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Lampoon Celebrates 125th Anniversary

Later that night, alums headed back to the Castle to finish their first evening on a more subdued and private note.

The Poonsters continued partying the next evening, beginning with a formal dinner at Park Plaza Castle in Boston. The highlight of Saturday's dinner came when late night talk show host Conan C. O'Brien '85 addressed the crowd. Following the dinner, guests returned to the Lampoon Castle for drinks, music and dancing.

Though O'Brien did not stay for the party, Hollywood notables such as Michael L. Reiss '81 did return to the Castle. Security was tight as two uniformed Harvard University Police officers stood inside the entrance to prevent party-crashers or any other disturbances.

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The weekend's extravagant festivities came at a high cost to the Lampoon, costing the magazine an estimated "eight or nine billion dollars," according to Hely. But he said that the expenses were well worth it.

"It was great, we had John Updike '56, Lorne Michaels, Andy Richter, Jay Leno, 'Macho Man' Randy Savage, Robin Williams and Conan O'Brien," Hely boasted.

On the second level of the building, proud Poonsters displayed The Crimson's president's chair in the Secular Library. The chair was stolen from the Crimson the previous day.

The chair, along with a large bronze statue of Pegasus, the centerpiece of the Castle's mantel, a nude-centerfold of Henry A. Kissinger '50, jester costumes, and numerous crimson parodies all disappeared mysteriously from the Lampoon building two days later.

On the third-level of the building, guests gathered in the Great Hall, a large room designed to look like a medieval mead-hall complete with high ceilings, long tables, dark wood paneling colorful banners and chandeliers.

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