Post #277710 by Mr. Kona-Lili on Tue, Jan 9, 2007 12:36 PM

Hey Guys...

I've been a lurker on this forum for quite awhile now, and this thread has finally inspired me to join and post...

I'm from NYC (the "outer" borough of Staten Island, to be specific - home of Jade Island - our vintage tiki/polynesian restaurant) and I work with the Doo Wop Preservation League in Wildwood, NJ and think this would be a great event to hold there. In fact, me and one of my colleagues from the Doo Wop league were just recently discussing the idea of trying to organize an event like this in Wildwood, at least something small-scale and locally-focused to start, but if we could combine our ideas to plan something bigger that might attract people from outside the immediate area, that would be great.

As most of you probably already know, Wildwood has a great collection of mid-century motels... tiki and otherwise... and the motels would not only provide a great setting for a tiki festival or vintage pop culture event of some sort, but the event could be a real shot-in-the-arm for the somewhat stagnant effort to promote the preservation of the motels which continue to be threatened by real estate development (Wildwood's "Doo Wop" motels were listed as one of the top 11 most endangered historic sites in America in 2006). Wildwood could REALLY use a novel and edgy event like this that would bring a potentially large and diverse group of people to town for the specific purpose of celebrating the mid-century vibe - something that hasn't really been attempted or shown to be successful down there yet. It would be a big step for a town that COULD be a world-class mecca for Tiki and mid-century enthusiasts if the tear-downs stop and some money starts flowing in to restore, renovate and re-create some of these vintage properties, and the town starts to really embrace the retro vibe as part of its identity. It's starting to happen, and there's an element down there that "gets it" (as well as an element that gets it, but doesn't get it - I'll explain later), but in any case, we need more momentum.

If you want to seriously consider doing this in Wildwood, I would certainly offer my help and support in the planning process, and you'd have the support of others involved in Wildwood preservation circles as well... I have a good relationship with many of the motel owners and other business people down there so I could be your liaison with the community for looking into options for venues, accommodations, dates, etc... Several motels in particular come to mind as ideal spots...

Wildwood would be a really unique and meaningful location to hold this kind of event, not to mention its a fun place with a huge beach that would accommodate a large gathering of people. Let me know what you think. Also, as I mentioned, I live in Staten Island so I'm always up for meeting in the NYC area to discuss.