June 2004 The Megaphone Page 3
Elwood Theatres
by Boots (Leeson) Gerard
As for the question on the third theatre in Elwood ... it may have been the Princess. It was probably the oldest.
When I was about 10 years old (and that's a long time ago), my grandfather, Wayne Leeson, took my cousin (Rosemary Houston) and me to the movie every Thursday night. Grandpa was a very punctual man and we had to be ready on the minute of six to go. First, we would stop at the store (Leeson's) and Grandpa would spend some time in the office and Rosie and I would play hide-and-seek around the white cloth covered display counters. It was really spooky at night! Then, promptly at ten minutes to seven we would all walk over to the Princess to see whatever rip-roaring western was playing. It mattered not one bit to Grandpa that the theatre was old, smelly, and probably not too clean ... all that mattered was that the theatre was owned by his friend and that's where he went.
Without saying a word, Grandpa taught me a lesson in loyalty. My Mom was thoroughly convinced that the place had fleas or some other bugs, so she was waiting at the door when we got home to douse me in the tub! But she never said no when the next Thursday night rolled around. Funny, I can't remember now what I had for breakfast, but I will never forget those Thursday nights with Grandpa, and all that I smelled was the popcorn!
Submitted by . . .
Boots (Leeson) Gerard '42
DeLand, Florida
The Last Martian Brownie
by Perry W. Boyer '63
How many of you remember how starved a 7 year old can be when they first arrive home from school?
Well, the other day I received a call from Zane's mother. Message being he would be riding the school bus today, and she was going to be late picking him up. So......I thought I'd better prepare for him and his buddies with a little snack. What! no cookies, no chips, cupboard bare. Oh no! What will I do?
Ahh ... Genie always has a box of brownie mix on the shelf. Oops! I guessed wrong ... Well no problem, I'll just mix up some from scratch. I used my mother's cookbook. I know that's a good one.
Well, I madly began mixing the batter and additives till I come to the vanilla. I grabbed the bottle just to find it was empty. No problem. There was an identical bottle on the shelf: same brand, same label. So.. I dumped some in the mix. What's this! What happened to my brownies? They have become a strange color! I look closer at the bottle of vanilla. What @#$% spice manufacturer would package vanilla and green food coloring in identical bottles?? Yes, that's right, 1 teaspoon of green food coloring. No problem, I looked a little farther and found the vanilla I bought for something else and used it. Do you folks have any idea what color you get when you mix green food coloring with chocolate? Yuck. Well no time to redo, so I baked them as is, and they came out fine except the funkie color. I iced them with some chocolate almond and some caramel icing.
When Zane, arrived he was as usual hungry. "Papaw," he said, "why are these a yuckie green?"
Ok, think fast Papaw. "Well, Zane, these are Martian Brownies," I explained.
Ha, he bought it. Isn't that a terrible thing to do to a seven year old child? This gets even better....
Genie and I were gone over the weekend and after we returned there was 1 brownie left. It was dried out, so I pitched it out back for the birds. Well, the birds didn't get it. You'll need to look at the attached picture. Here you will find the fate of the Last Martian Brownie.
Submitted by . . .
Perry W. Boyer '63
Elwood, IN