Bay Avenue Nightlife Revival?

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012

Somers Point Nightlife Revival?

Officials say Somers Point's nightlife is riding on the Route 52 causeway
By ROB SPAHR Staff Writer | Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 1:00 am

http://m.pressofatlanticcity.com/mobile/article_2d517960-4700-11e1-b863-0019bb2963f4.html

Somers Point’s Bay Avenue once served as the backdrop for major motion pictures, such as the cult classic “Eddie and the Cruisers,” and as the venue for live music albums such as Chubby Checker’s “In Person.”

And, like a summer breeze, the music of major acts used to drift down the one-mile waterfront strip, which in its glory days of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s was a premier destination for nights of dancing and drinking.

Gone are those days. The iconic nightclubs have closed or reformatted, and the avenue is now quiet.

City officials expect the upcoming completion of the $400 million Route 52 causeway project will bring an economic resurgence in Somers Point. Some, however, say it will take more than that to make Bay Avenue a viable destination again.

“Without a doubt the bridge being done will help us, and will give us a panoramic view into Somers Point that will really beautify that area and make it look great,” Mayor Jack Glasser said. “But things have changed since the heavy rock and roll days of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. People want a more family-oriented environment, with good places to eat and things to do....That’s what Bay Avenue will have to be.”

Bay Avenue is a nationally recognized historic district that dates to the 1700s, but the more modern history of the avenue is what people most often discuss.

“As automobiles became more prevalent and it became easier for people to drive to Ocean City, especially in the ’50s and ’60s, that’s when the nightlife on Bay Avenue really started to mushroom,” said Sally Hastings, president of the Somers Point Historical Society. “It became a mecca, because Somers Point was the wet town (Ocean City was and is dry) and it offered the kind of music that was very popular at that time.”

“Where’s the action? … Where’s the fun? — At the ‘Point,’” read the back of Chubby Checker’s 1963 album.

“If you were looking to have a good time, Bay Avenue was ‘the’ place, this and Wildwood,” said Pat Pierson, who has owned and operated Bayshores II Restaurant on Bay Avenue since 1987. “It was where the excitement was.”

Atlantic City casinos brought a change and by the mid 1980s, the excitement on Bay Avenue was waning, although the avenue would still remain popular as a place to party.

“(Casinos) ... offered a different kind of entertainment that people were gravitating to,” Hastings said. “That’s when businesses here started to struggle and close.”

Today?

“Bay Avenue used to be like going to a playoff game at the Meadowlands,” Pierson said “Now it’s like going to a high school game.”

Even though Bay Avenue is clearly different than it was during its heyday, some, such as Lou DeScioli, the director of the city’s Economic Development Committee argue it’s still vibrant.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” DeScioli said. “Some people think that it would be good to have that New Orleans Mardi Gras-style atmosphere here again. But I personally think that the Bay Avenue of today is better off, in terms of the economic vitality of the city.”

DeScioli said the expansion of Shore Medical Center (the former Shore Memorial Hospital), the opening of multiple fine-dining restaurants and the construction of more, and better-looking housing have contributed to better residential and economic climates.

Most recent discussions on the avenue have been about its potential.

“Picture that you’re coming from Ocean City and you’re on the crest of the new bridge ... looking down in this bayfront community with a Key West-style boardwalk that follows the bulkhead along all those business and is filled with bikes, baby carriages and people meandering up and down,” said Greg Sykora, the vice chairman of the city’s Planning Board.

Sykora was referring to one of the concepts of the city’s new Vision Plan. The plan recommends the construction of a long pier with boat slips near the public beach and sailable replica of the USS Intrepid to serve as a tourist attraction. The changing of ordinances — such as those controlling noise and outdoor dining — to make Bay Avenue more business friendly were also suggested.

“And once that area is dredged, it will be a place where transient boaters can come to eat in our restaurants and enjoy our bayfront. And there will be a water taxi that goes back and forth to Ocean City,” Sykora said.

That vision — created during about a year of surveying Somers Point residents, business owners and visitors — may be unrealistic.

“I really think that the theater is more important to Somers Point than the bridge,” Hastings said. “The theater will have the ability to bring in 250 people every night there is a show. So while the bridge will make it easier to get to and from Ocean City, the theater will bring them here for a longer period of time.”

