Photo: Christine Steiner

Danielle Gomes, daughter of the late Resorts CEO Dennis Gomes — who passed away suddenly at the age of 68 in February 2012 — would have made her father proud last Friday (May 10).

Danielle was the center of attention at Cuba Libre inside the Quarter at Tropicana in Atlantic City — a venue Dennis Gomes had much to do with during his time at Tropicana, just one of many jobs he held around the country during his prolific career in the gaming industry — as she signed her new book Hit Me!, based on interviews she conducted with her father in relation to his life and specifically how he fought the mob in Las Vegas as Gaming Control Board division chief, a story partially told in the Nick Pileggi book and Martin Scorsese film Casino.

Hundreds, including family, friends and long-time associates of the Gomes family, came out for the book signing, which was also a fundraiser for a local charity. Danielle said hopes to do a second one in Las Vegas.

Danielle was gracious enough to give Atlantic City Weekly an on-camera interview just moments before the event began. In the video below, she is interviewed by Atlantic City Weekly’s Jeff Schwachter about her new book, co-written with Jay Bonansinga.

Although he may have the most losses in the history of pro basketball, Margate’s Louis “Red” Klotz, who Atlantic City Weekly profiled in a 2006 cover story, has a lot of supporters trying to get the 91-year-old Jersey Shore resident into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Yes, he lost 10,000 games against the Harlem Globetrotters as coach (and players) for the Washington Generals, but he also won most of the games he played as a young man in South Philadelphia, where he played for the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association (SPHAS), going on to play for Philadelphia’s Villanova, where he won an American Basketball League championship.

Klotz is the subject of a new book, out April 26, targeted at young readers called Homecourt: The True Story of the Best Basketball Team You’ve Never Heard Of.

The 72-page book features a foreword by Harlem Globetrotters legend “Curly” Neal and is being distributed by Temple University Press for the New City Community Press.

There are several blogs and Web sites supporting Red Klotz’s entrance into the HOF. One particularly interesting blog post, written by NBC Sports national columnist Joe Posnanski in February of this year, features a link to what he describes as “one of my favorite ever stories,” a piece Posnanski previously wrote on Klotz.

The new book sounds great, Klotz’s story is incredible and, as a book for young readers, the underlying message that “everybody wins” in sports couldn’t be more important in today’s mad world. — JS

ATLANTIC CITY — Frank Ferry’s relationship with the late, legendary Atlantic City powerbroker Enoch “Nucky” Johnson grew out of a 1964 legal case in which Ferry, then a young lawyer appointed assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New Jersey, helped Johnson beat an attempt by the U.S. Department of Justice to collect $20,000 from a tax-evasion conviction 23 years prior. The two remained close friends for the next four years, until Johnson’s death in 1968.

Attorney and author Frank J. Ferry

It is nearly a certainty that nobody still alive knows more than Ferry about the life of Nucky Johnson, who bestowed his memoir upon Ferry and is the subject of his book Nucky: The Real Story of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Boss. Ferry began writing the book 13 years ago and just released it in January during a book signing at A.C.’s historic Knife & Fork Inn.

Along with Johnson’s memoirs and a close personal relationship with him, Ferry researched his life through transcripts of FBI interviews, trial testimony, and recollections from stories told to him by his mother, who also knew Johnson well. This Saturday, March 9, at 11am, Ferry will discuss his book at the Atlantic City Free Public Library’s second-floor meeting room (1 N. Tennessee Ave.) The discussion is free and open to the public, and registration is not required.

Call 345-2269, ext. 3112, for more information, or to learn more about Nucky Johnson (whose fictionalized character in the award-winning HBO series Boardwalk Empire, Nucky Thompson, is based on Judge Nelson Johnson’s 2002 book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City), visit the library’s Atlantic City Experience Web site at atlanticcityexperience.org.

Considered by many as Atlantic City’s greatest music figure, Chris Columbo, the long-time house drummer at the iconic Atlantic City nightspot Club Harlem — who played with everyone from Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald to Wild Bill Davis and Louis Jordan — passed away from a stroke 10 years ago this year.

There are often tributes paid in A.C. to the legendary musician who sat on a motorcycle seat behind his kit and led the house band at Club Harlem for nearly 35 years.

Columbo also performed at several Atlantic City casinos and many pre-casino nightspots in the city during his long musical journey. He recorded for Strand in 1962 (see second video below).

See the sights and sounds of Club Harlem (which could be part of a new Smithsonian exhibit) via vintage footage and learn more about Columbo — who passed at the age of 100 — below.

