HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY
Rehoboth Beach Country Club
On March 26, 2025 Members, guests, and Talon Tribe members sang “Happy Birthday” to RBCC in the Eagles Nest Bar to celebrate the founding of Rehoboth Beach Country Club 100 years ago.
CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE 2022 through 2025
Karen Schneiderman, Chair Jeremy Fitzgerald Frank Fraser Lori Hardwick Kimberly Hutzel Peggy Marilley Marilyn Martens Raquel Maynes Sally McDonough Susie Nevins Diane Palmieri Barbara Sievers Anne Slonaker Laura Truchio Cathy Zambito Spaska Ivanov Bethany Ackerman
221 West Side Drive Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 Clubhouse: 302-227-3811 Golf Shop: 302-227-3616 rehobothbeachcc.com
Event Recap 100 Years, 100 Flavors Cooking Class Chef Carolyn designed and executed a cooking class that featured traditional club dishes over the years and all the flavors that were in with them. Members gathered in the Banquet Kitchen, spilt up into groups and learned how to make certain dishes. They enjoyed dinner and drinks following the cooking class and received a take home cooking brochure.
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BACK IN 1945 U.S. PRESIDENT Franklin D. Roosevelt
1940s AVERAGE COST
A first-class stamp: A gallon of gas:
$0.03 $0.21
A dozen eggs: $0.40 A pound of apples: $0.13 A 1/2 gallon of milk: $0.27
U.S. POPULATION 139.93 million
In Style... WOMEN Rounded shoulders, cinched-in waist, and long, full skirts Urchin haircut Pendulant earrings MEN Basic suits with high waisted, wide leg trousers Zoot Suit with bright colors, baggy legs, and long jackets
'40s SLANG
Broad: a woman Drip: someone who is boring Dreamboat: very handsome man Moxie: courage or strong nerves Take a Powder: to leave Hairy: outdated Snap Your Cap: get angry
SPORTS IN THE NEWS Formation of the United Nations: established to promote international cooperation and prevent future conflicts. End of World War II. The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, leading to Japan’s surrender. FDR died in office and Harry S. Truman became President. Casper made his television debut. First successful commercially made Ballpoint Pens were sold at Gimbels Department Store in New York City.
POPULAR SONGS
"Till The End of Time” - Perry Como “It’s Been A Long, Long Time” - Harry James “Dream” The Pied Pipers
World Series Champions Detroit Tigers NFL Champions Cleveland Rams NHL Champions Toronto Maple Leafs
END OF WWII Hitler committed suicide Germany surrendered May 8 declared V-E Day Sept. 2 declared V-J Day
POPULAR FILMS Spellbound The Lost Weekend Mildred Pierce Dead of Night Christmas In CT
1945 - 1955
REHOBOTH IN THE 40-50's Americans celebrated peacetime with new investments in the economy, a thriving housing market, and more leisure time for vacations. A prime destination for rest and relaxation continued to be Rehoboth Beach. The city remained a powerful draw for visitors from Delaware, Maryland and Washington DC, and the opening of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in 1952 made traveling there from the south even easier. Families would often rent cottages for weeks at a time during June, July and August. Several “sweet” Rehoboth Avenue businesses that survive today, were going strong in those mid-century years, including Dolle’s, Snyder’s, Candy Kitchen and Kilwin’s.
RBCC MEMBERSHIP IN 1945 In 1945, the Board of Governors declared that 50 new memberships would be available to family and friends of present members, at a cost of $100 initiation fee and $60 per year for golf or $42 per year for social for a family. Membership Committee Chair Frank Waples, in a letter to the members in July, 1945, wrote, “Have you ever considered just what our Country Club could mean, in extra pleasure, to many people who enjoy Rehoboth Beach?” He went on to describe the three meals daily (except Mondays) offered at the Clubhouse, in a dining room managed by Mr. and Mrs. Tom Jones. Willie and Virginia Taylor were also praised for their work as groundskeeper/golf pro) and pro shop manager, keeping the course “in the finest shape ever.” And that outdoor dance floor continued to get a workout on summer evenings, with “a new dance orchestra, Doc Vihol and His Music.”
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1950's CONSTRUCTION ON THE TERRACE & CLUBHOUSE In 1950, construction was undertaken to enlarge the Terrace and Clubhouse. Through the renovation, a huge effort was made to continue operating as normally as possible. A June, 1950 letter to the membership from the Board of Governors reads, “Even though the Clubhouse is being enlarged, with lots of construction work underway, nevertheless the Club is ready for your pleasure, right now, just as it has always been, with only the dining room being omitted temporarily…everything else is functioning… golf course in the finest condition, porches and lounges are just as comfortable as in the past. Facilities for preparing and serving bridge and other luncheons are in full operation.” In that letter, new manager Charles Crouch was introduced as well, and the question on everyone’s mind was addressed: “When will the Clubhouse be completed? We don’t know just yet. But it will be lots sooner than most people think. Now that the new part is enclosed, work can progress every day regardless of weather. We’ll be enjoying the new facilities this season without fail.”
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CENTENNIAL MERCH
100 YEARS CLUBHOUSE HOT/COLD TUMBLER $35
CENTENNIAL MARBLE & WOOD CHARCUTERIE BOARDS $60
CENTENNIAL WAGON CREWNECK SWEATSHIRT $60 10
EAGLE 100 COCKTAIL SHAKER $48
EAGLE 100 “BEACH” HAT $40
EAGLE 100 TAYLORMADE GOLF BAG $310
EAGLE 100 EMBROIDERED POLO $90 11
1955 - 1965
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In the early 1950's the downtown Rehoboth Beach property was still an adequate size for the membership, but as Member Dan Wilson recalled, “apparent that the little nine-hole golf course on 65 acres was not large enough for Members, guests or hotel patrons.” ...However, as your read further you will see in the 1960's this would change.