Jim Dalfonso, the chairman of the Theater Collaborative of South Jersey, which is renovating the Gateway Theater, said he was a little surprised by how much hope is resting on the Gateway, but said the theater can “absolutely” live up to it, as long as enough money can be raised to complete its renovation.

“Even on a night when we have a light house, there will be 200 people here and a percentage of those people will be going out to eat or drink afterwards,” said Dalfonso, of Upper Township, adding the renovation could be completed in nine months if enough funding is raised.

The currently gutted theater’s lobby and second-floor lighting room were recently framed out and the floor was replaced. And Dalfonso said he expects work on the ceiling trusses and roof to be completed by the spring, so work can then move toward rehabilitating the building’s exterior.

And once completed, DeScioli said, the theater offers the best short-term opportunity to increase commerce on Bay Avenue.

“One of the things that we, as a community, can do if we want to do something to immediately improve that district is support the revival of the Gateway,” he said.

But of everything about Bay Avenue’s history, some say the thrill of simply going there could be the hardest to revive.

“The music is gone forever,” Pierson said. “I just hope they can make Bay Avenue sing again.”

Contact Robert Spahr:
609-272-7147
RSpahr@pressofac.com

Fitzpatrick's Deli Buys JR's Saloon?

Fitzpatrick's to JR's?

Word on the street in Somers Point is the venerable Fitzpatrick's Deli is buying JR's Saloon, formerly Sullivan's Tavern on Route #9 in Somers Point.

As one of the long established family owned neighborhood taverns in Somers Point, Johnny Sullivan's was popular with the locals, and had a juke box, regulation shuffleboard, dart board and pool table, where weekly leagues would meet to compete.

With cheap draft beer and an inexpensive grill where you could get a quick hamburger or cheesesteak, Sullivans at one time was in the same league as Gregory's, Charlie's, D'Orios and the Anchorage, as long established family owned businesses. When the others upgraded their kitchens and remodeled, Sullivan's stayed the same.

It survived pretty much unchanged into the new century until Charlie Ross, Jr., the local garage owner purchased it with the intention of selling the liquor license to Applebees. But then Applebees purchased the Bubba Mac Shack license from Randy Scarborough, and left Ross with Sullivans. So instead of expanding his garage, he remodeled Sullys, making it a brass and glass saloon with an expanded kitchen and featured live music on occasion. He also changed the name from Sullivan's to JR's.

FitzPatrick's Jewish Deli has been a Somers Point institution for decades, first down Route 9 (New Road) towards Linwood near Bethel Road when it was owned by Brian Fitzpatrick and his father. Brian's Jewish wife added the ethnic fair to the deli, though it wasn't strictly kosher.

Then Bill Hurst bought the place in 1989 and moved to the end of the Groveland Center strip of shops and expanded the take-out with eat-in counter and booths.

Now, with JR's, it is not yet known if they are going to move across the road and down the street or keep both places running, or whether the liquor license is going to go with the location.

There's a possibility that the liquor license will be sold to the Point Diner, another venerable Somers Point institution that has been looking to expand and do something different now that the circle is gone.

Stay Tuned for more updates on this story.

The Mayor & the Dictator - John McCann, Jr. & Manuel Noriega

The Mayor & the Dictator – John McCann, Jr. & Manuel Noriega

The dictator is Manuel Noriega, the Panamanian strongman who was ousted by an American invasion and spent time in an American prison before being sent to France and home to stand trial for crimes committed there.

As his repatriation home brought Noriega back into the news, it also reminded me of his connection with former Somers Point, New Jersey mayor John McCann, Jr.

The son of John McCann, Sr., a bootlegger who became a legitimate North Philadelphia beer baron after prohibition, at the end of World War II McCann purchased the historic Bay Shores nightclub in Somers Point with his partner McClain, a builder who also owned the General Wayne Inn.

In tight competition with Tony Marts across Bay Avenue, Bay Shores had eight bars and two stages where bands performed continuously, until 2 am, when they had to close by municipal ordinance, so McCann and McLain built the Dunes nightclub out in on Longport Blvd. in Egg Harbor Twp., which could stay open all night and was promoted as “Dunes ‘Til Dawn.”

McCann’s son John Jr., helped manage Bay Shores and the Dunes, and with the support of the Somers Point Beverage Association, was elected Mayor of the strong Republican community.

