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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hello and welcome to part three of our History of Avalon series. I am Nina Rinali, the director of the Avalon History Center.

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In this presentation, I have the particular challenge of talking about a period of time that many of you experienced firsthand. My goal is to share with you some

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of the many items we have in our collection that relate to this time period and to help you reminisce and remember Avalon's earlier days.

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If you watched part two of the series, you know we ended by talking about the 1962 storm. In many ways, the Storm of 62 is

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a dividing line in Avalon's history. Check out this photo from the area of 80th Street about a week after the storm. You can see that the area is still

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covered with sand. A shift in attitude toward coastline development occurred after the storm, but not in the way you might expect.

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Before 62, if you built close to the shoreline and your home or business was destroyed by a storm, you as the owner were responsible.

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After the 62 storm, things shifted such that the government felt much more responsible for securing the shoreline, whether through bulkheads, jetties, or other preventative measures.

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Avalon did rebound from the storm quickly. In fact, right here in the area of this photo, several large hotels were built within a few years, including and perhaps especially the

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Golden Inn, built by, who else, Bob Golden, a prolific developer of ranch homes in partnership with the Buckingham Brothers. The Golden Inn was built in the early

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1960s as a 50-room hotel with a dining room. The hotel was remodeled and rebranded by Icona in 2015 and remains an iconic landmark in

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Avalon. Other hotels persisted in town, too, including the Whitebrier, which opened originally as the Puritan. The open beachfront porch was later enclosed with

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glass, as seen here, becoming Avalon's first oceanfront dining. I enjoy this reservation request from the Whitebrier in 1966, which describes the modern features, such

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as air conditioning, TV, and a telephone in each room, and it shows the nightly summer room rates in the range of $14 to $40, which was for a two-room suite.

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Also check out the tasteful decor in the rooms and in the cocktail lounge. Aside from the Whitebrier and the new Golden Inn, the Avalon Hotel still stood in the

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1960s. It was coming to the end of its useful life as a hotel, and was about to be given a new life in ways

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that many of you are familiar with. Beginning in the 60s, it was operated by Phil and Tony Matalucci with their partner, Bill Judisky.

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A major renovation had taken place in 1957, which included the addition of hot and cold running water and private baths for an undisclosed number of guest rooms.

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You can see here an interior shot of the guest rooms and the dining room in the 1950s. I'm guessing they looked about the same in

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the 60s. At that time, the nightclub in the Avalon Hotel was the Catacombs Bar. This is DJ Cary Lawson spinning some tunes

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in the basement club. You might remember Cary better from his day job as a mechanic at the Phillips Esso Station.

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Don't worry, we'll go back to the Avalon Hotel later. The Esso was purchased by early Avalon postmaster Walter Smith in 1934, and it operated as

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a gas station at 21st Street and 3rd Avenue for more than 70 years. Let's go through some of the other businesses that were important in the 1960s.

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To start with another gas station, how about Tritico's Golf? A 1967 Avalon Herald article tells the story of Frank Tritico, who moved from Philadelphia to

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Avalon in 1950. He opened the golf station on Dune Drive about 1962 and did all of the repair work for the right-hand man and mechanic

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was Robert Pfaff. They're both pictured here. How about the Rockin' Chair? A name still familiar to us today.

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Originally the Sportsman's Tavern, George S. Phillips purchased and remodeled it in the mid -60s. Tom Burke was the head cook and had

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worked in such prominent locations as the Celebrity Room in Philadelphia and Zabur's in Wildwood. So many proprietors were near and dear to the hearts of Avalonians during this time.

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Do you remember Lowell Schimack, who operated the Pioneer Market on 21st Street? I'm told they called him Tubby, which was an army nickname, and he had a tattoo

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of it on his shoulder. Liz Matt worked for Lowell in the summer of 68 and describes him as having eyes that looked in two different directions.

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No matter where you were in the grocery store, he was looking at you. The Pioneer Market's position just across the 21st Street Bridge made it a focal point.

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The market, which was anchored by a meat counter that ran the length of the store at the back, carried fresh produce, canned goods, and staples.

