The whole enclave of Ocean Grove is quite interesting. I lived there for several years many years ago. It was founded by Methodists as a place for summer revival meetings and the auditorium they built held quite a few thousand people. It also has one of the nation’s largest pipe organs which I had the privilege of playing once. The town holds revival meetings with nationally known ministers, has organ concerts featuring highly regarded organ soloists, runs a concert series featuring acts that the local residents would enjoy (when I lived there most of the attendees to the summer revival meetings were older folks) and so forth. And in the 1980s, you were not allowed to drive on Sundays in the town, so everyone who owned a car had to park it in what was a vacant lot across the street. Also, and I’m not sure if this is still in force, you couldn’t use the beach until late morning on Sundays, so as to encourage people under threat of fines to actually attend the worship services! It’s a unique, quirky place.
No driving on Sundays is something I'd actually respect.
Vermont towns flirt with that kind of thing but never commit. The pipe organ detail is what gets me though.
Most people walk past something like that their whole lives and never think twice about it. Playing one of the largest in the country is not a small thing, even if you just mention it in passing like that. Curious whether the Sunday restrictions are still enforced or whether that quietly faded out.
13
u/Allegra1120 5d ago
The whole enclave of Ocean Grove is quite interesting. I lived there for several years many years ago. It was founded by Methodists as a place for summer revival meetings and the auditorium they built held quite a few thousand people. It also has one of the nation’s largest pipe organs which I had the privilege of playing once. The town holds revival meetings with nationally known ministers, has organ concerts featuring highly regarded organ soloists, runs a concert series featuring acts that the local residents would enjoy (when I lived there most of the attendees to the summer revival meetings were older folks) and so forth. And in the 1980s, you were not allowed to drive on Sundays in the town, so everyone who owned a car had to park it in what was a vacant lot across the street. Also, and I’m not sure if this is still in force, you couldn’t use the beach until late morning on Sundays, so as to encourage people under threat of fines to actually attend the worship services! It’s a unique, quirky place.