MIDDLETON | Guests who attended the Spring Fling Party and Mother's Day luncheon at the Senior Center on a recent afternoon received more than a hearty meal and friendly conversation.

They were taken back in time.

Rita Parisi, an Amesbury resident and founder of Waterfall Productions, transported the seniors from May 9, 2007, to May 9, 1908.

In a crisp, white empire-waisted dress, a flowered hat and with a turn-of-the-century table and chair, Parisi brought her one-woman show, Teas in Time, to the local event.

Parisi became Mrs. Gordon, a wife of a hardware store owner in Amesbury who had just returned from a trip to Boston with her husband. When Mr. Gordon was working on business, Mrs. Gordon explored the city and came back to tell the audience about her travels.

She spoke about the gardens she got to see, the automobiles that chugged down Commonwealth Avenue, and the horse manure she got on her boots. She got to see two moving picture shows at B.F. Keith's Theater — "Moscow Clad in Snow" and "The Dog and his Various Merits," — which she enjoyed greatly but her husband thought was a waste of 25 cents.

Most of the women in attendance were wearing their fanciest hats, while a few of the men wore bow ties. And despite a sweltering heat wave that turned the Senior Center into a sauna, the seniors still had a good time.

"I thought it was very interesting," said Rose Osborn. "I enjoyed it immensely."

Although 1908 was before Osborn's time (she was born in 1924), she remembered going through the lengthy and complicated process of getting a permanent that Parisi talked about in her act, including sitting in a beauty parlor with her hair in wooden curlers connected to wires.

"I love reminicing about the olden days," Osborn added. "I remember when movies were 25 cents. I remember paying 10 cents to see a movie where I grew up in Salem."

Mrs. Gordon also wandered down Washington Street, where she shopped at Jordan Marsh and Company and Filene's Automatic Bargain Annex. She observed the newest trends in make-up and fashions.

"Those Paris fashions do change quickly, don't they?" Parisi said in character, as a few women nodded in the audience.

The program at the senior center was made possible by a grant from the Middleton Cultural Council, a group that has $3,980 from the state to allocate toward arts and humanities within the community.

"It's good to see the seniors get some different festivities," said Fran Novakowski of the Middleton Cultural Council.



Staff writer Cara Spilsbury can be reached at 978-946-2230 or via e-mail at cspilsbury@towncrossings.com