To the left here, the old "Boys Dining Hall" (properly Thomas Dining Hall or Thomas Lodge, named for Emerson Thomas or "Em") as it stood in 1961. Mike DeVita, who with his brother (and I believe sister too) was there in the early years of Wawayanda at Frost Valley, sent me this snapshot and three others. You can see these here. The dining hall, especially from this angle (coming up the hill from what the old Rec Hall, now Margetts Lodge), doesn't look like much, but everyone who ate and sang and cheered there recalls its elegance and capaciousness. Its acoustics were somehow 5 times better than those of the current dining hall, which is fabulous in almost every other way. There was a silver-colored metal fireplace hood suspended from the ceiling in the very center of the main dining room; below it a round stone fireplace. Rows of five tables for each village were spread out across two wings, one east-facing and the other north-facing. Especially at night--for instance, on story night or during a rainy-night closing campfire--the place had a look and feel of a modernist cathedral. This building burned to the ground on the last night of 1982. Photos of the fire and its story....for another post, another time. Meantime, there's this true tale: Mike Marder, when he learned that the real name of the building was "Thomas Dining Hall," asked: "What's the matter? Didn't Mr. Boys make a big enough donation?"
Sunday, July 8, 2007
the old Boys Dining Hall
To the left here, the old "Boys Dining Hall" (properly Thomas Dining Hall or Thomas Lodge, named for Emerson Thomas or "Em") as it stood in 1961. Mike DeVita, who with his brother (and I believe sister too) was there in the early years of Wawayanda at Frost Valley, sent me this snapshot and three others. You can see these here. The dining hall, especially from this angle (coming up the hill from what the old Rec Hall, now Margetts Lodge), doesn't look like much, but everyone who ate and sang and cheered there recalls its elegance and capaciousness. Its acoustics were somehow 5 times better than those of the current dining hall, which is fabulous in almost every other way. There was a silver-colored metal fireplace hood suspended from the ceiling in the very center of the main dining room; below it a round stone fireplace. Rows of five tables for each village were spread out across two wings, one east-facing and the other north-facing. Especially at night--for instance, on story night or during a rainy-night closing campfire--the place had a look and feel of a modernist cathedral. This building burned to the ground on the last night of 1982. Photos of the fire and its story....for another post, another time. Meantime, there's this true tale: Mike Marder, when he learned that the real name of the building was "Thomas Dining Hall," asked: "What's the matter? Didn't Mr. Boys make a big enough donation?"
