Reminiscing through 20 years of UD parties
Caitlyn McGarty
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: Mosaic
It doesn't matter if Blue Hens are 20 years removed from their last university fraternity party, or if they're a mere eight months out of high school - they've experienced the party scene. They've seen (or at least been to the tailgate of) a football game, they've been on Main Street when the bars let out at 1 a.m., they've taken a walk down East Cleveland Avenue on a Friday night and (they thinks) they remember spending an entire day at one of the countless "fests" that are conveniently spread throughout the year.
Darren "Digger" Kane, a 1995 university alumnus, survived all of these typical Delaware experiences and now enjoys reminiscing about them.
Two years ago, Kane started a MySpace page for university alumni to talk about things they remember, post stories and think back to the good old days.
Kane says he knew early on, after thousands of current students and alumni viewed and posted on the site, that "this could be a book."
A year and a half later, "Glory Days at Delaware" was published, consisting of countless anecdotes and detailed accounts of the buildings, restaurants, bars, dining halls, residence halls and just about everything else that could be associated with the university.
In his book, Kane presents a variety of stories and comments from university alumni and current students spanning the past 20 years. Alumni stories relating to the party scene in Delaware from 20 years ago offer a different account than those of the party scene in recent years.
"Glory Days" focuses on the bars that used to be a big part of Newark, but few have survived to see 2008. Keith W., a 1998 graduate and a contributor to Kane's book, says "the bars have lost a lot of momentum." And, according to any alumni that graduated before the Stone Balloon closed, they have.
"The Stone Balloon was, like, the epicenter of all bars," Keith says. "Friday nights were the Stone Balloon and then Kate's."
Kane remembers the same thing, along with others that offered their perspectives in the book. He mentions 20 different bars throughout the book, only eight of which are still up and running.
Darren "Digger" Kane, a 1995 university alumnus, survived all of these typical Delaware experiences and now enjoys reminiscing about them.
Two years ago, Kane started a MySpace page for university alumni to talk about things they remember, post stories and think back to the good old days.
Kane says he knew early on, after thousands of current students and alumni viewed and posted on the site, that "this could be a book."
A year and a half later, "Glory Days at Delaware" was published, consisting of countless anecdotes and detailed accounts of the buildings, restaurants, bars, dining halls, residence halls and just about everything else that could be associated with the university.
In his book, Kane presents a variety of stories and comments from university alumni and current students spanning the past 20 years. Alumni stories relating to the party scene in Delaware from 20 years ago offer a different account than those of the party scene in recent years.
"Glory Days" focuses on the bars that used to be a big part of Newark, but few have survived to see 2008. Keith W., a 1998 graduate and a contributor to Kane's book, says "the bars have lost a lot of momentum." And, according to any alumni that graduated before the Stone Balloon closed, they have.
"The Stone Balloon was, like, the epicenter of all bars," Keith says. "Friday nights were the Stone Balloon and then Kate's."
Kane remembers the same thing, along with others that offered their perspectives in the book. He mentions 20 different bars throughout the book, only eight of which are still up and running.
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