OCEAN PARK — The outdoor shuffleboard courts in Ocean Park have been in existence “Since our grandparents played on them, and (now) we’re grandparents,” said Ocean Park Association officer Deb Guimont.
Like the shuffleboard courts not much has changed in Ocean Park, which was founded in 1881 under the auspices of Free Will Baptists. The seaside community, located on the southeastern corner of Old Orchard Beach, is one of 17 Chautauqua communities in the United States and Canada; it has events and activities based on the four pillars of religion, education, recreation and arts. The Chautauqua movement began at Lake Chautauqua, New York in 1874. According to the Chautauqua website, there have been recent efforts to revive Chautauqua communities that became inactive in the 1930s.
Click here to read an article re the Chautauqua Society by Dorothy Spillman Wagaky: https://theshuffler.net/2013/01/31/dorothy-wagasky-attends-the-florida-chautauqua-assembly/ To read more, click: http://www.lakesideohio.com/about IF I HAVE IT CORRECT, the Lakeside Shuffleboard Club is on land owned by the Chautauqua Society.
Stan McCormack. 2015 08 22 21:53.
Gus Bondi Comments: Stan and Bob,
Ocean Park, Maine is where Bruce Pulsifer got introduced to shuffleboard years ago as a young boy. His parents had a home on the ocean just a short way from the courts…he also worked there in the summer months on school vacations when he was older.
When we lived in Ogunquit, Maine, my wife and I played there twice a week in the summers with a nice group of people from Florida….one couple came from New Hampshire to play!!!
I understand that the courts have been redone lately.
The article brought back nice memories… Thanks,
Gus Bondi
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