FACes & PlaceS
The arts 2004

An Evening with Ben Franklin & Friends
by Marilyn Bullock & Les Isbrandt

I hate to put damper on your summer holidays, but September and the beginning of the new school year is just around the corner! The GOOD news is that on September 28, 2004 the New Hope Historical Society (NHHS) and the New Hope Solebury High School Social Studies Department are co-sponsoring an exciting family event – an Evening with Ben Franklin & Friends. This event kicks off the Society’s first fund raising effort to benefit the newly formed Francis Curley Memorial Scholarship Fund.*

The event features the “Official Ben Franklin,” internationally renowned speaker and impersonator, Ralph Archbold, who brings his talents to the Stephen Buck Theater in New Hope from 7 – 9 PM. The evening will include stories and anecdotes from Ben Franklin, a dialogue between Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, and a musical performance and demonstration of a glass harmonica, one of Ben Franklin’s many inventions.

When Archbold started portraying Ben Franklin in 1973, he immediately liked it. He liked being wise and funny. He liked that people listened to him. He started reading every Franklin book he could find (more than 200 sit on his bookshelves) and quickly discovered that he was born on Franklin's birthday (January 17th). Archbold began performing as Franklin in schools around the Mid-West full time, and in 1981 he moved his business to where the market for Franklin is.

Archbold has become an institution in Philadelphia and around the world. His face is on 11 tourist postcards and the official Philly tourist brochure, and he has performed for every President since Gerald Ford. When the city wanted to cut funding for his free daily children's programs--just three years before Franklin's 300th birthday--Archbold knocked on some corporate and government doors and got the cash. It's hard to say no to someone willing to dress up as a Founding Father in public.

Seven days a week at 11 a.m., Archbold walks over to Franklin Court, where Franklin's house once stood and a museum now does, sits on a bench under a mulberry tree as Franklin did and talks to people - especially the womenfolk.

Les Isbrandt, president of the New Hope Historical Society, remembered meeting Archbold some years ago. Late last year, Les contacted “Ben” and asked him to come to New Hope, where we are all excitedly awaiting Ben’s debut performance.

Purchase your tickets early for this “not to be missed event. ”Advance tickets are as follows: students,$7 for students, teachers and NHHS members, $20, all other adults,$25. To order tickets or for more information, call 215-862-5652.

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* The Francis Curley Memorial Scholarship Fund was formed to provide yearly scholarships for deserving New Hope Solebury HS graduating seniors who have an interest in the social sciences.