Summary by Jackson Gingrich

The date of 1681 is recorded as the first and oldest settlement in the area of Cedar Creek Hundred that was to become Slaughter Beach. Alexander Draper (1630-1691) was granted 1000 acres in 1681, and it became the oldest settled grant and was called “Little Bolton”. This parcel was situated along what is now Slaughter Beach Road starting around what is now Wells Road and moving eastward toward the Delaware Bay.

The Slaughter Beach Tricentenary was surely a huge even event, judging by its scheduled activities, which extended from early morning through midnight on August 22, 1981, and again on the early morning of August 23rd. The August 22nd events:

1. Breakfast 7-9 AM – Scrapple, waffles, and eggs – all you can eat for $2.75
2. 9 AM – 3-mile “marathon” run
3. 11 AM – 4PM Firemen’s display of trucks, equipment, tools,
4. 11 AM – 4 PM- Souvenir sale
5. 12 noon – Women’s Auxiliary lunch at the Fire Hall – hamburgers, hot dogs, etc.
6. 1 PM – Reading of Willis Hammond’s 1920’s history diary – Pavilion
7. 1 PM – Welcome remarks by Mayor Frank Newton
8. 2 PM – Surf casting contest on the beach
9. 3 PM – Swimming and children’s beach games
10. 4 PM – Senior citizens bingo in the Fire House
11. 5 PM – Addresses at the Pavilion by Lt. Gov Michael Castle and Mayor Frank Newton
12. 5 PM – 7 pm – Boxed chicken and dumpling dinner at the Fire House; music by the Banjo Dusters at the Pavilion
13. 7 PM – Square dancing in the Fire Hall parking lot
14. 8:30 – 9 PM Boat Parade on the bayfront
15. 9 PM – Midnight – Teen dance at the Fire Hall, chaperoned
16. 9:30 – Moonlight cruise from Mispillion lighthouse dock – $2 per person
    August 23, 1981
    • Sunrise service (6:30 AM) at the fire house – Music presented by Slaughter Neck and Cedar Neck church members and scripture readings/sermons by their ministers, Rev. James Doughton and Hugh Miller, respectively.
    • Fire House breakfast – Scrapple/eggs – all you can eat, $2.75

A first day cover was issued to commemorate the Tricentennial.

