History
of the Pine Beach Yacht Club
IN THE BEGINNING. . . Early in 1909, Charles M. Horter
bought what is now Pine Beach Borough for $10,000. By
April 11, 1909 streets and lots had been planned, Midland
and Henley Avenues graded, and Riverside Drive open to
Station Avenue. On that day, Easter Sunday, a Philadelphia
& Long Branch Railroad train brought the first group
of prospective lot buyers. In the group were Charles F.
Wheeler and William L. Wilson, founders of the Pine Beach
Yacht Club. In 1910, Wheeler and Wilson saw the need for
“a clubhouse to supply recreational needs and provide
fellowship among residents . . . someplace to go and meet
friends.’’ By May 1, 1916, they had sold enough $25
charter subscriptions to incorporate the Pine Beach Yacht
Club. The certificate says . . . “The purposes . . . are
the promotion and enjoyment of yachting, fishing and
gunning, and general social purposes.” Enter the
Clubhouse. The plans called for “a one-floor bungalow-
type with wide piazzas and will be built for comfort -
though appearances will not be sacrificed.” Later, the
plans were changed because, “The plain peaked roof seemed
so ugly that dormer windows were set in.” On Saturday,
August 12, 1916 the Club was officially opened.
Electricity was furnished by the dynamo of the Pine Beach
Inn (Admiral Farragut Academy) which had the only electric
lights in town. Cost of constructing the Club: $1,500. As
Pine Beach grew, so did demands on the Club for more than
an open hall. In 1921, what is now Hoffman Hall was jacked
up and the first floor, as it is today, was built
underneath it. Cost: $7,000. In celebration, the Club
sponsored the first 4th of July parade with a band brought
in from Philadelphia. Games and Dances follow.
AN OVERVIEW. . . The Yacht Club from its beginning until
after the second World War was primarily a social club.
Only a minority of its members were boat owners. It was,
until the depression years (1929), the leader of most
social and community activity - far ahead of both chapel
and fire company. On weekday evenings, the ladies would
gather at the station to greet homecoming husbands laden
with groceries. Dolly Richard remembers walking to the
station at Henley and Pennsylvania Avenues switching a
tree branch to repel hordes of mosquitos. What groceries
husbands didn’t bring, could be had in the Acme store on
Main Street in Toms River. Wives who didn’t have motor
boats for shipping could board the Josie Rogers, Ariella
or Dorianne - steamboats that circled between Toms River
and Seaside Park. Saturday nights were the big nights:
dances (music by a hand-wound Victrola) skits, barn
dances, county fairs, auctions, even a male ballet chorus
complete with rouge and tutus. Moonlight motor cruises
were highly favored as were motorboat races on Sundays.
Today, with both parents working, the Club serves the
community as a safe, supervised daytime junior sailing
school. Busy parents and adults make time for evening and
weekend socials and racing.
SINCE IT OPENED. . . The Club has been an election hall,
police station, gas station, a breeding ground for
champion racers, a tea room, a dining hall, theater, snack
bar, a safe, supervised recreation and sailing school for
youngsters, an important member of regional racing, to
name a few activities and programs PBYC members have
undertaken. The Borough, in 1925, rented the Club as an
election hall, then disputed the $85 fee. The skippers’
lounge, in 1972, became the Borough Police Station. A
Sunoco gas pump was installed in the front yard in 1933 to
sell gas at 18 cents per gallon. The Tea Room Committee,
using authority granted to it “to act in all matters
pertaining to the tea room” spent $3.41 for decorations.
While we are here, words of praise and thanks to the
ladies who organized the Ladies Auxiliary in 1925. They
were given a “rising vote of thanks in September for
raising $1,000 to pay on the mortgage.” Another rising
vote of thanks to “the backbone of the Club” in 1927. A
glowing tribute in 1929 certainly can be extended to the
ladies who have continued to earn “Rising Votes of Thanks”
through the decades for the untold hours they have spent
in the kitchen and have devoted to our activities and
festivities. The first mention of sailboat racing appears
in the May 27, 1944 minutes when a suggestion to schedule
“a day for sailboat races in addition to outboard races
was made.” Exactly three years later, the first Sunday
races were held and for the next 30 years, they were a
major adult event. In 1946, an initiation fee of $25 was
paid to join the Barnegat Bay Association so our Snipe and
Lightning fleets could race. In 1949, the Club was
accepted as an associate member of the BBYRA; Lightning
Fleet 92 was formed. Snipe Fleet 256 continued to grow
until 1962 when it had 18 boats-the largest fleet in the
state and one of the largest on the East Coast. Although
the fleet has diminished in size, interest remains high
among our fleet. Enough so that the Club for years has
hosted the traditional Blue-Gray Regatta. The BBYRA
associate membership apparently has a short life. In 1978,
application was made for full membership which was granted
in 1980. Since then, through the sailing prowess of
seniors and juniors, the Club has each year become a more
formidable contender in the races as the award flags in
Hoffmann Hall attest. In the mid-eighties, Prindle
Catamarans joined the fleet, and increased rapidly as
BBYRA championship flags were hung in Hoffman Hall. The
Flying Scot fleet also expanded during the same period and
probably is one of the largest in the region. The Club,
looking for an inexpensive boat that kids, as well as
adults, could handle, resulted in the purchase of 12
Sunfish ($495!). Fleet 459 was chartered. With the fleet
in hand, discussion on starting a junior sailing program
led to its start in 1975 with 16 students. In 1987, there
were 84 students. Of all the Club activities, none has
brought more recognition than the champion performance of
our juniors in BBYRA and interclub races. Our enhanced
reputation among our peer Clubs comes to a large degree
from the junior sailors’ excellence in racing and in
sportsmanship. Auxiliary races, started in 1975 with eight
sloops, continue today. One prize, unearthed from the
attic of a pioneer resident, is the Murphy Jug, an ancient
chamber pot. Winning crews are required to drink a toast
from their trophy. Club officers, in 1925, recognized kids
by creating a junior membership. In 1923, a formal junior
organization was discussed, but no action ensued. In 1952,
the Junior Pine Beach Yacht Club was formed “to promote
activities of interest to children revolving around
boating, sports, social activities and citizenship.” All,
however, has not been tea and crumpets, as commodores,
staff and members starting in the 1920’s, would attest.
Maintaining the Club and dock was a chronic and expensive
problem, particularly during depressed economic times. The
building and dock persisted in sinking in the mud. That,
and other deficiencies promoted the committee in 1945 to
propose to the Borough that the Clubhouse be demolished
and a combination municipal building and yacht club be
constructed. Another proposal in 1962 called for replacing
the building with a beach club complete with tent, deck
furniture, showers and other amenities on a fenced
concrete deck. To the club’s benefit, these proposals were
never acted upon. Instead our conscientious caretakers
have continually maintained and improved the Clubhouse.
The aluminum siding was installed in 1981. The patio deck
and sail room were added in 1985. The kitchen was
renovated in 1990 and a new expanded dock was added in
1995. The club has served us well over the years, but in
2001 structural deficiencies were identified in the
clubhouse and a debate ensued as to the future of the
building. Temporary repairs have been made to the
clubhouse by the membership, but it was decided by the
membership in 2003 to pursue the construction of a new
club for the enjoyment of our current and future members.
Many members have donated their time, energy and financial
resources to plan the design and funding of our future
club. Our fundraising efforts allowed us to complete this
historic undertaking in the spring of 2009.
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