Taylor Henry, President
The year 2021 was a strong comeback year for our museum. We saw a resurgence of summer visitors after the pandemic affected ‘20 attendance. The fall car show -- moved to Pacific Avenue while the boardwalk undergoes structural repairs -- gave us our busiest weekend ever.
Our board welcomed Chris Pohle as our new Vice President, John Seprico as Board Member, and Al Brannen as Emeritus. President Taylor Henry received the Young Preservationist Award from Preservation NJ, an honor given to someone under 40 making significant contributions to the state’s preservation field.
We had another successful sign auction last year, totaling $11,000 in revenue from west-side street signs like Arctic, Park and Hudson, plus neons from the Tom Cat Diner. For the past few years, the City of Wildwood has donated old signs as they’ve been replaced, and we are extremely grateful because the auctions have been some of our most successful fundraisers ever. This summer, we will list the highly sought-after Pacific Avenue signs thanks to the city’s generosity. Stay tuned on wildwoodhistoricalmuseum.com for details including streets, starting dates and bids!
Jackson Betz, a Board Member and longtime volunteer, is the author of new book Motels of Wildwood: Postwar to Present, which you can preorder on Amazon Smile (be sure to select us as your benefiting charity)! Pending a spring release date, the release party and signing is scheduled to take place at our museum April 30 (RSVP to the event on our Facebook to get important updates!). We are thrilled for Jackson, who has spent years writing this definitive compendium.
Mike Jasorka, author of graphic novel Wildwood Days of Doo Wop (available in our gift shop and at wildwoodhistoricalmuseum.com/shop) will soon release a comic on Castle Dracula. In our next newsletter we will announce the date and details on a release party for that, plus a panel discussion featuring several authors of Wildwoods books. You can, however, follow us at facebook.com/wwhistoricalsociety to find out sooner.
Our collection of artifacts is always growing. We recently received donations including a Groff's Uniform from Linda Smith Izett; Raging Waters T-Shirt and Bars of Wildwood t-shirt from Edward & Margarita Gordon; Policeman, John Gares' uniform jackets (officer who shot "Tuffy") from Susan Gares Farrell; Vintage box lot of postcards from Lynn Boyer's garage; Bar Rail from Shamrock Bar from Mike Budd; Pierre's Restaurant Sign from Charles Eyster; Sightseer Life Preserver and 2 child's Mae West jackets, brass nozzle WHS, Fire Hat from Kevin T. Murray Sr.; and so much more. Although there isn’t enough room to name all of them here, we thank ALL of our generous donors!
The museum is seeking new volunteers who are passionate about the Wildwoods’ history. If you have skills in organization, building care and maintenance, day-to-day cleaning, clerical work, customer service, or retail, or if you have interest in joining our digital preservation team, please send an email expressing your interest to wildwoodhistoricalsociety@hotmail.com.
The Museum is closed for the winter but will reopen and resume our spring hours in April. We look forward to seeing you then!
This is from our Winter-Spring 2022 newsletter. To subscribe, choose a membership at https://www.wildwoodhistoricalmuseum.com/become-a-member