OCEAN CITY – In 1976, college friends Steve Pappas and Tommy Dickerson joined the stream of young people headed to Ocean City for summer jobs.
They found work, but discovered it wasn’t so easy to keep it. By mid-summer, they’d already been fired twice.
Pappas wasn’t sure what they were going to do when a trip to the Gold Coast Mall to buy beer took them by what looked like a library under construction. A closer look showed them not books but a bar. The owners agreed to hire the pair to work the door.
Four decades and 46 locations later, Pappas and Dickerson are celebrating the 40th anniversary of that bar — the iconic Greene Turtle.
“Tommy and I had an idea in 1976 when we first started working here that this was going to be our future,” Pappas said.
The owners of the Greene Turtle, Tommy Dickerson and Steve Pappas, are pictured in a dated photograph from their early days of operating the establishment that they would grow into a franchise operation with 46 locations. File Photos
The Greene Turtle, the north Ocean City bar now known nationwide, marks its 40th anniversary in 2016. What started as an English-style pub was purchased by Pappas and Dickerson in 1980. The pair spent the ensuing years turning the franchise into what it is today.
“We knew we could make it work,” Pappas said. “We worked the place. We knew what it was capable of.”
In its early days, the Greene Turtle — named after a bar in Florida the original owners had liked — was filled with backgammon and dart boards. Music emanated from a tape deck and real candles lined the walls.
“That was the first thing we did when we got to work,” Pappas recalled. “We’d go upstairs and get the candles and light them.”
He and Dickerson took a liking to the place and in the off season brought their friends there.
“The place started to be a hangout,” Pappas said.
They took things a step further in 1980. When they found out the owners wanted to sell the bar, Dickerson suggested they buy it.
“Between the two of us, we didn’t have two or three thousand dollars,” Pappas said.
His parents, however, agreed to take out a second mortgage on their home so the pair could fund the $40,000 purchase. The rest, as they say, is history.
“We were a locals’ bar during the day and a nightclub at night,” Pappas said. “We’d put big bands in. Tommy and I would go home and we couldn’t hear for two or three hours.”
In a few years, they’d paid Pappas’ parents back, and in 1986 agreed to have another college friend, Billy Packo, create a Greene Turtle in Fells Point. When it opened to lines around the block, the pair decided to have another college friend open a bar in Laurel. In 1999, Greene Turtle locations popped up in Edgewater and West Ocean City.
“The problem was it was too hard for us,” Pappas said. “We decided to franchise.”
Though the process took two years and a significant amount of money, the Greene Turtle was franchised in 2002. The locations in Ocean City, West Ocean City and Fells Point were excluded. Pappas now operates the original location, while Dickerson runs the show in West Ocean City and Packo handles Fells Point. Franchising, meanwhile, has resulted in more than 46 locations throughout the mid-Atlantic area. By 2010, the Greene Turtle was recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as the nation’s fastest growing sports bar franchise.
“What we learned was the original Turtle can’t be duplicated,” Pappas said. “It’s organized chaos.”
While there are no exact replicas of the 116th Street bar, all of the Greene Turtle locations have the focus on sports, commitment to customers and community spirit of the first bar.
“We try to keep the neighborhood bar mentality,” Pappas said.
That’s particularly important in Ocean City, when the resort shrinks down to a tight-knit community of locals during the offseason. The Greene Turtle often lends its support to charitable causes and fundraisers. Frequent beneficiaries of its support include the American Cancer Society, the local humane society and youth recreation programs.
While those are the big three causes supported in Ocean City, Pappas says all of the Greene Turtle locations offer the “Funds for Friends” program. It gives local groups a chance to partner with their area restaurant so that a portion of that day’s earnings go to support their cause.
In addition to the commitment to the community, Pappas is proud of the fact that the original Greene Turtle location has had many of its employees for decades.
“We’ve had the same people,” he said, adding that key staff members included Dawn Hodge, Karen Connolly, Sean Ward, Sean Sturgis, Ryan Lafferty, Louise Yesko, Jay Forte, Jean Taylor and Denny Ferry. “A lot of the success we’ve had here belongs to the employees.”
A 40th anniversary celebration is planned for next week, starting with a golf tournament on Wednesday, June 15 at 1 p.m. at the Ocean City Golf Club with proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. Call 410-723-2120 to register. On Thursday, June 16, a party is planned at the Original Greene Turtle from 4 p.m-2 a.m. hosted by DJ Batman and Mike Bradley featured Dr. Harmonica and Rockett 88 from 4-8 p.m. Throwback drink specials will be offered.
