Letters to the Editor 07-15-1997
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Downtown Alive In The 30's - Proud To Be An American
Downtown Alive In The 30's
Editor, Times-Union:In these times, whenever I walk the streets of downtown Warsaw on Saturday night, I become very depressed. Everything is so dead. All you see are empty store buildings and shadows; and you seldom ever see anybody ambling down the sidewalks. In this lazy generation, everybody rides.
But the main streets of downtown Warsaw weren't always gloomy and deserted on Saturday night. No siree!
How well I recall the 1930s when Warsaw on Saturday night was bright and alive, with every store building occupied by some prosperous business establishment. Warsaw in the '30s was what you would call a "Saturday night" town ] a Saturday night town, supreme; for since Warsaw is the county seat, in the 1930s everybody in the county flocked to Warsaw on Saturday night to do their trading.
I recall many special places of business that thrived in downtown Warsaw, especially on Saturday night in the '30s. There was the Jet White Store, the Unique Bakery, and Thomas Five & Ten Cent store on Buffalo, and the Klondaris ice cream parlor and Candy Kitchen at the corner of Buffalo and Center. Many customers (mainly women) would gather at Thomas' to buy gifts, novelties and household supplies, and just stand around and visit with people they might run into that they hadn't seen for awhile. On down Center Street east of the Candy Kitchen was Central Shoe Store, where Mr. Warren Rosbrugh was employed for so many years. Warren was a very amiable guy, and everybody liked him. Our family bought shoes at Central because we liked Warren and his friendly, engaging personality.
Across the street from Klondaris' Candy Kitchen, at the corner of Buffalo and Center, was the cigar store, run by a friendly, outgoing fellow by the name of Chris Gilbertson. On Saturday night guys would congregate at Gilbertson's to play cards and swap tales, while their wives and kids either shopped or went to the show.
I especially recall the two theaters that Warsaw could boast of back in the '30s, the Centennial and the Strand. The Strand was 20 miles long, and 6 feet wide ] well, not really. In the '30s, I lived in Leesburg, but nearly every Saturday night I attended either the Strand or Centennial Theatre.
Each Saturday night the Strand would feature a rip-snortin' "horse-opera," usually starring Ken Maynard, Bob Steele, Gene Autry or Buck Jones. I remember that whenever I attended the horse-opera, afterwards, I usually left the theater mad as a hatter because I had a bad case of the "squints," and whenever I became overexcited from all of the action and commotion going on in the film, I'd squint and hold my eyes shut for so long that I would end up missing half the movie.
I recollect one cold, sub-zero Saturday night in March of 1933, when four of us guys from Leesburg decided to drive to Warsaw to attend the Saturday midnight show at the Strand. Our means of transportation was an old Model T. The movie that night was a real horror flick, titled "The Mummy," starring Boris Karloff, a picture that scared my pals and me nearly to death. Well, after the show, we ambled back to the car to discover that it wouldn't start. So what did we do, but hitchhike home in that 10 below zero weather. By the way, we got a ride. When I arrived home, I was just busting to go to the john. But just the thought of that horrible mummy film terrified me so much that I raced right on past the backhouse, and on in through the kitchen door. Needless to say, the rest of the night was just plain h---. In the first place, the fire in the stove had practically gone out, so the house was ice cold. Therefore, with teeth chattering, I undressed and dove into bed. But that night, I received very little sleep. I just lay there, shivering and shaking, while I felt as though I might let loose and have an accident because I was too scared to get up and go to the john. I kept imagining that I could see the ghastly, ghoulish face of Boris Karloff glaring at me from the foot of my bed.
That frightening, sub-zero Saturday night that I had experienced under the roof of Warsaw's Strand Theatre, and at home back in 1933, is one Saturday night that I shall never, ever forget.
Don Kaiser Warsaw
Proud To Be An American
Editor, Times-Union:I want to commend and thank everyone involved for the beautiful, meaningful program they had for the Fourth of July at Grace Village. What a lovely patriotic memory maker! Makes one proud to be an American. I appreciate so the meaning of the folds of the flag from the color guard. True, there are some things wrong in America, but we've still got the best one.
And thanks to Gary Nieter for his beautiful nature pictures and the ones of the BalloonFest.
Keep up the good work. God bless America!
