Checking out the photos: Mary Ann and Pat.
It was just a slim folder full of old black and white photos, yellowed menus and dog-eared bank statements. You wouldn’t have thought they would have made much of an impression.
Bernadette Coyle, for one, seemed surprised. She brought the photos to the Young at Heart luncheon on Sunday, a reunion of sorts held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the city’s venerable Irish Center in Mount Airy. “My dad (Parker McGurk) was one of the original Irish Center shareholders,” said Bernadette. “He was the center’s treasurer, way back in the ’50s. These pictures were his. I’ve still got boxes of them. These are just a few. It’s something I put together on a whim.”
Within moments of Bernadette producing them, the pictures were making the rounds of the room, with folks like the Irish Center’s president Vince Gallagher and Ed Reavey Jr. poring over the fading images, trying to pick out old friends or figure out who was in the picture of the old football team or the band.
More than a few remembered the great meals served up in the old days, too, as they checked out the menus, like one from Tuesday, February 12, 1957, in which “braised turkey wings in jardiniere sauce” and “breaded deep sea scallops remoulade” were available for 85 cents. For an even buck, you could get the whole dinner, including mixed veggies, coffee, tea, Sanka or Postum, with Ross House cheese with crackers, butterscotch sundae or stewed prunes for dessert. (Yum.)
The photos evoked lots of great memories, including those of John King, who used to play piano at the Friday night ceilis with the great Eugene O’Donnell. “That was when my hair was still black,” he added. Still a handsome fella, though.
How much fun was the luncheon? Check out our photos. Maybe 50 years from now, someone will be passing them around the room.
