Seashore Day Camp Voted Best Camp In Monmouth County
LONG BRANCH, October 6 – The results of the Annual Asbury Park Press “Best of the Best” Competition are in and Seashore Day Camp has been voted the best camp in Monmouth County – receiving a Readers Choice Winner 2011 Award October 6 from Thomas Donovan, President and Publisher, Vice President/East Group and Karen Guarasi, Regional Vice President, Advertising.
According to The Asbury Park Press, readers shared their top picks for the best businesses in the area. Diverse categories ranging from restaurants, entertainment and retail to financial institutions, health care professionals, electricians and child care providers were voted on through ballots at APP.com.
“We are honored to be named the Best Camp in Monmouth County and thank our customers for their vote of confidence, but will not rest on our laurels. We will continue to expand our program, offer children what they want and provide exemplary customer service,” said John Villapiano, President and Managing Partner of Seashore, who together with sister Carolee, brother Gus and dedicated staff research the market year round for new activities that give campers a chance to their stretch imaginations, test limits, develop skills, build confidence and try things they would probably not experience elsewhere.
This commitment to excellence has resulted in a year of awards for Seashore Day Camp and School. The company was presented with government proclamations July 23 from alumni U. S. Congressman Frank Pallone and Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider recognizing its important contribution to area children for the past 85 years, won a silver medal from Columbia Scholastic Press Association at Columbia University for its school newspaper and is a finalist in the 37th Annual Jersey Shore Advertising and Public Relations Awards Ceremony October 14.
“While we appreciate being recognized among the county’s top businesses, the real reward comes from working with children, taking part in their development and having them come back as adults to share Seashore memories and successes,” said Villapiano.
Founded by John Cittadino, a physical education teacher and swim coach in Asbury Park, Seashore opened in 1926 as the first day camp in New Jersey and one of the first in the United States with just seven children and has grown over the last eight and a half decades into one of the largest businesses at the Jersey Shore, accommodating more than 500 boys and girls each summer and becoming as synonymous with summer as the beach itself.
According to Villapiano, more than 40,000 young people have spent summers at Seashore and more than 60 percent of the staff was once campers themselves.
Villapiano’s family became involved in the business when Cittadino retired in 1974 and sold Seashore to the late Augustus Villapiano, a 25-year employee, who moved the camp to its present headquarters, a block from the beach at 345 Second Avenue in Long Branch.
While Cittadino’s original principles have been the driving force through the decades, under the ownership of the Villapiano family, the camp has changed with the times – combining swim instruction, water sports, sports camps, special events, recreational activities, trips and a theater camp into an all-inclusive package that brings campers back year after year.
Villapiano summed it up by saying, “You know you’ve got it right when Week 8 of the summer comes and the energy is still running so high campers don’t want the program to end.
While other camps have followed suit since the 1920s and opened throughout the state with their own particular styles, Seashore will always have the distinction of being first and of being the leader that paved the way. For more information, call 732-222-6464.