The late, great Manchester Inn. Photo by Paul Goldfinger
By Charles Layton
I really enjoyed the annual Citizens Patrol dinner on Saturday night. The CP is a fine and worthy organization, and it was a pleasure to see it celebrating itself in the way that Ocean Grove civic groups typically do this time of year, with food and fellowship.
A fair number of Neptune celebs turned out. Two committeemen – Randy Bishop and Eric Houghtaling – were there. Police Chief Robert Adams, Deputy Chief William Bailey and former Police Chief Howard O’Neil all turned up. So did Mike Bascom, Neptune’s chief financial officer.
What struck me as sad, though, was that this traditional Ocean Grove event had to be held at the Shark River Hills Firehouse. (I’m such an OG isolationist that I had to use my GPS to find the place.)
Not that there’s anything wrong with that firehouse; it turned out to be a perfectly good venue for a dinner, and it served us extremely well. But there was a time when the CP dinner would have been held at the Manchester Inn. The Manchester was such a nucleus of civic life in Ocean Grove. The Beautification Project held its annual dinners there. Ocean Grove United used the place for its meetings. It was the scene of countless parties and wedding receptions.
After the Park View Inn closed down, the Manchester was just about the only place in Ocean Grove that could comfortably accommodate and feed a large gathering. Since its destruction by fire in March of 2010, Grovers have cast around for alternatives. The back porch of The Starving Artist works well – in fact, it may be my favorite single spot in OG – but it can’t be used in winter. Groups have used other local restaurants, such as Bia and SeaGrass, but when there’s a large turnout, those places feel cramped. The Youth Temple is plenty large enough, but I doubt if the Camp Meeting would want BYOB-style parties there.
Clark Cate (left) with Citizens Patrolers Mike Palermo and William Hoidt at the CP dinner. Photo by Margaret Cate
So the truth is, nothing can ever replace the Manchester. On Saturday night, as luck would have it, I was sitting at a table with Clark and Margaret Cate, who were the Manchester’s proprietors. Clark is a CP vice president, and on Saturday he was up and bustling about much of the time, tending to the buffet tables. What a powerful reminder of how things used to be when he was back in his own dining room on Ocean Pathway.
Well, Clark and Margaret have moved on, and so must we all. But that doesn’t mean we won’t continue to miss the Manchester, one of the places that made Ocean Grove special.
The best parts of the Manchester’s memory are Clark & Margaret.
It has been years since I worked at the Manchester – the memories I have of that great B&B, working for two of the best bosses anyone could ever ask for, are as fond and vibrant in my mind as any memory could be. Working the house tours, Chocolate Lover’s Weekend, Clark’s Superman photo, and Margaret’s harp playing just to name a few….
Because of my time at the Manchester I still find myself taking trips to OG just to walk around and get a quick coffee or lunch at Nagels every time I’m back in NJ.
Clark & Margaret know how to make a business feel like a home, and not only how to be members (more like leaders) of a community but how to make a community come together and thrive in their presence. Because of them OG will always seem like a magical place to me – and no job (even if I land my dream job after finishing my doctorate) will ever compare to the wonderful times I had working at the Manchester. Not many people can say that they were happy to wake up and fold laundry, make beds, and scrub bathrooms – but while I worked at the Manchester I had a smile on my face every weekend morning.
Charles – Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for remembering the Manchester as we do. Although our lives have moved on we have a hard time forgetting we are Innkeepers. The Ocean Grove Citizens Patrol dinner was to honor and celebrate the many volunteers who donate their time to helping keep our square mile safe. It was a little nostalgic, as Margaret slipped right back into watching the set-up and service details and many of the guests commented that it was just like being back at the Manchester with us running around. We fondly remember all the people that entered our lives throughout the 13 years – I think the expression is “they entered as guests and left as friends”.