45th Anniversary Commemorative Book November 2015 | Page 25

and staff. Much credit for this ongoing harmony belonged to
the successive presidencies of Marianne Schatz (1989-1991),
John Bailey (1992-94), Elan Zingman-Leith (1995-97), Tom
Carroll’s second term (1998-2000) and Ed Henry (2001-03).
A mature professional staff made it possible to manage
existing programs while allowing MAC to strike out in new
directions. A crucial infrastructure was created, involving the
gradual introduction of professional standards to a host of
areas, including: accounting, ADA accessibility, collections
management, communications, computer networks, database
management, educational outreach, employee management,
emergency planning, interpretation, long-range planning,
maintenance, marketing, publications, restoration, retail,
special events, staff training, and volunteer management.
With this strong organizational capacity, MAC was able to build
vigorously on the foundations laid during its first two decades.
A key factor behind MAC’s growing professionalism was
the emergence in 2000 of truly massive General Operating
Support grants from the New Jersey Historical Commission.
This injection of State funding contributed to a 50% increase in
MAC’s operating budget in the first three years of the decade,
which, in turn, accelerated many advances in the infrastructure
needed to deliver MAC’s wide range of public programs.
Throughout this phase, MAC continued to make great
strides in its efforts to extend the tourism season. In 1990,
MAC launched the Cape May Music Festival as a strategy to
attract visitors to the area during the “soft” weeks before the
peak summer season. With significant grant support from
the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and unprecedented
contributions from scores of area businesses and individuals,
the Music Festival has grown into MAC’s flagship cultural
offering. This phase also saw a continual expansion of
Christmas programming, with the number of Candlelight
House Tours increased from one to three, a wide variety of
offerings added to the calendar, and the holiday season
stretched from the weekend before Thanksgiving (Holiday
Preview Weekend) to the weekend after New Year’s. In 1990,
MAC introduced successful Sherlock Holmes Weekends in
March and November. In 1996, MAC transplanted the best
of October’s Victorian Week to a Spring Victorian Weekend,

Pat and Bill Carpenter (left) and their daughter, Sue Priester (second
from right), have been the most generous private donors to the
Cape May Music Festival.

Since its opening in 1999, the Carriage House Cafe & Tearoom has
been one of the most popular attractions at the Physick Estate.

which grew into a 10-day Spring Festival (in partnership with
the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May).
Part of this “season-stretching” was accomplished with an
expanding roster of partners. For nearly a decade, Cape May’s
innkeepers lent their expertise to the INN Deep workshop
on how to acquire, restore and operate a bed-and-breakfast
inn. In 1997, Cape May’s restaurant community joined forces
with MAC to launch the Cape May Food and Wine Festival,
scheduled for the third week in September. Since 1995,
another key partner has been the Cape May Whale Watcher,
with whom MAC co-sponsors daily Around Cape Island and
other specialty boat cruises.
Nor have MAC’s partnerships been limited to the for-profit
sector. Throughout this phase, MAC developed important joint
ventures with the City of Cape May, including administering the
Washington Street Mall Information Booth (in return for selling
City Beach Tags) and co-sponsoring a series of children’s
cultural programs and crafts shows at Cape May Convention
Hall. MAC also joined forces with a number of area nonprofits,
cosponsoring nature walks with the Nature Center of Cape
May; cross-marketing the Cape May Lighthouse with Historic
Cold Spring Village, Naval Air Station Wildwood and Hereford
Inlet Lighthouse; offering exhibits and programs that celebrate
Cape May’s African American heritage with the Center for
Community Arts; running the Doo Wop 50s Trolley Tour of
the Wildwoods with the Doo Wop Preservation League;
packaging Naval Air Station Wildwood with the World War
II Trolley Tour; and providing marketing outreach and ticket
sales for area theater companies. With the Delaware River and
Bay Authority, MAC offered packages that encourage visitors to
leave their cars on the Delaware side and take the Cape MayLewes Ferry and a shuttle bus to a MAC trolley tour.
This phase has also saw several giant steps forward in
MAC’s administration of its historic sites. The Physick Estate
underwent a systematic reinterpretation of the interior and
grounds, taking into account the latest historical scholarship.
The Physick Estate Carriage House was rescued from its

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