Naomi Floor Silver Lake
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- Downtown Alive In The 30's - Proud To Be An American
Downtown Alive In The 30's
Editor, Times-Union:In these times, whenever I walk the streets of downtown Warsaw on Saturday night, I become very depressed. Everything is so dead. All you see are empty store buildings and shadows; and you seldom ever see anybody ambling down the sidewalks. In this lazy generation, everybody rides.
But the main streets of downtown Warsaw weren't always gloomy and deserted on Saturday night. No siree!
How well I recall the 1930s when Warsaw on Saturday night was bright and alive, with every store building occupied by some prosperous business establishment. Warsaw in the '30s was what you would call a "Saturday night" town ] a Saturday night town, supreme; for since Warsaw is the county seat, in the 1930s everybody in the county flocked to Warsaw on Saturday night to do their trading.
I recall many special places of business that thrived in downtown Warsaw, especially on Saturday night in the '30s. There was the Jet White Store, the Unique Bakery, and Thomas Five & Ten Cent store on Buffalo, and the Klondaris ice cream parlor and Candy Kitchen at the corner of Buffalo and Center. Many customers (mainly women) would gather at Thomas' to buy gifts, novelties and household supplies, and just stand around and visit with people they might run into that they hadn't seen for awhile. On down Center Street east of the Candy Kitchen was Central Shoe Store, where Mr. Warren Rosbrugh was employed for so many years. Warren was a very amiable guy, and everybody liked him. Our family bought shoes at Central because we liked Warren and his friendly, engaging personality.
Across the street from Klondaris' Candy Kitchen, at the corner of Buffalo and Center, was the cigar store, run by a friendly, outgoing fellow by the name of Chris Gilbertson. On Saturday night guys would congregate at Gilbertson's to play cards and swap tales, while their wives and kids either shopped or went to the show.
I especially recall the two theaters that Warsaw could boast of back in the '30s, the Centennial and the Strand. The Strand was 20 miles long, and 6 feet wide ] well, not really. In the '30s, I lived in Leesburg, but nearly every Saturday night I attended either the Strand or Centennial Theatre.
Each Saturday night the Strand would feature a rip-snortin' "horse-opera," usually starring Ken Maynard, Bob Steele, Gene Autry or Buck Jones. I remember that whenever I attended the horse-opera, afterwards, I usually left the theater mad as a hatter because I had a bad case of the "squints," and whenever I became overexcited from all of the action and commotion going on in the film, I'd squint and hold my eyes shut for so long that I would end up missing half the movie.
I recollect one cold, sub-zero Saturday night in March of 1933, when four of us guys from Leesburg decided to drive to Warsaw to attend the Saturday midnight show at the Strand. Our means of transportation was an old Model T. The movie that night was a real horror flick, titled "The Mummy," starring Boris Karloff, a picture that scared my pals and me nearly to death. Well, after the show, we ambled back to the car to discover that it wouldn't start. So what did we do, but hitchhike home in that 10 below zero weather. By the way, we got a ride. When I arrived home, I was just busting to go to the john. But just the thought of that horrible mummy film terrified me so much that I raced right on past the backhouse, and on in through the kitchen door. Needless to say, the rest of the night was just plain h---. In the first place, the fire in the stove had practically gone out, so the house was ice cold. Therefore, with teeth chattering, I undressed and dove into bed. But that night, I received very little sleep. I just lay there, shivering and shaking, while I felt as though I might let loose and have an accident because I was too scared to get up and go to the john. I kept imagining that I could see the ghastly, ghoulish face of Boris Karloff glaring at me from the foot of my bed.
That frightening, sub-zero Saturday night that I had experienced under the roof of Warsaw's Strand Theatre, and at home back in 1933, is one Saturday night that I shall never, ever forget.
Don Kaiser Warsaw
Proud To Be An American
Editor, Times-Union:I want to commend and thank everyone involved for the beautiful, meaningful program they had for the Fourth of July at Grace Village. What a lovely patriotic memory maker! Makes one proud to be an American. I appreciate so the meaning of the folds of the flag from the color guard. True, there are some things wrong in America, but we've still got the best one.
And thanks to Gary Nieter for his beautiful nature pictures and the ones of the BalloonFest.
Keep up the good work. God bless America!
Naomi Floor Silver Lake
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