized Mother’s Friendship Day picnics and other events as pacifist strategies to unite former foes. Julia Ward Howe – best known as the composer of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” – issued a widely read “Mother’s Day Proclamation” in 1870, calling for women to take an active political role in promoting peace.

The Modern Mother’s Day

After Ann’s death in 1905, her daughter, Anna took up the cause, and largely through her efforts, Mother’s Day came to be observed in a growing number of cities and states around the country, until President Woodrow Wilson officially set aside the second Sunday in May in 1914 for the holiday.

Today, of course, Mother’s Day is right up there with Valentine’s Day in terms of of consumerism. Americans will spend an average of $162 on mom this year, with total spending expected to reach $19.9 billion. The U.S. National Restaurant Association reports that Mother’s Day is the year’s most popular holiday for dining out, and the third most popular greeting card holiday behind Christmas and Valentine’s Day! About 133 million Mother’s Day cards are exchanged annually, according to Hallmark. After Christmas, it’s the second most popular holiday for giving gifts.

So, on Sunday, give Mom a nice card and some flowers, take her to a nice brunch, and then take her to see a Civil War reenactment – That is, after all, where this whole thing got started. Happy Mother’s Day!

Motorcycle Self Storage Tips for Spring!
Time to Ride!

April is on and there are plenty of motorcycles cruising past our office at The Storage Inn Self Storage facility here in Egg Harbor Township in South Jersey. I’ve also noticed a few of our storage space customers getting their bikes out and who could blame them on a days like these?

As I was making my rounds, I ran into one of our long time motorcycle storage customers, Chuck, who had his storage unit door open. He appeared to be staring intently at the inner workings of his Harley Road King.

“Headed out?” I yelled to him.

“ Not until I do my Spring safety check “  he shouted back at me.

Upon closer investigation, I found that Chuck had a paper checklist that he follows every spring. Being a rider myself, I was curious to see what his list included.

Here is Chuck’s checklist…

1. Check your battery – This the heart of your ride’s electrical system. Chuck says that any biker worth his salt will have already been connected to a trickle charger, and should be good to go, but if you don’t have your battery on a charger, the first thing to make your motorcycle ride-ready is to charge your battery.
2. Change the oil & filter – It’s best to change your bike’s oil before you store it for the winter, but if not, now’s the time to do it. Swap that stale lubricant out for fresh clean oil and a new filter. If you don’t do the work on your bike, make arrangements with your favorite cycle shop to get it done.
3. Kick the Tires : We don’t really want you to kick them, but you should do a full 360 degree check on each tire for any cracking or punctures. Also, check for wear. On many tires, tread wear indicator bars signal a need for replacement. But there also the old trick of using a penny. If you can see the top of Lincoln’s head  when facing down and inserted into the tire tread… it’s time for a new tire. If your tires pass the wear test, inflate them to the manufacturer’s inflation specs and your rubber is ready to go!
4. Fuel up  – Ideally, you should have stabilized the fuel in your motorcycle during the winterizing process before you placed it into storage. If you didn’t winterize, and also didn’t fill the tank before storing, check the fuel tank for rust, which may have formed due to water condensation. If the tank is clean, fill it and ‘ride-on’. If there are signs of rust, you’ll live with the consequences – fouled carburetor, clogged fuel filter, etc. – until you replace the tank.
5. Check your Connections – A Spring tune up of cables, plugs, and pivot points is time well spent. Check all electrical connections, cables, and all moving parts that might require lubrication. Things tend to dry out over the winter, so take the time to make sure that the moving parts are kept moving!
   

   Mature man,working on motorcycle in garage

6. Lights! Camera! Action! Turn on your motorcycle’s power and check all the lights for any that have inoperative bulbs and replace them. (i.e.  brake lights, turn signals, headlights, etc.) Often, replacement bulbs come in twos, so save extras for the next time you need one. If a new bulb does not light, it’s time to check the fuse box. If that doesn’t work, it’s time to visit your local cycle shop. Electrical problems are best left to the experts.
7. Ready, Set, Stop! Stopping your motorcycle safely is just as important as ensuring your bike can accelerate. Before you hit the road, thoroughly check all the components of your brake system – lever adjustment, cables, calipers, brake pads, etc. If things don’t seem right and you’re not comfortable making adjustments, seek professional help. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
8. Stay Hydrated – Check all of the motorcycle’s fluid levels – brake, clutch, oil, coolant. Top them off as needed. Look for any leaks on the floor where your motorcycle’s been stored. Another way to check for leaks is to start and warm your bike to running temperature, then turn it off and check for leaks.
9. Keep it Clean – The old adage, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” is true – especially for your motorcycle. When you’ve taken all the steps to prepare your motorcycle mechanically, thoroughly clean the exterior. Your bike will look as good as it runs and you’ll look good riding it!!!
10. Ride safe! Always watch out for other drivers! 

