Linked History: Toms River Community Theatre Built by Beachwood Man

Today we spotlight the work of Beachwood man Joseph Jerue, who was a builder, World War II veteran (along with both of his sons – one of whom, John, was lost during battle) and mayor of the borough.

Joseph Jerue in his official World War II service photo. This photo originally hung along those of other Beachwood servicemen in the Beachwood Circle Shop during the war.

In 1937, Mayor Jerue, then 41 years old, was named the builder of a prominent cultural site on Washington Street in downtown Toms River, the Community Theatre. To our benefit, its construction and featured amenities were detailed in an issue of Box Office Magazine in August of that year. Below you’ll find that article in full. We hope you enjoy this look back to an era and its architecture that one particularly prolific Beachwood resident helped make possible.

Reprinted material courtesy Ken Bacon and Box Office Magazine.

A MODERN THEATRE IN THE COLONIAL MANNER

Toms River Community Theatre as it appeared after its construction, in 1937. Today it has been renovated into shops and eateries.

A new modern theatre with a seating capacity of 1,000 persons was recently erected on Washington Street in Toms River, New Jersey. Definitely out of the ordinary in design and decor, the new edifice reflects the most contemporary expressions of architectural composition.

It is operated by the American Community Theatres, Inc.

Unlike most modern theatres, with their brilliantly lighted marquees and  electric signs over the entrance, this theatre with its simple Colonial front presents a decidedly novel appearance. Its architectural simplicity is pronounced.

The theatre is set back 30 feet from the sidewalk and the intervening portion of the property in front of the theatre is beautifully landscaped and circumvented by a flagged walk of unique design which serves as a delightful approach to and departure from the theatre.

The Washington Street facade is of red facebrick with white joints, in front of which is a beautifully designed Colonial portico done in wood and painted white.

The ticket booth is situated in the center of the entrance screen of doors. Lattice work above the entrance doors and the circular windows above the lattice work are constructed of wood and glass. All portico in wood and painted white, against the masterly executed red and white masonry background presents a simple but beautiful facade.

In the evening this facade is illuminated by flood lights which increase the beauty and interest of the architectural simplicity to a spectacular degree. The same simplicity of design is followed throughout the interior of the auditorium.

The sidewalls are of acoustical plaster integrally colored to a neutral shade. Subtly concealed vertical lighting troughs along the sidewalks are provided with varied colored lamps, lending a beautiful and variable color scheme to the interior.

The foyer, promenade, ladies’ cosmetic room and the men’s room are also of simple modern design, the beauty of which is greatly enhanced by exquisite lighting fixtures, carpets and furnishings.

The auditorium is provided with exceptionally wide chairs spaced to provide the maximum comfort for the patrons. The floors are carpeted with rich, heavy, exquisite carpet which helps to promote finer acoustical treatment for sound reception.

Particular attention was given to the gradient of the auditorium floor to insure every patron a perfect view of the screen, no matter where he is seated.

A new modern ventilating system was installed to assure the occupants of a healthful and comfortable atmosphere while they are being entertained. The projection room and sound equipment in this theatre are of the finest known to modern science.

The Toms River Community Theatre is a delightful example of the modern functionally furnished theatre. It was designed and erected under the supervision of Thomas W. Lamb, Inc., architects. The builder was Joseph E. Jerue, of Beachwood, N. J.

The Community Theatre's billing was found in this photograph taken in Disbrow's Market, on Beachwood Boulevard, one year after the above article was written - August 1938.

Snapshot of the Past: Nighttime Along the Shore, 1952

Today we have for you a painted nighttime shot of our waterfront, circa the 1940s/early 1950s. It was printed on a linen postcard (hence the natural raised horizontal lines) which was created by first photographing the site and later painting the black and white image for printing.

Here you can see depicted the original yacht clubhouse, built as one of the original New York Tribune sites for the enjoyment of early residents as part of an informal property owners’ Beachwood Yacht Club. A more official incarnation, named the Polyhue Yacht Club, was created and later incorporated by consensus of interested residents in 1920, who then formally took over operation of the Tribune clubhouse (by permission of the borough commissioners). During its early lifetime, many dances, card parties, shows and meetings were held for members of the yacht and borough women’s club. Polyhue Yacht Club meeting minutes state that the original building was extended farther out over the water with the addition of the back porch-like extension and dock in 1922.

