Chichester Business Association

How the CBA was Formed
The Chichester Business Association was formed in 1960 by a group of business leaders. They saw a growing need for the business community to unite and work together for the betterment of the community as a whole.

Charter Members
The charter members were John DiMeglio, Sr., Fred Wooten, Dominick D'Amico, Gino Galbusera, Howard Ferro and Tony Leon. By the end of the first year, there were fifteen (15) members who took turns meeting at each other's home. As the membership grew, the meetings were moved to Adelle's Mill (which is now the Pepper Mill Inn), the Captain's Table (which is now the Mariner's Gallery) and the Italian Club (which is now Marchiani's Caterers). Today the meetings vary from Maximillians Restaurant to various businesses hosting special meetings at their facilities. Meetings are held the third Wednesday of each month except December, June, July and August.

The First Fundraiser
The first fundraiser CBA had was a Horse Show and Carnival on the property where the Willowbrook Shopping Center now sits. It was known as Bergdol's Field.

At that time, the membership was composed of any businesses from the Chichester School District that encompassed Trainer, Marcus Hook, Lower Chichester and Upper Chichester. The organization grew through the years until the mid 1970's. With a severe economic down turn, many members were forced to devote more time to their businesses to survive and the organization fell dormant.

In 1981
Jim Curry, Max Segich, Will Wheatley, Roland Moore and Dan Murtaugh resurrected the CBA. Shortly after, the by-laws were changed to limit membership to business owners living or operating their business in Upper Chichester Township.

In 1988
One of our members, Russell Whiteside, of Whiteside Photography, passed on. In his memory the organization created the Russell Whiteside 5K Run/Walk in his honor. This has been a very successful fundraiser for our Catastrophic and Scholarship Fund.

In 2001
CBA lost one of it's own members, Bob Gamble, of AIG, who had dedicated many years to helping our organization grow. He worked on many committees including chairing the Children's Christmas Party every year. CBA and the Township changed the name of this annual event to the Bob Gamble Community Christmas Party, in honor of his devotion to the organization.

Today, the organization has grown to over 140 members.