Hanover Has A Mardi Gras

The Friends of the Hopkins Center had a bash and matched a grant, all in one flamboyant gala, a Mardi Gras Ball on March 3 which transformed the Hop into a spring bower and winter-weary North Country art patrons into a glittering assembly of pre-Lenten revelers.

The Ball raised over $13,000, far more than the $5,000 required to match a museum grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, awarded for the purchase of the works of living American artists. Excess funds will bolster the treasury of the Friends, which is used primarily to provide scholarships for talented undergraduates and help offset the costs of bringing distinguished artists to the Center.

Mrs. John G. Kemeny was chairman of the event, which drew some 400 party-goers, most in costume and many from a considerable distance. Prizes were awarded for attire judged the most original, authentic, fantasy-like, expressive of secret ambition, humorous, and the best disguise.

A pervasive curiosity as to the identity of the widely advertised Mystery King and Queen heightened as 10 o'clock came and two robed figures arrived to lead the Grand Ball. The anticipation was well rewarded when the royal masks were removed to reveal a grinning Walter L. Cronkite, Litt. D. '72, and his wife.

The Mystery King and Queen (left) as theywere about to lead the grand procession,and (above) as, unmasked, they turned outto be none other than Walter and BetsyCronkite. Their identity had been one ofHanover's best kept secrets for weeks priorto the Mardi Gras.

The Mystery King and Queen (left) as theywere about to lead the grand procession,and (above) as, unmasked, they turned outto be none other than Walter and BetsyCronkite. Their identity had been one ofHanover's best kept secrets for weeks priorto the Mardi Gras.

Among the evening's prize-winners werethese characters from "Sesame Street."

Mrs. Charles Wiltse, faculty wife, was wellconcealed under an African mask.

The prize for most original costume waswon by Peter Areson '72, graduate studentat Thayer School, and Cindy Guy who depicted, in satirical fashion, the gadgetryof computerized medical care.

Hanover's well-traveled populace was ableto turn out in a great variety of authenticcostumes from other lands. Here, twogentlemen provide touches of Araby andthe Mysterious East.