Message from Councilwoman Elizabeth Stamler | January 26, 2024
We could not be more pleased about the tremendous momentum at the historical Shady Rest Golf & Country Club over the past three years.
In September 2021, the Township Council announced the Scotch Hills Country Club, 820 Jerusalem Rd., would revert to its original name, the Shady Rest Golf and Country Club. The announcement was made exactly 100 years from the day the land was purchased by a group of Black investors to become America’s first country club for African Americans – home to golf, tennis, skeet shooting and horseback riding.
Then, in 2022, Shady Rest was granted a long-awaited listing on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service. It joined buildings, sites and districts across the nation worthy of preservation because of their significance in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering and culture.
Last year, a number of programs, dinners and live events were held in the Shady Rest clubhouse, as part of a renewed effort to bring back quality entertainment. It’s all about tipping our caps to the 1930s heyday when the likes of W.E.B. DuBois, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, and many other prominent Blacks would perform in the 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.”
The current renaissance could not have happened without the all-volunteer Preserve Shady Rest Committee, led by Tom Donatelli, and their tremendous commitment to ensuring a bright future for this groundbreaking country club.
And the committee has more exciting news to share: It has been awarded a 2024 Incubation Grant from New Jersey Council for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Humanities to convene restoration specialists and community stakeholders to create an inclusive master plan for further preservation efforts at the clubhouse.
Committee members explain that this grant is the next chapter, following another grant received last year from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. That seed money made it possible for the committee to begin engaging with residents, former Shady Rest members and other “knowledge keepers” to capture stories and images of the country club’s decades of operation.
According to the committee: “Our work to date has been a great reminder that history is personal, and that storytelling happens from person to person. Recognizing, recording, and retelling individual experiences—that is how our stories become history.”
As part of the grant, the committee is launching a survey for its community history project, which urges people to share recollections, clippings, photos, and videos; no moment is too old or too small to celebrate. The responses will help the committee better document why Shady Rest matters and help us plan for the next phase restoration and programming at this precious landmark.
The survey asks residents to share their connection with Shady Rest Country Club, as well as the golf course, which Scotch Plains took over in 1964 and renamed “Scotch Hills” until we changed it back in 2021. The committee is eager to hear recollections of special activities, events and memories that occurred at the 31-acre site, as well as the names of family, friends and organizations that took part.
Michele F. Saliola, a volunteer grant writer for the committee, explained the group is “building a master plan from the ground up, drawing from what residents and the community value most about Shady Rest as a beloved recreational resource.”
She adds: “Hearing what families remember and what they enjoy about the site today will shape the way we restore and how we program for the future. Our work to date has been a great reminder that history is personal, and that storytelling happens from person to person. Recognizing, recording, and retelling individual experiences—that is how our stories become history."
Want to get involved in the survey or any of the programming that is being planned for 2024? Email
There is much restoration work still needed at Shady Rest; the committee continues to raise money and seek grants. Growing the base of dedicated volunteers is a key to addressing the many challenges in a clubhouse that is more than 100 years old.
For example, Shady Rest’s basement, which served as a speakeasy during the Roaring ‘20s, needs extensive work. So do the second and third floors. 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.
Please consider getting involved! Mark your calendar for the next big event at Shady Rest: live music and more on Friday, Feb. 16 from 7-11 p.m. There will be food, a “tricky tray” and a special appearance by JB & the BBD Rhythm & Blues Allstars and DJ Esmooth. Tickets are just $45. Proceeds will benefit the ongoing preservation of Shady Rest.
You can always learn the very latest at preserveshadyrest.org
