Caring Couple Restores Wildwood’s Memory Lane

WILDWOOD – If walkers happened to stroll down Atlantic Avenue between Burk and Montgomery avenues, they may have noticed the much-needed face lift the Memory Lane War Memorial has received, but the year’s worth of work wasn’t done by the city or a veterans’ organization, it was done by two retirees who now call Wildwood home.
After visiting the beach town for the past 60 years, self-described avid walkers, Diane and Robert Baker, decided to retire to Wildwood in 2005. Memory Lane, which is labeled as a memorial for local soldiers who fought in Korea and Vietnam, is along the couple’s walking route. After strolling past the run-down memorial for four years, the couple knew they had to do something.
“We’re very patriotic people,” said Diane Baker, “it was totally run-down, this is a living memorial, living memorials are anything that has trees to represent the men, so it was almost like a living memorial died and we just brought it back to life.”
Prior to the Bakers’ work, they said the memorial was overrun with weeds and high grass. The planter boxes were falling apart and paint was chipping off the signs. Even the wooden crosses that were put in place to honor fallen soldiers were deteriorating. Not wanting to step on anyone’s toes, the Bakers sought permission to start working on the memorial.
They first contacted the Wildwood Civic Club, whose name is on the sign as the organization responsible for the memorial. However after multiple attempts they weren’t able to reach anyone.
They then approached the American Legion, which told them to just go ahead and start working.
Armed with permission from the only organization they could contact, they got to work landscaping, rebuilding the planter boxes, painting fences, and hand-painting signs. With the help of Diane Baker’s brother, Steve Uchniat, who splits time between Philadelphia and Avalon, they were able to get new crosses made with the names of the soldiers engraved on each.
After a little research, they were even able to place the crosses back in their original locations. Not only did the Bakers spend their time working on the memorial, they also spent their own money paying for supplies.
Robert Baker estimates they spent around $400, but for them it was well worth it, “instead of spending it at the casino or something, we spent it on something worthwhile.”
However, the road to cleaning up Memory Lane has not been an entirely smooth one. While working on the memorial, the Bakers say they witnessed a few things that really saddened them.
“I was out here painting crosses and this women comes up with two dogs and she lets one (relieve itself) right in front of me,” said Diane. When Baker asked her if she was going to clean up after her dog, the women replied, “‘who the (expletive) are you?” After explaining that she was a taxpayer and that this was a war memorial, the women cursed her out and walked away.
To prevent future similar incidents, Robert Baker plans ask the city for signs and plastic bag dispensers to place around the park to remind owners to clean up after their dogs. He said he would even install them.
He is also hoping to get lights throughout the park replaced as they are not working, but one of the most important things the Bakers are hoping for is the city to supply a flagpole for the park, “that should be standard in every city park and memorial, we did our research,” said Diane Baker.
While there have been a few disrespectful individuals, there are others on the opposite side of the spectrum who thank the Bakers and offered a helping hand when they pass. Even the contracted landscaper responsible for cutting the grass at the park has been paying closer attention to Memory Lane by making sure the grass and weeds are kept in tip top shape.
When asked why they did it the answer was simple, “This is our neighborhood,” said Diane Baker, who feels sometimes people get desensitized by the way the city looks “they are so used to seeing it one way that they don’t know it could be a different way.”
Though the Bakers didn’t accept how Memory Lane looked and spent a year revamping the one-block stretch of land, they say it doesn’t always take an extensive project to clean up a city, “just get up and pick up a piece of trash, or pick up anything, you know it can be done, it doesn’t take that much.”
As the Bakers wait on a few more crosses to complete Memory Lane’s renovations, they’ve already moved on to their next project: Holly Beach Park located on Andrews between Pacific and New Jersey avenues.
The couple has already started cleaning up the area and is planning to renovate the old school house that’s on the property. The next time walkers are out for a stroll, stop by Memory Lane and check out the beautiful work done by two of Wildwood’s own; and if they happen to see two people out there painting or landscaping, offer a hand or just some kind words for all they’re doing to make the city beautiful.