wedding videos!

Mariann and Victor sail in on their Brite Idea hobie cat and welcome the crowd.
All that pointing they're doing? It's because Best Man Jack and the Groom's son Shane are supposed to be following close behind in the other hobie, but are foundering in the break zone about a half mile away...

A wee tune while the bride and groom prepare....

Victor's welcome.... waiting for the bride to change into her wedding dress.

Stalling for time while waiting for the bride, some entertaining sailor songs by Joel Fogel and Victor.

Mariann is finally ready ... enter the bride.
Paul Utts shares some words about those who have gone before us, and how precious life is.
The surrogate parents, Carl & Kathie Benner and Harold & Barbara Clark, give the bride and groom away.

Our officiant, Jean Muchanic, delivers some words before the vows.

The Vows

Victor: Mariann, From this day forward, You shall not walk alone. My heart will be your shelter, And my arms will be your home. I promise to be open and honest with you and grow old by your side as your lover and best friend.
Mariann: Victor, What can I say to you that I haven’t already said, What can I give you that I haven’t already given, Is there anything of me that isn’t yours already, My body, my mind, my heart, and my soul, Everything that is me belonged to you long before this, And it shall be yours long after this. I promise to love you as you are and not how I want you to be, and support you in your most important endeavors.

Exchange of Rings

Hmmm, i think it's a myth about it having to be the left hand -- note that Victor's ring goes on his non-dominant hand.


I Now Pronounce You....

Husband and Wife!


Let them all have Cupcakes!

Victor and Mariann share one of those yummy chocolate/buttercream cupcakes.

wedding pictures on their way

I will be creating an online album to share the many wonderful photos of the festivities that our guests took.

If you have some to contribute, please email me at victor_and_mariann (at) comcast (dot) net.

Boys Night Out

Jack McDermott, Best Man extraordinaire, advises that the lads will meet up at Robert's in Margate on Atlantic Ave (you all know where that is) Wednesday 7/25 at 7 pm. Al Jewitt is the designated driver.

RSVP here

We'd love to know if you're coming so we can give a head count to Maynard's kitchen.
Just click on the "Comments" link below. Then under "Choose an Identity" click on "Other", enter your name (important so we know who you are!) and leave your comment.

Thanks!!!!

the parking situation

Parking is difficult! Please do NOT park on Quincy Avenue. Plan to park a few blocks away and walk to the beach.
Carpooling is good for the earth!

You may wish to join in the procession on foot from the beach to Maynard’s. It is slightly under one mile. (See the green route on the map below.)

Directions to Maynard’s Starlite Garden
9306 Amherst Ave, Margate NJ
(609) 822-8423

Proceed down Quincy Ave away from the beach.
Turn left onto Atlantic, Ventnor, Winchester, Monmouth, or even Amherst Ave.
Go 9 blocks (about 4/10ths mile) to Washington Ave.
Turn right onto Washington Ave.
Keep going till you hit Amherst. Turn left.
Maynard’s is in the middle of the block, facing the bay. Note the gaudy neon lights.
Enter the outdoor entrance, proceed to the white tent at the back of the Starlite Garden.

What's Victor doing the day of our wedding?

He's sailing in the Ventnor-Margate Hobiecat regatta!
This starts and ends from Somerset Ave beach in Ventnor.
It should get under way at about 1 pm. Come and cheer Victor on!

Or, come to the beach early to get in some beach time, people watching, trashy novel reading, boogie boarding, and skin frying.



On another planetary confluence, at this same time Mariann will relax with a pedicure and other self-indulgent bride-to-be stuff.

Graduations galore!

We've had a busy time these last few weeks.
First, Randi graduated from William & Mary on May 19, with a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics.


Then, Shane graduated from Harvard on June 7 with a Bachelor's in Biochemistry.


Finally, Tracey graduated from Absegami High School the following day (we barely made it, driving through horrendous traffic back from Boston).

Ryan & Kate get married

In 2005 the family came together for a happy occasion - Ryan and Kate's wedding.



Many years ago, here are some cousins:

what a crew!

Before Shane and Randi went off to college, we took a group shot.
You can tell Chelsea wasn't too fond of the idea.

August 2003

the San Francisco connection

The first year we got together, Victor and i flew out to San Francisco to visit with his Aunt Kate and Uncle Russ, and see Jack and Albert.

Kate, Victor, Russ, November 2000


Albert wasn't available, but we spent wonderful time with Jack at his Santa Cruz bachelor pad and went for a sail.


In November 2001, we again went out to San Fran, this time with all the kids. What great trip!
Here's Chelsea in Kate's back yard:

How Victor and Mariann met

The first time we met, I was more taken by Shane than his dad.

I went to a public meeting sponsored by the incipient UU congregation in November 1998. The topic was something like "your religious journey". (I was looking for a new church, having had enough of the episcopal church i had been going to.) We were told to break up into small groups and discuss our individual journeys. Victor was there with Shane, and i was so impressed with this self-possessed and confident 12-year-old, that i went home and told my also 12-year-old daughter Randi about what an interesting kid he was. At the next meeting of this uu group, i made a point of bringing Randi along. She and Shane hit it off, with Shane regaling her with tales of dead hamsters and such. In June 1999 I took Randi, Shane, my daughter Tracey and her friend Melissa on a whitewater trip in the Poconos. Thus began a friendship/relationship between Shane and Randi that lasted 4 years, until they went their separate ways off to different colleges.

Shane and Randi, Prom May 2002


Victor can tell you how he looked forward to bringing Shane to my house on the weekends, and we would talk about all sorts of things. We also would see each other at church on Sundays. At around this time he separated from his wife and got an apartment on Avolyn Avenue in Ventnor. We saw each other due to ferrying our kids back and forth. The rest is history.

