Herald & Lantern 3 April '85 57

' Bud ' Swain: Right Mix Has a Lot to Do With It

(Continued) past and preserve remnants of it. "Our history is in our ceilings," he told a visitor recently, pointing to the ceiling of his grandfather's store just inside the entrance at 305 to 307 Jackson St. One wall of the store is lined with photographs of the business as it evolved over the years. One of them shows the business savvy of the founder, Charles A. Swain. The old photo shows a tent that the first Swain erected on the beach to provide a shady retreat for the heavily clad bathers in 1910. On the sides of the tent, Swain listed - his name, address, and the fact that he repaired and painted tin roofs, and worked on stoves and ranges. On the wall nearby is a copy of a full-page newspaper advertisement for 1903 listing items stocked by Swain's including Lemonade Sets and Cut Glass. An ornate iron Acorn stove shown in the ad sold for $29 or $35 depending on the model. Rugs, priced from 75 cents, "make a good Xmas present," the ad suggested. ANOTHER ARTIFACT is an oak roll top desk that the elder Swain bought from William A. Hoskins, 904-06 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, on May 20, 1900. The price was $16.50. The bill for the desk together with others is displayed under a piece of glass. One is for $4.80 for six quarts of rye whiskey purchased from the Hayner Distilling Co.. Dayton, Ohio. Still another receipt shows that Swain paid $13.80 real estate taxes in 1899 on his house and store which were assessed for $600 Bud Swain traces his forbears back to about 1860 when the first members of his line of the family arrived in America. Most of them came from England, and the fami ly has been in Cape May since 1880. Emma H. Swain, 89. Bud's aunt and a retired school teacher who still works in the store daily, said her mother. Margaret de Porte, came to this country from Salterstown, County Derry, Ireland, when she was 18. A SENSE OF FAMILY looms large in Bud Swain. His grandfather, who started the business, worked for 30 years as did his father Next year marks Bud's 30th year of ownership. In his office are pictures of what he calls "the fourth generation," sons Rick. 32. Nicky, 24, and Scott, 19. Rick, who is general manager, is in charge of public relations and customer complaints. Bud's only daughter, Terri. 22, who-will graduate from Pace College in June, has a head for business, too. But she will leave the family business to others to take a position with a large public accounting firm Describing himself as "an easy. Good Sam type." Bud Swain nevertheless has a canny business sense. His decision to join the chain of True Value hardware stores in 1965 has led to the years of the store's great est success. As a result of increasing sales, he was forced to enlarge the store in 1974 and again in 1984 "A lot of it has to do with getting the right mix of goods. And you have to have promotional items to compete with the chains." said Swain of the reasons for growth EARLY ON in his years of operation of the store. Swain shrewdly shifted the store's emphasis to serving the needs of homeowners rather than contractors. He is open to new and nontraditional products. Last July the store put in a greeting card section. Swain reasoned that with plenty of free parking people might decide to buy cards from him instead of the only other outlet that you have to walk to "It's a plus

thing. We're new at it, and I don't know how it will work out," he said. Hard work and attention to detail comes naturally to Swain. "When I was raised, I felt that if I didn't work, I was wasting my time," he said. PART OF IT is the example set by his parents. His father, who is 81, and his mother, who is 76, leave their home in Delray Beach. Fla. every April and come to Cape May to work in the store for six months. "They work harder than I do," said Swain. "It's a pleasure working in a hardware store," said Swain. "You're dealing with happy people who have pride in their homes, in either fixing them up or making them better." ' ^ In his time, Swain has seen many changes in Cape May. Offices where people paid their gas, electric and telephone bills are gone. A lot of industry has left including . Magnasite, coal, and sand plants. And the trains have stopped running. "But new things have taken their place," said Swain. "I think the future is great for Cape May." THE BIGGEST change Swain has witnessed in the last 10 years is the creation and flourishing of the bed and breakfast business that has lured waves of visitors to the resort to savor the charm of the Victorian architecture and stay in the old houses He also approves of the new gourmet restaurants that have opened. "Most of them are seasonal, but we must have a dozen excellent ones," he said. Creation of the Victorian Mall in the center of town. Swain feels, "has changed shopping habits. It's kept people in town who used to move to the boardwalk after 6 p.m. " As a consequence of these new developments, Cape May has become more of a year-round resort, he said. "The motels that stay open are filled on weekends year-round," he said. "And I think it's only a matter of a year or so before the motels will have to stay open all year." AN UNABASHED booster of the resort. Swain calls Cape May "my home, my livelihood. and all I've ever known in life. It's charming, clean, safe, and friendly." The most serious problem facing Cape May is a lack of parking, said Swain. "Especially on rainy or windy days. Motorists drivearound and sightsee, and the traffic backs up from Lafayette Street to the Canal And on the Fourth of July the cars come in from the back roads to watch the fireworks," he said. What he calls "too heavy expansion of condos. " and the failure of the federal government to appropriate funds to fight beach erosion trouble Swain, too. ONE NEW CONDO a year would be enough, but they're building six or eight a year. I'd like to see more planned expansion with parking. We can handle more people, but not more cars," he said "Another thing I'd like to see is our beaches restored They've been talking about it for years. It would give us protection from storms, too." said Swain Married to his second wife. Eivor. in January. Swain has begun to take time to enjoy the pleasures of Cape May He and his wife have gone on walking tours, and like to go out with their bikes One of their favorite diversions is to drive up the Garden State Parkway to New Gretna. rent a canoe, and paddle down the Wading River through the Pinelands near Batsto.

