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In the early 1920s Jewish families began purchasing summer homes in the rural areas outside the city. The first Jewish summer community was established at Bayswater on the Kingston Peninsula and was popular for a brief time. Most Jewish families established themselves in Pamdenec, which is now part of the community of Grand Bay-Westfield. Much of the area became Jewish and became the centre of the social life of the community in the summer months. The YMHA and the Hebrew School would hold annual picnics in those early years. Fathers would commute to the summer homes by train after the days' work or on the weekends. Numerous gatherings focused on the beach along the St. John River and in the clubhouse. The clubhouse was also the site of gin rummy tournaments with many players coming from Moncton and Halifax.Individual families welcomed guests for informal gatherings, both friends from Saint John and out-of-town relatives whol ooked forward to summer vacations in this idyllis spot. A number of children celebrated their birthdays there and invited children of all ages to join the party. Children also experienced a freedom which no longer exists - freedom to play, swim, explore the woods - and feel sage. The children would return home for meals or bedtime when parents blew whistles with specific codes for each family.
There were also organized baseball games between "uphill" and "downhill" teams, between Epworth Park and Pamdenec and between Jews and Gentiles. All who spent some or all of the short summer months at Pamdenec looks back with fond memories.
The fun was short-lived. By the 1950s, the children in Saint John were traveling to Camp Kadimah, a Jewish summer camp on the south shore of Nova Scotia. With the children away for much of the summer, families began to sell their cottages and the Jewish population slowly disappeared.
Today many of those cottages have been winterized and become year round homes. Dr. Sanford Goldman, who moved to New York, was the last of the summer residents. One member of the Davis family has returned to the area to live in the former cottage as a retirement home.
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Overview of Clubhouse in Pamdenec1940s-1960s
Pamdenec (now Grand Bay), New Brunswick
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Group in Pamdenec1924
Pamdenec (now Grand Bay), New Brunswick
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Mildred Green Gilbert, Dolly Wiezel and friends1920s
Pamdenec (now Grand Bay), New Brunswick
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William Webber's cottage in Pamdenec1930s-1940s
Pamdenec (now Grand Bay), New Brunswick
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Freda and Lil Jacobson and Rose Grosweiner1920s
Pamdenec (now Grand Bay), New Brunswick
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Julia Isaacs and friend at tennis courts1930s
Pamdenec (now Grand Bay), New Brunswick
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Group at Pamdenec tennis courts1930s
Pamdenec (now Grand Bay), New Brunswick
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Charles Chaplin and Tessie Ross (Calp)1930s
Pamdenec (now Grand Bay), New Brunswick
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Selick family1930s
Pamdenec (now Grand Bay), New Brunswick
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Freda and Ethel Garson and friend1930s
Pamdenec (now Grand Bay), New Brunswick
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Erminie Bernstein and friends1930s
Pamdenec (now Grand Bay), New Brunswick
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Harry, Mary, Stanley and Ann Ruth Cohen1930s
Pamdenec (now Grand Bay), New Brunswick
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Myer and Ethel Budovitch and others1930s
Pamdenec (now Grand Bay), New Brunswick
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