Opening Quietly Grand

Those students having long harbored a desire to enter the bowels of Thayer Hall without donning white, gold, or green coats can rejoice: On April 4, at the end of a twisting maze of corridors leading up from the basement of Thayer to a brand-new but pub-like back room, opened Ma Thayer's Pub. Claiming press privileges, we were able to get by the rather strict security at the entrance and into the midst of the Dartmouth Dining Association's most ambitious project to date. We reported here several months ago that the pub would open in January, but a slow waltz with New Hampshire state liquor laws delayed matters. According to Jim Harrington '75, who is overseeing the project, Ma Thayer's Pub was worth the wait.

Two hours after the grand opening, 22 customers were being cared for by Ma Thayer, some studying, some talking with friends. Waiters and waitresses kept watch over pitchers of beer, light and dark, in a room with a decor best described as minimalist. Some topers sat at the bar, under globe lights, and others settled down at tables with the free popcorn they had just scooped out of an old wooden keg. The mood was mellow, and this seemed to please Harrington. The crowd, which half-filled the room, was about the size he wanted - enough customers to make the place look busy but not so many as to cause trouble.

As we left, one fellow was recognizing a friend across the room and celebrants at one table got up and moved to another table already filled with people they knew. All three taps were flowing, and everyone seemed to be having a good time - good enough to make us wonder how many of them could find their way out through Ma Thayer's labyrinth.