By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
With summer becoming a distant memory with each passing day it’s time to take a trip back in time with the Bradley Beach Historical Society’s Rock ’n Remember Porch Tour.
The tour, a fundraiser and membership drive, is Sat., Sept. 15 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and will include three porches: 312 Evergreen Ave.; 309 Ocean Ave. and 212 Brinley Ave. where exhibits will be on display and professional storytellers will tell tales about old Bradley Beach.
Three themes will be told: Salty and Sandy Tales from the Lifeguard Stand; Famous and Infamous Bradley Beach Personalities and Life at the LaReine, Queen of the Bradley Hotels.
Admission to the event is $20 and wristbands will be sold at several local businesses including the Beach Cinema, Paws & Anchor, Present, Hair Love Salon, Stockroom Modern General Store and Stockroom Men’s Clothing Store.
Light refreshments will be provided.
The BBHS has not been active in recent years but a group of residents are working to revive the organization and ignite interest in the history of the borough.
The new president, Paul Neshamkin, who has spent summers in Bradley Beach for the last 15 years, is also a board member of the Hoboken Historical Museum where he has also owned a home for 30 years.
The Hoboken Museum, he said, has a $400,000 budget and puts out publications on a regular basis. He hopes to bring his expertise to the BBHS. He was named president of he BBHS in June but has wasted no time getting the organization, which now has 25 members, moving in the right direction. His goal, he says, is to have 50 members by the end of 2018.
Another goal is to catalogue the items already in the BBHS museum, which has been closed for a year.
“We have a new board with much experience and multiple talents and are ready to remake what has been a hidden treasure in Bradley Beach as an active and valuable part of our community,” he said.
The society has obtained non profit status from the state of New Jersey and is currently in the process of obtaining federal status from the Internal Revenue Service.
Neshamkin is currently perusing the large collection of items now in the museum and networking with other historical societies including Monmouth County and surrounding towns.
Jayne Mackta is the vice president of the BBHS, Barbara Carlucci is secretary and Borough Historian Shirley Ayres is treasurer.
The organization’s next event will be a dinner where attendees will dress in clothing from the ‘30s, ‘40s and ’50s. Participants will meet at a specific location and promenade to Marandola’s on Main Street for dinner.
Neshamkin, who’s past includes documentary film making and work on Wall Street and the software industry, said he decided to buy a home in Bradley Beach because of the town’s diverse history and current population.
“I just fell in love with it, ” he said. “I loved the multi-cultural aspect, it was so welcoming for everybody.”
The BBHS meets the second Monday of every month at the Biase Center on Main Street. All are welcome.
Contact info@bbhistory.org for information.
