…From the pages of South Jersey Magazine…
I love South Jersey. Perhaps that’s why I love my job so much. Each month, as Editor-in-Chief of this magazine, I get to select the stories that mean something to me and the readership. I learn (sometimes right along with the readers) all about the special things, large and small, that are the makeup of the place where we live. I have the pleasure of traveling around our nook of the world, canvassing South Jersey’s sprawling landscape, meeting remarkable people, hearing amazing stories, all the while discovering the nuances and flavor that makes South Jersey so rich and culturally diverse‹and a melting pot of businesses, people and traditions.
Just last week, my friend Joe Piscopo invited me to the Sands Casino to see his last musical showcase of the holiday season. I love Atlantic City, and the Sands (which houses the stage that was the last to have Frank Sinatra publicly perform) was perfect for Joe’s style and love of the classics and standards. I know Joe’s talent, and knew that I would be delightfully entertained. As Joe made his way over to the piano, he started his next song with a few words. “This is my favorite Christmas songs!” As he began to slowly play the first few notes, I could name those key changes. I could feel the first verse that was coming. It was “O Holy Night,” my late father’s favorite Christmas song. I sat back into the booth as my mind wandered to the last Christmas my father and I ever spent together. Just as the smile started across my face, the back curtain raised, and revealed a multitude of choir persons on risers, dressed in rich, silky golden robes from the The Inspirational Choral Ensemble of the Second Baptist Church, led by Thomas Jennings of Atlantic City. Looking at my friend next to me, I said with every confidence, “This is going to be amazing.” As the choir blended their voices, they began emitting what was one of the most beautiful, powerful, and spiritually inspired performances I have ever been blessed to hear. The mere sound of that choir, transforming my skin to complete goose bumps, sent memories of my father rushing back to me with each crescendo. I sat in silence, as tears began to fill my eyes. The performers were like angels, their voices touching the heart and soul and fabric of every being in the audience. Glancing at the patrons seated beside us, I could see that awestruck expression, the same as was on the faces of so many in that room. The talent of the individuals standing on those risers was clearly something that was out of the realm of the average and couldn’t be quantified.
After the show, I told Joe of the experience that the choir inspired. He told me that they had come from a church just down the street, in the heart of Atlantic City. The heart of the city that beats without the glitz and glamour of the casinos. It made me start to think about the Best of the Casinos series that we are currently running in the magazine. It made me think about the attention that we all give to those gambling destinations, all of the press that they receive. Of course, the casinos offer a plethora of entertainment, nightlife and activities. They also bring revenue and jobs to the city. But what else does Atlantic City bring to mind? What about the culture that IS the city?
In addition to having fabulous church choirs, there is also a significant African American cultural and historical context that represents the city’s personality‹the city’s soul. To get to know that side of the city, there exists the Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation. This organization promotes Black heritage and family values through the celebration of African-American history at Chicken Bone Beach, and you can check with foundation president, Henrietta Shelton to get the real scoop on historic and present day Atlantic City (www.chickenbonebeach.org).
You could visit the Club Harlem Mural, which is a mural of the performing artists at Club Harlem, on the side of Renaissance Center at Kentucky & Arctic Avenues. There’s also the Civil Rights Garden, which is soon to be renovated with gardens honoring Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., located at Pacific Avenue and Martin Luther King, Jr Boulevard. For a tribute to African American athletes, there’s the Negro Leagues Baseball Mural. The mural is on Sandcastle Stadium, on Albany Avenue near Bader Field Airport.
A city is only as good as the history and cultures on which it has been built. Atlantic City’s African American tradition and history are a part of the foundation on which the casinos laid down their blueprints and built their towers. On your next trip down to the casinos to drop some money into the slots, remember that soul just outside the valets and the big glass doors. Remember that a choir that sings like angels is just around the corner from your high roller suite.
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