Sunshine Dreams Foundation To Produce South Florida Version Of Shore Dreams For Kids
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New Jersey’s most famous export, Bruce Springsteen sang, “Everything dies baby, that’s a fact/But Everything that dies someday comes back” in his ode to Atlantic City. Now Dave Patnaude, a lesser-known Jersey export, and a few of his ex-Garden State pals are working to prove Springsteen right—but in South Florida—with a new event produced by their fledgling Sunshine Dreams Foundation.
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Shores Dreams for Kids started at the New Jersey Shore more than 30 years ago. Photos by Tim Sharkey copyright Sharkey Images.
The event will be molded after Shore Dreams for Kids in Seaside Park, N.J., which for 30-plus years provided a day on the water and a carnival atmosphere for mentally and physically challenged children, adults and their families. In addition to his role as the president of the former New Jersey Performance Powerboat Boat Club, Patnaude—now living in Pompano Beach, Fla., was a longtime member of the Shore Dreams board of directors.
Shore Dreams for Kids ceased operations after its 2019 event.
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The essence of the new program is giving children in need a day full of fun and time on the water.
“I moved to Pompano two years ago,” he explained. “A lot of former NJPPC members have moved down here, and one night were together telling stories about Shore Dreams. And the subject came up: ‘Why can’t we do a Shore Dreams-like event down here?’ Everyone looked me and I said, ‘Look, if we’re going to do this, it’s going to take a lot of people to pull it off. It’s going to take a village.”
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Said Patnaude, “It’s going to take a village.”
Everyone agreed, and the group set up a more-formal brainstorming meeting in March. Patnaude has enlisted his longtime friend Bob Scanlon, who used to organize poker runs on Lake George in Upstate New York. Soliciting volunteers is near the top of the agenda.
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“We have to crawl and walk before we can run,” said Patnaude. “We are not going to be able recreate Shore Dreams serving 2,000 people in a day. We will start small and work our way up.”
The event venue will be held in the fall and be sited somewhere between West Palm Beach and Miami.
“Right now, are lofty goal is fall of 2025,” said Patnaude. “But we will definitely have an event in 2026.”
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The author’s daughter and her fiance volunteered at Shore Dreams for Kids in 2018.
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