Two Great Things That Happened In 1979 (Well One For Sure)

So you might have heard my segment on Monday when I alluded to my upcoming work anniversary and how I started at WOBM in July of 1979.  That was two months after Sam and Louise Hammer opened the Crab’s Claw Inn after working down the street at Krone’s Lavallette Inn which is now long gone.  Not long after opening the Crab’s Claw became advertisers on WOBM and around 1982 I was asked to handle their account because of my familiarity with the beach area.

I say this for two reasons.  One you could say that the two best things that happened in 1979 was the opening of the popular Lavallette restaurant and the other was WOBM hiring me.  You could say that but you probably won’t…at least the part pertaining to me.  The other reason was to simply establish that I have had a long business and personal relationship with Sam who unfortunately lost his life partner Louise five years ago.

I thought about this Tuesday after leaving the Crab’s Claw following a typical business meeting, one in which we talked business for five minutes and everything else for another hour.  Sam’s daughter Shannon and longtime manager Aileen were witnesses as the two of us talked about life back in the 70’s and 80’s along the beach.  As I have admitted before when you get older you spend a bit more time in the past simply because there are a lot of years to wax poetic about.

Sam is one of those friends where we could go months without actually seeing one another but when we do just pick up where we left off…actually that’s not true because we would have both forgotten by then but you get the picture.

In my four-plus decades here Sam Hammer is #1 on the list of those who started out as business friends and have long since passed that.  He’s a hard-working family man who is deeply loyal and as trustworthy as they come.  He and other family members are alums and devoted fans of West Virginia University.  All those nice things I just said go out the window on September 2^nd when the Mountaineers visit Penn State.  Take your country roads back home my friend.