Dark Night of the Scarecrow: My Brother's Pizza & Calvin College, 1981

The best subs in Grand Rapids used to come from My Brother's Pizza. (Yelp says My Brother’s Pizza is closed, but Google+ still sees it).

 

In the fall of 1981, I was a freshman at Calvin College. I was living in Bolt Hall, which is one-third of Bolt-Heyns-Timmer. Heyns and Timmer were girls’ dorms, and 1981 was the first year Bolt was a men’s dorm. (When folks asked where I lived, and I told them Bolt, I got a lot of strange looks.)

Bolt was a good dorm. Girls were easier on things and the facility was in good shape. It had a miniature chapel in the basement that I used on Sunday mornings instead of going to church.

On Halloween night, 1981, one of the major networks played a made-for-TV movie called “Dark Night of the Scarecrow.”

A group of us in Bolt ordered warm subs from My Brother’s Pizza, turned down the lights and watched that movie. (Pete and Bill had a big TV; they were the only ones that did. Bill had money. Pete Gordon was at that time pre-sem and now works at Jabez Ministries in Grand Rapids > ; Bill dropped out between semesters; I don't know what happened to him.)

My Brother’s Pizza subs were crispy, melty, messy, and wrapped in tin foil. The delivery man had long stringy hair and was missing a couple teeth; he was friendly, smiled a lot and seemed to appreciate the meager tips that freshman could afford.

One of the sponsors of “Dark Night of the Scarecrow” was a snack called “Harvest” something. I distinctly remember a very appealing commercial of country folks on a hayride eating the harvest snack in front of a large moon and “Shine on Harvest Moon” playing in the background.

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I had such a good time that night with new friends, good food and a movie. The world could still be fixed with an education, Mom and Dad would forever be as vital as silver-haired Centrum models, and life would continue to crawl slowly, inexorably toward cardigan days in a rocking chair, with loving family tending my needs.

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I have “Dark Night of the Scarecrow” on DVD and have tried to get Charlie my son to sit down and watch it with me, but he’s not interested. 1981 is ancient history to him.

Dark Night of the Scarecrow on IMDb >

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Ruth Etting sings “Shine on Harvest Moon” (1931)

 

[2013-01-15]

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