The property the Crest Theater was built on I believe was previously part of a farm owned by the Bell family. Two of their daughters, Miriam Bell and Elizabeth McDaniels lived in the big white house adjacent to the strip mall for many years. I was born in 1950 and lived on Lewiston Avenue, one block up from the Crest. Our backyard opened onto the parking lot for the Crest. My grandfather often made “side money” by directing traffic or parking cars on their lot. He would have a barrel with a fire going in it on cold nights. My aunt worked behind the candy counter while she was in school. Another of my aunts worked at the Hilltop Diner as a waitress for awhile. My grandmother would send Sunday dinner to the man that took the tickets at the Crest, we just called him “Pappy”. When he would see me walking by he would motion for me to come in and ask if I would like to see the show. I spent many happy days in the cool comfort (we had no air conditioning but the Crest was always a haven in the summer) of the Crest watching Doris Day, John Wayne, Natalie Wood, etc. Great memories. There was a little jewelry store next to it on the right side. On the left side was the dairy store, the Jewish butchershop, Eddie’s Supermarket, Mandell & Ballow (I do remember Dave, I was always very shy and he would give me bubble gum-he had a very shiny bald head and for some reason, it scared me, even though he was an extremely nice man). At one time there was a toy store but it disappeared after the fire, I think that is when Mandell’s left, also. There was Barcelona-a candy and nut store, the bakery-best chocolate donuts ever, a bank and a bowling alley around the corner downstairs. I believe there were other office buildings upstairs. Just across Rogers Avenue was Weiner’s Drug Store where you could buy coddies, fountain cokes of all flavors, and snoballs with marshmallow topping or ice cream. The Crest used to have premieres, complete with flood lights (reminded me of Gotham City calling Batman!). On those nights, the parking lot would be overflowing as well as most of the side streets around the theater. The lounges upstairs were very lush. The stairs were covered with plush carpeting. It was very nice.
The property the Crest Theater was built on I believe was previously part of a farm owned by the Bell family. Two of their daughters, Miriam Bell and Elizabeth McDaniels lived in the big white house adjacent to the strip mall for many years. I was born in 1950 and lived on Lewiston Avenue, one block up from the Crest. Our backyard opened onto the parking lot for the Crest. My grandfather often made “side money” by directing traffic or parking cars on their lot. He would have a barrel with a fire going in it on cold nights. My aunt worked behind the candy counter while she was in school. Another of my aunts worked at the Hilltop Diner as a waitress for awhile. My grandmother would send Sunday dinner to the man that took the tickets at the Crest, we just called him “Pappy”. When he would see me walking by he would motion for me to come in and ask if I would like to see the show. I spent many happy days in the cool comfort (we had no air conditioning but the Crest was always a haven in the summer) of the Crest watching Doris Day, John Wayne, Natalie Wood, etc. Great memories. There was a little jewelry store next to it on the right side. On the left side was the dairy store, the Jewish butchershop, Eddie’s Supermarket, Mandell & Ballow (I do remember Dave, I was always very shy and he would give me bubble gum-he had a very shiny bald head and for some reason, it scared me, even though he was an extremely nice man). At one time there was a toy store but it disappeared after the fire, I think that is when Mandell’s left, also. There was Barcelona-a candy and nut store, the bakery-best chocolate donuts ever, a bank and a bowling alley around the corner downstairs. I believe there were other office buildings upstairs. Just across Rogers Avenue was Weiner’s Drug Store where you could buy coddies, fountain cokes of all flavors, and snoballs with marshmallow topping or ice cream. The Crest used to have premieres, complete with flood lights (reminded me of Gotham City calling Batman!). On those nights, the parking lot would be overflowing as well as most of the side streets around the theater. The lounges upstairs were very lush. The stairs were covered with plush carpeting. It was very nice.