To attend half of the events would have been a daunting challenge. Only a few of the adult attendees of the Tricentenary are still with us, and of the seven people I interviewed, only a few details were recalled. Considering how little we recall from 50 years ago, we should note that most folks were just out of high school or college, and busy pursuing personal lives and career goals. With those caveats, some details about various events were inferred both by the author and the interviewees from 1981.
Certainly, the 300th anniversary was a major milestone for the Town and State, and it was well publicized in the Milford Chronicle, the Delaware State News (Downstate News), and likely the Wilmington News Journal, among others. We know that attendance invitations were issued to a bevy of politicians, including Governor Pierre DuPont, Lt. Gov. Michael Castle, and local members of the legislature, likely including then State Senator Thurman Adams. In 1981, the Town had ~50 permanent residents and ~100 homes along North and South Bay Avenues, and did not extend north of Bridgham Ave., or south of Simpson Ave. However, during summer months, the number of visitors could easily swell into the hundreds on any given weekend or holiday. For the Tricentennial, Town residents’ homes would likely have been decorated with flags, streamers, or banners. Besides activities at or near the beach, the Fire House served 4 meals – 2 breakfasts (scrapple, pancakes, waffles, and eggs – all you could eat for $2.75), a lunch (hot dogs, and hamburgers, and likely potato salad), and a dinner (chicken, dumplings, corn on the cob, melons/cantaloupes, and ice cream). Meals were served at reasonable prices and homestyle cooking provided by the Ladies’ Auxiliary. We know the fun run drew locals and non-locals alike, including one or more runners from Dover AFB. The top two finishers were residents – Jeff Gardner (1st) and Chris Smith (2nd). Some of the fire equipment and tools on display included our Town’s two fire trucks, a tanker truck, and an ambulance. Also, usually, other local fire companies from Milford, Milton, and Bowers Beach would surely have attended a parade with our fire company. Other equipment displayed likely included axes, prybars, fire extinguishers, helmets, lock cutters, hoses, smoke detectors, and uniforms. Souvenirs likely included mini-model horseshoe crabs, coffee mugs, hats, t-shirts (a photo example is shown), sweatshirts and recipe pamphlets from the Ladies Auxiliary. There were mini-train rides and probably also fire truck rides for kids. The Dunk the Clown Contest would’ve have been a fine chance to dunk Mayor Newton, Junior Hitchens, and Bobbi Jester (from the Ladies Auxiliary) as featured dunkees, as well as many volunteer dunkees. Naturally, there were speeches by Lt. Governor Castle (Gov. DuPont couldn’t attend) and Mayor Newton, as well as an interesting historic reading of major Town historic milestones by Willis Hammond. Children’s beach games would have included frisbee tossing, badminton, and sand-castle building. Girls and boys splashing in the surf almost certainly occurred. Some adults perhaps fished, played horseshoes, or volleyball. Surfcasting was an official contest doubtless represented by experienced fishermen, and judging the winner would’ve been difficult. There were several kinds of music, including banjo playing by the Banjo Dusters, square dance music, and 1980s music for the teen dance, which was, as per protocol, a chaperoned event! The boat parade included about 30 boats of all types and sizes from our town, Lewes, and Bowers Beach. The parade was led with a head boat piloted by Captain Bob Sleeva, a town resident. Boats cruised close to shore and were often decorated. Many visitors likely came just for beach fun, so we should recall that by the 1980s, women were not necessarily modestly dressed. In fact, 1981 was well into the era of bikinis and short-shorts, although some attendees may have worn period beach attire from decades earlier. We also know there were even designated clappers for some events. We expect that most events were well attended, even those going on from 9 PM to midnight, especially the teen dance (chaperones notwithstanding). Lively American Bandstand-style music would be in the air. Captain Bob Sleva skippered a head boat for the moonlight cruise, hosting about 20 people at $2.00/person, with an itinerary from the old Lighthouse pier to Brandywine Shoals Lighthouse, a round trip of about 13 miles.

Above is a T-shirt that was sold at the event. The owners of the Cedar Creek
Bait & Tackle shop were George and Beverly Witman.

All in all, the events would have engendered exuberant participation, perhaps buoyed by some adult beverage consumption. We assume that some unofficial local fireworks appeared away from the town center. Based on long-standing tradition, many homes would have featured bonfires on the-then very wide beach, and the smell of burning marshmallows would be wafting through the air.
Considering the extensive activities of August 22nd, we guess that by the morning of August 23rd, a small group of Town residents would’ve likely expressed their respect by attending the sunrise church service at the Fire Hall. It featured two local church groups, the Methodist Churches of Slaughter Neck and Cedar Creek, starting at 6:30 AM. The Cedar Neck Church service was led by Rev. Hugh Miller, while the Slaughter Neck Church Service was led by the Rev. James Loughton. The organist was Starr Fioca and at least two musical selections are known – the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and America the Beautiful, also sung by church choirs and attendees. Although the sermon subjects weren’t listed, the ministers no doubt kept them short, sweet, and light-themed.
All in all, it was surely a memorable Town Tricentenary. The Milford Chronicle printed a 12 page commemorative article that featured Slaughter Beach history. Sadly, no quality resolution photos were found of the event. The newspapers’ photos were too grainy, and personal photos from those days were similarly unclear and rarely labeled. We hope, with the high quality of cell phone cameras today, our 350th anniversary will be superbly photographed and labelled for future generations.

Acknowledgements: Special thanks to Captain Bob Sleva, George Beidemann, and Bob Clendaniel for their contributions of time and knowledge of many of the events included in this summary,