Following the construction of the larger yacht clubhouse farther west along the shore in 1926 (today the site of the Beachwood Community Center, constructed on the grounds of this second clubhouse after it burned in December 1978) it was taken over by the borough and used as the concession stand for the beach. The Polyhue Yacht Club disbanded for much of the 1930s, likely due to lack of funding as a result of the Great Depression, and was later reincorporated as the Beachwood Yacht Club in 1939. Fire destroyed the original Tribune clubhouse in 1958. Its location today is roughly marked by the entrance of the boardwalk from the beach.

Beachwood, N.J. Nov. 25 – 52

Dear Mrs. Horne,

Sorry we could not stop on our way back, we stayed shopping in Chester too long and had to get out of Philly before dark and the rush hours,

Yours truly,
Gertrude (sp?) Johnson

(will see you some other time)

Addressed to:

Mrs. Charles Horne
7 Center Ave.,
Essington, Penn.

Beachwood, November 25th, 1952.

M. Eileen Heeley, Beachwood Citizen of the Year 1989

The next in our series of borough fire department related coverage for appreciation of their service (and of October being Fire Prevention Month), we present to you an article printed August 2, 1989 in the Asbury Park Press detailing the recognition of one borough resident’s quarter century of service to both the fire department and first aid squad.

Beachwood Woman Cited for Service Beyond the Call

by Kathie Reed
Press Staff Writer
Asbury Park Press
Wednesday, August 2, 1989

When M. Eileen Heeley moved to Beachwood with her family, she didn’t know many people.

So she joined the borough First Aid Squad and became involved with the Beachwood Fire Co. auxiliary.

Because of her more than two decades of service to both groups, Mrs. Heeley recently was named Beachwood’s Citizen of the Year.

“I still go to the building and help out, but I don’t run anymore with the ambulance,” said Mrs. Heeley, who became a member of the First Aid Squad in 1964. “I did run with the ambulance for about 24 years.”

The Heeleys moved to Beachwood from Emerson in 1962, and Mrs. Heeley, who had four school-age children at the time, took first aid courses with another woman in town.

After passing the course, she joined the squad.

“I was one of the main day people,” she said. “We had more calls than the night people because there was more going on” during the day.

She never tired of the work, and every day was different, she said.

“During the day, you could run from 10 to 15 (calls) or maybe just one,” she said.

“I remember one February, we had a storm, and I think every person in town slipped out their front door (and fell). I don’t think I got home that day at all.”

Summer was always the busiest season, however, with the influx of people and swimming and motor vehicle accidents, she said.

“When we started, we worked by telephone. They didn’t have pagers like they do today.”

“The sheriff would call one person and that person would call two more and you would go.”

Mrs. Heeley also was commended by Beachwood Police Chief John Moody a number of years ago for reviving a man using cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Although the man was initially saved, he died a few days later, she said.

Some other residents, including Genevieve Romer and Joseph Victoria, also have been members of the First Aid Squad about as long as she has, she said.

“I could never have done it without my children and my family helping me,” she said. “You have to have your family behind you.”

Her husband, Paul F., also was named Beachwood’s Man of the Year in 1980 and 1981. The title used to be Man of the Year or Woman of the Year before it was changed to Citizen of the Year.

He was honored for his service as an ambulance driver with the First Aid Squad, volunteer fireman, special policeman and civil defense volunteer. Today, he is an exempt fireman with the Beachwood Fire Co.

One of the Heeleys’ four children, Mark, also a Beachwood resident, is following in his parents’ footsteps as a volunteer with the Beachwood Fire Co.

Their other children are Paul H., Tuckerton; Martha R., Bloomfield; and Susan Kuriger, Mystic Islands.

Mrs. Heeley joined the Beachwood Fire Co. auxiliary about the same time she joined the First Aid Squad.

The auxiliary conducts fund-raisers for the fire company and helps out in other ways, such as providing coffee and food for firefighters at a fire if necessary.

“Years ago, they had a lot of big forest fires, and they would be out for hours and hours,” she said.

