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Show Nan McPolin's Park City .... V ,; Xi ,? v ? X1W4,?..,.:..,. . by I eri Folson Nan McPolin was nine years old when her, jamily moved from Mercer, Utah to Parle City and she can still recall today, at age 74, exactly how her new 3rd grade teachet looked: ; , "She was wearing a white dress with sleeves just below the elbow; the dresi was ! tucked inat,the waist and there wasr a full embroidered skirt that came down just below her knees. She wore a large pink ribbon sash at the waist which tied into a bow at the back. The second day of class she changed the sash to light blue. Her name was Winnie Jennings and I certainly cer-tainly did think she looked beautiful." Nan is the daughter of the late Tom - Reese, a popular barber and town figure in Park City at the turn of the century. She remembers many of the places and characters of old Park City and this week, this senior citizen, i whose rapid pace would tire t the most active of teenagers, shared with The Park Record her watercolor memories of another an-other time. "Sundays we always had the dining room table set and a full sit down dinner. We all had our own silver napkin rings- with linen napkins inside, Sunays ta SRfccial family day and we fall looked forward to: it.y And once a month we would go out to dinner- almost . to the same place; Charlie Chong's Restaurant, Rest-aurant, where the full meal cost 35 cents per person. The restaurant ( was located right about where the variety store is now on Main Street and I remember they always .had a Blythe Fargo wasn't the only department store on Park City's Main Street, no indeed. Nan foundljr remembered Paul Bros, and - Wilson, another store that carried a whole lot of this and a little bit of that. . MYou would go in and ask Tom Paul if he carried this or that, and he'd say, I'm sure I've got it, if I could just find it! And then the search would begin. And sure enough, after a bit of a search, he would usually turn up whatever it was you were looking for." Main Street was busy back then with restaurants of all nationalities, - department stores, grocery stores and last, but certainly not leastin the eyes of a young child, there were candy kitchens. Every week Nan and her sister and brother got a nickel to spend. That was a lot of money and a big decision. The Cotis Candy Kitchen was on upper Main Street across from where the Silver Wheel theatre is today. And there was Popano's Candy Store and Ice Cream Parlor located where Beau's Cafe Ritz stands now. And inside Popano's was a 5 cent slot machine. "Not very often did we choose to spend our money on the slot machine; sure there was a chance we would get back three or four nickels, but more likely we would lose our nickel and just get back a piece of candy." And Fitzgerald's Ice Cream Parlor, located where the Car 19 stands today, was the first place young Nan Reese would have a job. Nan remembers the people in Park City were as varied as the restaurants in those days. ' There were five or six doctors at any given time, and one off: the town favorites was Dr. LeCompte; he was; as Nan explains; "a very good pneiK monia doctor.'' A favorite story told about the kind doctor was: "Dr. LeCompte wrote all his accounts on the walls of his office; how much people owed and where he. would send the bill to.; Well; Ihe doctor's daughter, Dude, decided to surprise her father when he was out of town and have hjs entire office re-waflpapered. When the doctor returned and the-iflitiar shock of the 'te .decorating wore off, he said, 'Oh, well, those who will pay will. ..and those who won't won't'." ;':Vi:"v---:5 ;;;:'0 ::; . As Nan grew older she discovered that Park City was a dancing town; there was Swede Hall, the 100 ft. hall, the LDS Church hall and Rasmussen hall, all where couples could trip the lights fantastic. Many weekend nights, Nan remembers there would be two dances a night her group would go to. Up at Swede's Hall there would be Blanche Fletcher on the piano, Burke Birkenshaw on the bells and Soup McCarty on the piano as well. In 1928 Nan and her husband, Ed McPolin, got their first radio. Late on night they were listening to a broadcast broad-cast from San Francisco and Nan said that the piano sounded just like Soup McCarty McCar-ty himself; the radio was truly a modern marvel. Well, as it turned out, weeks later the McPoIins discovered the broadcast had been coming from the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco ... and indeed, Soup McQarty .had been performing there! Today we in town are proud of our"' Park City Players theatre group, , but Nan re-' re-' minded me that there was plenty of active theatre groups here before: "I was part of a group called The Hometown Theatre and ;:we woulejiput on plays at the American and Egyptian :) Theatres besides many, that , were at the LD$ cultural hall." , Please Turn to Page isa big bowl of oyster crackers on the table; we didn't have thos,e at home so they were a special treart:4' - - ' ' - F Tom Reese' barber shop was on the ground floor of a very important store, Blythe Fargo, Often times one of the salesmen would come down stairs and show Tom some of the latest fashions for his wife. Nan can remember two exciting noon-time meals when her father came home with fancy gifts from the elegant department store, , "Once,, father jcame . home with two suits for mother; one was navy and, the other maroon. In those days women didn't wear too many bright colors, and so when father asked her to choose one of the suits and he told her he preferred the maroon . one, mother said she'd , have to think it oven , She finally did decide on the maroon one. Another time father brought home a fur coat; mother loved that coat and she wore it for years." Community Education Program Pro-gram here in Park City. "I have enjoyed meeting people... I never met a man I didn't like; oh, maybe I didn't always like some of the things people do, but I always liked the person." Well, Nan, we at the Park Record have enjoyed you sharing so very much with us in our 100th issue, and re instating the favorite "old-timers" "old-timers" column. The contribution contribu-tion you have made to Park City and continue to make is an inspiration to keep us all going. In the next few weeks, The Record will share memories with Howard Coleman, 93, who came to Park City in the early twenties as the only black man in town. For more than 35 years, he was one of the most well-respected employees em-ployees of the Park City Post Office. Also The Record will take a look backward with Myrtle Buck, widow of Fraiser Buck, who was author of "Treasure Mountain Home." Myrtle came to Park City at age two and has remained herefor 77 years. She remembers when the first automobile drove up Main Street and she recalls parties in the old Kearns mansion. Throughout this centennial year, The Record will re-tell these "old timers" as part of the rich history of this town. Continued from Page 1 3 A . Nan shared many full years with her husband, Ed J. McPolin, who was the Utah Speaker of the House in 1949. Together the couple would travel all over the country as well as all over the state. Nan has been a widow now for more than 25 years, but she hasn't sat home to pine. Prior to Ed's death Nan taught school at Park City High School for ten years. After her husband died, Nan traveled to the Northwest on a mission for the LDS Church; she returned to work as a utility clerk in the State Senate building, keeping a record of bills both in and outside the chambers. Since Nan left her job at the capital building, she has traveled around the world, worked at the motor vehicle : department in the state capital and for years she has run the |