4 Replies to “Happy 4th of July from Rockaway Beach, 1950s”

  1. Oh my – I hit the wrong button! Sorry. . . The building had “walls” that hung from hinges. On warm days, the men would push the walls up and out for good air flow. We had our bull roasts up on the field. We had crab feasts in the front yard of our next-door neighbors, Rue and Woody (LaRue and Elwood Stump). I went to Back River Elementary School and started Stemmers Run Jr High before moving. My brother graduated from Kenwood.
    Thank you for allowing me to reminisce just a little bit. Send me an email anytime! I now live in the small North Georgia community of Cleveland, GA.

    1. Hi Sandy!

      My name is Kevin McDonough, and I’m from down Rockaway Beach and am on the board with the Improvement Association.

      I just wanted to get in touch and thank you for commenting on the Rockaway Beach / Turkey Point website and for identifying some of the people in the 4th of July video! In the few old photos we have, we’ve been trying diligently to identify who’s in them.

      I know the exact house you’re talking about down at 635 Rockaway Beach Avenue. You’d be amazed at some of the enormous mansions that have been built in the community over the last several years. I believe that your original house may still be standing though! I attached a current photo (from Google Maps) to this e-mail of the house.

      My family, the Nuth’s lived down the other end at 719 Rockaway.

      As for your question about Marcy Bereza, she married Rick Siegman (Rick’s parents used to own the store) and they have been happily married for quite a while now! Several families from back in the day still call Rockaway Beach home (Linz, Kerby, Nuth, Comi, Siegman/ Bereza, Merzbacher, Reichel / Ziegler, House, Roberts, Weinkam, and a few others)!

      Your comment about your dad’s dedication to the Improvement Association building really touched me. I got on the board for the Improvement Association a few years ago and just like your dad have taken a great interest into improving the ball field. Back in the 1980’s the building was set on fire by an arsonist and had to be demolished. It was demolished a few years later in the 90’s and the field has just sort of become unused and neglected. This year, we were awarded a grant to build a picnic pavilion in the same spot where the building once stood, and the community has really come together to work on the project!

      I don’t know if you are on Facebook, but we have a Facebook page for the Improvement Association, and post lots of pictures from down in the neighborhood. Just search for “RockawayBeach TurkeyPoint”

      I have an old photo that we recently found I can send you if you’d like probably from about the 1950’s of some kids up on the ball field playing a game of “hammer the nail in the board”. Would love to know if you might recognize anybody in it.

      -Kevin McDonough
      Vice President
      RBIA

  2. Well, I’m not sure what happened to the first part of my comment. ~~ It was such a blessing to find you all on this web site. My family moved to Rockaway Beach Ave in 1952, living at 635 Rockaway Beach Ave. As Glenn L Martin closed, we moved to Georgia in 1962. Dad’s name was Jim Scott; Mom was Lorraine. Thank you so much for posting the video of the 4th of July parade. I remember those parades well! I remember decorating the bikes. I remember ending up at Pete’s (Bar) for July 4th contests. One I remember in particular was eating 5 or 6 saltine crackers then see who could whistle first! I still laugh over that one! I think I recognized some of the folks in the video. I think I saw Mr Fred (Seigman) and Miss Ginny (Fitzman), also Miss Lil (Seigman). I also remember a picture posted by Marcie Seigman. I knew a Marcie Bareza. Could this be the same person?
    I was glad to see the cars parked up at the ballfield. I think I could almost see the roof of one of the building in the background. My dad would go up to the ballfield after work and after supper to work on the building. He was really proud of the “walls” on that building!

  3. Hi, Kevin,

    With the new houses on Rockaway, I wonder if the house number have changed. Our address was 635 Rockaway. When I look at Google Earth, it looks like our house is now 631, the one story house. There should be an old poplar tree in the side yard, next to LaRue’s house. This tree nearly went all the way down, along with our front yard during one of the hurricanes. Daddy and some men from the community tied the tree off. Although the roots were drenched in salt water, the tree was still living when we left. Also, Daddy rebuilt the seawall and added a cement top with fence posts sunk into the cement. He had planned to put a fence up, but that never happened.
    Sandy

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