Did he used to give you rides in it? Or did you have to trudge one mile through the snow to get to the theater?
And what is the "story" abut that Columbus Day wind storm?
?
The story sounds a lot more interesting than it is when I retell it; but it was pretty frightening for a 12 year old kid. On Friday, October 12, 1962 there was a big wind storm that had hit Portland, Oregon that afternoon. I remember hearing it being talked about on the evening news while I was eating dinner, but weather forecasting back then was a bit archaic. So, my mom headed off to a meeting at church and I headed to the Proctor to see whatever was on the latest double bill.
About half way through the first feature, the film stopped and all the lights went out, except for the emergency lights. It didn't seem like that big a deal, since the power went out a lot back then. After about five minutes, with lots of whistling and clapping by us; the owner, Mr. Spencer, got up on stage and announced that there was a huge storm outside, that the power would probably remain off all evening, and that no one was allowed to leave the theater until they had contacted their parents on the box office telephone, and had arranged for a ride home.
Well, the word
storm didn't sound very scary, but the fact that Mr. Spencer was going to let anyone use the box office telephone meant that we were really in crisis mode. We ran up to the lobby, but the doors were barred and there was already a line at the box office to use the phone. My friends and I ran upstairs to the Men's Room lobby where there windows that looked out on the street. Sure enough, there was the biggest storm I had ever seen raging outside, complete with signs, and limbs of trees, and garbage cans flying down the street.
A little while later, I heard Mr. Spencer calling my name. My mother and her friend had arrived from the canceled church meeting, and had stopped to pick me up. I was released to my mother, although none of my friends were allowed to leave with me because they hadn't yet called their parents. The drive home consisted of dodging downed power lines and falling trees. It seemed like it took forever, even though we were only about a mile from the house.
Sadly (for me), our power was restored by morning, although some of friends from school had to survive for over a week with no power. Although the stories of cold showers in the morning and having to cuddle in bed with your sister at night to stay warm sounded horrible, the idea of barbecue every night for dinner sounded really exciting to me.
Wikidedia has some interesting information on the storm. It was even larger than the storm they called The Perfect Storm. It was also called "The Big Blow" and not because I was in it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day_Storm