This video is pretty cool:

ATLANTIC CITY — Originally a biannual event, the Atlantic City Antiques Show was reduced to a single show in March for the past two years.
Allison Kohler, head of Antiques Show owner JMK Shows, has decided to bring back the fall exhibit this year in hopes to reinstate the show’s previous significance.
Taking place Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 13-14, at the Atlantic City Convention Center, the event is sure to live up to Kohler’s standard of presenting a show composed of far more than rows of tables and booths. While the Governor’s Office of New Jersey has been campaigning to reform Atlantic City into a chief destination resort, the show simultaneously wishes to draw in the crowd it once did, “working tirelessly to revitalize, reinvigorate, and re-establish what was once a major event that collectors from all over the world attended,” according to Kohler.
The show will include a glass repair clinic lead by Wade Nulton, who specializes in solving issues such as chipped or rough edges and restoring cloudy glass to crystal clear. An appraisal panel will be available for attendees, featuring accredited International Society of Appraisers member, Linda Roberts of White Orchid Appraisals, LLC, and Dorothy Hunt, owner and head auctioneer of Sweetbriar Auctions. For just $5 an item, the appraisers will give their expert evaluations. There will also be a broad spectrum of different experienced buyers and sellers from all over the country, including Scott Rosenman of Baltimore, Maryland, specializing in vintage advertising, John Polito of Burlington who favors unusual pieces, and Sharon Wendrow of Bayside, N.Y., an Atlantic City Antiques veteran of 20 years whose display will feature dolls and toys, among others.
From toys and jewelry to pottery and furniture, collectors of all interests are most likely to discover what they are searching for. Tickets are $15 for one day, $25 for both days, and $30 for an early buying weekend pass, taking place Saturday from 9-10am. Regular hours are Saturday, 10am-6pm, and Sunday, 11am-5pm. For more information, click here or call (973) 927-2794. — Casey Harper

THE WILDWOODS, N.J. — The Greater Wildwood Chamber of Commerce will present the ninth annual Fabulous ‘50s & Beyond Weekend Celebration Friday and Saturday, Oct. 12-13 in the Wildwoods — a two-day celebration paying tribute to the 1950s and highlighting the Wildwoods’ role in the history of Rock ‘n’ Roll music.

The fun begins Friday night inside the Wildwoods Convention Center with a Dance Party hosted by the Jerry “The Geator with the Heater” Blavat, who is guaranteed to get everyone moving and grooving to classic oldies. The Dance Party takes place from 7-11 p.m. and admission is $13 per person.

The Geator with the Heater

Saturday will feature an afternoon (11am-5pm) of outdoor fun and music during the free Fabulous ‘50s Street Fair at Fox Park, located across from the Convention Center on Ocean Avenue. The Street Fair will include free live entertainment throughout the day as well as a classic car show, a Doo-Wop ‘50s Bus Tour and a variety of vendors offering ‘50s memorabilia, merchandise, delicious food options and much more. The Doo-Wop Experience Museum will also be open, allowing guests to view authentic ‘50s memorabilia, artifacts and several room displays.

The weekend’s featured event starts 7pm Saturday — the Fabulous ‘50s & Beyond Concert — which will take place in the Oceanfront Arena at the Convention Center starring Kenny Vance & the Planotones, the 5th Dimension featuring Florence LaRue, the Orlons, and Paul Revere & the Raiders. Admission is $49.50 per person.

For additional information, or to purchase tickets for the Friday night Dance Party or Saturday night Fabulous ‘50s & Beyond Concert, go here or call (609) 729-4000.

The All Wars Memorial Building in Atlantic City (1510 Adriatic Ave.) will host a reunion and event for southern New Jersey Muslims on Saturday, Oct. 6.

The event, according to a press release sent by Atlantic City firm Shabazz Associates, headed by Kaleem Shabazz, will feature members of the former Nation of Islam, the World Community of Al-Islam in the West, and the American Muslim Mission.

The goal of the event is for local Muslims to “record and preserve the history of the first generation of Muslims” in the Atlantic City area, according to the release.

A $20 donation for the 4-8pm event includes dinner and a “keepsake.”

For tickets or more information, call 609-204-4396 (Andrew Parker) or 609-344-2590 (Kaleem Shabazz).

Here is a key to this week’s awesome cover of AC Weekly, featuring Metallica and the Orion fest bands standing in for the Beatles and their Sgt. Pepper album cover crew. Since Ringo’s in town this week as well, we added him too!

