Before the saga of Jack and Rose and James Cameron’s super-successful movie, there actually was an RMS Titanic.
The passenger liner set sail from England on April 10, 1912, bound for the Americas.
Spoiler alert: It didn’t make it. Aboard the ship’s more than 2,200 crew and passengers came a slew of famous stories: from the unsinkable Molly Brown (she survived) to millionaire John Jacob Astor IV, an American businessman and lieutenant
colonel in the Spanish-American War (he wasn’t so lucky).
That fateful night of April 14, first-class passenger Helen Churchill Candee, a Guthrie native, made her way to her stateroom after she enjoyed a nightcap with her friends.
She was an author, a journalist and a staunch feminist.
As
she began to draw her bath, the Titanic struck an iceberg. Hours later,
she floated to safety as the only surviving member of her party.
The
dinner she enjoyed in the captain’s lounge her final night aboard the
Titanic encompassed 11 decadent courses that included poached salmon and
lamb dishes.
Also served were fine wines and Champagne, as well as Waldorf pudding and other sweets for dessert.
Be
a part of that historical presentation Saturday night, when the Rose
State College Foundation recreates the historic meal as part of the
100th anniversary tribute to the ship. Midwest City Mayor Jack Fry will
serve as the night’s honorary captain.
But
don’t worry about the re-creation going, um, overboard. Everyone will
stay on dry land. All of the proceeds go toward scholarships for Rose
State students.
“The
survivors who got out of that, a lot of them went on to do amazing
things,” said Ben Fenwick, Rose State public relations coordinator. “And
so, when you give scholarships to people, you’re actually giving them a
lifeboat.”
This article appears in Apr 4-10, 2012.