Although he moved to Pittsburgh for business purposes, he commuted to Somers Point council meeting by helicopter and private plane until he resigned and relocated permanently.

Although his daughters were enrolled in a school and his wife was active in local civic and social circles, the McCanns suddenly disappeared, vacated their home in an exclusive neighborhood, and vanished.

Then it was discovered why, as McCann was being investigated for his role in a multi-million dollar drug smuggling operation that flew tons of cocaine to the United States from Columbia. When one of the planes crashed in Mexico, McCann knew his time was up and he and his family went into hiding.

A local Somers Point man said he ran into McCann in Canada, where he was stocking shelves at a Seven Eleven style store and eventually McCann was arrested crossing the border.

Tried and convicted with one of his in-laws, McCann admitted that he imported tons of cocaine from Columbia to the United States through Panama, where his planes stopped for fuel.

When called before a Congressional Hearing McCann testified that he personally met with Noriega on more than one occasion, including the time he gave him a suitcase with $250,000 in cash in order to allow his planes to refuel without having drug sniffing dogs inspect them.

Another time he visited Noriega in his office and Noriega showed McCann his – McCann’s CIA file, and the fact that McCann was the conservative mayor of a small town in New Jersey impressed Noriega.

McCann said he later learned that some of his pilots were also moonlighting for the CIA in running guns and drugs for the Contras in Nicaragua.

While he was from Somers Point, most of McCann’s drugs went to Detroit, where his brother-in-law supervised the distribution.

As a reporter covering Somers Point at the time I received a copy of McCann’s Congressional testimony and wrote a series of stories about his disappearance from Pittsburgh, surfacing in Canada, arrest, trial and Congressional testimony.

McCann took the rap for his wife, who later married his lawyer, and McCann died of cancer while serving time in a federal prison. We had exchanged letters and I attended a memorial service that was held for him at the balcony of the Waterfront, which had been built on the location of the former Bay Shores.

When it came time to write the history of Somers Point however, the story of McCann, as well as the story of another mayor, George Roberts, who also did time, were both left out of the book.

So now I’m telling the story, so it’s on the record.

Mike Pedicin, Jr. Album Release Party Friday

Mike Pedicin, Jr. New CD Release Party for "Ballads - Searching for Peace"

Friday, December 2, 2011
Sandi Point Coastal Bistro
908 Shore Road, Somers Point, NJ

New on Jazz Hut Records
Michael Pedicin Ballads – Searching for Peace
CD Release Party – Friday Dec. 2, 2011 8:00 pm

Sandi Point Coastal Bistro

Michael Pedicin tenor saxophone
Jim Ridl piano
John Valentino guitar
Andy Lalasis bass
Bob Shomo drums

Now available through Amazon.com
CDBaby.com
iTunes and
www.michaelpedicin.com

“The cure for everything is saltwater...sweat, tears or the sea.” – Isak Dineson

www.sandipoint.com
Text Sandi 411247 To Receive discounts and event information

From the ocean to your plate – same day.
Celebrate your special occasion – private parties, bridal parties, birthdays, anniversaries or any special occasion. 3 banquet rooms (10-150) Holiday Gift Cards Available
Attitude Adjustment 4pm – 6:3pm Drink specials $5 martinis $5 bar appetizers

Sunday - Dinner at Dusk – Sunday – Thursday – All Night Dinner for 2 - $26
Sunday – Prime Rib Dinner – 3 courses for $15.95 (From 2pm)
Monday - Quizzo w/ DJ Shakedown 7pm
Tuesday - Two Sliders for $1
Fridays – Yvonne & Jack – Live music at the bar.
Saturday – Gabe Staino & Chris Rabb Film Fundraiser for “Borrowed Happiness.”
Saturday - The Frigedaires (7pm-10pm)
Saturdays - Lew London & Bob Mower Live music at the Bar (8pm-11pm)

Sunday Dec. 18- Gina Roche CD Release Party and Performance (“Thankfully”)

MIKE PEDICIN, JR. - Local Sax Legend and Son of One

Local jazz enthusiast and saxophone player Mike Pedicin, Jr. released his tenth recording, “Searching for Peace,” on October 18 and plans on performing a number of album release parties to promote it, including one this Friday, Dec. 2 at Sandi Point (Formerly Macs) in Somers Point.