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Traveling all the way to the Avalon Supermarket on 29th Street to buy simple items like bread, milk, and peanut butter was considered to be an inconvenience.

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Lowell Schimack led the market's cast of characters, including his right-hand man and produce manager John Matt, top, and Bill, the butcher, Williams, bottom.

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And what about Keene's Pharmacy right across the street? George C. Keene started the store in the late 20s

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or early 30s, and his sons, George and Dan, a pharmacist, took over the store when he died. In addition to pharmaceuticals, the store sold dry

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goods, sports apparel, and beachwear. Dan Keene was a city commissioner. George and his wife Doris also ran the Surf Style Shop on 21st Street.

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George and Dan had musical talent, too. They played as a drum-piano duo at the Coast Guard base in Cape May and at Zaberer's in Wildwood.

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Remember Jim Leahy and Leahy signs? Located at 2115 3rd Ave, Jim opened the store in 1963. He introduced the area to the animated Mylar

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disc signs and made them throughout Avalon, Ocean City, Sea Isle, Stone Harbor, and Wildwood. He made the sign pictured here on the left, which many folks remember seeing on the

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way into town. Maybe the best-known and best-loved proprietors of all were the Moors, known to locals just as Charlie and Marion.

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Charlie operated Charlie's Luncheonette on the north side of the Avalon Pier. There he served simple sandwiches, hot dogs, and milkshakes.

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Marion ran the Pocorino, which was like an arcade. She's pictured inside the Pocorino on the right with summer helper Albert Herring.

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On the left, you can see Charlie and Marion together with the popcorn machine in front of the Luncheonette. Many people have shared with me fond memories

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of circumventing the 10-cent charge by sticking their hand up inside the machine. I've asked several folks who grew up in Avalon during this time what else they did

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for fun. Here's one parent-mandated fun activity, swimming lessons in the bay. Circa 1966, these were sponsored by the Red

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Cross, and if you look closely at this photo, you'll find some familiar faces. Just a few pictured include Jackie Ewing, Karen Lloyd, Linda Deering, Lynn Tozer, and Carol Hart.

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I've also heard some fond recollections from the 1960s of Hunt's circus visiting town. They would set up in the field at the north end of the island.

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It seems unthinkable now, but not so long ago, there was more than enough space in town to accommodate tents and elephants and other animals.

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In 1965, the community hall was built. Yes, for any younger folks or those new to town, it's the same one we use today, and it began to host a variety

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of kids' activities that continue to this day. I'll let Jennifer Rogers Bailey tell you about them. As kids, there was, like when we were

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young kids, like school age, like middle or grade school age, I would say, there was a lot of stuff that went on at the REC.

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There was, you know, Avalon at the community hall, which is virtually unchanged since then, too. So, like, there was roller skating in there. There was all kinds of, there was a

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girls basketball team I did not play. There was free activity, which they still do on Friday, you know, Friday nights for kids, you go in and there'd be games or

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whatever. The dedication photo at the top depicts borough solicitor James O'Neill, Mayor McLaren, Governor Hughes, and commissioners Dan Keene and Dominic Chavone.

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Oh, by the way, residents who opposed the building of community hall at the time thought it was too costly and would not be used.

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One effect of the construction of community hall was the establishment of the Avalon players. In 1968, Dennis Owens, Bonnie Matt, and Ginny Lynch asked the mayor if they could use

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community hall to put on a show. The mayor approved, and the dramatic ensemble was born, taking the stage in its first production, A Taste of Broadway.

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We have the poster from the encore performance of that very first show, pictured on the left. Dennis Owens, the group's visionary and founder, pictured

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right, died before his time in 1989. We join the Avalon players in celebrating their 50th anniversary reunion just this year. So what was Avalon like on the eve

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of the 1970s? As exciting as all the photos we've seen so far make it seem, the truth is that the town was still dramatically different than

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it is now. Many lots were undeveloped. Development and visitation were starting to pick up steam, though, and being featured on the Johnny

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Carson show didn't hurt. I'll let Joe Breslin tell a story. The rest of the town was starting to develop.

