Herald & Lantern 28 November '84 41

War Bride Dusts Memories

(From Page 1 ) "The brides were housed for two weeks at Tidworth, a little Army camp in the south of England which had been used as a G.I. staging area before D-Day and the invasion of Marmandy," she said. German prisoners of war were put to work as servers in the chow lines for the brides. Finally, when all the papers had been processed by military brass, the brides boarded a train for Southampton where the Queen Mary waited to take them to America. "WE WERE BUNDLED UP by the American Army as though we were packages," Peggy said. "The Queen Mary was a troop ship during the war, then they used it to transport war brides. It was a six-day trip. We landed in New York on Sept. 4, 1946. Our husbands met us in New York and had to sign for us." Most of the women would never see each other again, she recalled. "We all lost touch. Many of the brides went to California. We were packed on the Queen Mary like sardines. We slept on the decks. There were maybe 10,000 of us on that crossing," Peggy said. "Most of the brides all werf to other places." Her treasured souvenir of those days is a ship's newsletter, faded and yellow with age, dated April 3, 1946. It begins: "As the Statue of Liberty hoves in sight, and the end of our journey draws to its close, we prepare to hail America, that vast country in which so many of our hopes and dreams for the future lie. "We know that our husbands who have already waited many months for us, are preparing to say — 'welcome to this, your new home,' knowing that there will be no more parting, and no more goodbyes." IN THE STATES, the Bajs lived at first at 19th and Wallace in North Philadelphia were Peggy got a job at the British Consulate. "We couldn't get an apartment anywhere," she said. "There just weren't any available." Stan laughed at the memories of those hard times. "Then we moved to the 'suburbs' — Port Richmond," he said of the blue-collar riverfront section of the city.

"My uncle was the first Polish undertaker in Philadelphia — Thodore Ba j. That was in the early 1900's." Peggy recalled how her mother and father later came to the U.S. and died here. A sister also arrived and now lives in Bustleton. The years rolled by. Peggy and Stan became parents themselves, then grandparents, and in between they operated a small business in Northeast Philadelphia for 13 years. WAR MEMORIES WERE pushed aside, but not completely forgotten. Every once in awhile, Peggy would get out that old ship's newsletter. She would remember all over how it was in those days and wonder what became of the other brides she never saw again. These poignant lines of the ship's newsletter she would read over and over: ... "for wherever we settle, a part of the our beloved homeland will always be there." Finally, 39 years later, Peggy and Stan heard about an organization of foreign brides of servicemen called Cosmopolitan Associates Inc. Not only that, but the group was about to hold its 25th anniversary reunion recently in Cape May where it had been meeting annually for the past five years. Peggy was astonished. There are chapters in various states. In fact, Marianne Pinkerton of Ocean City, is president of the nearest local chapter in Atlantic City. "We've been living down here nine years, and I never knew about it," Peggy said, describing what they found at the reunion in Cape May, Oct. 19, 20, and 21. "A couple hundred people were there," Stan said. "They had the whole fifth floor and stayed the whole weekend at the Golden Eagle Inn. "They came from all over: Washington, D.C., upstate New York, Virginia." "We had a wonderful time," Peggy said. "They did all the old English dances that we used to do during the war. I met four girls from my hometown, Liverpool. Some of them were in their seventies and eighties." Peggy got out the old ship's newsletter again. Its faded, yellow pages never looked so good. It was like finding an old friend.

Twp. Liens On Dem HQ

(From Page 1) chairman, said the tax matter came up at a meeting of the executive committee four days before a lien sale. "Oh, there was money to pay them, but the committee that was supposed to pay the taxes didn't pay them," DeVico said. ' "I THINK THEY used the money for elections. I blame the party chairman for that. That's his responsibility," DeVico added, referring to his predecessor, James Iannone, 37, chairman up until last June. •Iannone's office at Freda Real Estate in Sea Isle said he was on vacation in North Carolina, wouldn't be back for another week and couldn't be reached by phone. He served three, one-year terms as county chairman and relinguished a fourth term when the party reorganized in June to prepare, he 'said then, for another political campaign in 1985. He ran unsuccessfully for freeholder earlier. DeVico, who served eight .years as mayor and 21 years on the township committee, ran unsuccessfully for freeholder in 1982. As for the back taxes on the party's clubhouse, DeVico said, "A new committee has been set up to see that that's taken care of — taxes and insurance, upkeep, rentals, and so on." But he indicated there would be no rush to do that. One day before the lien sale, DeVico said the taxes would not be paid by that deadline.

