Athanasia & James

Mar 13, 2019 | Love Stories

Lampros and Vasaliki Scaltsas, maternal grandparents of Bradley Beach native Eileen Shissias, operated the Fourth Avenue Pavilion, a boardwalk restaurant on Ocean and Fourth. Since they had a lovely young daughter, a cousin told them about eligible twin bachelors who lived in Philadelphia. Reporting that one brother was serious while the other was funny, the cousin asked, ”Which one would you like your daughter to meet?”

The parents chose the serious one. A meeting was arranged at the restaurant, and an entourage came down from Philadelphia. They were presented with a map proving that the future bride’s family originally came from the “right part of Greece.”

The young ones were asked if they liked each other. The answer was “yes,” resulting in an immediate engagement. (Lucky for Bradley’s own Eileen, the couple’s future daughter.) The wedding ceremony was held at Saint George Greek Orthodox Church in Asbury Park on June 19, 1938. At 9 PM that evening, there was a reception at the Hotel Ritter (later renamed the LaReine Hotel) in Bradley Beach where Lampros informed his new son-in-law: “The ocean is your dowry.”