As a child Pedicin played a toy saxophone on the stage at Bay Shores in Somers Point at the feet of his father Mike Pedicin, Sr., also a sax player whose hit song, “Shake A Hand” made No. 1 on the pop charts in 1957.

"I idolized my dad," Pedicin says. "He allowed me the freedom to learn about music, the saxophone, and life itself -- the way I needed to learn it."

While Pedicin, Sr. played the alto sax, preferred rock & roll and stayed close to home, Mike Jr. liked the tenor saxophone, played jazz and enjoyed traveling the world on tour with the best bands including those led by Maynard Ferguson, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Dave Brubeck and Pat Martino.

When Pedicin Jr. was 13 he says he had heard saxophonist Willis "Gator Tail" Jackson in person and Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley on record, and just knew he wanted to spend his life playing saxophone. By the time he was 20 Pedicin began playing with the horn section at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios, working for Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell, playing on recording sessions with such artists as the Spinners and Lou Rawls.

Pedicin made his first album, “Michael Pedicin Jr.” (on Philadelphia International records) in 1980, which included the surprise hit "You,” and then went on tour with Dave “Take Five” Brubeck. After getting tired of traveling he became a performing-executive in Atlantic City casinos, hiring orchestras and playing with headliners like Frank Sinatra.

More recently Pedicin has been an integral part of the Somers Point Jazz Society and has played a weekly Monday night gig in the loft bar at Sandi Point (formerly Mac’s), where he will celebrate his new album with a CD release part on December 2nd.

In the meantime, Pedicin also earned a Ph.D in psychology, opened a practice that specializes in helping creative people, and formed the Brubeck Project (which also released a debut CD on Jazz Hut). Pedicin is also an Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of Jazz Studies at the Richard Stockton College.

In his new role as an educator Pedicin is taking jazz out of the nightclubs and bars, and even out of the schools, as he started teaching a series of jazz history lectures at the Ocean City Free Public Library (1735 Simpson Ave., Ocean City. 609-399-2434), every Wednesday (from 7 pm) through November 9th.

So the release of his new album is just one of a number of things that Pedicin has going on, but it is an important new milestone in a very creative career.

In “Searching for Peace” Pedicin releases seven songs, some standard ballads, a couple classics and a few originals. Among the ballads are “You Don’t Know What Love Is” and a 1962 ballad by John Coltrane. “From the time Train did Ballads, I’ve always wanted to do a ballads album, and I finally did it,” said Pedicin. “There is nothing quite inspiring and satisfying for me as playing a beautiful ballad.” Now we too can be inspired.

Playing along with guitarist John Valentino, pianists Dean Schneider & Barry Miles, bassist Andy Lalasis, local drummer Bob Shomo, they also do Wayne Shorter's "Virgo," McCoy Tyner's "Search for Peace" and Hank Mobley's "Home at Last." Two originals by John Valentino, "Blame It on My Heart" and "Few Moments" and Pedicin’s own "Tell Me" round out the new album.

Pedicin and his band will be playing several CD release shows this fall, with a Friday, December 2rd party at Sandi Point and the following night at Chris' Jazz Cafe, Philadelphia, with others to be announced, and we can expect more.

"I will never put my saxophone down until I can't play anymore," Pedicin says.

“My advice to any young musician, any young person, whatever it is you have a passion for, work hard at it, get good at it and dreams will come alive.”

Charles Carney

Jersey Shore Loses Striped Bass Record

Greg Myerson with his new world record 81 pound 14 ounce striped bass.


It's Official - Jersey Shore Loses Striped Bass Record to Connecticut

- By William Kelly

Jersey Shore Loses Striped Bass Record to Connecticut - By William Kelly

After holding the striped bass world record for over a half-century, Jersey Shore fishermen have reluctantly relinquished the title to a Connecticut fisherman who is just as passionate about the sport.

Not your typical weekend fishermen who enjoy being out in the sun and on the water with their kids and a line in the water, striper fishermen are a dedicated lot and serious about catching one of the most prized and delicious fish that’s out there.

At first the former record holder, Albert McReynolds of Atlantic City was incredulous, and didn’t believe it was true.

Having held the record for 29 years, McReynolds knew it was a difficult task, but also knew that there were bigger stripers out there. And after being informed of the details he called Greg Myerson and offered his congratulations.

