July 22, 1965 (20 pages)

NEVADA COUNTY NUGGET Ped sA stacy etast made stmiee CT cost minh small eee itd Bal eest existe ieelT ces! Puinfiain eo QlY ah 8 Hi Hi aio . RDITORIAL July 22, 1965 LOCAL THEATER PLANS SHOULD INCLUDE THE DAVIS DRAMA GROUP Excitement is running high in Nevada City this week as the members of'the Liberal. Arts Commission prepare for the centennial celebration at the old Nevada Theater next weekend. The excitement, the almost total involvement of the community, and the amazing rapidity with which tickets to the production have sold, are strong indication that small theater can work in Nevada City. This was not always the case. When the Liberal Arts Commission was formed about a year ago, there were some real doubts expressed thata theater could be supported here. There were even doubts expressed about whether the group wanted to be tied in with the offer from the drama department of the Davis campus of the University of California to provide summer theater here. But despite all the talk, division of opinion and uncertainty of goals, the group forged ahead. They made the revitalization of the vacant Nevada Theater their goal and established the recreation of the 100 year opening of the oldtheater as their first big effort and the springboard from which to gain the support for the theater movement. Now the project is in full swing and the people who debunked the idea that a theater here could ever be a success need only look at the box office receipts. The tickets to both days of the event production-were almost sold out the first day they went on sale. Almost afl of the tickets to the local production have been sold locally. If the theater group could combine with the drama department at Davis so that Davis could produce plays here, the ticket distribution to future productions would be much wider and so would the attraction and the fame of the local theater. While the community is full of expectation and excitement over the coming historical extravaganza and theater centennial, it might be a good idea to point out that the role of Davis in this whole scheme should not be overlooked. The Davis drama department some years ago offered to bring its summer drama classes here and stage pro-ductions. It was also suggested that if a theater couldbe found, eventually the facility could also be used for lectures and univers ity extension courses. ; To present and sustain a regular series of summer theater offerings is a much bigger and more expensive undertaking, and here the talent and theater know how and resources at Davis will doubtless be welcomed by allthose whoare working so hard this week. All told, we may see Nevada City inthe making as one of the small theater centers of the state. IN THE FOOTHILLS VEIN NEVADA CITY BECOMES AN ISLAND OF CULTURE Nevada City Mayor Arch McPherson last week issued a special proclamation declaring July 30 and 31 to be Nevada Theatre Days in honor of the Nevada Theater centennial gala being staged by the Liberal Arts Commission. The mayor, who is well-known for his vocal and bagpipe accomplishments, came forth with a proclamation socolorful, it can almost be considered a production in itself and deserves repeating in part here. He noted that the theater first opened its doors in 1865 "in this Queen City of the Northern Mines and WHEREAS the most brilliant Luminaries of the Opera, Drama and terpsichore fought valiantly for the privilege of appearing in the Nevada Theater, considering this to be a High Pointif not the Acme of their careers and WHEREAS it was due in part to the Nevada Theater that the City of Nevada, now known as Nevada City, gained World Renown as a lusterous Island of Culture and civilization surrounded by a howling Wilderness of Ignorance and Boorhishness." Very fancy. We hope the gala production is a stepping stone to revitalizing the theater to its former high esteem. i eee eeseeeeees WATER HAS always been and will continue to be a major topic of discussion in California, Those who have it want to keep it and those who don't have it want to get it. Now another problem arises as more and more thought and work go into building economic plants to desalize sea water. Western Water News, publication of the Irrigation Districts Association of California, points out that there isa quarter of a pound ofsaltin a gallon of sea water. Someone has figured out that there is about 4.5 million cubic miles of salt in allthe oceans, The big question coming up is where we are going to put the salt when all the sea water is desalinized. eeeeseee#8e#e#s * WE WERE delighted tohear that afterno one appeared for or against the proposal tochange the name of Loma Rica Airport to Nevada County Airport, the supervisors decided to leave the ndme unchanged. What is still” unclear is whocame up withthe idea in the first place, ---Don Hoagland CALIFORNIA ae ONE REASON WHY ADLAI LOST THE ELECTION A lot of people are remembering a lot of things about Adlai Stevenson, now thathe is dead and can't answer back, and I amone of them. I can tell you, for example, one of the reasons why he lost the Presidentialelection of 1956, It was because he followed a suggestion I gave him. You will remember that in the summer of 1955 it looked pretty certain that Adlai would seek and obtain the Democratic nomination again, and that President Eisenhower, heart attack or no heart attack, would