Last week, we mentioned the Thread City Cyclers performance of a comic opera. The opera was considered by all who attended to have been well-staged and the singing and acting were “up to the high standards which Willimantic’s singers and actors always maintain”. It was felt that it was the popularity of the Cyclers that enabled them to “call the best amateur talent in the city to the aid of Mister Burton…and the result was an entertainment which fully merited the hearty applause which it received”. Less than a year later, they produced yet another evening of entertainment which, “in kind and quality has never been excelled and rarely equaled by local amateurs”. The Cycler’s Basketball team was now playing regularly against local and outside competitors. Not to be outdone, the Cycler’s baseball team was also playing against Willimantic and out-of-town teams. Both teams played hard and drew good crowds but nothing could compare with the success and popularity of the club’s theater productions. The club had also added an annual banquet to its many functions. At the 1903 banquet, held at the Hooker House, almost 100 members and guests gathered for dinner, several humorous speeches and music. Late in 1904, the club introduced a series of “concerts, assemblies and socials”. Helmolds Orchestra played at many of them. These continued for several years. In January, 1907, for example, there was a largely attended “Snow Dance” at Washburn Hall. The decorations carried out the theme. Christmas trees and evergreens covered with cotton represented the snow. “During a waltz, an imitation moon furnished the necessary light and the dancers were showered with confetti thrown from the gallery”. Still, nothing could compare to the popularity of the club’s minstrels. In February, 1909, the Opera House was packed for the night of entertainment. The club’s charter members occupied one of the Opera House boxes while Mayor Dunn and his party occupied another. The production, as always, featured only local amateurs. In 1916, the TCC was the oldest club in the city. At their clambake at the Ridges, they planned to have “a moving picture machine” on hand to take movies of the event, “what they do, who are there, how they behave at table, and a lot of other things”. They planned to show the movies at local movie houses. It should be noted that the Cyclers provided a great deal of charity. For example, at Christmas, they bought gifts for the poor and prepared “baskets of good things to eat and bundles of useful things” and then distributed them to the needy. The club members also sponsored services at the Congregational Church and would gather to hear a sermon and listen to selections of sacred music.. In 1918, the club decided to stop meeting, at least for the duration of WWI. Forty-seven of the club’s members were serving in the military at that time. In 1919, the club began functioning again and in November of that year staged its last minstrel performance. The matinee and evening performance both drew good crowds to the Opera House. In 1920, the club’s only activity was to sponsor a carnival. Years prior, club members had realized that barely any members still rode bicycles and so had turned to sports teams and social events to maintain membership. After WWI, however, membership and participation dwindled. When the club officially disbanded in February, 1921, it was said that, “many of the staid businessmen of Willimantic were charter members of this popular organization”. At one time, the club had over 300 members.  It had sponsored large bicycle racing meets at Horseshoe Park. During the second half of its 30-year span, the club focused on social activities and staged “some of the leading social functions of the Thread City”. These included the club’s hugely popular Thanksgiving Day minstrels. This week’s photo shows a group of Cyclers in front of the Tilden Block in which they had their meeting rooms. The Tilden Block later became the Jordan Block. As a result of the November 23,1916 fire, the group lost all of their furniture, pool and billiard tables and a piano. They were insured and could be replaced. Sadly though, they lost all of their historic photographs, award cups and trophies. Even so, the Cyclers said they would still perform their annual Thanksgiving Day minstrel on the 30^th. (At that time, Thanksgiving was celebrated on the last Thursday of the month.)