Event NotebookNovember 2008 Context When I was in my early 20s,...

Mon, 10/27/2008 - 12:05pm -- JDavanza



Event Notebook
November 2008

Context

When I was in my early 20s, I had the opportunity to pal around with a 76-year-old. He was a retired steamfitter who started in the profession as a teen. He was also a curious and insightful man who had cultivated his intellect through extensive reading. He had experienced a lot in his life, and he had many compelling stories to tell.

Some of those tales were about his childhood. He was the son of Hungarian immigrants, and he grew up in an older part of the city where new émigrés got their start. He talked about how the world had changed since he was a kid, often remembering when working animals were a regular part of urban life. Having seen photographs of horses pulling wagons down city streets in the early 1900s, I sort of knew what he was talking about—but I really didn’t get it until he explained in his own words how integral and necessary those animals were in that barely-mechanized world.

On November 5, Jean MacIntyre will provide the same sort of context that my older friend gave me years ago. She’s been collecting photographs of the Barrington Yacht Club throughout its 100 years, and she’ll present the best of them during her lecture that evening. Some of the photos are older than many or any of us and, while Jean can’t speak personally about all of them, her knowledge of Barrington and its history is long and vast which makes her a perfect person to help us see what we sort of know but could understand even better.

Jean MacIntyre will present an illustrated lecture on The History of the Barrington Yacht Club at Barrington Public Library on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 7:30 PM. The program is free and open to all.

I hope to see you there.

Wil Gregersen
Community Services Librarian

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