12/10/1953

 

EAST FAREWELL NEWS

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Thursday, December 10, 1953   Vol. C442

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LOCAL NEWS

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CHRISTMAS SHOW IN EAST FAREWELL PLAYHOUSE OPENS

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East Farewell – The holiday show “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens opened in the fabulous East Farewell Playhouse last week. The show is a stage adaptation of the classic Dickens tale. The show opened on Saturday night to a sold out audience and quite a bit of fanfare. The Playhouse has enjoyed a wonderful reopening season and the holiday show has been highly anticipated because the lead, Scrooge, is being played by Broadway star, Leo G. Carroll. Fresh off performance in On Borrowed Time, Carroll plays Ebenezer Scrooge and is supported by a superb cast of both professional and local actors. A surprising addition to the cast is local Natalie Mallard who plays the beautiful Belle, the woman who Scrooge loved deeply when he was a young man. She is known in town as the house songstress at the Lost Oasis in town.

            The show is scheduled to run for the next four weeks with no shows on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. The final performance is scheduled for December 31^th. The final show of the debut season tops off a very successful short season orchestrated by producer Jed Bernstein and owners Rick and Julie Davidson. They were the force behind the immaculate restoration of the playhouse and generating the support for the theater through subscriptions and volunteers.

            The show itself was a straightforward interpretation of the story. Carroll plays an excellent Scrooge, gruff and callous at the start and through reflection and self-evaluation becoming a kind, giving and even boisterous member of the town. Other members of the cast do an admirable job with Fred Marshall plays a humble but proud Bob Cratchit. 14 year old Joey Townsend plays Tiny Tim and is endearing. The other cast members due a superb job with one special note, Thomas Durance, playing the Ghost of Christmas Present brings a smile to your face with his off the cuff, seemingly improvised humor. Everyone has fun in this family event but the audience seems to have the most fun. Don’t miss this show.

Scrooge & the Spirit of Christmas Present

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SPORTS

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COUGARS UPSET CORNING

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East Farewell – The Cougars came out on fire when they started against the heralded Corning Devils on Wednesday.  They seemed to catch the Devils flatfooted by jumping out to a 14-6 lead in the first period. The front court of Davis, O’Donnell and Green were like a stone wall against the quick, fast passing Devils offense. The three were able to stifle almost every attempt to penetrate, forcing the Devils to shoot from the outside, which is not their game. Davis was able to control the middle and surprisingly won the matchup with Devils center, Jerry Becker. Becker was named to the League All-Star team last year so Davis’ play was very impressive.

            The Devils were able to regroup in the second period and go into halftime with a slim lead, 20-18. They made some critical adjustments and found the range from the perimeter.  The third period went back and forth with the lead trading hand three times in the period. As the fourth period started the score stood at 30-28 Cougars. The Cougars backcourt got into sync and was able to run off 6 unanswered points and it looked like the early season upset was locked up, but the Devils would not have any of it. They battled back and tied the score with only one minute left. Then Devils center, Becker, got a beautiful pass from guard, Franz, and laid it in over Davis, his first mistake of the game. Time was running out when Cougars guard, Wendell Jones stole a bounce pass and raced the length of the floor to tie the score with eight seconds left. The Devils tried to fake a long inbounds pass to Becker but Davis jumped in at the last second to knock the ball free to Jimmy Welch who shot a perfect pass to Jones who was underneath the basket. He laid it in as time expired and the Cougars won, 40-38.

            “This was a great victory for the boys,” gushed Coach Wilson after the game, “the Devils are a tremendous team and they played hard but we played harder today and I am just really proud of these kids. I think they are going to be a very good team.”

            The Cougars travel to Riverview on Wednesday to face the Wildcats who are another tough opponent. The game starts at 4:30 in the Riverview Gym.