“When we came down here, Beachwood only went back about seven blocks. Now, there are about 15 or 16 blocks. It used to be like a forest back there.”

For the past 10 years, she also has been on the Local Assistance Board, which meets four or five times a year. She currently chairs the board.

Being named Citizen of the year is not the first honor Mrs. Heeley has received this year for her volunteer work.

In honor of Women’s History Month in March, she also was one of more than 30 women in the county to be named Hidden Heroines in recognition of their community involvement.

A month later, “Mrs. Heeley Day” was celebrated at Pine Beach School and one of the trees the students planted on Arbor Day was in her honor.

Mayor William T. Hornidge praised Mrs. Heeley’s dedication to others and the town, adding at least once a year she visits him and tells him about problems in the town.

“We’ll discuss things that she has seen or become aware of that could be a problem and almost always will have a recommendation for a cure,” he said.

One year, she brought to his attention that several streets in the borough were becoming unsafe.

“Upon inspection, in 99 cases out of 100, she was right,” he said, and the problems were corrected.

“You get a lot of people who complain about something,” he said. “She’s offering to help resolved potential problems, and that’s unique.”

“She’s that type of person. She cares.”

Mrs. Heeley passed away on August 11th, 2007, at the age of 83, after having retired to Whiting in 1993.

The above entry was compiled from items donated by the McCormick family.

Creation of the Beachwood Volunteer Fire Company

An early 1920s roster photo of the Beachwood Volunteer Fire Company, No. 1.

Today being the first day of October with its designation as ‘Fire Prevention Month’, we present the steps leading up to and conditions surrounding the creation of our borough volunteer fire company, as recorded by William Mill Butler in his 1924 publication, ‘Beachwood Who’s Who and Directory’ (which can currently be purchased in reprint at the Ocean County Historical Society, Toms River).

Check back throughout the month as we have scheduled a full slate of fire company related articles in recognition for their service as part of fire prevention month.

Nov. 1914 – New York Tribune ‘Beachwood’ land promotion advertised
May 1915 – Beachwood officially opens on Decoration (Memorial) Day weekend
July 20th 1916 – B.C. Mayo writes letter on behalf of himself and Tribune to residents suggesting they meet and “appoint committees to handle the following matters” including fire protection
July 29th 1916 – Residents organized the Beachwood Property Owners’ Association for the purposes outlined by Mayo
1917 (unspecified date) – “Frank J. Turner and M.R. DeMiege were re-appointed fire wardens for the year.” Butler did not mention their original appointment the previous year, but it can be safely understood that these men were the borough’s first fire wardens following the organization of the Property Owner’s Association the previous summer.
January 1917 – “The picturesque Japanese pagoda house erected on Capstan Avenue by Mrs. Wanda E. Lohr was completed.” [Mrs. Lohr would later factor in as a main fundraising organizer for the borough's first fire apparatus]

Wanda E. Lohr's Japanese Pagoda house, seen here in January 2009.

1917 (unspecified date) – “It was reported that M. Maximillian R. DeMiege, who spent the summer in Beachwood, was an agent of the French Government and had signed a $35,000,000 contract for munitions and supplies.” [Clearly related to World War I, which had been fought until this period among mostly European nations since late 1914, but to date no further information has been found regarding this odd report on one of our two first fire wardens]
1917 (unspecified date) – [Writing about popular ice skating on Windy Cove]: “During the evenings bonfires supplied light and heat and were also utilized by the skaters to roast marshmallows.”
March 5th 1917 – Beachwood Borough bill is introduced and passed by New Jersey state senate without a dissenting vote; is later passed by the House and signed by the governor.

Windy Cove, seen here frozen in Winter 2009.

April 6th 1917 – America enters the Great War, later to be known as World War I.
May 11th 1917 – A special election is held for the first borough officials; George D. Suydam is elected as a councilman for a two-year term.
May 14th 1917 – First borough council is organized; Mayor Joseph H. Senior appoints George D. Suydam chairman of the police and fire committee.
September 25th 1917 – Primaries for the fall election held and passed with no changes from May special election.
November 6th 1917 – All nominees appointed at the May special election and subsequently chosen in September primaries were elected with no changes.