Myerson, a six foot two, 43 year old, 275 pound former college linebacker and dedicated striper fisherman, caught his monster 81 pound 14 ounce striped bass at his favorite fishing hole near Long Island Sound on Thursday night August 4.

He was fishing from his custom built 17 foot wood skiff with his partner Matt Farina, and like McReynolds, they continued to fish some more after landing the record.

Myerson, a union electrician who lives in North Branford, Connecticut, keeps his boat at Pier 76 Marina, north of the Singing Bridge over the Patchogue River in Westbrook. He fishes every night he can, usually at his favorite spot, a fishing hole with big underwater rocks, best at slack tide at the high water mark when the moon is high and there’s a wind.

Using a Quantum Cabo reel and a short, stout St. Croix six-and-a-half foot rod, Myerson used a three-way swivel rig with a big eel for bait. As they were drifting, Myerson said he first felt a powerful strike, but lost half the eel, so they began to drift again. "I expected the fish would be still there, especially if it was hungry,” he said. Then it struck again and ran the reel. “Crashing the surface, its dorsal fin was so big it looked like Batman's cape.”

As he was fighting the fish, Meyers slipped on some deck eel slime and bruised his ribs on the side of the boat, but he eventually boarded it with a net held by Farina, who also caught a 48 pound striper that night.

A broken leader in the fish’s mouth indicated that another unlucky angler had almost snagged the record but the fish got away.

Since the stripers were running they kept fishing for awhile, and then put the fish on ice and went to a local seafood shack for a meal and to celebrate. Having weighted the fish at 82 pounds aboard the boat, he knew he had a big one and called ahead to Jack’s Shoreline Bait & Tackle shop in Westbrook to let them know he was coming. There was a crowd on hand by the time he got there as the news quickly spread by way of cell phones and twitters.

While Myerson was confident he had the new record, before it could be officially recognized it had to be certified by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) a long and detailed process much like a legal court case. “Approval of a record is a rigorous process," said Jack Vitek, International Game Fish Association (IGFA) records coordinator. The appropriate documents must be completed, and the fishing line and leader used to catch the fish must be tested, as well as the scale on which the weight was certified. Only then can it be certified 60 days from the time it was caught.

Myerson used 80 pound test, so McReynolds still holds the record for 20 pound test for his 78 pound 8 ounce striper caught off the Atlantic City jetty during a storm on September 21, 1982. McReynolds used a Penn 710 reel, a Rebel black back 5 1/2 inch silver minnow lure on green Ande 20 pound test line.

Two days after Myerson's catch, McReynolds said that he was considering legal action for fraud.” But after checking out the details the 64-year-old McReynolds later said that “Myerson deserves the honor of the new world record because Myerson is a real fisherman who earned it.”

Myerson said that he’s talked to McReynolds on the phone about five times. "He's been treating me with nothing but respect. He told me to lay low for a couple of days. Just enjoy it. He probably is the only person who knows what I was going through.” McReynolds also advised Myerson not to worry about what everybody says. It only matters what the IGFA says and they’ve issued their ruling.

On Wednesday, October 19, the IGFA committee officially certified the new catch – the record now stands at 81 pounds 14 ounces, and the title moves from McReynolds to Myerson and from the Jersey Shore to Connecticut.

Maury Upperman's former world record striped bass "Big Ben" at the wake at Gregorys.

Prior to McReyolds, a previous world record 62 pound 9 ounce striped bass was caught off Island Beach State Park by Maury Upperman of Margate, NJ. Upperman was aboard the boat Rascal, and nicknamed his fish “Big Ben” after the brand name of the bucktail lure that Upperman made. Elmer Gregory, who was also on the Rascal at the time, held a wake for “Big Ben” at Gregory’s bar in Somers Point, where the mount hung above the dining room doors for many years.

Upperman’s records was also broken by others, including Tony Stezko, a surf fisherman who caught a 73 pound striper off the Cape Cod beach in 1981.

When informed of the official IFGA ruling McReynolds said "Good for him. Now people in Connecticut have something to shout about."

[William Kelly can be reached at billkelly3@gmail.com]

Atlantic City Road Somers Point

Looking down Atlantic City Road - Somers Point, NJ (now Shore Road)