September 4: The day to remember Richard Somers of Somers Point
On Sept. 4, 1804, Richard Somers died in Tripoli, North Africa. He was 5,000 miles away from his home in Somers Point, N.J. He is still remembered here. There is a park named for him on Shore Road next to the library. It contains a statue of him and a monument with...
Rita Jenrette: The infamous Playboy model who covered the Miss America Pageant
In 1981 a political researcher named Rita Jenrette made big news. For several years prior, Rita Carpenter – her maiden name – had been gradually making a name for herself in political circles as director of research for the Texas Republican Party, as an aide to Sens....
The origin of the silver three-cent coin
The late 1840s and early 1850s saw problems developing in our system of coinage, which had been created under the premise that a coin had its value in the metal it contained. That is, a silver dollar coin contained one dollars’ worth of silver and a five-dollar gold...
The first Miss America pageant
A Look Back at Ocean City One hundred and four years ago, September 8, 1921, the first Miss America pageant was won by Margaret Gorman of Washington, D.C. She was named “America’s Most Beautiful Bathing Girl” (a year later, her title was shortened to...
Lou’s: Life behind the counter at Ventnor’s most iconic eatery
Life is What Happens Skip ahead to the bio at the end of this column and you may be surprised at what I’ve included: Claim to fame, waitress at Lou’s for four summers. Lou Adelman and wife Helen opened Lou’s of Ventnor in the winter of 1946, which began the...