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It was growing, and while I was working in the post office, Ed McMahon was living at 18th Street and the Beach, and he was working with Johnny Carson.

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And this one night, I'll never forget it, McMahon had come back from a vacation, and Carson was mocking him on Avalon. What did the people do down there?

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There's nothing down there. I've been there. And Ed said, oh, we keep very busy. And McMahon said, yeah, you probably go to

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the post office and watch them cancel the stamps for excitement. The next day, the post office was packed with people trying to watch us in the

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back as we were running the mail that we had collected during the day through the stamp canceling machine. So it was funny.

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Development picked up. Local builder Tito Macchia had completed development of the Western Meadows, the land between 42nd and 50th Streets west of 3rd Avenue, creating the

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Fingers, a cleverly designed series of lagoons and peninsulas which created a community of mostly waterfront homes. Plans to create additional Fingers-type developments out

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of Gravens Island and Cedar Island were abandoned after public concern developed over the destruction of wetlands. Imagine that.

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As the building picked up, the businesses and bars picked up, and finally in 1975, we witnessed the creation of the now-famous Bongo Room, which was part of an addition from

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the Avalon Hotel. It was put in as part of a major renovation that involved adding to what had been known as the Crystal Dining Room by

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extending the building on the 8th Street, 1st Avenue side. The Bongo Room was a nightclub with several bars, a stage, and a dance floor.

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Remember, the drinking age in the mid-70s was 18, so the bar scene in Avalon was hopping. Even if you weren't 18+, the Bongo

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Room hosted teen dances three nights a week, taking over the legacy of the dances that previously were held at the Marine Ballroom. I'm sure you all know better than I

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do what happened inside these walls. If you visited the Bongo Room, you know. The headliner band, which played every Sunday night, was the fabulous Grease Band.

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Dave Kosky provides an apt description in his book, which I'll quote here. Phil Judisky, who managed and operated the Bongo Room, decided to take a chance on the

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group of musicians who had just recently graduated from high school. The rest is history. Judisky's gamble turned into Avalon's most successful entertainment

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venture. The Grease Band developed what can only be defined as a cult following at the Bongo Room.

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It managed to transform what traditionally had been a slow night of the week, Sunday, into a monster at the Avalon Hotel. It headlined almost every summer Sunday night at

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the Bongo Room from 1976 until 1985. The Grease Band started its first set at 10 p.m., and it wasn't unusual for cars to begin lining up at the toll

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booth on the Townsend's Inlet Bridge two hours in advance. The Bongo Room wasn't the only nightlife destination of the 70s.

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Jack's Place debuted in 1973. It had previously been the Black Eagle and then Gallagher's. Jack's was going strong as a nightlife destination

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until just this year. Another fun thing to do in the 70s was to visit the Trampoline Park at 29th and 30th Streets on the west side of

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the boardwalk. Can you imagine having something like this today? Do you know who these folks are? I'll give a hint.

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A major change occurred in Avalon in 1972, and these were the young people hired to execute and enforce that change. You're right if you guessed that they are

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the very first group of beach taggers. I'll let Carol Hart-McPhee tell you about what it was like to be on the ground that very first summer.

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I was stationed on 76th Street all summer and part of our job was to keep the Stone Harbor people out because the first year Stone Harbor had them in 71, we

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got them in 72. Beach tags were not reciprocal so if you saw somebody you had to turn them around and it was ugly.

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Then you had a lot of people that, as I said, were very upset. They were property owners, taxpayers, and were yelling about having to pay for beach tags.

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We did not sell beach tags. You had to go back to Barrow Hall. So if people are on 76th Street and you tell them they have to go to

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32nd Street, they're not really happy. I fought on the beaches of the Pacific so the shores of this country would be free and no college kid in a group

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house is going to tell me to leave the beach. So what did you do? Did you call the police if somebody wouldn't?

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Eventually, but for the most part you just kind of talked them into it. The next second year I was a rotator for people's days off.

