Message from Councilman Roc White | November 1
Throughout this year, the Shady Rest County Club has come alive with music, food and comedy. It is all part of an effort to celebrate the history of America’s very first African American country club, while raising money for ongoing renovations to the structure.
The fourth event of the year is set for Friday, Nov. 3, from 7-11 p.m., when the BBD Rhythm and Blues band takes the stage in the grand ballroom to offer a “Night of the Blues.” Proceeds from the event – to include hors d’oeuvres and a sit-down dinner – will help the non-profit Preserve Shady Rest Committee continue its renovation efforts.
Tickets are just $45, with plenty of food, prizes and fun.
The committee chair, Tom Donatelli, said the group has already sold about 80 tickets for the big event and is hoping to squeeze in two more tables to accommodate a crowd of 100 attendees, generating upwards of $3,000 in hopeful profit. He also noted sponsorships are available – for this blues event, as well as for programming that is being planned for 2024.
Tom said the committee launched these live events in 2023 to hopefully create some of the excitement that took place in the 1930s, when the likes of W.E.B. DuBois, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, and many other prominent Blacks would dine the exact same dining room. Live performances from Louie Armstrong to Duke Ellington to Ella Fitzgerald made the Shady Rest widely known among Blacks as “A Place for Us.”
While Shady Rest can’t exactly attract today’s top-tier performers, it doesn’t mean the clubhouse at 820 Jerusalem Road should lose any luster. These scheduled events throughout 2023 – four, in total – are breathing new life into Shady Rest. And, just as importantly, the committee is creating an important revenue stream to help fulfill its mission to serve this nationally-designated landmark.
The committee is working with the Township on the next chapter of Shady Rest. We are looking to develop a master plan for the special site. The goal is to retain an architect who specializes in restoration to develop plans, funded in part through donations the committee is generating.
There are also hopes to launch a new website at preserveshadyrest.org, as well as other pet projects. Everything, unfortunately, costs money, which is why fundraising is critical and events will be ongoing to entice the next generation of Shady Rest supporters to visit the clubhouse and the surrounding nine-hole golf course, which also bears the Shady Rest name.
Shady Rest’s basement, which served as a speakeasy during the Roaring ‘20s, needs to be extensively renovated. The second and third floors also need plenty of work. The third floor, in particular, has enormous historical value as the home of the late John Shippen, Jr., the very first American-born golf professional, who also just happened to be Black.
Work has been ongoing. The clubhouse underwent a $1.1 million, three-phase rehabilitation in 2015 to restore the building to what it appeared like in 1925, based on historic photos. Aluminum siding and aluminum windows were replaced with wood windows and historic features of the building were restored, according to the town.
The 1830s-era chimneys were also repointed, and in the ball room, the historic walls were restored and the fireplace was replastered per the historic photos.
The committee is now setting its sights on its next big event, to be held in February as part of Black History Month. Sponsorships, as always, are warmly welcomed. You can get that conversation started by emailing