BAY HEAD — In its largest turnout yet, Founders Days welcomed hundreds from the community to remember and learn about The Bluffs of Bay Head.
The Bluffs was a hotel and bar that used to sit on the beachfront at East Avenue and Chadwick Street. It was demolished in 1996. Currently, residential homes stand on the site.
On Saturday, June 28, the Bay Head firehouse was literally overflowing with people wanting to learn and listen to the several speakers Bay Head Life found to speak at the historic hotel.
Vicki McHugh, the creator of Founders Day and member of the Mayors Wellness Campaign, said she and the campaign started this event to help promote history and remember the past of Bay Head by “collecting stories from the past to preserve history for the present.”
This year, one of the speakers included Francine Robertshaw, who is the author of “The Bluffs,” a history book about the aforementioned hotel and bar. She wrote this book over 20 years ago after The Bluffs was demolished. She had spent many summers and worked at The Bluffs when it was operational, according to McHugh, “She knew many angles of The Bluffs.”
Another speaker was Bob Mathews, who is a full-time Bay Head resident who McHugh described as a “consistent patron of The Bluffs.”
“He was chock-full of stories and memories, and also represented what went on during the winter months there at the hotel and bar,” said McHugh. Another speaker was John Henry Morris, another year-rounder who also was a bartender and bar manager at The Bluffs.
The final speaker was Tori Chickering, who represented the “benny” side of The Bluffs, according to McHugh, referring to the tourist perspective of people who used to frequent The Buffs. McHugh also said Chickering was a part of the last generation that got to experience The Bluffs.
“It was a great group and we probably could have used a couple more hours. It feels like we only scratched the surface,” said McHugh, who said the event lasted approximately about an hour and a half, but it could have gone on for several more hours.
McHugh further said, “This shows the interest in local history…People in a tight-knit community want to share history and stories.”
This is an excerpt of the print article. For more on this story, read The Ocean Star—on newsstands Friday or online in our e-Edition.
Check out our other Bay Head stories, updated daily. And remember to pick up a copy of The Ocean Star—on newsstands Friday or online in our e-Edition.
Subscribe today! If you're not already an annual subscriber to The Ocean Star, get your subscription today! For just $38 per year, you will receive local mail delivery weekly, with pages and pages of local news and online access to our e-edition on Starnewsgroup.com.
 6x10 4c.jpg)
