It was an ordnary day. Reading in my morning newspaper about Jack Brubaker, "The Scribbler", visiting Gillian's Wonderland Pier in Ocean City, NJ. The Scribbler celebrated his 10th birthday on June 8, 1954, by scoring a hole-in-one on the final whole of the Tee Time Miniature Golf Course on the boardwalk at Ocean City, New Jersey. A hole-in-one entitled a golfer to a free game. It was the best birthday present ever. On Monday, the Scribbler stood at the entrance to Tee Time, listening to an attendant complain about the imminent closing of a business that opened elsewhere on the boardwalk in 1930 and relocated next door to Tee Time in 1965. That is Gillian's Wonderland Pier, at Sixth Street and the Boardwalk. Gillian's was closed for the day Monday, but in mid-October it will close forever! The Scribbler has missed his last shot at riding on one of the carousel's herd of horses or up and down with the caterpillar roller coaster. The Wonderland Pier and its most memorable component - a 140-foot-tall giant wheel, the most distinctive feature of the city's skyline - is three weekends away from succumbing to the reckless claws of change. This is not news. LNP carried the story about the losing of the attraction last month. But, the Scribbler was here to tell you that being onsite - and especially not being able to go inside on a weekday - magnified the sense of loss, a sentiment many Ocean City residents and visitors have expressed on social media. "As a kid you looked for the Ferris Wheel while going over the bridge (into Ocean City)," recalls one Facebook user. "Then you knew you were at the shore. Such excitement! Please save the wheel!" Thousands of Lancaster County residents, including yours truly "The Ordinary Guy", knows exactly what that commenter means. Ocean City was Lancaster's preferred summer beach for many years. Practically everyone went there in the middle decades of the 20th century - before Ocean City, Maryland; Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and other resorts drew some families away. Gillian's Wonderland Pier is closing because Jay Gillian, the city's mayor, sold it to Eustace Mita, owner of Icona Hotels in nearby Avalon and Cape May. Many Ocean City residents fear a new hotel will displace Wonderland Pier. "This is something that can't be replaced. It's a place the whole family could enjoy," one observer told the Scribbler. He was staring up at one of the eight fairy-tale artworks on the front of the building. Humpty Dumpty falling off a wall. The Scribbler's sister, Judy Brubaker Veser, has taken her grandchildren for rides on the Ferris wheel and remembers riding it with her father. "It was my favorite ride when I was little, and Daddy was the one who'd go up with me," she recalled. "He would always rock (the gondola) like crazy when we would stop on the top to let riders off at the bottom. I'd scream my lungs out, and he'd swing it harder." Last Monday, Ted Greenberg, who covers the Jersey Shore for NBC10 in Philadelphia, filmed the Ferris Wheel and interviewed boardwalkers, including the Scribbler. He observed, somewhat wearily, that this was his fifth news segment about the end of Wonderland Pier. At the Tee Time Miniature golf Course, where the Scribbler snagged his hole-in-one 70 years ago, everyone seemed to be having a good time, including the operator who groused about impending loss of business at the end of the boardwalk. But, he did say, "It didn't have to be this way. It's all about the money!" Isn't it always!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Dear Scribbler...I will miss it as much as you will. I loved the rides and the fun at Wonderland Pier. LDub. PS - I noticed that you are 3 months older than I am. How's it feel to be an old guy?
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| Gillian's Wonderland Pier |
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