LYNNFIELD — “Alice’s Restaurant: A Thanksgiving Story” will be the subject of the Historical Society’s meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 25, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Centre Congregational Church.
Local historian and long-time Society member Alan Foulds will be the guest speaker.
In 1967, singer Arlo Guthrie released “Alice’s Restaurant,” a lengthy deadpan protest song against the Vietnam War. The lyrics describe a comic incident from Guthrie’s life, when he visits his friends, restaurant owner Alice Brock and her husband Ray, who live in a deconsecrated church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
After enjoying a delicious Thanksgiving meal, Guthrie and a buddy illegally dump trash from the church nearby. The event leads to their arrest and conviction. Ironically, this episode endangers their “suitability” for the military draft.
The song “Alice’s Restaurant” was a tremendous hit, followed by a film of the same name in which Guthrie played the leading part.
In 1991, Guthrie purchased the old Trinity Church where Alice and her husband had lived in the 1960s. It became the Guthrie Center, an interfaith church dedicated to the memory of his parents Woody and Marjorie Guthrie. The couple was committed to finding a cure for Huntington’s Disease, a neurodegenerative disorder from which Arlo’s father, folk singer Woody Guthrie, suffered. The center became a mecca for musical performances along with support for cultural preservation and educational achievement.
The Guthrie Center holds a free Thanksgiving dinner each year for those in need, in the true spirit of “Alice’s Restaurant.”
Foulds hosts the podcast called “It’s also history,” and is a Fellow at the Massachusetts Historical Society. Parking is available at the rear of the Church on Main Street. Refreshments will be served. All are welcome.