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 NATIONAL NEWS

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POLYGAMISTS GET SUSPENDED SENTENCE – JACKIE ROBINSON TO LIVE IN STAMFORD, CONN. - MITCHUM GUILTY - BELAFONTE STARS IN ALMANAC – HEFNER DEBUTS PLAYBOY

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Near Kingman, AZ - a judge gives suspended sentences to 26 uprooted polygamists of the Short Creek polygamy colony. He warned them that he would send them to the state pen of they returned to the practice. “You are a band of forlorn men soon be to forgotten.” All 26 plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit open and notorious cohabitation

Negro baseball great Jackie Robinson says he wants to buy a home in an exclusive section of North Stamford, CT. He says he has run into some opposition in the neighborhood though. “We want to get along in the community, but we were mainly looking for a house that would be best for our kids. If the neighbors object, too bad. Who cares?”

In Los Angeles, Robert Mitchum pleads guilty to two traffic charges. The judge ordered him to pay $50 or spend five days in jail for speeding, and to pay $150 or serve 10 days in the clink for delaying an officer in the performance of his duties. After Mitchum was stopped by the cop, he sped away before he was issued the ticket.

Harry Belafonte debuts on Broadway in "Almanac" at the Imperial Theatre. Critics hailed Belafonte’s performance as “electrifyingly sincere.” The show also stars Hermione Gingold, Billy DeWolfe, Polly Bergen and Orson Bean.

Hugh Hefner publishes the first "Playboy" magazine with an investment of $7,600. There is no date printed on the first issue. The reason, according to Hefner, is that he doubts anyone would expect a second issue to be printed. The first issue includes a classic, nude, calendar photo of a young actress, Marilyn Monroe.

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Many, many thanks to www.mrpopculture.com for contributing to this section of the East Farewell News.

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12/22/1960

 

EAST FAREWELL NEWS

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Thursday, December 22, 1960   Vol. C808

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LOCAL NEWS

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CHRISTMAS CAROL OPENS TO RAVE REVIEWS

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East Farewell – Last Friday night (12/16) the Playhouse opened the last play of its 1960 season. The beloved and enormously popular “A Christmas Carol” with visiting star Leo G. Carroll premiered to a sold out audience and will run until the end of the year. The production has been presented since the Playhouse opened in 1952, it was the first “final” production and has held that esteemed place ever since. Carroll has played Scrooge for six of the eight presentations bewitching his East Farewell audiences with his growls, insults, demeaning comments and ultimate redemption and each year he brings a new bit of originality to the character. This year’s production was the straight forward production that it has always been, directed by Jeb Bernstein and as always locals filled out the cast. Bob Cratchit was once again played by Randel Cross. This was his third year in the role and has achieved a bit of notoriety for the part. “I just love this part, who couldn’t? I just love working with the whole crew and am both honored and greatly humbled to work with someone as great as Mr. Carroll.”

Tiny Tim was played by a new actor this year, Eddie Patterson, 10, for the last two years Jason Bailey played the part but he is now 13 and almost 5’6” tall kind of putting him out of the “tiny” range. All three ghosts were again played by Douglas Beaufort, who was able to change completely from the wisp of Christmas Past to the very portly and jovial Christmas Present to an ominous and portending Christmas Future with ease and skill. This year Frank Sullivan played Fezziwig, a first for him. One of the most popular actresses, the locally famous is Natalie Mallard, also played several roles, Mrs. Cratchit and Belle, Scrooge’s early love.

The sets and effects for the play are always a big part of the production. Once again this year Marco & Sons contributed their skills and time to remake Scrooge’s flat, Cratchit’s home, a London street and a foreboding graveyard where Scrooge sees his possible fate. The costumes were again handled by Lilly Watson and she and her group of seamstresses brought a refreshed look to her beautiful and authentic period costumes. The effects were once again handled by the Inquiring Guys, a local group of craftsmen and hobbyists that just love to make cool stuff. This year they were able to enhance Christmas Present’s glowing crown to intensify as he spoke and they added more swirling smoke to Christmas Future’s robe and the graveyard. Somehow they made Christmas Past’s wispiness seem almost transparent, a secret that they have yet to divulge. “We just love coming up with neat things and it is even better when they work every night, all night,” said lead Inquiring Guy Teddy Franklin.

