Re-creating the Titanic
By Jennifer Colton - Argus Observer
Sunday, April 15, 2007 1:07 AM PDT
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| John Lamoreau organizes a display Friday of artifacts about a passenger — F.D. Millet — who died on the Titanic. Lamoreau’s collection is one part of an event re-creating the last First Class dinner from the Titanic at Foley Station in La Grande. |
La Grande - Ninety-five years ago today the R.M.S. Titanic and more than 1,000 of its passengers plunged to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, entombing their place in history.
Saturday and tonight, thanks to a determined collector and an unwavering chef, anyone can experience the final First Class dinner — served only hours before the ship struck an iceberg around 11 p.m. April 12, 1914, during its maiden voyage — at Foley Station in La Grande.
“I think what fascinated me about the Titanic was that it has all aspects: love, lives lost, death, survival,” John Lamoreau, La Grande, owner of the Northwest’s largest collection of Titanic artifacts, said Friday. “You had scoundrels, but you also had nobility. You had the richest men in First Class giving up their seats for a third-class child.”
That fascination led Lamoreau to approach Merlyn Baker — owner and executive chef of Foley Station, a restaurant in downtown La Grande — about presenting part of his collection in the restaurant. That discussion led to the duo’s first re-creation and artifact viewing April 14, 2006.
The event debuted in the restaurant’s banquet room, surprising both Baker and Lamoreau by selling out — even at $100 a ticket.
This year, they decided to close the entire restaurant for the event, transforming the banquet room into a museum for Lamoreau’s collection — more than double the artifacts displayed in 2006.
“Some of the things I have were things that were on the Titanic,” Lamoreau said. “Others are things like those that were on the Titanic.”
Lamoreau’s extensive collection includes hundreds of letters and photographs, dozens of newspapers, paintings, films, hat boxes and suitcases, post cards, passenger lists, a model ship, a pair of children’s shoes worn on the Titanic by a survivor and pieces of the molding and tiles from the Olympic — the Titanic’s sister ship.
With the extensive collection, Lamoreau chose to give each year’s event a feature display. This year, he chose Oregon’s connection to the Titanic, including the first public reading of a letter written May 20, 1912, by the daughter of Oregon’s only first class couple to sail on the Titanic. The letter, sent to friends of her parents in Europe, described how Anna Warren entered a lifeboat on the ship and believed her husband was also on the lifeboat — only to discover he had given up his seat.
Tonight, the great-grandson of Anna and Frank Warren will attend the dinner.
Oregonians traveled in all three classes on the ship, from the Warrens in first class through steerage, Lamoreau said.
“People traveled a lot then,” Lamoreau said. “It wasn’t uncommon to make these long trips, if you went to Europe for example.”
The Oregon theme will also include information and artifacts about cinematographer William Harbeck, who carried his film on the 1911 Pendleton Round Up on board the Titanic and the story of a woman traveling on the ship to join her fiance in Oregon.
The artifacts will be open for viewing from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. today and the dinner will begin at 5 p.m. on the main floor of the restaurant.
Upon entrance, each participant will receive an identity card of a real Titanic passenger. Baker designed a menu — complete with 15 courses and seven wines — re-creating the final First Class meal on the Titanic, opening with canap/s a la Admiral and White Bordeaux to Chicken Lyonnaise or lamb with mint sauce through Waldorf pudding and chocolate /clairs.
“The future of food is anchored deeply in the food traditions of the past,” Baker said. “It’s really fun to prepare these foods in some of the traditional ways they were prepared. Traditional foods require traditional preparation. You don’t just order a box of Calvodos duck.”
Baker said he is using wines as close as possible to the style of wines they would have served on the Titanic, but non-alcoholic beverages customized for each course are also available.
“Each course is tailored,” he said. “It is a lot of food, but each course is small. It’s about tasting all the flavors. The interesting thing is how balanced the menu is. There is no redundancy. You have lamb, you have chicken, you have duck.”
Throughout the meal, guests will see video and hear the audio of real Titanic survivors, Lamoreau said, and each participant will also hear about what happened to their character — and who made it onto lifeboats.
“I like to profile people and bring the stories, bring them back to life,” Lamoreau said. “I want to bring home the tragedy that went down.”
All surviving passengers receive a gift certificate for breakfast.
This year, guests traveled from four states for the event — Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California.
“It’s really fun to watch it expand,” Baker said. “There is three times as much to it this year (as last year). Already we have people reserving for next year. It’s a lot of work, but it’s well worth it.”
A limited number of tickets for tonight’s dinner are still available by calling (541) 963-7473.