Circa 1918.

January 4th 1918 – Mayor and council met for reorganization meeting; George D. Suydam elected council president.
March 1918 – “A forest fire during the first week in March touched the southwest end of Beachwood, and had the wind been favorable, it might have been serious. The lot-owners were urged to comply with the ordinance to clean up the underbrush.”
September 1918 – Borough switches to commission form of government due in part to “the difficulty in obtaining an adequate attendance of members of the borough council” as many held year-round homes and jobs in New York City.
Fall 1918 – “The work of cleaning out the underbrush in the lots of the built-up section of Beachwood progressed considerably.”
Fall 1918 – “Mrs. Wanda E. Lohr and A.D. Nickerson, of Beachwood, were among the judges of the Toms River mardi-gras for the benefit of its fire department.”
November 11th 1918 – World War I ends with the signing of the Armistice Treaty on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
1919 (unspecified date) – “A brush fire in the woods on the southeast part of the borough was put out by Mrs. F.W. Goodrich and two small boys.”
August 9th 1919 – “At the annual meeting of the Beachwood Property Owners’ Association… the movement for the purchase of a chemical fire engine, started by Mrs. Wanda E. Lohr, was warmly endorsed.”

Original Beachwood Borough Hall, located approximately where the Mayo Park Playground stands today.

August 15th 1919 – “The Beachwood “races,” a novel and amusing entertainment, in aid of the purchase of a chemical fire engine, drew a large attendance at Borough Hall. The idea was to cut long narrow pieces of tape into two strips and those that finished first in the various “heats” were the winners and ran again in the finals. Mrs. Wanda E. Lohr, chairman of the committee on fire protection, was the moving spirit, assisted by Mrs. A. Keller and Dr. J.H. Richards. Many beautiful prizes were secured by them in Toms River, among them being a gold watch donated by W.L. DeGraw. Cash donations were also received and the event proved a great success, between $300 and $400 being realized for the engine.”
1920 (unspecified date) – “Joseph A. Spears, having started to burn rubbish and accidentally set the brush afire, was fines $25.00 for failing to obtain a permit.”

Edwin D. Collins, circa 1924.

July 10th 1920 – “At the meeting of the Beachwood Property Owners’ Association, E.D. Collins, treasurer [later elected mayor], reported on hand: Fund for fire protection, $331.78.”
July 12th 1920 – B.C. Mayo dies in Asheville, North Carolina, of pulmonary tuberculosis
1920 (unspecified date) – The Beachwood Property Owners’ Association adopts a resolution “that the association should conduct a carnival and fair during 1921, for the purpose of raising the additional money necessary for the purchase of fire apparatus.”
June 20th 1920 – “A forest fire which threatened Beachwood [this] afternoon was said to have been set at Pinewald by a Jersey Central train. The fire in Beachwood burned around several houses on Beachwood Heights [their name for the area of town south of the railroad tracks, today existing as south of Route 9 from the Garden State Parkway to where it meets Atlantic City Boulevard in front of St. Paul's Lutheran Church] but thanks to a small army of fire-fighters, under the direction of Fire Warden Joseph E. Abbott, and the Toms River fire company, the conflagration was extinguished without loss of life or property.” [this may be the very first fire call answered by residents of Beachwood not yet organized as a borough fire company]
August 11th 1921 – “The leading event of the 1921 season was the Beachwood fair in aid of the fire apparatus fund. Borough hall [the original borough hall operated within an original building erected by the New York Tribune as 'The Auditorium', located approximately where the Mayo Park Playground stands today] was beautifully decorated with pine and oak and red, white and blue bunting and flags. Fifteen booths were arranged around the sides of the hall, with a five-foot aisle between the booths and the partition separating the main room from the veranda. The chairmen in charge of the booths were [extensive list of residents and their duties has been removed for space].

Circa 1924.