'Bud' Swain With Photos of Evolving Business

"YOU TAKE a bag lunch, and go with the current behind you so all you have to do is paddle a little and steer for three or four hours. It's so peaceful and quiet, and you're in the middle of nature," said Swain. "We have the most fun crabbing," he said. "We use a round hoop with a net and a founder in the middle. We've caught over 200 crabs in two hours. " Hunting ducks in the meadows back of Stone Harbor is another activity that the Swains enjoy Harking back to the time that Swain spent in the Coast Guard after he graduated from Gettysburg College in 1952, he has constructed a shanty on an old Navy "double ender" lifeboat which serves as a base for them and their friends One of the problems has been keeping the informal houseboat afloat. It has sunk six times.

Dorii Ward A SENSE OF FAMILY — Working in Swain's Hardware with owner 'Bud,' right, are what he calls the fourth generation: from left, sons Nick. 24. Scott. 19. and Rick. 32. In front. Aunt Emma. 89, and a daily worker.

A New Paper! (Continued) heritage to cultivate its future. The result is a Cape May imbued with verve in 1985." In the same vein, Reina added, "We at the Herald-Dispatch share that vision of Cape May's future. It is a model of what can be done to foster careful growth and prosperity during good times and bad ." As one indicator, she noted the continually lengthening tourist season that the National Historic Landmark City has enjoyed. "The County Herald has been involved in quite a few civic, cultural, and commer cial promotions in Cape May in recent years." she continued, citing special sections of the newspaper devoted to the Tulip Festival. Victorian Week, and Christmas in Cape May. "WE ARE GRATEFUL that Cape May readers and advertisers have increasinglymade the Herald their newspaper of choice. Now we feel a certain responsibility to do more: to offer quality, vigorous news coverage in A town that has shown (Continued) jured fisherman from a clam boat 35 miles off the coast of Ocean City, Md . last week. Forrest Williams. 20. of New Bern. N.C., was flown to Beebe Memorial Hospital. Lewes. Del., for treatment. Lot Not For Them CAPE MAY — A plan to have nearby merchants lease the Jackson Street parking lot has failed. Mayor Arthur Blomkvest said on Monday "They don't feel they can do it." said Blomkvest As a result, another lessee will have to be found, he added

"We have an ice chest, a Coleman stove, and bunks on it, and we spend two or three days on it at Thanksgiving and Christmas." said Swain. "Last year I shot about five ducks, but we spent $250 on expenses, so they were pretty costly ducks." MRS. SWAIN, who was - born in Kungsholm. Sweden, has spent much of her life in Wildwood Crest. She is active with the First Baptist Church of Wildwood where she sings in the choir, and teaches choir classes to pre-schoolers "It's hard to say. we have so much going now," replied Swain when asked what he would like to see Cape May become Personally content, Swain is confident that his favorite town will solve its problems and continue to prosper. "Everything takes time." he said. "Cape May is old. I'm happy. I'm satisfied."

quality' and vigor' to be part of its very fabric." Dunwoody noted a discovery that even provides a sort of precursor to the cape may Herald-Dispatch: in the early part of this century (roughly 1901 to 1909), there was a local Cape May newspaper called the "Cape May Herald " That paper was published sometimes weekly, sometimes daily. Dunwoody said, half-jokingly. that that old Cape May newspaper in some ways provided "inspiration" in his thinking regarding planning for the Cape May Herald-Dispatch. HERALD-DISPATCH readers can look for old-timey items from the old Cape May Herald to be cited regulary in the Herald- + Dispatch, as a way of harkening back to another Cape May era. Cape May Herald-Dispatch readers also can be on the lookout for the newspaper's distinctive delivery vehicle: a Ford Model "A" delivery truck! The truck (see separate story) is of 1930 vintage. It was built to be and was for a long time used as a U.S. Mail delivery truck Look for it around town' $l.5-Million Bond Issue — 'Continued' parking area after receiving a zoning variance. "I'm upset when people get what they want, and want more." said Peckikonis But city Solicitor John Ludlim told Peckikonis that a decision had been reach ed to create the loading zone "before the restaurants were there " COUNCIL TABLED a proposal to set a new route for buses entering and leaving Cape May Action on the route is expected at the next meeting. The proposed route restricts buses to entering and leaving by Lafayette Street. - and discharging passengers at the Bank Street bus depot The purpose is to avoid routes along Beach Drive and Ocean Street which took buses through the historic district. But the change in routes leaves the drivers with the option of taking the most direct route to the oceanfront if that is their destination Nearly 1,500 buses arrive in Cape May the spring and fall, most of them carrying senior citizens who want to visit the Washington Street Mall. City Manager Fred Coldren said.