be the Republican nominee again--and he would win, unless the voters could somehow be jarred into voting otherwise, Up at Lake Tahoe that summer, I presented my scheme to William McCormickBlair, Stevenson's law partner and closest political aide, Adlai, I said, could not possibly win ifthe election became a contest of personalities, because Eisenhower had too much of a personal hold on the American people. Nor could he win, Ithought, merely by criticizing the Eisenhower record, Itwas at best lackluster, but the country was at peace once more, and prosperous. Therefore what we Democrats needed was a positive issue that could be dramatically described and illustrated, something that might take the play away from the Eisenhower personality, I suggested that the Stevenson campaign be centered around the theme of a "New America"--a program which emphasized the practical possibilities in American society, particularly as they related to the land and our great natural resources, After all, hadn't some of our most successful politicians--James K. Polk, Theodore Roosevelt, and FDR, for example--won tremendous support by appealing tothe public's fascination with the physical environment? My plan went further: I suggested that the new and suddenly popular medium of television be used to illustrate aspects of the New America program, I envisioned Gov, Stevenson appearing on TV beside a very complicated looking scale model of a salt water conversion plant, for example, After explaining why we needed a speeded up saline conversion program, the candidate could press a button, and the machine could be observed by millions of fascinated A mericans to begin to gurgle and blink, producing a cup of fresh water out of one end--which the candidate could then ceremoniously drink, Needless to say, Adlai never cottoned to that particular suggestion. He wasa great spokesman for America, but not precisely for the machine age, Blair, however, saw enough in’ my proposal to suggest that I summarize it ina memo, which I did practically on the spot and handed it to him, He indicated he would show it to Adlai when he got back to Chicago, A year later in Chicago, on the night when Adlai was nominated for President at the Democratic convention, Iwas introduced tothe great man ina crowded hallway, He said to me, "I'm stealing a phrase from you in my acceptance speech tomorrow night, " The phrase was in fact the "New America, " which I hoped would take its place beside Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom, FDR's New Deal, and Truman's Fair Deal, Butit never really caught on, probably in part because Adlai could never be so corny as to promote "1988nN Aaunoy epeaon® S96 ‘2% Atnge*

NEVADA COUNTY NUGGET Ped sA stacy etast made stmiee CT cost minh small eee itd Bal eest existe ieelT ces! Puinfiain eo QlY ah 8 Hi Hi aio . RDITORIAL July 22, 1965 LOCAL THEATER PLANS SHOULD INCLUDE THE DAVIS DRAMA GROUP Excitement is running high in Nevada City this week as the members of'the Liberal. Arts Commission prepare for the centennial celebration at the old Nevada Theater next weekend. The excitement, the almost total involvement of the community, and the amazing rapidity with which tickets to the production have sold, are strong indication that small theater can work in Nevada City. This was not always the case. When the Liberal Arts Commission was formed about a year ago, there were some real doubts expressed thata theater could be supported here. There were even doubts expressed about whether the group wanted to be tied in with the offer from the drama department of the Davis campus of the University of California to provide summer theater here. But despite all the talk, division of opinion and uncertainty of goals, the group forged ahead. They made the revitalization of the vacant Nevada Theater their goal and established the recreation of the 100 year opening of the oldtheater as their first big effort and the springboard from which to gain the support for the theater movement. Now the project is in full swing and the people who debunked the idea that a theater here could ever be a success need only look at the box office receipts. The tickets to both days of the event production-were almost sold out the first day they went on sale. Almost afl of the tickets to the local production have been sold locally. If the theater group could combine with the drama department at Davis so that Davis could produce plays here, the ticket distribution to future productions would be much wider and so would the attraction and the fame of the local theater. While the community is full of expectation and excitement over the coming historical extravaganza and theater centennial, it might be a good idea to point out that the role of Davis in this whole scheme should not be overlooked. The Davis drama department some years ago offered to bring its summer drama classes here and stage pro-ductions. It was also suggested that if a theater couldbe found, eventually the facility could also be used for lectures and univers ity extension courses. ; To present and sustain a regular series of summer theater offerings is a much bigger and more expensive undertaking, and here the talent and theater know how and resources at Davis will doubtless be welcomed by allthose whoare working so hard this week. All told, we may see Nevada City inthe making as one of the