The Islander Brochure

Scanned copy of an original brochure from the Islander

The other day while rifling through a box of memories, I stumbled upon this brochure for the Islander motel, marina and restaurant from back in its heyday.

Click on the images (above and below) to enlarge them.

See that naive girl in the middle (above) pretending to tuck her hair behind her ear?  That's a young Chesapeake Bay Woman, circa 1981, strolling through the shallow waters that hug the shoreline just beyond the pool area.  

CBW spent many happy summers at that pool and became fast friends with Charles the lifeguard, who was the owners' nephew.  One day, Charles told her to follow That Man With the Camera down to the beach to take some pictures.  Without asking any questions, CBW dutifully obliged. 

After asking her to sign some paperwork, The Man With the Camera told her to walk around pretending to do this or that. When he insisted she pretend to tuck her hair behind her ear, CBW could hardly pretend not to laugh.  Nobody would ever walk along that beach doing something so silly.

In spite of this internal debate, CBW pretended to do the this or that the man suggested, and the next thing she knew the photo of her doing the silliest thing of all was in the Islander brochure. 

See the man in the pool with the child on his shoulders (lower left corner, above)?  That was Dr. Kearney, our pediatrician, and his daughter Colleen.  My mother considered him the best pediatrician ever.  He was the first person she called when CBW served her siblings d-Con rat poison at a tea party.  (Nobody was actually eating anything, it was just pretend, for goodness sakes.)

What I remember most besides his accent and moustache was getting shots, lots of them, and bracing for what he described as "just a little pinch."

Now we're together for eternity in the Islander brochure.

Scanned copy of back side of original brochure

Unrelated to pretend hair tucking, rat poison, pediatricians or pinches but still related to the Islander, below is a copy of an Islander ad that ran in a 1974 Mathews High School Tidewater Shrine Club Football Classic program (try saying that three times in a row, really fast).  Mathews played West Point, in case anyone was still awake wondering. My friend Bayman and I found this rummaging through an attic one hot, sweltering day.

Be advised that the time of year to rummage around an unventilated attic is any time of year except summer.  

Scanned copy of an MHS football program ad, 1974

Be advised the time of year to take a walk down Memory Lane is any time.

This concludes CBW's lesson in how to use her scanner walk down the particular cul-de-sac of Memory Lane known as the Islander. 

Have a great weekend.