Muhlenberg college

Is there a possibility that the slide show from the Goodbye Garden Room celebration could be posted on the 'Berg website? I'd love to see it and I'm sure others would as well.

(Editors note: Absolutely! You can find it here.)

And, yes, I remember not only Clara Clicker, but also "Snack Bar Mike" (1970-72 ish time frame); Ozzie, the Food Service Manager (early '80s); and Union Board movies and Muhlenberg Theatre Association productions in the Garden Room. It was also the scene of an impromptu folk/bluegrass festival held in the spring of 1971 when a Big Name concert act (Sly and the Family Stone?) cancelled at the last minute. You can't just think of it as a dining hall - for some of us it was truly a multi-purpose room.

Betsy Caplan MacCarthy '74

Yes, I remember Clara Clicker and for some reason loved the sausage, peppers and mashed potatoes. It's still my favorite comfort food meal on cold winter nights!

Robin (Graver) Fatzinger '86

I arrived as a freshman in the Fall of 1978 when "Animal House"-inspired food fights were in full swing. After one of my first fraternity happy hours, where I got a little too joyous, I decided at dinner that it was an appropriate time to rocket-launch rolls at the adjoining table. Only my roommate's intervention and quick explaining saved me from certain Garden Doom, perishing while Clara clicked.

Robert Gallagher '82

Favorite Garden Room Meal - In general, it was the variety of mystery meat and potatoes.

Specifically, it was Halloween 1970. After soccer practice we ate dinner at the Student Union. For reasons unknown, the dining staff provided small cups of 100% sugar candy corns & pumpkins as part of the meal. The staff must have believed students were responsible and mature. Across the room a group of women dined quietly. Without naming names, someone at our table pitched a piece of candy toward the women. The sound of the candy hitting their table was great and retaliation was swift and accurate. The ensuing skirmish did not last very long. I do not recall whether we overturned tables or whether there was collateral damage. Please do not send me a bill for the clean-up. I was an innocent observer.

Regards,

Duke
John Ellington '71

I used to really love the buttery egg noodles. My friends and I used to always rush over to the "fro yo" machines after our meals, too. Since the cereal containers were next to the frozen yogurt, we'd add that as our topping. Ahhhhhh...

Kristina Wade '01

I don't remember a particular meal, but I gained 20 pounds my first year in college (1969-70), so I must have liked the food!

Nan Rush '73

As for the Garden Room, I didn't realize it was disappearing!! Many favorite Garden Room meals were always the brunches. I loved the french toast, bacon, and eggs, and the waffle makers were lots of fun. Midnight Breakfast was even more fantastic...brunch at midnight is a great idea! It was better than most of the diners I have gone to for brunch...and Allentown has quite a few diners! I also loved the fro-yo...what I great way to end meals.

Kristin Burkhart '06

I definitely rehearsed and had a show in the hallway. My first blackbox show (Wandering in Spring '02) was held on the first carpeted level outside of the Baker. We also rehearsed there. I practiced for choreography classes out there, studied under the glass on the ledges (the lights created great heat). I loved that space, maybe it was all the natural light.

We also performed Trio A in the lobby outside the Blackbox for showings. But that was a choice.

Congratulations on the new building. I can't wait to see it!

Rachel L. Roccoberton Griffin '04

I was a Theatre major who graduated in 2006. My classmates and I certainly had to fight over rehearsal spaces for our classwork and for other projects. If we were lucky, one of our group members got to the rehearsal space sign-in sheets in the Lavender Lounge early enough so that we could rehearse in one of the nice TP rehearsal rooms or even the Old Black Box in the Center for the Arts (CA). However, we often resorted to classrooms in the Center for the Arts; we would rearrange desks and tables so that we could attempt to set up the scenes. When we couldn't even get one of those, we would rehearse in the hallways. That happened quite a bit. We actually really liked the Fishbowl (the glassed area in the TP) because of the lighting and the furniture. I remember also doing a lot of rehearsals in the dorms, especially lounges. I remember doing many rehearsals for "Ludlow Fair" (a black box done in the winter of 2006) in the lounge in South Hall. I guess us theatre kids were pretty resourceful! It was sometimes fun running scenes in unusual places...it gave us some flexibility and a tolerance for noise and distractions during performances. Still, I hope the new students appreciate these lovely new spaces you have designed!

Kristin Burkhart '06

A few weeks ago, the Insider asked for our favorite Charlie Richter stories. I have quite a few, but I finally thought of a good one to share. I used to work in the Theatre and Dance Department office (I did programs and PR stuff for Marilyn Roberts and I also did a lot of work for the two ACTF Regional Festivals that we hosted at the 'Berg), and the student workers in the office had lots of entertaining encounters with Charlie, particularly in relation to food. You see, Charlie was known amongst the workers as someone who would eat whatever food was sitting out in the office, whether it was out for people to take or whether someone had simply left their lunch unattended for a few minutes. Charlie would eat any food left sitting in the department office. So, one day, some of us decided to experiment with this. We left a cupcake in Charlie's mailbox and waited to see what he would do...whether he would question its origins or find out who to thank. But Charlie came in that day, looked in his box, and ate the cupcake - no questions asked, no comments made. He just ate the cupcake and went into his office without saying a word. The whole staff just rolled with laughter because our point was proven. Charlie would eat anything that was set before him!

Hope you enjoy that one!

Kristin Burkhart '06