The fair was opened promptly at 4pm on Thursday, August 11th, by O. Frederic Rost, president of the Property Owners’ Association. Max DeRochemont was general chairman of the fair committee and Mrs. George D. Siffert [nee Thomas, she was the daughter Samuel Bath Thomas, founder of Thomas English Muffins] chairman of the booths in charge of the Woman’s Club.
The receipts from sales were $2,170.17; cash donations, $137; total, $2,307,17; expenses, $331.30, leaving a net result of $1,975.87.
Of this, the sum of $1,645.99 was paid for the handsome four-wheel chemical fire engine, which was on exhibition during the fair, and which had been previously ordered by vote of the board of trustees of the Property Owners’ Association and actually purchased by President Rost on his personal responsibility. After paying for the apparatus, there remained a cash balance of $329.88, according to a report made to the association on August 27th.

Labor Day 1921 – “One of the striking incidents of [this day] was the formal presentation of the fire ring system and the fire apparatus to the borough by the Property Owners’ Association. O. Frederick Rost, president of the latter, made the presentation speech, in front of the club house, and Mayor J.H. Senior responded for the borough. The suggestion for a volunteer fire department was made about this time.”

Original hand-pulled fire apparatus, 1921.

Beachwood Fire Apparatus at presentation, 1921. William Mill Butler can be seen standing at foreground-left, identifiable by white hair, glasses, crossed arms and speckled bowtie.

March 9th 1922 – “At the meeting of the trustees of the Property Owners’ Association, in New York, the treasurer reported funds on hand as follows” including $686.56 for the fire protection fund.
1922 (unspecified date) – “Subscriptions toward the engine fund of Toms River Fire Company, No. 2, were received from a number of Beachwood residents as the company aimed to protect property in the outlying districts, including Beachwood.”
May 9th 1922 – “At the first meeting of the season of the Property Owners’ Association, a communication was received from the new board of commissioners who were elected May 9th, suggesting that, instead of purchasing a separate hand-drawn fire apparatus for use in Beachwood Heights, a Ford truck chassis be placed at their disposal, and then the fire apparatus previously presented to the borough would be mounted upon the chassis at borough expense and made available for use in all parts of the borough.
It was also promised that a volunteer fire department with fifty or more members would at all times be ready to respond to fire alarms. The trustees of the Property Owners’ Association thereupon voted to purchase the chassis without delay and present it to the borough.

John J. Nolze, circa 1924.

June 23rd 1922 – “The Beachwood Volunteer Fire Company was organized [on this date], with the following officers: Chief, Mayor E.D. Collins; deputy chief, Capt. E.F. Parker; captain, Jacob J. Hoffman; foreman, John J. Nolze; secretary and treasurer, William B. Brown.”
July 7th, 1922 – “At a meeting of the fire company, Jacob J. Hoffman, John J. Nolze, and Chief of Police James McDonald, were appointed a committee to secure a Ford chassis upon which to mount the fire apparatus. Also to look for a site for a fire house. The chassis was soon promised by the Property Owners’ Association which originally donated the apparatus, which was hand drawn.”
July 14th 1922 – “At a meeting of Beachwood Volunteer Fire Company, No. 1, a total membership of 24 was reported. Also, $80 subscribed toward the company’s equipment.”
August 1st 1922 – “The subscriptions to the equipment fund of Volunteer Fire Company, No. 1, had reached $161 by [this date]. The amount required was $250.”
August 5th 1922 – “Despite threatening weather, Volunteer Fire Company, No. 1, had a fine dance at Borough Hall [this] Saturday evening. Property owners all agreed that fire protection was necessary and declared that those willing to give their time to fight fire should be commended and encouraged.”
September 2nd 1922 – Curiosity and amusement were had by attendees of the annual masquerade when a number of borough women arrived masked and dressed in homemade costumes as firemen, proclaiming to be “Volunteer Fire Department, No. 2″
Labor Day 1922 – “Beachwood Volunteer Fire Department, No. 1, held a parade at 2 o’clock on [this date], headed by Mayor Collins and Captain James McDonald and a number of police reserves. The firemen were dressed in their new uniforms of dark blue trousers, shirts and caps, with badges on the front of the latter. Then came the newly-equipped automobile fire truck, manned by volunteers, and followed by an automobile driven by Mrs. B.A. Levett, in which rode Mrs. Wanda E. Lohr, the original agitator for fire protection, and Mrs. Albertine Keller and Dr. and Mrs. J.H. Richards, who had all assisted in getting up the first entertainment for the benefit of the fire protection fund, out of which grew the fair and final presentation to the Borough of the fire fighters’ apparatus. Then, in the parade, came the wives of the firemen, dressed in white and wearing white cockade hats. The parade came around the plaza to the club house where President Rost, on behalf of the Property Owners’ Association, formally presented the Ford chassis, upon which the chemical engine was mounted, to the Borough, the engine, hand-drawn, having been presented the previous summer. Mayor Collins accepted the gift with appropriate remarks. In behalf of the committee on Labor Day games and sports, Mr. Rost also presented a siren to the fire company for the purpose of sounding alarms.”