If they opening night is any indication as to the coming performances it look like there will be sold out, standing ovations all around. The Play will run until January 8, 1961. There will be shows on Friday and Saturday nights and a matinee every other Sunday. There may be some tickets still available but not many. They can be pre-purchased at the Playhouse Box window during regular business hours. Don’t miss it.

Ghost of Christmas Present touches Scrooge

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SPORTS

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DEVILS CURSE THE COUGARS

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Corning – The Corning Devils came onto the court on Friday night with great confidence. They were the chosen favorite to win the league this year by the early polls. They were a very experienced team, four out of five of their starters were seniors and all five had played together for three years. Three of the seniors had played together since grade school. The Cougars, on the other hand, were still trying to find their footing as a team. They played a good game against a strong Central Bears team last week but came up short and their short comings were on display. They had too many turnovers and too many missed passes and broken plays to put together a formidable offense. Their inexperience was also shown in their defensive with the Bears able to drive through the Cougars repeatedly.

            The game started with the Devils pressing the Cougars and causing a bit of confusion in their ranks until Coach Wilson called a timeout and settled the young Cougars down. By then the score was 15-6 Devils. The Cougars were able to beat the press by bringing center, Dan Davis up to the forecourt to help with the inbounds and then use Wendell Williams to bring it up court. The Cougars showed improvement with their defense and by the end of the first half the score was not as bad as the first moments would have suggested, the Devils lead was 29-14.

            The third quarter started with a renewed Cougar offense. The backcourt of Williams and Welch started to sync up and Williams became hot from the outside scoring 8 straight points before the Devils started to double team him. The Cougars were quick to pick up on the double team realizing that one of their other players would have to be free and they were able to find him, if was one of the forwards, Billy Green or Gene O’Donnell, or the other guard, Jimmy Welch or center Davis, the Cougars were able to work together and cut the lead to two with five minutes to play. The Devils called off the double team and went to a man to man defense and were able to keep Williams quiet while shifting to an up-tempo offense. The Devils were able to put together a 12-8 point run and as time ran out the Cougars tried desperately to regain the momentum to no avail. The clock ran out and the Devils won 42-34.

            Since there is no Christmas Tournament this year the Cougars will play a normal season game next week against the Slate Mountain Canaries. The game is at home and will start at 1:30 Saturday in the Regional High Gym. 

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 NATIONAL NEWS

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KENNEDY WINS ELECTORAL COLLEGE – FIRE SWEEPS THROUGH USS CONSTELLATION - NLF IS CREATED IN VIETNAM – COMMANDANT OF AUSCHWITZ IS ARRESTED – COMMIES TRY TO SEND DOGS INTO SPACE

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John F. Kennedy was elected as the 35th President of the United States, as the 534 persons who had been selected (on November 8) to serve in the Electoral College, met in their respective states' capitals. Democratic candidate Kennedy received 300 votes, 31 more than the 269 needed to win, and Republican challenger Richard M. Nixon had 219. U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd received 15 votes, from all 8 of Mississippi's slate of unpledged electors (a ticket which finished ahead of Kennedy and Nixon), six from Alabama pledged to Kennedy and one from Oklahoma pledged to Nixon. Hawaii's 3 electors had not been certified, pending a recount of the popular vote, but were awarded to Kennedy prior to the January 6, 1961, tabulation.

Fire swept through the USS Constellation, the largest U.S. aircraft carrier, while it is under construction at a Brooklyn Navy Yard pier, killing 50 and injuring 150.

The National Liberation Front (NLF) was created as a Communist political organization in South Vietnam, to oppose the government of President Ngo Dinh Diem, who gave the group the nickname "Viet Cong". As the NLF gained adherents, it began carrying out military attacks against the South Vietnamese Army, and against U.S. forces. 

