In the weeks following Hurricane Sandy, people found a number of items strewn about the coastlines of New Jersey and New York. Most of the findings included personal items and family heirlooms, such as old birthday invitations, photo albums and vintage wedding dresses, and there was the occasional rare find — like a bundle of 57 WWII-era love letters that were returned to the author’s daughter.
Fast forward to 2018: there are things that were lost during the storm that are still being discovered, namely a New Jersey brokerage’s listing sign that washed up on a beach in Bordeaux, France.
On May 30, Diane Turton, Realtors posted a photo of their worn, half-broken, sand-covered sign laying on the beach with an explanation of how it was found. Two weeks earlier, the post explained, Hannes Frank had found the sign and decided to google where it came from. After locating the brokerage’s name and email address, Frank sent two photos of the sign to Turton and her team.
“I got an email from our relocation department, who got it from this person, Hans, in Bordeaux,” Turton told Westchester 12 News. “I thought, ‘Is this a joke?’”
Still in disbelief, Turton and her marketing director Perry Beneduce cross-referenced the location included in the email with Frank, the man who sent the pictures. Turton and Beneduce said they believe the sign came from beachfront listing in Brielle, which was shortly sold after the disaster ended.
“Having our signage wash up in France on the beach truly proves that Diane Turton, Realtors is a global real estate company,” the brokerage proudly announced on Facebook.
Frank has yet to return the sign, Turton said in the interview with Westchester 12, but she’s sent him some T-shirts as a ‘thank you,’ and as motivation to send the sign home.
If Turton gets the sign back, she plans to frame it as a memento.