STAFF PHOTO BY MURRAY JUDSON Opens tonight 'On Golden Pond' opens tonight, Thursday, Feb. 21, at the Port Aransas Community Theatre. The performances will continue through Sunday, March 16 at 2:30 p.m. (See story) The cast includes in front from left, Jim and Ludmila Hagans. In back are Jack Dreessen, Marsha Owen, David Beane and Aaron Kenigsberg. Tonight, Thursday, Feb. 21, is opening night for "On Golden Pond," at the Port Aransas Community Theatre (PACT).

Evening performances of the love story about a couple in their golden years will continue at 7:30 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays, Feb. 21-23, Feb. 28-March 1, March 6-8 and 13-15. A matinee will be performed Sunday, March 16, at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets for the play written by Ernest Thompson cost $15 for adults and $10 for under 18. They may be purchased at the theater, 2327 State Hwy. 361, Thursdays and Fridays, noon-5 p.m. and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. They are also available at the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce Tourist Bureau, 403 W. Cotter Ave. Mondays through Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The story is about Ethel and Norman Thayer, who are returning to their summer home on Golden Pond for the 48th year. He is a retired professor, nearing 80, with heart palpitations and a failing memory - but still as tart- tongued, observant and eager for life as ever. She, 10 years younger and the perfect foil for him, delights in all the small things that have enriched and continue to enrich their long life together.

Their divorced, middle-aged daughter and her dentist fiancé visit the elderly couple, then go off to Europe, leaving his teenage son behind for the summer. The boy quickly becomes the "grandchild" the couple has longed for, and as Norman revels in taking his ward fishing and thrusting good books at him, he also learns some lessons about modern teenage awareness - and slang - in return. In the end, as the summer wanes, so does their brief idyll, and in the final, deeply moving moments of the play, the couple is brought even closer together by the incidence of a mild heart attack. Time, they know, is against them, but the years have been good and, perhaps, another summer on Golden Pond still awaits.

The cast will include Jim Hagans as Norman Thayer Jr., Ludmila Hagans as Ethel Thayer, Marsha Owen as Chelsea Thayer Wayne, David Beane as Bill Ray, Aaron Kenigsberg as Billy Ray and Jack Dreessen as Charlie Martin.

Larry Stotts will direct.