With the arrival of scorching temps and high humidity, the cast of the Pear Essential Players (P.E.P.) layer on the petticoats, corsets and false beards in preparation for the August 4th re-enactment at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast.  Rehearsals will begin in two weeks, and this year the script is new.  Written every year by night tour innkeeper Shelley Dziedzic, this year’s script will harness the flavor of popular CSI programs.  Here is what the B&B website has to say about the annual event:

“Thirty minutes have passed since Abby Borden’s body has been found upstairs in the guest room.  #92 has become a beehive of activity with Fall River’s Men in Blue flocking to the crime scene.  Doctors, bystanders, policemen, newspaper reporters, neighbors and friends are all converging on the little drab house on Second St.   Inside on the Second Floor, Miss Lizzie Andrew Borden is reclining on her fainting couch, medicated with bromo caffeine.  Uncle John has wandered bewildered into the dining room, trying to make sense of what he has just heard.  Bridget Sullivan is frightened in the parlor, already planning to pack and flee that very afternoon. The lifeless bodies of Andrew and Abby Borden are covered with bloody sheets, awaiting procedures and the ministrations of the undertaker.  Sister Emma is rushing back home on her way from Fairhaven.  Helpful neighbors mill around looking for answers and trying to be useful in comforting Lizzie and assisting the police. Meanwhile, the police begin the questioning and searching.  Our visitors will be “deputized” as they begin their tour of the crime scene, and will be encouraged to “assist” the police with their photographic equipment and by carefully surveying the crime scenes.  They may even be motivated to ask a question themselves and to be on the lookout for CLUES! By means of the police questioning, the visitors to the house will hear the story as it happened, unfolding through the answers of the family members.  As the tour of the premises ends, visitors will be asked to cast a vote on the GUILTY PARTY, based on what they have seen and heard during their inspection of the scene of the crime. ”

Lots of excitement at #92 this week as the house is stripped back to the raw wood on the clapboards.  For the first time we see the original color of the house which was called “drab”, a grey-olive color.  Since 1996 the house has been tan under McGinn ownership during the opening years of the B&B , and a strong green which was applied in 2004 under new ownership.  The new treatment, called “rhino paint” comes with a lifetime guarantee and is advertised as the toughest paint around. The crew is doing a great job of prep work and the glimpse of the raw wood while the paint is completely removed offers some detail as to the way things are put together.  The side entry porch overhang was not original to the house and was added after the 1892 murders. The new paint color will more accurately match the drab paint color of 1892.  The darker trim paint currently on the house was a very close match to the 1892 color.

Chances are that if you only take the day tour at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast, you have missed meeting one of the great assets of the establishment, longtime head chef, Dave Quigley.  Dave and the B&B started out together on the same day back in 1996, and Dave is the longest -serving employee of the business.  When the house first opened its doors, Dave would come on duty at 10 p.m. just as the night tour of the house ended, and would spend the “third shift” perched uncomfortably on the narrow, hard Victorian sofa in the parlor, watching the tiny television set which received only 3 channels with rabbit ear antenna. 

Dave was oncall to answer a million questions from overnight guests and deal with all the night time emergencies that can happen in an old house.  “How do I get to Salem?”, “Where is Bellevue Avenue?”,  “What’s a jonnycake?”, etc. and many other pressing inquires Dave had to field every morning.  All these he answered cheerfully with good humor and an amazing talent for knowing the best places to eat, the best routes to take to most of New England attractions, and the usual queries about the Borden case and the house in general. Dave became a master of all trades by necessity.  Leaky faucets, plugged up toilets, fire alarms going off in the night, special requirements from guests, unwanted visitors, power blackouts, snowstorms – Dave saw it all.  And in the process probably flipped over 100,000 of the famous cornmeal jonnycakes. Foremost and primarily, Dave loved to cook and chat with the guests. Sometime’s Dave would forget the jonnycakes while visiting with the guests and the smoke alarms would sound, bringing the Fire Chief to the door in full gear, wielding an axe.  Memorable moments.

The menu has not changed much since opening day:  scrambled eggs, homefried potatoes, sausages or Canadian bacon, coffee, tea, fruit cup and jonnycakes, the last item served to the Bordens on the fateful day.  Dave used to love to tell the story about jonnycakes, a local delicacy and an acquired taste.  “Journey cakes, they were called because they could travel a long time in a saddlebag on a long trek”, Dave would intone every morning. “Put some maple syrup on ‘em- then they have some taste”.

Over the past few years Dave has been spared the hard sofa overnight, and arrives about 6 a.m. to get the coffee machine going for early risers.  Chefs in training, Will and Logan, will be taking over for Dave next weekend.  Here’s wishing Dave many happy golfing days on the greens, big wins at the casino, and relaxing hours with lovely wife, Jean.  Best Wishes!

Dave’s old black gas Glenwood, once found rusting in a field in Vermont and refitted for gas pipes.  “She’s temperamental but works like a champ if you know how to appease her”!

Dave (on the right) as Uncle John Morse, August 4, 2002.

http://www.projo.com/news/bobkerr/kerr_column_26_08-26-09_BVFGNSH_v14.38acb8c.html

Joe Radza, an eighth grade teacher from Warren, Ohio will be playing the role of Uncle John Morse this year on August 4th at the Borden house for the annual re-enactments. Uncle John’s behavior when he returned for lunch has always seemed peculiar to students of the case. John bypassed the growing crowds by the Borden’s gate and went into the back yard by the barn and picked up and consumed several pears before ambling slowly up the side steps and going inside to see what was going on.  He had a reputation as a peculiar old guy in his boater and old gray suit and string tie.  Did he know more than he confided to the police?

Preparations go into full swing this week as the house performing troupe, The Pear Essential Players, dons their fake beards and leg ‘ o mutton sleeves to bring history alive once more.  Performing only once a year, on the anniversary of the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden, the players come from many states and cities to re-enact the details of the day in 1892.  Performances will take place on the hour and tickets may be purchased for each timed performance in the gift barn behind the house at 92 Second Street.  This year’s cast featured 13 key characters from the well-known story. To learn more about the cast, visit their web blog at http://pearessentialproductions.wordpress.com/

The approach to the Braga Bridge, Fall River signs on 195E (and also 195 westbound) feature a mention of the Lizzie Borden Museum and have done so for some time.

Still garnering front page news is the continuing battle between Salem and Fall River over who owns the rights to the Lizzie Borden story, and the all-important word, “Museum”.  Channel 25 Fox television out of Boston ran this segment yesterday http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7177254&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.2.1  Sounds like several of those interviewed for the news clip might benefit from a visit to a museum telling the facts!  No date has yet been given out for the Salem opening.

Plans are being made to install a 24 hour webcam at the scenes of the crimes in the sitting room and guest bedroom at the Borden house on Second Street.  Interested viewers at home could then check in at leisure to see what was transpiring at any time of day or night in the sitting room, and the guest bedroom when not occupied by overnight guests.  Followers of the paranormal are particularly excited by this prospect.  The date when this experiment goes into effect has not yet been announced.