Boxoffice-July.01/1950

first post office and the first church; the
founding of German-Wallace College,
Berea's Union soldiers of the Civil War, and
the local Great Fire ... all with their accurate
dates attached.
From there, it depicts a series of "firsts,"
including the first newspaper, street car,
railroad, electric plant, and above all, the
first grindstone quarried by John Baldwin.
We say "above all" because not only was
he Berea's first citizen in the early days,
but also the founder of its economy with
his quarries from which came the grindstones
which were a great necessity in
those days.
With these featm-es in the mural on the
entering patron's right hand, the left way
starts a series of compositions suggestive
of modern Berea, with such motifs as commercial
gardening, in which the town is
pre-eminent. Fi-om there it takes up the
joining of Baldwin and German-Wallace
colleges
into the single great institution it
is today. Its annual Bach Festival is also
depicted, along with its fine new observatory,
gymnasium and other campus features.
Such community prides are extolled
as Berea's part in the first World War, her
new grade and high schools, and her special
contributions to the second World
War. The composition is brought completely
up to date with the town's preoccupation
with the annual National Air
Races.
These, along with many other more personal
references, are the attractions that
keep the Berea's patrons' fascinated scrutiny
visit after visit. Old men inspect the
fittings of the steam engine in the stone
quarry, women study the costumes of their
ancestors as they flee the Great Pu-e, and
so on, with something to interest every
local Berean of every age.
But with all the reverential bows to antiquity,
the above distinguished murals are
still set in the most sophisticated and dynamic
of modern interiors. This is in direct
deference to the preference of the college
student patronage seeking an impressive
and svelte atmosphere for "dates." In
the Berea they find a contrast to their
bobby-sox type of living during the day,
and appreciate its ultra-smart lobby with
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