Question: The brick home seen here was only 20 years old when this photo was taken. However, it retains its Victorian arched entryway yet today. More than a century later, the wooden sidewalks have been replaced with concrete and the trees are long gone. Can you identify the house or recognize the proud young owners?
Last week’s answer: Last week’s photo showed part of the cast from the Baldwinsville Theatre Guild’s 1993 production of “The Music Man.” That year marked the 50th anniversary of the organization. BTG is currently reprising the musical for the guild’s 75th anniversary.
If you hurry, you can still get tickets by calling 877-8465. The show premiered last weekend and continues to run Jan. 27 and 28 (the performance for the 29th is sold out) and Feb. 3 and 4. Shows are at 8 p.m.; the sold-out matinee is at 3.
BTG has added a performance at 7 p.m. Feb. 2.
The Guild’s history dates back to 1942 when Rosemary Sinnett (Nesbitt), then a high school senior, held a meeting in her home with a small group of friends. Rosemary’s idea was to “put on a play” for the community. Rosemary and Ellen David (Thompson) went door-to-door and sold tickets to cover royalties for their first production. “Tish” was produced in June 1943 at the Palace Movie Theater in Baldwinsville, directed by Doris Vickery.
After other successes between 1943 and 1946, BTG was formally organized in 1947. Since then, BTG has grown into a very active community theater group, successfully producing many aspects of theater including drama, comedy, melodrama, theater in the round, children’s theater, musicals, and dinner theater. BTG is the oldest continually performing amateur theater group in central New York.
Pictured are some of the lead performers from 1993. The barbershop quartet, from left to right is Tom McKee, Phill Sterling, Gregg Bilyeu and Fred Perry. Pictured with them are Mary Tall as Eulalie Mackechnie Shinn, the mayor’s wife, and the Pick-A-Little Ladies: in front – Mary Ann Connelly and Debbie Taylor; in back — Terri Brate and on the right – Marilyn Ibbitson.
Thanks to the generosity of the Shacksboro Schoolhouse Museum for giving the Guild space; much of BTG’s history is on display for the public. The hours of the museum on Canton are noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday. Be sure not to miss it. Thank you to the hundreds of people who have given our community so much pleasure over the years. If you are not involved in theater, you have no idea how many hours are put in behind the scenes. Keep up the good work, BTG!
Contact Editor Sarah Hall at [email protected] or leave a message at 434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by 5 p.m. Friday (please leave the information in the message; we are not generally able to return calls regarding History Mystery responses). If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo, your name and guess will appear in next week’s Messenger, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.