Beachwood Fire Apparatus, remounted on Ford chassis, circa 1923.

Fall 1922 – “In order to purchase a site and erect a borough hall and fire house on Atlantic City Boulevard, near Beachwood Boulevard, the commissioners decided to issue temporary improvement bonds, to the amount of $6,500. Notice to bidders were issued November 29th.”
January 27th 1923 – “Bids for the new fire house and borough hall were invited on [this date].”
February 24th 1923 – “Residents of Beachwood, to the number of nearly 200, gathered in the Rose Room in the Hotel Astor of New York City, Saturday evening [on this date], to attend the annual dinner and dance of the Beachwood Property Owners’ Association.
Mayor E.D. Collins… delivered a brief but interesting annual message concerning the affairs of the borough. He mentioned the new Borough Hall which was in process of erection and which also contained ample quarters for the volunteer fire department.”

Beachwood Borough Hall/Firehouse, erected 1923.

March 18th 1923 – “The cornerstone of the new Borough Hall and Fire House was laid on Sunday afternoon [on this date], in the presence of over 100 people from Beachwood and Toms River. The Star Spangled Banner was played by the American Legion Orchestra of Toms River during the raising of the flag and Rev. R.S. Nichols of the same village offered prayer and delivered an address before the cornerstone was put in place. The stone bore the inscription, Borough Hall and Fire House. A copper box, donated by Frank Goodrich, was placed inside and contained a brief story of the Borough Government written by William Howard Jeffrey, the Borough Counsel, besides papers of various civic and social organizations which were read by Commissioner John J. Nolze, director of public property, before being sealed up.
Mayor [Edwin] D. Collins made an address in which he treated upon the high hopes and ambition of the present Borough Government for a greater Beachwood. Mrs. Wanda E. Lohr, as the original advocate of fire protection, was also called upon for a brief address. The new building is of concrete block with asbestos shingle roofing. It is 25 feet by 40 feet and two stories high. The ground floor is for fire house purposes and the upper floor for the Borough Hall and accommodation of the Borough officials.”

Disbrow’s Market, 1938 – Enhanced View

Due to a high number of inquiries and requests, we’ve taken the previously posted image of Disbrow’s Market interior from 1938, enhanced its visual quality and blown up details of it for better view.

In addition, you’ll find a story on the market as told by longtime resident Geoff Brown.

Disbrow's Market, 1938. George Disbrow (l) and Fred Combi.

George Disbrow (l) and Fred Combi stand behind the counter at Disbrow's Market, sometime after 1:30pm in August 1938.

The market scale sits behind loaves of white and rye bread while packs of Disbrow's labeled coffee sit on the meat counter nearby.

The deli case contains your everyday deli meats and cheeses, along with prepared orders as lamb stew.

A Heinz display offers products "For the Majesty - Your Baby".

An ad for Miracle Whip leans against the wall above the store.

An assortment of canned goods sits on the deli counter beneath the wall clock.

The billing at the Toms River Community Theatre includes "Professor Beware", "Sky Giant" and "Gangs of New York", all released in the late spring and summer of 1938. The Community Theater building can be found across Toms River Town Hall on Washington Street; today it houses an assortment of businesses. (Special thanks to Ocean County Library's Elizabeth Cronin for pointing out the month - August - in tiny detail on this billing)

Disbrow's Market, as seen nine years later in February 1947. Today it sits vacant waiting for a new life.