Is there a gift registry?

You've got to be kidding me.

We're not exactly young folks, just starting out.
We have actual furniture, crappy though it may be (nothing made with one-by-sixes and cinderblocks).
We have kitchenware; in fact until recently i still had a crepe maker from my first wedding 28 years ago that i never used -- not once.
In fact, we are trying to get rid of "stuff" since we might be moving in a year or two.

We are looking forward to just sharing this special day with all of our friends and loved ones. So, truly, your presence is your present.

For those of you who are obsessive-compulsive, or just stubborn, or just wonderfully generous, we can suggest places to put your largesse:

Our church building fund:
Unitarian Uiversalist Congregation of the South Jersey Shore
PO Box 272
Oceanville NJ 08231
Put "Maene Wedding" on the memo line.
More info about the church: www.UUCSJS.org
News about the building: Building Progress Journal

The South Jersey Community Food Bank
located at 6735 Black Horse Pike, Egg Harbor Twp NJ 08234.
They are a member of the Second Harvest food bank network.
Print out a donation form here to accompany your check.
Check out their administrative efficiency ("bang for your buck") at
Charity Navigator.

The Coalition Against Rape and Abuse,
P.O. Box 774, Cape May Court House, NJ 08210.
CARA provides emotional and legal counseling, crisis intervention, bilingual services, advocacy, community education, and safe housing for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

What about religion?

Although we are both Catholics by birth, today our spiritual needs are met by attending the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Jersey Shore. This is a faith community that has no creed per se, but believes in the following principles:

1. The inherent dignity and worth of every person;
2. Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part;

We especially love the 7th one!!!

Why the Beach?

The ocean is Victor's natural element. Surfing, sailing, fishing... so many hours spent communing with the goddess of the sea.

Surfing Cape Hatteras Oct 2002   Victor's first striper Nov 2002


Although Mariann did not grow up near the ocean, she too loves the natural world: plants, sky, water, dirt, weather, air.

We would like to be married with our feet in the sea.

We hope you will enjoy being outdoors with us regardless of the weather, temperature, wind.

Love your Mother!

About Victor

A shore boy, born in Atlantic City; he lived on Adriatic Ave in the ground floor of the art studio of his great grandfather, sculptor Edward Maene. Victor's family moved when he was 8, downbeach to MARGATE to 34 N Exeter Ave, next to Danny Mittleman and his family -- wonderful, warm people who were good neighbors -- and Danny taught Victor A LOT......FOR FREE -- much to Victor's mother's consternation!!! Before girls shifted his focus, he enjoyed many idyllic boyhood years of fishing and surfing (and putting in long hours at Arnie's, Andy's, and the Four Seasons restaurants). Then...... Danny grew long hair, moved to California, had a live-in girlfriend, smoked funny cigarettes....... you get the picture??? Fortunately.... at Holy Spirit, Victor met Stan Bergman and got into Crew -- for 4 years....... a life-changing experience!!! High School concluded with a young man who could handle anything that came along and had grown in body and spirit -- pulling his own weight and looking forward to college (Monmouth University) and more surfing, fun, GUITAR...... EVERYTHING WAS GREAT!!!

Victor worked his way through college and learned how to fix cars/get into them -- AAA service and towing, engine rebuilding and every other repair (except transmissions!).

Graduated from Stockton in 1977 with a degree in Marine Science and buddies Albert Troiano, Mark Kelly, Larry Mungeoli and a host of other tree-hugging HIPPIES!!
Moved to California for good with Linda Watts in fall of 1977 -- Santa Cruz, redwoods, STEAMER LANE...... WOW!!! PERFECT Waves............ finally got a job with NOAA/USGS on a survey crew, then special projects, satellite tracking, meteorology projects -- a long stint in the OWENS Valley (Mount Whitney right there -- AMAZING!!!!)

THEN...... my mother sent me plane ticket home for Christmas......... as Victor Sr used to say....... OY!!! Came back to NJ to be with Roseann Boyle, got a job with ACUA as an analyst/environmental chemist (tested all of Atlantic County including beaches, other surface waters, groundwater, wells) -- this would last for 27 incredible years -- retired early after getting into the Solar/Wind Alternative Energy Business with LBI Solar, Home Depot and BP Solar...... the story gets better with Brite Idea Energy, taking the knowledge and experience he had acquired much further, with a bigger, BETTER company able to tackle BIG projects!!! Met Mariann via our kids -- Shane and Randi were the catalyst for the wonderful changes to come and this crossroads.........


Victor in high school, with Jeanine

About Mariann

I was born in Woodbury (Gloucester County), NJ on November 22, 1953. My parents, Ray and Anna, were both born in Camden NJ. I have an older brother, Jeff (a redhead), and a younger sister, Chris (a blonde).
Jeff was six years older than us girls and always picked on us. I got him back one day by throwing a crochet hook his way and it embedded in the back of his scalp, resulting in an early morning run to the hospital.
Chris was younger than me so i always picked on her, but she got me back by kicking me in the shins, hence the scars.

We're mostly German and Irish, but my Dad was always more enamored of the Irish history, and late in life took up the regular reading of the Irish Times and was a member of the Hibernian Society.

We were Catholic, but regular attendance lapsed as soon as my brother was old enough to drive and my parents didn't have to take us to Mass anymore, and my brother played hooky from the duty too.

My mother died in 1976 at the too-young age of 56, while i was in my last year of college at Drew U (Madison NJ). Heart disease seems to run in both sides of the family, as my father also died of it, but not until he was 82, in July, 2005.

My mom was a stay-at-home mom, and my dad put in 30-some years at the Texaco Refinery in Westville NJ as an electrician first, then a union official, and then a supervisor. He was fond of needlepointing and orchids later in life.

Here's my dad (i think this was taken in his 60's):