So there you have it. Chuck’s checklist. Get ready, get that bike out of storage, and get riding!

The Storage Inn investigates South Jersey’s Underground Railroad

South Jersey’s Underground Railroad

Its mid February at The Storage Inn Self Storage here in Egg Harbor Township New Jersey, and we’ve already been through Groundhog Day, Mardi Gras, and Valentine’s Day. February, however, is also a month-long celebration of our nation’s Black History. The Storage Inn is located just outside Atlantic City, New Jersey, a city rich in Black History – Club Harlem, Chicken Bone Beach, and the Boardwalk Empire Prohibition Era come to mind immediately, but what many people don’t know, is that Atlantic and Cape May counties in southern New Jersey were integral in the success of the Underground Railroad in the mid 1800’s.

This was brought to light by one of our storage customers who happens to be the curator for the Black History section of the Atlantic City Heritage Collections at the resort’s public library. Below are the highlights of our conversation regarding the underground railroad in our area.

The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used in the 19th century by slaves to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause.

These safe houses were located in small communities, so those seeking freedom could go from town to town without anyone noticing them, For slaves using the Underground Railroad to escape the south, reaching Atlantic and Cape May counties offered hope that the journey to freedom might soon be over.

Communities such as Somers Point and Egg Harbor City in Atlantic County offered those escaping slavery a direct path to Pennsylvania, a state that had already outlawed slavery.

“The goal of slaves on the Underground Railroad was to make it to Pennsylvania, so when they got to Egg Harbor City, NJ they knew that freedom was just days away. I’m sure that many people don’t realize how much of an impact South Jersey had on the Underground Railroad,” said Ava, our curator.

Cape May also played a prominent role in the Underground Railroad. Cape May sits directly across the Bay from Delaware and Maryland. During that time, land crossings were actually more difficult than water crossings, so places that had water access became more popular.

Cape May was known to those seeking freedom, as a place with safe locations that they could count on.

Finding reliable numbers for escaped slaves who traveled through New Jersey, let alone Atlantic County, has proven tricky. The national estimate for those who used the Underground Railroad as a path to freedom is between 30,000 and 40,000 escapees.

You know, they say that you learn something new everyday, and today I learned something that makes me just a bit more proud of the South Jersey area!  Until the next time!

What is Indian Summer?

It’s the first half of October here at The Storage Inn in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, and the place is jumping! This probably has something to do with the unusually warm weather we’ve been experiencing?!

One of our customers, Damon, strode into our storage supplies store and proclaimed, “October, and it’s actually hot outside!”  to which I replied, ” Indian Summer!”

Damon, who also happens to be a school teacher, told me that I was, in fact, incorrect, and that Indian Summer only occurs after the first frost of the year. “Still hot though!” he exclaimed as he walked out of the office and back towards his storage space.

Hmmmm – I wondered if he was actually correct about the frost thing, so I checked it out, and found some interesting facts about “Indian Summer”.

Indian summer is defined as a period of unseasonably warm, dry and calm weather, usually following a period of colder weather or frost in late Autumn.

The Origin

Indian summer was first recorded in Letters From an American Farmer, in a 1778 work by the French-American soldier turned farmer, J. H. St. John de Crèvecoeur.

“Then a severe frost succeeds which prepares it to receive the voluminous coat of snow which is soon to follow; though it is often preceded by a short interval of smoke and mildness, called the Indian Summer.”

There are many references to the term in American literature to refer to any late flowering following a period of decline. John Greenleaf Whittier wrote of “The Indian Summer of the Heart”, and Oliver Wendell Holmes mentions “an Indian summer of serene widowhood” in his story The Guardian Angel.


Why “Indian”?

The English already had names for this phenomenon including St. Luke’s Summer, St. Martin’s Summer or All-Hallows Summer, but eventually these terms disappeared and were replaced by indian summer.

Why Indian? Well, no one knows but, as is commonplace when no one knows, many people have guessed. Here are three of the more commonly repeated guesses…

When European settlers first came across the phenomenon in America it became known as the Indian’s Summer as Native American tribes would wait for a warm spell in the autumn to harvest their crops including pumpkins, gourds, and fall vegetables.

It originated from raids on European settlements by Indian war parties, which usually ended in late autumn, after “Indian Summer”.

Native Americans were considered untrustworthy by many white settlers, spawning terms such as “Indian giver”. The aforementioned late-summer heat was considered a “false summer”, thus the term “Indian” summer.

Well, who knows if any of these theories are correct? What I do know is that both the staff, and our self-storage customers here at The Storage Inn will be enjoying the warm days ahead! I think I’ll spend a couple next week in shorts and flip-flops, turn the ball game on the radio, sit on my back deck and have a cold beer – Indian Summer Rules!