From Geoff Brown:

“I was born in 1944, so it was well before my time. However, I do remember the meat case at the back of the store and the other walls with shelves almost to the high ceiling. It was a marvel to see the Gibsons pluck cans and boxes with a long pole “grabber” and catch whatever it was as they filled customer’s orders. My mother wrote out her “weekly order” for me to bring up to Disbrow’s every Thursday. The youngest Gibson brother would deliver it some time before noon in a black Chevy panel sedan (station wagon without side rear windows). “Disbrow’s Market Beachwood N.J.” was painted on each side. It was before noon because they knew we went to the beach every day at 1 o’clock.

“I was also sent to Disbrow’s for items such as bread between orders. Milk, eggs, juice, etc. was delivered by Bert Davis from Home Town Dairy. We didn’t have a washing maching at the Beachwood house, so once a week the laundry was picked up by Beachwood Laundry & Cleaners (corner Brigantine & Atlantic City Blvd.) and brought back clean and folded. They left it on the back porch with the bill.

“One more thing. Before there was mail delivery, we’d wait for the train whistle in the morning (time ?) and know it was time to walk to the Post Office / Train Depot to pick up our mail.”

New York Tribune – Original Subscription/Lot Promotion Booklet – Part Three of Three

A bit delayed, but no worse for the wear, here’s the final section of the original New York Tribune Subscription Lot Promotion booklet that started it all.

New York Tribune – Original Subscription/Lot Promotion Booklet – Part One of Three

As promised, here’s the first section of the original New York Tribune Subscription/Lot Promotion booklet that built our borough. The second part will be published this Sunday.

New York Tribune – Original Subscription/Lot Promotion Booklet

This week, courtesy its much appreciated contribution by Harriet Gabel and her daughter, Melissa Morse, the Beachwood Historical Alliance will be posting the original New York Tribune Beachwood Subscription/Lot Promotion booklet in its entirety.

This booklet, published in November 1914 by B. C. Mayo as the head of the New York Tribune Promotion Department, can be seen as the source document for how Beachwood itself came to be.

Check back Wednesday for the first installment of three.

Original New York Tribune Building, demolished in 1955 to allow for the expanded automobile entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Snapshots of the Past: Beachwood Clubhouse

Today we’ll take a quick look at the original Beachwood Clubhouse, built by the New York Tribune to benefit our borough’s earliest residents. The exterior postcard shot is courtesy longtime seasonal resident Geoffrey Brown, and the interior postcard courtesy postcard dealer Kari Garell. 

From Mr. Brown: “The photo was taken from the island in the middle of Club House Road near the end of Lookout around 1920 (Lookout went through to Club House until about 1960). The building burned before WWII. It was an outstanding example of Arts & Crafts Movement rustic architecture.” 

The site of the clubhouse today, a parking lot with stairs leading down to the water, sits directly across from the Mayo Park Playground on the bluff overlooking Windy Cove. It offers one of the best views in the borough, and includes a couple of picnic tables nearby. The closed end of Lookout Street allows for safer pedestrian access between the two sides of Mayo Park, and was later partially redeveloped into a parking lot.

We Remember – Memorial Day 2009

The Beachwood Historical Alliance wishes to honor our past and present residents and all others who serve and have served our country and given the ultimate sacrifice while fighting to keep our country free.

As such, we have posted below a photo essay, including photos of borough servicemen from World War II that once hung proudly in the Beachwood Circle Shop (currently Carpet Land), a 1976 article on the shop and its importance to these men and our borough that originally ran in the Asbury Park Press, and a series depicting monuments from Neilson Park honoring local and national American servicemen from all conflicts.

Beachwood Circle Shop Evokes Poignant Memories

By Ray Ollwether – Press Staff Writer

BEACHWOOD – The soda fountain and juke box are long gone, and the circle in the roadway was removed 20 years ago.
But a set of yellowed photographs, recently found in a basement, has aroused nostalgia for the days when the Beachwood Circle Shop was the favorite gathering place for teen-agers in central Ocean County.
The shop is only a memory now, replaced by a carpet store at the intersection of Beachwood Boulevard and Route 9.

BEFORE World War II, when the small borough had less than a fifth of its present 5,100 population, that intersection was the hub of town.
The Circle Shop was the hangout for young people, and those who remember it say there is nothing like it today.
“The kids just had fun, without getting into any trouble,” says Albert Erath of Berkeley Township, whose family owned the building in which the Circle Shop was situated.
There was a soda fountain with 10 stools, several booths, nickel pinball machine, and – through a large archway – a dance floor with a jukebox that played jitterbug tunes.