"NO, WE PLAN TO TAKE advantage of the time (grace period) to buy back any lien by paying the taxes. See, all anybody would be buying is a tax lien," he explained. "We figure about $4,700 (4s needed) to pay the '83 taxes, the '84 taxes, and the first quarter of '85," DeVico said. Only eight bidders showed up at the lien sale during which more than a hundred other properties were also offered. A handful of bids were actually made. The rest of the properties were ignored, including the Democrats' clubhouse. The 1983 taxes, $2,108, was the minimum bid that would have been accepted at the auction. Had an individual done so, he could foreclose after two years if the taxes were still not paid. But a municipality need wait only six months to do that, instead of two years. The property consists of a red brick ranch house and sue lots, all fronting on Pacific Avenue. Built around 10 years ago, the bouse has been used for party functions as . ell as for meetings by community groups. The 1983 tax bill is for county, township, school district and library taxes. The 1964 taxes are also overdue. "All the liens that are not sold today are now township liens," said Tax Collector Annie Watson. "(hi a municipal lien, we can foreclose six months from today, then hold a public sale. We foreclose against the property, not the owner."

Brides Have Organization There are 13 members of Cosmopolitan Associates in Cape May and Atlantic counties. They meet monthly at the home of Marianne Pinkerton, chapter president, 7 Mariana Lane, Ocean City, N.J. 08266. "We're looking for new members," she said. "Anyone interested can call me at 399-7987, or our secretary-treasurer, Margo Fehr, at 646-3048." The group will hold its Christmas dinner Friday, at the Sweetwater Casino Restaurant, Egg Harbor. Other members of the chapter include Waltraud Davis, vice president; Margot Kerr, Mary McGregor, Lillian Young, Ellen Haak, Gerd Karlkvist, Bertha Minick, Eva Sipers, Gerda Smolka, Louis Lander, and Dolores Angelo. Membership is open to all foreign ^ women and their daughters, the president s added. "They don't have to be war brides anymore."

ACC Winter Concert On MAYS LANDING - The Atlantic Community -College Orchestra will present its Winter Concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, in the College's Walter E. Edge Hall Theater here. Led by Director Jack Moore, the orchestra will play the "Academics Festival Overture" by Brahms. Other pieces- being performed are "Lieutenant Kije Suite" by Prokofiev and "Organ Symphony 3" by Camille Saint Saens. For more information, call 646-4950 or 625-1111, ext. 217. ♦

News Digest (From Page 1) election on the two questions in early winter. Inlaid Teak? RIO GRANDE - County MUA members decided last week to build the authority's sewer plant, at the former Menhaden processing facility here on 120 pilings for $8.7 million rather than replace the Route 47 site's muck with more compactable soil. The MUA amended its contract on the project to give $161,185 to its consulting engineers, CH2M Hill, for redesigning the plant's foundation. Butter Coming RIO GRANDE — For the needy, some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the next distribution of free federal surplus food will be a return to butter instead of the powdered milk offered last time. The bad news is that county officials have decided to give away the butter the third week in January, the last of the nine weeks during which the state Agriculture Department is making it available. Watch this paper for details. 1 //S !■% Dramatic Impact AVALON — Borough planners have until Jan. 24 to report progress to council on a proposed ordinance that would increase the number of required offstreet parking spaces from one-two for each dwelling and motel unit. The measure, if adopted, is expected to have a dramatic impact on zoning by curbing development. It's being promoted by the Aval on Land and Homeowners' Association.

Still Tabled • STONE HARBOR — That proposed mercantile license got tabled for a second time last week and borough cjyicil ordinance appointed an eight-member group to study it. It includes two council members, two from the Realty Owners Association, two from the Chamber of Commerce, and two from the newlyformed Merchants' Association. As proposed, annual fees would run from $100 to $200. Deadline's Saturday TRENTON — Applications for Homestead Rebates were mailed Nov. l to 1.5 million state residents but 670,000 hayen't yet returned them to the state treasurer's office. The filing deadline is Saturday. Rebate checks, totaling $300 million, will be mailed to qualified homeowners by July 15. Those who owned homes by Oct. 1 are eligible to apply for a rebate check. Driver Drowns OCEAN CITY — Drowning and hypothermia caused the death of 24th Street resident John M. Murtagh, 44, last Tuesday night but drunk driving apparently caused his fatal plunge off the Ninth Street Bridge. He was driving west around 6 p.m. when his car jumped the guard rail and sank immediately. Samples of the victim's blood showed high levels of alcohol, police reported. Over An Acorn? CAPE MAY — Last summer it was Henry Hudson over a half-moon.'"We've had some of the best-looking beach tags." said City Manager Fred Coldren, wondering what scene might adorn next' year's swimwear. Finally, came one suggestion: "Maybe we should have a tree?" allowed a spectator at the city council meeting last week. "That's a good idea. That's a very good idea," Coldren beamed.

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