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Being on 76th Street was nice because all the people knew you, all the kids on the beach knew. If they got lost they just said they

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were on Carroll's Beach and the lifeguards knew where to bring them back to. So that worked great. So then the next year I was a

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rotator. A couple times I ended up on 28th Street Beach which was not pretty and the police were called numerous times from that beach

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for what now probably would have been considered assault. We had these ugly piff helmets and people were knocking the piff helmets off your head.

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What year did they become reciprocal? 73rd. Oh okay, so that was short-lived. That was short-lived.

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It had to be short-lived because people were screaming. Yeah, there's no way. We have some excellent photos of daily life

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and community events in the 1970s due to a recent donation from the Cobb family. This next series of photos developed in October of 71 are from a parade.

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I'm guessing a baby parade. Check out the yacht club's float with Sullivan's in the background. Here's a truck from the fire department.

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Maybe you can tell us who's driving? And here's Stone Harbor's float with a Victorian holiday theme. Here's the Borough of Avalon's float from a

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couple of years later with a nice shot of the Avalon Freeze in the background. Some things don't change after all. Here's a photo from a bit earlier, 63,

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but I think it shows the crowd size and popularity of the parades during this period really well and at a time when so many fewer people visited here.

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Avalon also celebrated our nation's bicentennial. This horse rider was in the parade, but spot the Spirit of 76 float hiding in the background.

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If you were here in the 70s, you're likely to remember the guy in the middle of this photo, Ellsworth Armacost, who served as mayor of Avalon from 1973 to 1983.

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He's pictured with Commissioner Robert E. Bruce on the left and with an unknown man. The shot was to show one of Mayor

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Armacost's signature initiatives, dune fencing. During the 1970s, Avalon became a leader in dune stabilization work. The storm of 62 had rocked the county

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and towns were trying to figure out what to do about it. Avalon's projects included installation of 1600 feet of snow fencing, which caught sand and caused it

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to build up the dunes. These were placed in the high dunes around 48th Street and also at the north end of the island around 11th Street, where there

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was a serious erosion problem. Another aspect of the project was dune grass planting. New grass was planted and existing plants were

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fertilized. This photo shows school children helping out with dune grass planting in later years, which was organized by Fenton Groff.

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But when the project launched in the 70s, the planting and snow fence installation was done by municipal workers. Avalon's efforts paid off in protecting and building

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dunes more effectively than in other towns, but hurricanes and nor'easters weren't the only storms we had to worry about. The 1970s also saw some impressive snowstorms.

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These photos were stamped September of 73, so we're guessing they were taken the previous winter. A much more significant snowfall occurred in the late winter of 1979.

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This is the cover of the now Cape May County Herald from the week of February 22, 79. Maybe you remember this event.

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It certainly did quite a bit of damage to the town. 24 inches of snow caused a borough-wide power outage.

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The school was closed for several days, the emergency responders rescued 20 stranded motorists, and there was even a fatality. This is the borough's letter to FEMA after

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the 1979 snowstorm. They listed expenses and damages upwards of $200 ,000, including approximately $140,000 for damage to bay docks and marinas.

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Avalon switched forms of government in 1979. Before then, it was a three-member commission form of government, where residents elected the commissioners and the commissioners chose the mayor from amongst

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themselves, so the mayor wasn't directly elected. In 1979, Avalon switched to the mayor-council form, where each are elected separately. Armacost decided not to run in the next

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election. That's how Rachel Sloan, pictured on the left, became the borough's first directly elected mayor in 1983.

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You might also recognize Dan Keene on the right. Oh, here's a topic that was impossible to place in just one decade.

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Sullivan's status as a cornerstone business in the borough lasted from the 1950s all the way through to the 1990s. As you may have learned from the last

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presentation, Sullivan's opened at the 22nd and Dune Drive in 1956 and moved to a larger location at 22nd and Dune Drive in 1965. The store was established by Robert T.

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Sullivan, a native of Bangor, Maine, who was proud that Sullivan's never closed for anything, not even the devastating storm of 1962. Legend has it that the proprietors nailed the

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door shut in preparation for that storm, but a window promptly blew out and Avalon's public did not hesitate to enter through the window to get their delicious cup of coffee.

