Ventnor turned 119 on St. Patrick’s Day.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
VENTNOR – City employees past and present and several residents gathered at Ventnor City Hall Thursday morning to wish their beloved city a happy 119th birthday.
Commissioner Lance Landgraf represented the governing body at the mini-celebration, which included 119 yummy cupcakes made by the bakers at Sasser’s on Dorset Avenue. Despite it being St. Patrick’s Day, there was not a green cupcake in sight. The event was organized by Ventnor City Special Events Coordinator Donna Peterson.
“This was just a fun thing to do coming out of COVID,” Landgraf said, noting that the city has one of the most iconic structures in Atlantic County as its City Hall.
The celebration was held in the first floor rotunda at the center of the block-long building and the table that held all the cupcakes was lplaced atop the ornate Compass Rose put in place many years ago by masterful masons.
“Why 119?” questioned former 32-year Police Officer Ed Davis of Ventnor Heights. His wife Gracie was a meter maid in the city for many years, he said.
Peterson said city officials just wanted to do something nice for the city and its residents on St. Patrick’s Day, which is when the city was incorporated more than a century ago.
Chrissy Tracy, vice-president of business development at Thomas Heist Insurance Agency, said she saw a posting on Facebook about the celebration and decided to stop by.
“This was a great chance to see all the city employees,” the Atlantic City resident said. “Ventnor is such a fun town and I wanted to celebrate with them.”
Colorful balloons made by Simply Me, a member of the newly reformed Ventnor Business Association, decorated the archways on either side of the rotunda, welcomed visitors to enjoy a chocolate or vanilla cupcake. On the table were flyers outlining the formation of the city.
Ventnor City was founded in the late 19th century, after an American couple who had visited Ventnor, England became enamored by the beauty of the area along the Atlantic Ocean below Atlantic City.
It was Mrs. S. Bartram Richards who suggested the area south of Atlantic City be called Ventnor City after the English seaside resort. Although the city received its name on Jan. 8, 1889, it was not incorporated until March 17, 1903.
Today, Ventnor, a popular residential and vacation spot on Absecon Island, is 2 square miles and has a year-round population of 10,650 people that swells to about 35,000 in the summer. It boasts 1.7 miles of pristine beach and boardwalk and has the longest ocean fishing pier in the state. The Ventnor City Fishing Pier, which was recently refurbished with new restrooms, is 1,000 feet long.
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