Mark Soifer always knew how to draw a crowd.
For more than 45 years Soifer was Ocean City’s Public Relations Director, head cheerleader and idea guru. His stock in trade was good clean fun with a slightly offbeat twist that always had the media eating out of his hand. The result was a huge boost in awareness and tourism numbers. The Doo Dah Parade, Mr. Mature America pageant, and Businessperson’s Plunge are just a few examples of the events formulated and grown through Soifer’s imaginative and promotional mind.
Probably more than any other single individual, he is responsible for the shaping of Ocean City’s squeaky clean reputation as America’s Greatest Family Resort.
On Thursday night, the tables were turned and the crowd came out not for one of his amazing events, but to learn about and heap praise on a true Ocean City original.
The main lecture hall at the Ocean City Free Public Library was packed to capacity to view a screening of a new documentary film on Soifer’s life and career and to hear from Soifer himself. Soifer, and the film’s director, Jerry Lukas, were on hand to answer questions and to interact with the audience.
A who’s who of Ocean City was represented and many spoke of their own experiences with the legendary PR man. It seemed that everyone had a Mark Soifer story.
The film chronicles Mark’s journey from youth to Public Relations Icon. While our spur-of-the-moment sample video clips are a bit crude for publication, the film itself is professionally produced and extremely entertaining for all ages.
The evening also included Mark reading from “A Nation of Things” his newly published collection of poetry. During the poetry readings, Mark gave a preamble to each piece, usually funny and many self-deprecating. The presentation left the audience laughing and wanting more.
After the premiere and the readings, the museum held a reception that featured an exhibit displaying artifacts from Mark’s career, such as his famous costume as the factitious character, “Trash Buster.”
The creation of the documentary and the event was organized by the Ocean City Historical Museum and it’s Director Jeff McGranahan.
When the event ended, many in the crowd had mixed emotions. A bit sad that Mark Soifer’s everyday involvement with Ocean City had ended, but happy that he was enjoying a hard-earned retirement and that his contributions would endure for years to come.
