PLAINS TWP. – Not only is 2008 the University of Pennsylvania Alumni Club of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s 100th anniversary, making it the university’s oldest club in the world, but it also marks the 302nd birthday of Benjamin Franklin – a celebration the group holds yearly.
Although Franklin’s birthday was actually in January, the alumni group met Sunday at the East Mountain Inn to commemorate the day. Franklin is the founder of the university.
Each year, the alumni group picks a fun topic to celebrate. This year, the group chose “Ben and Me,” a book written by Robert Lawson in 1939, which tells a fictitious tale of how a mouse named Amos is really the one to be credited with all of Franklin’s great inventions.
Harry Rothstein, of Dallas, and a 1943 graduate of the university, played the part of Franklin, while Jeff Denis, of Clarks Summit, and a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, portrayed Amos Mouse. Since Denis was one of the main characters, and is on spring break this week, the celebration was held Sunday so that he could participate.
“I’ve never portrayed a mouse before,” Denis said. “But I’m excited about it. It’s kind of neat.”
Denis, 19, who is majoring in engineering and business, said his favorite part of the “Ben and Me” story is that when the mouse first introduces himself to Franklin, the inventor doesn’t even seem a bit fazed that a mouse is talking to him. “He just starts talking to him like he’s a person,” he said.
During the luncheon, Tony Brooks, the alumni chairman for the June 2008 100th anniversary celebration, announced that he has been making progress in contacting descendants of the four original founders of the Northeastern Pennsylvania alumni club.
“We’re proud of the fact the class song was written by a Wilkes-Barre resident,” Brooks, of Wilkes-Barre, said. William John Goeckel, born in Wilkes-Barre, and an 1896 graduate of the university, composed music for the song, “The Red and Blue,” as well as two other university songs, “Memories” and “Houston Club March.”
Bill Runner, president of the alumni group, said that on June 1 a celebration will be held consisting of local alumni, visitors from the university and descendants of the club’s founders. The Northeastern Pennsylvania branch of the alumni club has about 2,500 members.
The alumni association is also responsible for interviewing potential freshmen at the school, easing their tensions about attending college, and talking about their past experiences at the Ivy-league school in Philadelphia.
“No Penn alumni club has done this before,” Runner said about telling the story of Amos and Franklin. Normally, he said, groups focus on actual events, which the NEPA club has done and will do in the future.
“But this just makes it more fun,” Runner said.
In the book and in Sunday’s performance, Amos Mouse credits himself for the Franklin Stove invention, as well as bifocals, the printing press and electricity. “It’s a fun thing,” said Rothstein, who wrote the script. “As I began writing it, I found it easy to come up with dialogue.
“Of course, it’s a true story,” Rothstein joked. “And Amos has passed away, so we can’t get verification (that it happened).”
-Courtesy of The Times Leader