“THERE were very few cars, and not much money,” Erath says of those days. “The only movie theaters were in Toms River, Lakewood and Seaside, and really there was nowhere else to go.”
“Where else could you spend an evening for a quarter?” adds Tom Gibson, who works as a butcher across the street from the former sweet shop.
“The shop was open till 11, which was when most kids had to be home,” Gibson said. “The shop sold newspapers and ice cream, but their biggest business was the kids.”

THOSE who remember the Circle Shop agree on the importance of its most well-liked managers, the late Florence and Steve Demor. The couple ran the shop from the early 30’s until the late 40’s when things began to change.
“Steve was their adviser, and would help them with their homework,” says Mrs. Salena Lundin, who still lives in Beachwood.
Mrs. Lundin’s daughter, Jean, worked behind the fountain, and Mrs. Lundin says “all the kids would pitch in and help down there, even when they wouldn’t work for their parents at home.”
“I never worried about my kids going down to the Circle Shop,” Mrs. Lundin said, adding that many local marriages were rooted in romances that began over a soda.

WHILE many of the teen-agers did not have their own cars, several drove old jalopies and the shop would draw from as far as Lakewood, Seaside and Lacey Township.
“There was only one high school for all those towns, and all the kids knew each other,” said Mrs. Lundin’s husband Arthur. “And there was no television then – all they had was radio.”
Most of the regular customers enlisted to fight in World War II, and as they left they gave their smiling picture in uniform to the Demors.
Eventually 90 photos were placed in frames on the wall behind the soda fountain. Among those pictures, as the months of the war passed, were Steve Demor and Mayor Joseph Jerue.
The shop kept going during the war, but afterwards many of the young men did not return to Beachwood. The photos were retired to the basement, and later placed in a garage when the building was sold.

BUT Joe Fuccile, a barber who has worked for 35 years on the corner across from the Circle Shop, remembered the photos and the boys, who used to hang around the shop and sweep up while waiting for Sunday afternoon softball games.
Erath found the photos, and Fuccile borrowed them for display in his shop windows to try to determine what happened to all those smiling men as they grew older.

Danny Gibson, Joe Fuccile, and Tommy Gibson examine one of the found photo boards in front of the Circle Shop Building, August 1976.

“It was a different character of children then,” says Fuccile. “They always helped one another, and most of them were very good boys.”
“But today kids have money and they drive around, and a sweet shop isn’t good enough for them,” he says. “I think kids today are getting too much – everything is more available. But I guess that’s progress.”
JOE the barber thinks the days of the sweet shop are over.
But Mrs. Ruth Perry, who helped run the Sweet Shop during the war, isn’t so sure.
“If your rules are relaxed enough to invite the kids and strict enough to see the kids don’t override you, there will be a mutual concern,” she says.
“With the right people, something like the Circle Shop might very well work again.”

Beachwood Circle Shop building, long a popular hangout of original residents and servicemen, now under threat of demolition, along with multiple original borough buildings behind it, by the Rite Aid Corporation.

We invite any borough servicemen or their families of any conflict or general service to our country to forward photos and stories of their or their loved one’s experiences to our main email address, beachwoodhistoricalalliance@gmail.com. As with all other borough history-related items, we are capable of digitizing and quickly returning any items lent to us.

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The Beachwood Historical Alliance will have a table at the borough’s Memorial Day Picnic, scheduled from 11am to 4pm this Monday May 25th at Mayo Park.

Come out for a wide array of borough history handouts, including a Memorial Day 2009 exclusive packet of original New York Tribune newspaper articles from Beachwood’s official opening weekend – Memorial Day, 1915. This is not available online or anywhere short of a Manhattan research library. Own a piece of Beachwood’s past. Quantities are slightly limited so come out early to get yours.

We will also be selling copies of William Mill Butler’s “Beachwood Directory and Who’s Who 1924″, a hardcover publication containing many original photographs and info on the borough’s first ten years, for a special Memorial Day discount.