Wistful history
By Anna Kivlan/Daily News staff
Thu Feb 28, 2008, 12:27 PM EST
Dedham - Their lives reach back deep into the last century, some as far as the Sacco and Vanzetti trial and Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic. They remember Dedham Square as it was, nearly three quarters of a century ago, and can recall when Wardle Drug was a relatively new business.
Dominic "Archie" DiVirgilio, Marie-Louise Kehoe, Frank Geishecker, Lofts "Mickey" McGuire, Roberta "Bobbie" Beckvold and four other longtime Dedham residents reflect on their decades living in the more than 370-year-old town in the documentary "Memories of Dedham," which will be shown free tomorrow at 8 p.m. at Dedham Community Theatre.
"It's a beautiful film. It's going to make people cry. It's very inspiring," said Peter H. Reynolds, one of the filmmakers and co-owner of The Blue Bunny children's bookstore on High Street.
DiVirgilio, 76, former Department of Public Works commissioner, said that the film is an expression of the town's history. "Some of the things people will get out of it is learning what Dedham was like, how quaint town was, how it was less congested and more town-oriented. It was less hectic than today," he said of the Dedham he knew half a century ago.
The 25-minute film was a labor of love for Reynolds, his brother Paul, and Paul's wife, Janet. Originally, the three - members of the civic and merchant association Dedham Square Circle - wanted to foster appreciation for Dedham Square among today's residents, some of whom are too young to recall when the soda fountain at Wardle's - which has been in business more than a century - was the town hangout. Click here to read more...
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