End-of-summer gala on the bay
Written by Cathy Finnegan Tuesday, 06 September 2011 10:25
And a surprise visit by Hollywood royalty
Everyone loves a party, and what a picture-perfect evening Angie Psaltis and Rita Doto had when they hosted a summer gathering at their lovely home on the bayfront.
The party was in full swing and I could hear Angie’s booming voice over the guests as Jim and I arrived on the deck surrounded with beautiful roses. Kay Baker nursed a scratch on her arm from a thorn on the roses that also got this columnist when I brushed by later. Angie sported one of his favorite Hawaiian print shirts as he reminisced with many of his O.C. Beach Patrol buddies about their glory days guarding the beaches. Rita chose a pale orange linen short outfit for the party and got help from Rae Jaffe and Gale Cipaldo setting out the cold dinner buffet.
Neighbors Valerie and Rich Cirucci didn’t have to worry about finding a parking space, as they just walked across the alley to the party. I enjoyed catching up with Fred Weber who showed up in a red Margate Beach Patrol golf shirt, as he was a member of that patrol in the sixties working the stand in front of his home on the Kenyon Avenue beach.
Barbara Deaney and I commiserated about my recent birthday and her upcoming one. Jim and I enjoyed dinner chatting with Debby Murphy, Carol Heenan, Eric Wakabayashi and Pat and Tony Kritis. Pat and Tony, both Bucknell graduates, moved to O.C. in ’88 from Allentown, Pa., where Tony was a teacher and Pat worked for RCA.
When Angie gathered together his lifeguard buddies who worked with him during his 40-plus years on the O.C. Beach Patrol, there were so many I asked some of the younger ones to kneel down in front to get them all in. Can you imagine Fred Miller almost missed the picture.
Rosemarie Vetter, who was a medic on the Beach Patrol, was the only woman in the picture. Art Ford said to get his name right as “Harry Schwartz” was the alias he used whenever he was interviewed at his Ninth Street beach stand.
The girls wanted equal time, so Rita and I gathered a couple of groups together for pictures. Georgia (Kinzler) Becher was glad to finally make the column as her son and daughter-in-law have been regulars over the years. Georgia, who graduated OCHS in ’63, told me her father, Art Kinzler, was manager of the old A&P. Denny Derr missed her chance for fame when she decided too late to get in a picture.
Thanks to Beth Bowman who stepped up and took another great picture for me. I told Maryellen Perillo we almost called her earlier this summer when a sick bird took up residence on our back porch, but with a little TLC he was better, and when I opened the door one morning he bid me farewell and flew away.
Vince Hink kept everyone informed of the Phillies score as he periodically went inside to look at the TV. Sal Perillo reports his new home under construction in Cape May is 90 percent complete and the family should be moving in early this fall.
Susan and Fred Miller are working on another book, this one highlighting people, past and present, who have had an impact on Ocean City. Sure hope I make it. Tom Mullineaux and Bill Dorney were glad to relax a little after the hectic week they spent repairing lifeguard stands and boats damaged in the bad storm.
Rita’s son and daughter-in-law, Jack and Jaime Doto, enjoyed the party with their daughter, Madison, who especially liked the cookies from Crazy Susan’s that Sandy First brought to the party. Jaime and Jack are headed for Wyoming for Jaime’s brother’s wedding where Madison is the flower girl.
There was no question in my mind that Ann Hink and Jane Swamer were sisters when I saw them standing next to each other. Rae Jaffe’s blueberry gingerbread was also a crowd favorite.
As the evening drew to a close Jim and I stopped to chat with Peggy and Ed Howe and Rich Deaney before heading home.
SUB: Hollywood comes to O.C.
Gayle Humphreys was working her shift at Sun Seekers when who should stroll in to shop but Academy Award-winning actress Annette Bening. Gayle got Annette’s autograph and said she was charming and very down to earth; the star found quite a few outfits to her liking in this popular boutique.
Next stop for Annette was Sun Rose Books where Roz Lifshin recognized her immediately and called Nancy Miller out to meet her. Annette was doing research for a part in an upcoming movie about gambling in Atlantic City and purchased several O.C. books including one of Fred Miller’s. Roz did a half-hour tape of her voice so Annette could master her South Jersey accent. A trip to the boardwalk earlier in the day found Annette enjoying pizza at Mack & Manco and after her shopping spree headed to A.C. to research casino life for her movie.
It was a beautiful late summer evening when I arrived at Marge McGuckin’s Annual Ladies Night Out party at her home overlooking the beach and boardwalk. Marge looked great in a light green jersey top and matching print capris as she and her guests enjoyed the delicious buffet set out on the center island.
Hazel Kavle stopped for a brief visit as she had a house full of guests waiting at home. Lil Mita and Sue Walsh raised their children on the 21st Street beach along with Marge and her children. Marge always organized the kids for the South End Bike Parade and Baby Parade and won prizes as the “21st Street Gang.”
After entertaining houseguests all Summer, Maureen Nulty is busy organizing a leukemia fundraiser in September, heading to Ireland and Scotland in October, watching the New York Marathon in November, going to the Canyon Ranch in January, and Naples, Florida, in March.
Liz Vasturia is looking forward to a river cruise on the Danube in the fall. Anne Dahme is anxious to go shopping on Asbury Avenue now that the tourists are heading home.
Everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to Joan Andrews who was celebrating her 70th birthday. Friday night Joan and husband, Jim, were headed to the Borgata for dinner and to see Frankie Valli, a gift from the kids.
I enjoyed chatting with Dolores Kleinfelder who at 91 is still a very active and vibrant woman (her mom lived to 104). Jeanne Vollmer gave me an old 1960 newspaper clipping (“Ship Saves 4 Adrift Off Ocean City”) found while she was going through old postcards. My husband was one of the four rescued 19 miles east of Wildwood by an English merchant vessel and taken to New York City.
Kathleen Haggerty, Eileen Pitfield, Rose Carney and Charlotte Farley were sorry they arrived too late to get in any of the pictures. I enjoyed catching up with Peggy Ann Osborne who has been busy entertaining guests at her popular Osborne Inn B&B at 15th and Wesley. While Mary Anne Suter, Audrey Farrell, Barbara Mateer and Kathleen Haggerty enjoyed the evening on the deck, Sally Hooker, Joan Bellwoar, Bert DeVries and Liz Vasturia regaled a circle of ladies in the den with tales of their Bridge Club.
Marie Shafron and Joan Andrews reported they were the first recipients of the Jeanne Vollmer Most Improved Players Award. Meanwhile our gracious hostess, Marge McGuckin, was in the kitchen wrapping up hoagies for the ladies to take home to their husbands just in case they didn’t get dinner.
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