Major Richard Baer, commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, was arrested after 15 years on the run. Baer had been posing as "Karl Neuman", a gardener on the estate of Otto Von Bismarck, since 1945. 

The Vostok-K rocket made its maiden flight, carrying a satellite with two dogs, Kometa and Shutka. An attempt to put the payload into orbit failed when the third stage failed seven minutes into launch, but the dogs survived the landing. 

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Many thanks to Wikipedia for input in the News section

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12/10/1959

EAST FAREWELL NEWS

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Thursday, December 10, 1959   Vol. C754

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LOCAL NEWS

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AN EAST FAREWELL TRADITION – A CHRISTMAS CAROL - OPENS

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East Farewell – The East Farewell Playhouse opened its doors on Friday night and the curtain was raised on the last show of the year. This, of course, was the Jeb Bernstein production of Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. The show is a beloved staple in town having been performed for the last nine years. This year the role of Scrooge was once again played the famous and locally knighted, Leo G. Carroll. He has graced the community with his superb acting skills for five out of the last six years. “I just love doing the show. Jeb, Julie, Rick and I go way back,” said Carroll after the first performance, “They are so wonderful and this is such a great play. East Farewell has welcomed me every year and everyone is so pleasant. I look forward to this every year.”

            The play is a straightforward adaptation of the story and is made magical by all the effort of the set builders, special effects producer and costume designer. All those roles are held by locals and usually change every two years. This year there was a new crew and the sets were built by Marco and Sons, a local builder who contributed their time. They built a number of different sets that ranged from the London Street to Scrooge’s flat to a graveyard in which Scrooge sees his own gravestone. The costumes were designed and pretty much hand created by Regional High recent grad, Lilly Watson. She assembled a group of seamstresses and using pictures from history books created authentic period costumes that dazzled the audience. The special effects were over the top being handled by a group of local craftsmen named The Inquiring Guys. This is a group of hobbyists interested in inventing and creating fun stuff. They out did themselves this year with lights that strobed and smoke and mist that flowed and subtle nuances like jewels in Christmas Present crown that glowed in time to his speaking. The production was first class all the way and Carroll was equally fantastic as Scrooge. This year Bob Cratchit was again played by Randel Cross. He played the character last year and won acclaims for his endearing humility and caring. Tiny Tim was played again this year by Jason Bailey, now 12 years old. He was a little taller this year but was still able to play the beloved character. Natalie Mallard did her dual role again as both Belle and Mrs. Cratchit using her abundant acting skills to pull off several complete costume changes in very short order. The Ghosts were masterfully played again this year by Douglas Beaufort. He was able to convincingly change from each ghost and was hardly recognizable from one to the next. He seemed to gain 100 pounds to be the jovial Christmas Present then lose it all and become a wisp of a specter as Christmas Future with smoking robes.

            The audience loved the first production and called the cast back for several encores. The play will run until January 7^th with shows on Friday night, Saturday night and a Sunday afternoon performance. Many of the shows have been already sold out. This show is one of the high points of the Christmas season in East Farewell. Don’t miss it.

Magnificent sets and costumes make Christmas Carol magical

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SPORTS

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COUGARS WIN CHAMPIONSHIP

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Slate Mountain – The Cougars were able to win the League Championship with a 21-14 victory over their arch-rivals, he Slate Mountain Miners on Friday afternoon. The win was a hard fought battle with a very evenly matched team. The Miners were in technically in second place but essentially were tied with the Cougars because if they won they would have been champs. The Cougars played a nearly flawless game and that was necessary because the Miners were also intent on winning.

            The game started as a defensive struggle with both teams trading the ball between the thirties and neither able to get any traction. Finally with six minutes left in the first half Cougars QB, Kevin Dugan, was able hit his favorite wide receiver, Max O’Hara with a twenty yard pass to the right sideline. O’Hara was able to evade his Miners defender and break in for a touchdown. The Miners were not happy and came right back after the kickoff and drove down to the Cougars 25. Miners QB, Billy White, was able to fake a handoff to the league leading rusher, Jimmy Butler, and then roll out and drop a floater to his tight end, Frank Gold, who scooted in for the score just as the half ended. The first half score was 7-7.

