Lenox College Players to present dinner theater

     The Lenox College Radio Theatre Players in Hopkinton have been working hard to present their annual dinner theater. The show will feature old time radio shows: “Green Acres,” “The Adventures of Sam Spade,” and “The Dweller in the Darkness.”

     Music for the evening will be provided by the Monticello Men’s Choir and the Lenox College Singers.

     The dinner theater will be held on Saturday, Oct. 14, at Lenox College. Doors open at 5:45 p.m., with dinner served at 6 p.m. The cost is $19.59 per person. (The Delaware County Historical Society was founded in 1959.) Funds raised will go toward the upkeep of the Historical Society’s museum buildings in Hopkinton.

     The college is located off Highway 38. Call 319-480-1409 for reservations.

     For the first time in decades, those in attendance at the Dinner Theater will get the chance to view a hand-painted backdrop that stems from the 1930s. Last year, the backdrop was discovered in pristine condition and donated to the Historical Society.

     The community of Silver Creek is located south of Masonville and west of Ryan in Delaware County. On the east side of 110^th Avenue sits the Silver Creek United Methodist Church, which is still in use today, and hasn’t changed much over the years. Across the road from the church is the Silver Creek Community Center. This building has sadly been deteriorating over the years.

     In 2016, a community committee gathered to decide whether the Community Center should be torn down or repaired. The decision was made to repair it, and work began. The roof and outside were covered in steel. The windows were replaced, and the water damage to the west side of the building was repaired.

     In preparing for the repairs, a rolled-up curtain was removed from the center for the first time in years. The committee found out that the curtain was actually a backdrop for a stage, hand painted in the 1930s with a beautiful scene in the center, and a variety of advertising pieces around the border.

     Because the backdrop was rolled up and stored high above the ground and out of sunlight for over 80 years, the colors, predominately red, white and blue, are still bright.

     The artist who signed the piece was J.W. Lampman from Omaha, Neb. Research shows that Lampman was an art instructor at Omaha Central High School back in the day.

     The advertising signs around the backdrop are of various sizes and shapes. They represent businesses once prominent in such towns as Ryan, Masonville, and Manchester. Two of the businesses are still in operation today: Farmers and Merchants Bank (F&M Bank) and Shelly Funeral Home.

     The backdrop will be on display inside the Finkbohner Gymnasium during the Radio Theatre event.