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Sullivan's was referred to as the meeting place of Avalon, providing a center of community for the growing town. I think the lunch counter was what made

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it so special, so appealing, and such a social place. 1996 was Sullivan's final season. Another place to have lunch in the 1980s

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was Phil's Deli, which was at 33rd and Dune. They sold burgers, hot dogs, and hoagies, or, like some who grew up here told me,

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you could stop by there on your way to school to buy candy. Phil was Phil Judisky of the Bongo Room. Despite Mayor Armacost's 1970s Dune initiatives, hurricanes and

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storms continued to barrage the island throughout the 1980s, including Hurricane Gloria in September of 85. This image shows a nor'easter from 87. You're looking south from 23rd Street and you

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can see that the ocean has gone over the dunes and that the waves will begin to crash against the houses. June of 1987 marked the end of an

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era as the Avalon Hotel was demolished. Why? It was run down and neglected, residents said at the time.

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It was time to make way for something new. It took three construction vehicles from Albright and Hune six hours to take down a building

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that had stood for 99 years. Old friends came back to witness the demolition, recall the hotel's earlier years, and mourn the loss of the Bongo Room.

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A new luxury hotel took its place, but it didn't last for long. The building is now condos. We don't have as much in our collection

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from the 1990s and onward. It can be hard to see the 1990s as history when our now mayor was first elected in that decade.

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Mayor Martin took office on July 1st, 1991. Prior to becoming mayor, he served four years as an Avalon Borough Councilman, six years as a member of the Avalon Zoning Board, and

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two years as a member of the Avalon Planning Board. Marty has always been passionate about making Avalon a storm-ready community, and while he has

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achieved many notable accomplishments under his tenure, strengthening Avalon's emergency response is likely the most significant. So significant, in fact, that I would not be able to share the details of all

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of those achievements with you in just the time we have here, but I do want to share one funny tidbit. Pictured at the bottom of the slide is

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a small flag. At one point, the borough obtained an army surplus blazer, pictured at the top, for the mayor to drive during floods and storms, and

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they put this flag on the as if it were a presidential car. Because we don't have as many artifacts about the 1990s, I asked a few people who

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lived here then what it was like. Here's Kelly McCarston describing her childhood in Avalon. It always felt really safe. My mom was kind of strict with us

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though, so we were like limited in where we could go, but constantly bikes, walking around town. When we were really young, I remember it

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being a big thing where we could walk to the library on 26th, and the first time you could do that by yourself was huge.

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I mean, you know that's one of my favorite buildings, so that was a big thing when you could finally go places by yourself, and then we would walk to school every

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day and walk home, but we're not take Ocean Drive. We had to walk on Dune Drive, and we all had to stay together.

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There's weird little things that I remember like that, but constantly we were together. As I got a little older, skateboarding was really all the rage, and we would go

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to the banks, the one on 21st Street. I guess it was technically 22nd. No, where was it? Sturdy Bank?

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Not Sturdy. Fleet? Fleet Bank? Okay.

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The only thing I really remember, I was really, I don't know why I can't remember what it was called, but we used to go when it was closed after school, and

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the boys would skate in the drive-thru, and my girlfriends and I always thought like, oh yeah, we're going to learn to skate. We never did.

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We just watched, but we'd like ride bikes around, and we'd go to Donnelly's or Circle Pizza after, or Wawa. I also talked to Kelly's family friend, Kevin

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Scarpa, who, like many people I've talked to, identified Donnelly's Deli as a go-to spot of the 1990s where you could run into half the town.

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Here's Kevin. It kind of was, and it may have come up before, it was just like the anchor store for the entire town all year

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round, and later in life, I worked on the ambulance, which was a paid position for the ambulance in town, and we would go down for lunch, and we would, I believe

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the word is loiter, for quite a while, and just people would come into Donnelly's, and that's where you saw the people you never saw, because I worked, I want to say

00:29:53.000 - 00:29:58.760

like Wednesday through Monday, or eight-hour shifts at two o'clock, so I would go down there and hang out for dinner.