Large Turnout for Clerk’s Outdoor Oath

SWAINTON – There were several “firsts” when Cape May County Clerk Rita M. Fulginiti took her oath to return to office on Fri., Dec. 31.
Never before in Cape May County history had a county clerk taken an oath outside the county’s historical museum on Dec. 31 with snow piled all around, and the majority of onlookers in thin jackets, because the temperature was in the mid-50s.
Fulginiti, of Ocean City, took her oath as the 26th county clerk since 1692, administered by Superior Court Judge John Porto, it was his first “swearing-in” ceremony since taking the bench almost a year ago.
Moreover, it was the first time that the museum’s parking lot was filled to capacity with the overflow parking on Easy Street to the north, at the county Cultural and Heritage headquarters, and the Cape May County Park.
The gathering brought together several hundred members of the Cape May County Republican Organization, which hosted the lunch on site after the ceremony.
Those in attendance, read by sheriff and fellow constitutional officer Gary Schaffer, who was master of ceremonies, sounded like a “Who’s Who” of elected officials in Cape May County, from Cape May to Ocean City.
Representing the freeholder board was Director Daniel Beyel, Leonard Desiderio, Gerald Thornton and Freeholder-elect Susan Sheppard, who will take her oath on Tue., Jan. 4 to join the five-member, all Republican governing body.
Violet Rixey, a clerk’s office employee, offered a prayer for Fulginiti. Later, Rixey accompanied by the entire clerk’s staff, presented Fulginiti with a plaque that read, “Cape May Court House, Sunshine, Sand and Sea, There is no place I’d rather be.”
In a brief address, Fulginiti said, “I am very blessed.”
Then, looking around at all those in attendance, added, “This means no much to me.”
Fulginiti extended a special note of thanks to Budd Springer, head of county Facilities and Services, for having his crew clear the museum’s brick sidewalks and parking area of snow to make the event possible.