(Photo courtesy Atlantic Cape Community College)
Atlantic City native and resident Carmelo Maysont recalls the days of his youth in the 1980s when, at the convergence of Massachusetts Avenue and the world-famous Boardwalk in the City’s Southeast Inlet, a festive family atmosphere filled with music and laughter would permeate throughout the neighborhood.
Galloway resident Karen Hober fondly remembers the stories of her grandparents owning Chinese restaurants on the Boardwalk and another on Tennessee Avenue, while extended family made an annual pilgrimage to their Mansion Avenue home for a summer of fun in the sun.
Those deep-rooted family ties are what brought Maysont and Hober to the Inlet Neighborhood Community Cleanup and Summer Kick-off Party in Atlantic City over the weekend.
"Here in this area we are cleaning up now, there used to be a small park and a lot of people used to gather up here," said Maysont, a security supervisor at Ocean Casino Resort. "My uncles were known for playing traditional Spanish salsa music here.”
More than 80 volunteers joined with a group of Ocean employees to the event presented by the Inlet Community Development Corporation and Atlantic Cape Community College.
“We are just so happy that everyone came together to help clean up our community. We saw unity today from faculty and staff at the college, Ocean Casino Resort volunteers, the Bungalow Park and Inlet Civic Associations. This is what it is all about, showing pride in your community, having a personal stake in helping and making a difference,” said Lizbeth Castro director of ACCC's Charles D. Worthington Atlantic City campus. “We also had some kids come with their families and that’s important too because it teaches them to love their community.”
(Photo courtesy Atlantic Cape Community College)Decked out in white T-shirts to mark the occasion, the volunteers gathered Saturday at one of two starting locations, Fisherman’s Park on Melrose Avenue and Altman Park on Pacific Avenue. Each was provided with garbage bags and pickers before they made their way down nearby streets and across vacant lots to rid the areas of loose trash, debris and more.
“Here in the Inlet, my great grandmother raised everybody in our family at Massachusetts Avenue and the Boardwalk," Maysont recalled. "This area, as I always called it, was like a little mini Puerto Rico with a lot of Hispanics here. It was very alive."
The debris was bagged up and left at nearly 20 designated locations throughout the Inlet for pickup.
A Summer Kick-off Party followed at Fisherman’s Park, complete with a free pizza lunch courtesy of Tony Boloney’s, live music via DJ Dahve, games, face painting and free information from local organizations including C.R.O.P.S. and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Hober, who has been employed at Ocean Casino Resort for three years in Compliance, was proud to take part in the day’s cleanup effort.
“I believe in rejuvenating Atlantic City, helping to get that bad taste out of people's mouths, because it is so beautiful here with the beach and Ocean Casino," she said. "When I first got to Ocean, I turned around and I was in awe with the views and everything, so it made me appreciate it more because this is what people need to see.”
Other collaborators included the First Ward Civic Association and Hydrangea Trail 2.0.
(Story by Atlantic Cape Community College)
