A Feeling of Community

I met MAC early in my years as a resident of Cape May County. Working in the newspaper business, you couldn’t help but become acquainted. To me, MAC was a big packet of information, sometimes in all the colors of the rainbow, that helped fill empty spaces on pages. In all those years of using MAC to keep from sending a paper to the printer with gaping, empty, white spaces, I never really put together what MAC did until I joined the organization.
MAC, of course, is the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities here in Cape May, and it does a whole lot more than fill holes on pages.
Most people planning a vacation focus on where they want to go; out of town, somewhere else. For my family, living in New England, that meant a trip down here to the shore. Now I find myself content to stay right where I am, because all the things that used to initiate the five-hour drive from home are still here, right in my own backyard, and most of them are thanks to MAC.
One of my missions since joining MAC more than 14 years ago is to make sure everyone else knows about it too. That’s a mission shared by all of us here and it’s why we offer, among all the other year-round tours and activities, our local ‘Community Day.’ Slated this year for June 12, ‘Community Day’ is just that: a chance for local residents to enjoy, at no cost, what thousands of other visitors have to drive hours and hours to see. Our three historic sites – the Emlen Physick Estate, the Cape May Lighthouse and the World War II Lookout Tower – will all offer free admission just by showing proof of Cape May County residency. Show us your driver’s license or even a utility bill with your local address, and you won’t pay a dime to enjoy these sites. You can also take the Historic District Trolley Tour at no cost, or a combination trolley and Physick Estate tour, and I’ll bet anything that you’ll learn things about Cape May and the Victorians that you never knew.
Of course, it would be hard for us to do this without help from our friends at Sturdy Savings Bank. We count on operating income from tours and events to help our preservation and restoration efforts and, in cases like this where we want to give something back to our local friends and neighbors, Sturdy steps in and their support makes it possible. There’s no greater example of “community” than a business that helps out like this. For many years, Sturdy has also supported our annual Volunteer Recognition Reception. They understand the value of volunteers to an organization like MAC, as well as the opportunity MAC offers for people to use their lifelong skills, or acquire a new one, by becoming a volunteer. Sturdy steps in to make sure this relationship between MAC and the community thrives and grows, and they join us each year in April to recognize these volunteers. And for that, and ‘Community Day,’ we can’t thank them enough.
So join us June 12 and enjoy a little vacation experience right here at home, without packing your bags or getting a dog-sitter. Check our website at capemaymac.org for admission and tour times. And be sure to thank our friends at Sturdy when you see them. 
Barraclough is the publications/website director at MAC.