When you journey to and from High Street the first and last people you see will be the friendly and conversation savvy Tim Hederman ’10, Sam Stragand ’10, Alex Shechter ’10 and Katherine E. Barbadoro ’10. “One of our traditions is we sit out on the porch and anyone walking to or from campus can stop by and say hello,” Barbadoro said.
1024 could be thought of as High street’s welcome wagon, but its given name is The Thunderdome. “I guess I came up with the name,” Schechter said. “I had watched Mad Max three and thought that having the lower house called Thunderdome and the one above it Beyond Thunderdome would be pretty cool.” The rest of the crew admitted that they thought the name was apt considering that one of their favorite ways to bond was by watching ridiculous ’80s movies.
“It was sort of serendipitous that we all ended up living together—Sam and Tim wanted to live together or rather Tim wanted to live with Sam. The other two are kind of friends,” explained Schechter. The decision to inhabit what was once the Lithuanian house had been brewing since fall of their junior year.
The Thunderdome has mixed roots. According to Hederman it was founded through “a love of obscure ’80s movies, living the dream and critical theory discussions.” When pressed further about the importance of critical theory discussions, Stragand explained that they “love to stay up till 2 a.m. and have protracted esoteric theory conversations and make pancakes.”
The charm of the house seems to come from “the kitchen the size of a closest and the really scary attic,” Barbadoro said. However, perhaps the real charm lies in the nearly two-foot-tall penguin with the words “still drunk” plastered on his chest. Although in all fairness the members of this house add not just the crust to the Thunderdome, but the sauce, cheese, crust, and toppings.
In keeping with their welcoming reputation, the Thunderdome has hosted one party so far and there seems to be mutual agreement that another one will be held this weekend after ’80s Harris. “We had an ‘everyone gets laid’ party two days before classes started and there was controversy over the name of the party some people were offended by it,” the four Thunderdome residents said. “But the name is simply a reference to a movie we all like called PCU.”
