December 1, 1926 Charter No. - 2439

It wasn't just another Christmas holiday week in Ocean City in 1926. For 17 local men, Dec. 29, 1926 was the charter date for the new Ocean City Rotary Club - now called Ocean City-Upper Township Rotary - which would become one of the busiest clubs in District 764. Harry E. Smith, a past president of Atlantic City Rotary, second oldest among the current 64 clubs in 764, was the primary Ocean City organizer/sponsor. Highlighting the charter night dinner - featuring Roast Charlevoix Turkey - at the Hotel Fleetwood was music by The Seven Camels of Syncopation and the Ocean City Kiwanis Club quartet; brief presentations by visiting Rotarians including a keynote address by Woodbury Past President Dr. Duncan Campbell; and the presentation of Rotary charter #2439 by Gov. Charles T. Puff to Ocean City's first president, Dr. J. Thornley Hughes, who served a year and a half. Hughes owned Hughes Central Pharmacy at 8th St. and Wesley Ave. Among those offering greetings was Joseph Champion, Ocean City Mayor. (In 1958, the 11 surviving charter members held a meeting which reproduced their charter night program. Charles Puff presented the charter, just as he had in 1926.)