small theater centers of the state. IN THE FOOTHILLS VEIN NEVADA CITY BECOMES AN ISLAND OF CULTURE Nevada City Mayor Arch McPherson last week issued a special proclamation declaring July 30 and 31 to be Nevada Theatre Days in honor of the Nevada Theater centennial gala being staged by the Liberal Arts Commission. The mayor, who is well-known for his vocal and bagpipe accomplishments, came forth with a proclamation socolorful, it can almost be considered a production in itself and deserves repeating in part here. He noted that the theater first opened its doors in 1865 "in this Queen City of the Northern Mines and WHEREAS the most brilliant Luminaries of the Opera, Drama and terpsichore fought valiantly for the privilege of appearing in the Nevada Theater, considering this to be a High Pointif not the Acme of their careers and WHEREAS it was due in part to the Nevada Theater

that the City of Nevada, now known as Nevada City, gained World Renown as a lusterous Island of Culture and civilization surrounded by a howling Wilderness of Ignorance and Boorhishness.." Very fancy. We hope the gala production is a stepping stone to revitalizing the theater to its former high esteem. i eee eeseeeeees WATER HAS always been and will continue to be a major topic of discussion in California, Those who have it want to keep it and those who don't have it want to get it. Now another problem arises as more and more thought and work go into building economic plants to desalize sea water. Western Water News, publication of the Irrigation Districts Association of California, points out that there isa quarter of a pound ofsaltin a gallon of sea water. Someone has figured out that there is about 4.5 million cubic miles of salt in allthe oceans, The big question coming up is where we are going to put the salt when all the sea water is desalinized. eeeeseee#8e#e#s * WE WERE delighted tohear that afterno one appeared for or against the proposal tochange the name of Loma Rica Airport to Nevada County Airport, the supervisors decided to leave the ndme unchanged. What is still” unclear is whocame up withthe idea in the first place, ---Don Hoagland CALIFORNIA ae ONE REASON WHY ADLAI LOST THE ELECTION A lot of people are remembering a lot of things about Adlai Stevenson, now thathe is dead and can't answer back, and I amone of them. I can tell you, for example, one of the reasons why he lost the Presidentialelection of 1956, It was because he followed a suggestion I gave him. You will remember that in the summer of 1955 it looked pretty certain that Adlai would seek and obtain the Democratic nomination again, and that President Eisenhower, heart attack or no heart attack, would be the Republican nominee again--and he would win, unless the voters could somehow be jarred into voting otherwise, Up at Lake Tahoe that summer, I presented my scheme to William McCormickBlair, Stevenson's law partner and closest political aide, Adlai, I said, could not possibly win ifthe election became a contest of personalities, because Eisenhower had too much of a personal hold on the American people. Nor could he win, Ithought, merely by criticizing the Eisenhower record, Itwas at best lackluster, but the country was at peace once more, and prosperous. Therefore what we Democrats needed was a positive issue that could be dramatically described and illustrated, something that might take the play away from the Eisenhower personality, I suggested that the Stevenson campaign be centered around the theme of a "New America"--a program which emphasized the practical possibilities in American society, particularly as they related to the land and our great natural resources, After all, hadn't some of our most successful politicians--James K. Polk, Theodore Roosevelt, and FDR, for example--won tremendous support by appealing tothe public's fascination with the physical environment? My plan went further: I suggested that the new and suddenly popular medium of television be used to illustrate aspects of the New America program, I envisioned Gov, Stevenson appearing on TV beside a very complicated looking scale model of a salt water conversion plant, for example, After explaining why we needed a speeded up saline conversion program, the candidate could press a button, and the machine could be observed by millions of fascinated A mericans to begin to gurgle and blink, producing a cup of fresh water out of one end--which the candidate could then ceremoniously drink, Needless to say, Adlai never cottoned to that particular suggestion. He wasa great spokesman for America, but not precisely for the machine age, Blair, however, saw enough in’ my proposal to suggest that I summarize it ina memo, which I did practically on the spot and handed it to him, He indicated he would show it to Adlai when he got back to Chicago, A year later in Chicago, on the night when Adlai was nominated for President at the Democratic convention, Iwas introduced tothe great man ina crowded hallway, He said to me, "I'm stealing a phrase from you in my acceptance speech tomorrow night, " The phrase was in fact the "New America, " which I hoped would take its place beside Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom, FDR's New Deal, and Truman's Fair Deal, Butit never really caught on, probably in part because Adlai could never be so corny as to promote "1988nN Aaunoy epeaon® S96 ‘2% Atnge*