Photo: Donald Kravitz

You have seen them on the Atlantic City Boardwalk — including this year’s new Royal fleet, launched during Revel’s “preview” phase in April (see photo at bottom of this post) — in the movies, on Boardwalk Empire and lined up against the A.C. Boardwalk railing, with the Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop, with rollers waiting for passengers.

Perhaps you’ve even taken a “chair ride” up or down — or both — the historic Atlantic City Boardwalk. (If not, haven’t you always wanted to?)

What are we talking about? Rolling chairs, Atlantic City’s unique mode of transportation dating back 125 years to June 11, 1887 and first debuted at an 1876 convention in the seaside tourist town.

Can you imagine all of the people, including entertainers and celebrities, who have taken a ride on a rolling chair? Not to mention all of those men and women who have pushed rolling chairs for a living over the past 125 years, including many East European students who work summers in Atlantic City.

A few bits of fun rolling chair facts for you: Lou Kessel, who would become Nucky Johnson’s right-hand man, as portrayed by actor Anthony Laciura as the Boardwalk Empire character Eddie Kessler on the hit HBO drama series, had a connection to Atlantic City’s rolling chairs. At the age of 24, soon after moving to Atlantic City from his native Austria, and before being hired by Nucky, Kessel built rolling chairs.

Find out how did rolling chairs play a part when the Atlantic City “Beach was Mobbed“?

Vintage rolling chairs were on display at the Atlantic City Antiques and Collectors Show held last March at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

There have also been songs written about rolling chairs, including the ditty “Why Don’t You Try (The Rolling Chair)”; here is the cover of the sheet music, courtesy of Princeton Antiques in Atlantic City:

Finally, of course, the Miss America parade on the Boardwalk just wouldn’t have been the same without rolling chairs for the world-famous Miss America Rolling Chair Parade, in which contestants were rolled along the wooden way and the whole “show us your shoes” thing got its unlikely start.

Read More:

• Part one and two of local historian Allen “Boo” Pergament’s “A Stroll Down the Atlantic City Boardwalk” two-part historical article.

• Interview with Boardwalk Empire creator Terry Winter on old Atlantic City, with mention of rolling chairs.

• Local History and historical “Waltz Through Time” pages.

• Boardwalk Empire Notes page

• LIKE! Boardwalk Empire Fan Club on Facebook

Photo Captions:

TOP Picture: (L to R) Vin Lucpezio (blue shirt & bow tie),  Ellen Cohen (yellow dress & hat), Lee Karlock (red & white stripes) and Stewart Norton (black & white stripes)

Below: The Royal Rolling Chair 2012 on the Atlantic City Boardwalk in front of the new Revel resort. The new chairs debuted in April as part of Revel’s preview opening and the ongoing push to boost tourism in Atlantic City:

Happy Anniversary Rolling Chairs! Atlantic City’s unique Rolling Chairs have been an option for Boardwalk travel since June 11, 1887. A reenactment is planned for the 125th anniversary on Monday, June 11 from 10am-6pm on the Boardwalk.

Two antique rolling chairs provided by Royal Rolling Chairs, Inc. will be gliding from opposite ends of the Boardwalk, pushed and utilized by actors in circa 1800 period clothing. In addition to the recent modernization of the existing fleet of Rolling Chairs, Royal Rolling Chairs owner Bill Boland had several antique chairs restored to reflect the history and authenticity of this unique mode of transportation.

Commemorative buttons and souvenir information cards of the famous Rolling Chairs will be distributed at the Boardwalk Information Center and by CRDA Special Improvement Division Ambassadors during the weekend leading up to the anniversary, and during the day of the anniversary celebration. Among the buttons being given out will be ten (10) specially marked buttons with a “DO AC” sticker that can be redeemed at the Boardwalk Information Center at Mississippi Avenue for a “DO AC” amenity bag.

Royal Rolling Chairs will also be giving away “free” rides on Kool 98.3 all day long on Monday during Dave & Tina in the morning, Jennifer Scott midday and Jackson T. Chase during afternoon drive time.  Each show will have two rides to give away. Winners will be able to use their “free ride” any Monday through Friday now through September 30, 2012.

The chairs were first introduced at a convention in 1876. The chairs began to be rented by local AC businessman William Hayday on June 11, 1876. The original chairs were fashioned after wheelchairs and, unlike other vehicles, were allowed on the Boardwalk. At one time only used by handicapped persons, other individuals pretended to need the chairs, and the practice grew to include visitors wishing to use this leisurely form of transportation along the bustling Boardwalk.