GOLF CARTS & HANDICAPS In the early 1950's motorized golf carts made their appearance. According to Member’s Ray Simpler and Dan Wilson, in the beginning, a halfdozen Members, including Ralph Dawson, Hal Wakefield, and Fred “Stick” Whitney, bought and owned golf carts, and used them on the course for years. However, it would be several more years before the Club saw that there was money to be made by renting carts to Members, and personal carts were outlawed.
“I would not ride in one if they were free. I maintain that golf is, and should be, a walking game.” Simpler had some strong opinions of the carts. “Personally,” he wrote, “I would not ride in one if they were free. I maintain that golf is, and should be, a walking game.” He cited a study indicating that riding golfers had a two to three stroke advantage over the walkers. “How can a fair comparison be made today in score, between a winning player in the Delaware Amateur years earlier, when all walked, and today, when a player rides in cart?” At around the same time, handicaps were introduced at RBCC. Before that, players interested in tournament play would play a qualifying round for entry.
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DANCING ON THE TERRACE Wilson attended his first dance in 1958. Sally Wilson, Dan’s mother, and Mrs. Alexis I. duPont Bayard had organized the Blue Carriage Ball for the Children’s Bureau of Delaware. They hired Howard Lanin’s Band of New York City every year. Lanin was known as the “King of Society Dance Bands.” RBCC Member Jay Conner also remembers attending one of the Lifeguard Balls as a young man. Prior to the balls, the lifeguards would dress up and go solicit donations for the program in town.
According to Wilson, “Invariably, at one or each of the balls, Father Richard Bailey of All Saints Episcopal Church would arrive, playing ‘When the Saints Go Marching In.’ Member Tyler McConnell of Wilmington would collect donations to have the band play an extra hour.”
RBCC Member CA Knoll was a teenager at the old Club. Her parents owned the Henlopen Hotel at the time, where she felt like “Eloise at the Plaza.” Knoll talked about her memories of cotillions on the old Club Terrace. There were also Tuesday night ballroom dancing lessons. Teacher Mr. Hocking and his assistant used a clicker to help the young dancers keep the beats. At the end of class, says Knoll, “Everyone had to line up, shake hands, and say something to one another. ‘I had a nice time’ was too common an answer. If you didn’t have something more clever or original to say, you had to go back to the end of the line.”
FROM DOWNTOWN TO BALD EAGLE POINT While the Club had many wonderful years at the downtown Rehoboth Beach location, it was time to start researching a relocation of RBCC as there wasn’t any room to expand any more. In addition, wrote Simpler, the city wanted more tax revenue, which would be raised from individual building lots. “The Club ran out of sympathetic commissioners.” Simpler recalled when a Member of the RBCC Board asked him to vote for a certain prospective commissioner in a city election. The man won, and the Club was able to stay put for just a few more years. Simpler commented, “It was difficult to find anyone among the members who wanted to leave that in-town location.” The old Club was a repository of so many fond memories, for so many people. In 1956, the Committee on Relocation of Rehoboth Beach Country Club to Site Outside City Limits was formed, comprised of George Waples, George Butz, William Marshall, EB Quillen and Leon Ryan. After considering several sites, they settled on the 150-acre Rodney King property at Bald Eagle Point, with frontage on Rehoboth Bay. The new property cost $3,000,000, RBCC Member John Burris recalled. There was as yet no clubhouse or pro shop. Jean Van Pelt remembers a tiny wooden “chicken shack” as the makeshift pro shop. When crackers were stored there as snacks, Jean said, “the mice would eat them.” The Van Pelts joined the Club in 1963. Jean, then a young mother, quickly learned to play golf, and excelled. As a new golfer, she won a prize in a Seaford tournament in 1964, and became very active on the ladies’ team at the new Club. The old property in town was sold in 1964 for $360,000. At the time, 98 Members owned stock; each Member had 37100 shares in the new property. Plans were drawn up for a clubhouse at Bald Eagle Point, and construction began the following year.
Simpler commented, “It was difficult to find anyone among the members who wanted to leave that in-town location.” The old Club was a repository of so many fond memories, for so many people.
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A new era begins and an old one ends tomorrow morning as Rehoboth Beach Yacht and Country Club opens its new $280,000 18-hole golf course. Last night shortly before 8pm two foursomes strolled off the sun-baked nine-hole layout which has been a landmark in this popular resort since 1927. A large sign posted on Bill Collum’s pro-shop door read: “Play prohibited Friday, July 19. New course opens Saturday.” -Hal Bodley, Evening Journal, Wilmington, Del. July 19, 1963
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FUN FACTS 1960s
Hayes Wilson won what would be the final Men’s Club Championship on the old course. Mike Kardash won the championship twice on the old course (1960 and 1962), and would go on to win a third time in 1967 on the new course, making him the only member to win championships on both courses.
Centennial Events Save The Dates Friday 5/9
Centennial Hickory Shaft Tournament
Sunday 5/25
“Peace, Love & Rehoboth” 60s Memorial Day Cookout
Sunday 6/8
Centennial Car Show
Wednesday 7/2 Friday 7/11 Wednesday 7/2
Centennial Trivia & History Night
“Dive Through the Decades” Pool Party
Centennial Trivia & History Night
Saturday 8/2
Centennial Gala
Sunday 8/24
Centennial Ice Cream Social at the Pool
Thursday 8/28
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Centennial History Night & Book Presentation
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REHOBOTH BEACH COUNTRY CLUB 221 West Side Drive
302-227-3811
office@rehobothbeachcc.com
www.rehobothbeachcc.com