Tickets Available For Historical Society’s Fall Dinner

OCEAN CITY — The Worcester County Historical Society is planning its annual fall dinner for Sunday, Oct. 21, at 2 p.m. at the Dunes Manor Hotel.

This year’s speaker will be Gordon E. Katz, an award-winning author who will speak on “The Story of the George Washington Hotel in Ocean City. The Facts and the Rumors.” The talk will be accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation outlining some of the hotel’s history. Having been constructed in 1931, it was the last major hotel built before World War II. One rumor is that it was built by the Mafia. With five guestroom floors, it was the largest and tallest of the earliest hotels. A cocktail lounge was located on the sixth floor.

Several years ago, Katz published a book telling about the early history of Ocean City from 1875 to 1890. This book received two prestigious awards — an Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History and the Tee O’Connor Professional Award from the Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Council. He is presently working on a sequel to that publication, which continues the story of both Ocean City and the surrounding areas of Eastern Worcester County from 1890 through the storm of 1933 that created the inlet.

The menu for the Historical Society’s dinner will include Maryland crab soup, French Style Chicken, scalloped potatoes, autumn vegetable medley and dessert. Coffee and tea are included.

Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased by sending a check to Robert Fisher, WCHS Treasurer, 230 South Washington St., Snow Hill, Md. 21863. To guarantee seating, those who plan to attend are encouraged to make their reservations by Friday, Oct. 12. The dinner is open to the public.