            The Miners won the opening toss and elected to receive which meant the Cougars received to open the second half. Cougar’s receiver, Joey Neil has been a threat all season and he took the second half kickoff all the way back to the Miners 38 only a push out of bounds by the Miners kicker, Harold Pullman that kept him from going all the way. Dugan went right to his running game with Joey O’Toole and big Robby Blackman driving the Miners back to their own 6 and then finding his own tight end, Albert Dillon, who was able to get into the end zone for the score.  Once again the Miners were able to come back almost immediately and tie the score up again. The game then went back to the earlier defensive struggle and ground down the clock. It looked like the game was going to go into overtime with only 15 seconds left. The Cougars had the ball on the Miners 42 and Dugan took the snap for what was anticipated to be the last play in regular time. Max O’Hara streaked down the field for the end zone but was double teamed by two Miners. Dugan let go of the pass towards the end zone and both Miners and O’Hara took a bead on the ball. Miner defender, David Cappelli jumped for the ball that was a little short. The other defender, Nelson Anderson was playing O’Hara and at the last minute turned to find the ball. Cappelli leaped for the ball as Anderson was turning the ball hit Cappelli’s hands but at the same time Anderson jumped knocking the ball away from Cappelli and into the air. Anderson saw the loose ball still in the air and went to grab it but was off balance and was unable to control it. The ball bounced off his hands and O’Hara who had actually come back into the play was waiting for the ball. He grabbed it out of the air. He was in the end zone for the score and the win. The game ended with Regalia kicking the extra point finishing a perfect season for extra points for him. The Cougars mobbed the field and O’Hara was hoisted up on the shoulders of his teammates. After the commotion settled down both teams met in the middle of the field and shook hands. Many of the players on both teams knew members of the other team having played against them for several years. There was a lot of handshaking, backslapping and genuine good-sportsmanship. “What a great game,” said Coach Burcowitz after the game, “We knew we had our hands full with these guys, they are a great team. We did everything we could and they just kept coming back. That last play was a one of a kind. I don’t think you will see that again for a long time. It is great to win the league and even greater to win against such a great team. It just validates how good we are.”

Now that the Cougars football season has ended the Cougars basketball begins tomorrow with an away opening game against the Central Bears. The team is strong this year the entire starting five being seniors and all returning from a very good 10-5, second place finish last year. The game begins in Central Gym at 4:00PM.

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 NATIONAL NEWS

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IKE VISITS INDIA AND IRAN – RAUL CASTRO SAYS HE IS NOT A COMMIE – KENNEDY IS CATHOLICS CHOICE TO HEAD DEMS IN 1960 –

FTC LODGES CHARGES AGAINST LIFE CIGARETTES

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In New Delhi - President Eisenhower tells a public meeting attended by nearly one million that the military alliances organized by the United States “would be upheld by even the most saintly men.” He called for a crusade to remove from the minds of men, the fears, suspicions and prejudices that they have inherited the past.

President Eisenhower is welcomed by the Shah of Iran as he gets ready for talks with some of the United States’ staunchest friends in the turbulent Middle East.

Raul Castro tells a military court he is not a Communist but he declares he will not lend himself “to the dirty business of anti- communism.”

In a Gallup Poll, Senator John F. Kennedy is the choice of Catholics to head the Democratic presidential ticket in 1960 at 38%. Adlai Stevenson follows with 26%; Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee has 8%, as does Senator Lyndon Johnson.

The Federal Trade Commission lodges false claim charges against Life cigarettes. The commission branded untrue the claim that Life cigarettes are “proved to give you the least tar or nicotine of all cigarettes.” It also said it is not true that the government endorses the cigarettes and has found them to be lowest in tar and nicotine.

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Many, many thanks to www.mrpopculture.com for contributing to this section of The News.

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