Pines To Honor Community Icon With Rebranding Effort

Pines To Honor Community Icon With Rebranding Effort
Pines To Honor

BERLIN – A rebranding campaign at the Ocean Pines Yacht Club aims to honor an early community icon.

To kick off the new year, the Ocean Pines Association (OPA) announced this week that the yacht club—currently closed for renovations—would now be known as Mumford’s Landing in Ocean Pines. A newly constructed bar inside has been christened Tuffy’s Tavern. Both monikers pay homage to Charles “Tuffy” Mumford, an “early pioneer” of the community. OPA officials describe the changes as a way to honor the community’s past while giving the facility a new identity.

“The association is constantly looking for ways to improve the more marketable amenities within Ocean Pines,” said Denise Sawyer, the association’s marketing director.

The rebranding of the yacht club as Mumford’s Landing in Ocean Pines comes as the facility prepares for a few changes in 2017. The ground floor layout has been reconfigured to accommodate a hostess stand at the building’s front entrance.

“So now when you come into the door, you are going to be greeted by a hostess,” Hill said. “Before when you came in, you were relying on a sign or had to guess which floor or what you were doing.”

Much of the club’s interior will be repainted and the association’s new IT director is overseeing the installation of new information technology systems at the facility. Guests will also notice the new Tuffy’s Tavern, a 20-foot bar, as they enter. The Tuffy’s Tavern sign that once hung in the community’s original 1976 yacht club adorns the wooden bar.

Pines officials say the new bar will offer take-out service and have eight beers on tap.

“If our residents want to pop in later in the evening, they can grab a six-pack or a bottle of wine to enjoy at their house,” said Brett Hill, acting general manager of the association.

He said that while the yacht club had had the liquor license to offer carry out sales for some time, it had never done so.

“That’s completely new but it’s utilizing an existing license that was granted and previously paid for but never had a means to exercise,” he said.

The new bar will also allow Mumford’s Landing to better serve patrons during the busy summer months.

“The bar will be fully operational and would accommodate dozens of people,” Sawyer said. “There will be a new sitting area adjacent to the bar, and folks would be able to grab a drink and head out to the marina or new playground that is in the works.”

The playground will consist of a wooden pirate ship structure children can play in and on. The playground is being built in honor of a former resident and is being funded through a private donation. Sawyer said it was too early to speculate on a timetable for the project.

“The bidding process for a contractor is underway,” she said.

Though Mumford’s Landing is currently closed as its interior upgrades are taking place, the facility will host a job fair on Saturday to hire staff for the new bar as well as other positions. Available positions include bartenders, servers, floor managers, hosts, line cooks, prep cooks and server assistants, according to OPA. The job fair will take place Saturday, Jan. 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mumford’s Landing, which is located at 1 Mumford Landing Rd. in Ocean Pines.

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

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Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.