Remembering The Lyric Theater

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

Here's the text about The Lyric Theatre from my 2010 book "The Baby Boomer's Guide to Growing Up in the Rocket City."

Lyric Theatre – This theatre was located in the 100 block of Washington Street, and over the years the street number changed several times. By the time the Baby Boomers started going there, it seated 902 people, and boasted of being “Air Conditioned.” It is reported that it closed on December 31, 1978, and the building burned down in 1982.

I think I will always have the fondest memories of going to the Lyric Theatre. It seemed to be the nicest theatre and was also the closest one to my house, by a whole block.  I had a lot of great times visiting that historic building and could almost write a book on just those things.

 Collins Wynn, a graduate of Lee’s Class of ’64, recalls that over the years the Lyric was the scene of many pleasant experiences from his early dating life. He remembers that it was the site of his very first real date – even though he was driven there by his mom.  

According to Collins, “The Lyric knew the value of the young market and it catered to kids – especially on Saturdays. Saturdays always featured an early morning cartoon carnival, an episode of a cliff-hanger continued series, and a double-feature which were usually B-grade movies. On Fridays, the members of the various schools’ safety patrol could get in the movie for free if they wore their safety patrol vests.”

 Rainer Klauss, remembers his happiest day at the Lyric. “When I was about nine or 10, I was invited to a spend-the-night birthday party on a Friday night. The next morning the mom or dad of the birthday boy dropped us off at the Lyric Theatre, giving each of us money for admission and goodies.  I had never been there in the morning, so I was surprised to see that my ticket had a number on it. My friend explained that we were going to see a race and prizes were going to be given to the winners.”

“The theatre was soon packed and we all sat there in complete enjoyment, enthralled by the cheesy serials and tickled by the wacky cartoons for an hour or so.  Finally it came time for the last event, the comedy race. An usher or manager stepped to the front of the theatre to announce the event and showed the prizes. "Let's go, let's go!" we hollered, barely under control.”

“It was a wild affair, that short movie - sort of a Keystone Kops demolition derby/steeplechase with crazed animals. We were in hilarious ecstasy, screaming our heads off, pounding and kicking the seats, cheering our number to victory. I'd never been so excited in my life.”

“I won! My prize was a ping-pong set: two paddles, two balls, and a net. It was better than Christmas. It was the first time I had ever won anything.”

Not everyone won, but a lot of prizes were given out each week and the chance of winning was enough to entice a lot of the younger crowd to make the journey downtown each Saturday in a quest for treasure.

 Eddie Sykes recalls that on Saturday mornings during the summer months, the Golden Flake Potato Chip Company sponsored free movie admission to any kid who showed up with an empty bag from one of their products.   The movies were usually a second run or "B" movies and were usually a western or a monster movie, but it made no difference to him.   The Saturday showings always included a serial like Flash Gordon that required viewers to come back the next week to see the conclusion.   Golden Flake also gave away door prizes to winners of contests or ticket drawings.   One Saturday he won a silver dollar in a contest to see who could walk across the stage and back in front of hundreds of screaming kids and keep the most beans on a table knife.   

Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly says her favorite theatre was also the Lyric, and her earliest memory of the price of admission was only one thin dime. “We didn't even bother to ask what time the feature started, because we really didn't care. We'd go in and start watching the movie no matter how long it had been on and then just stay until we reached that point again.” 

Most times it was a several-hour venture. There was always a newsreel, during which she could make a run to the concession stand for a nickel Baby Ruth, as big as a horse's leg to her. On days when she was really lucky they'd throw in a Three Stooges short. They didn't stop the projector and turn the lights on at the end of the movie either! The films ran continuously, and they didn't care if kids stayed all day. 

The Kartoon Karnival was the epitome of what children liked and adults hated about movies. There was plenty of screaming and yelling and running through the aisles and throwing of pop¬corn and candy wrappers. Perhaps it was held to give the kids a time to do things without disturbing the adults. The kids loved it.

During one period kids were given a special ticket when they entered the theatre. These were not the normal door-prize type tickets, but big ones about two inches square with a big number ranging from one to sixteen in the center. These tickets were used in the “Crazy Races” part of the Saturday morning activities. Sometime during the morning, a special short film was shown with “Crazy Racers” and each racer wore a number. The races were conducted in the mode of the Keystone Cops or Our Gang type films and at the end of the short 15-minute or so race one racer won. If your ticket matched the winner’s number, you were a winner as well and went up on the theatre stage and received a prize. Usually 15 or 20 prizes of some type of games or toys were given to the lucky few. There were only a limited number of the race movie plots, but each movie had many different endings so the same number did not always win the same race each time you saw it. After getting up early on Saturday mornings for two years and faithfully going to the movies, my number finally came up and I won a clay con-struction set.

  On some Saturdays the Lyric Theatre held live talent shows with special prizes for the winners. During one period the event was broadcast live on WFUN radio. Five or 10 people got up on the stage and performed their act and then the master of ceremonies would let the crowd pick the winner by yelling or applauding. There was not a lot of talent displayed but someone was always a winner. I don't even remember the prize I won the time my brother Don got all his friends to clap for me after he had goaded me into getting up on the stage and singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." I think I was about seven then.

Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly remembers when she was about four or five years old she managed to enter the Saturday morning talent show prize. She thinks she came in second or third place; because her wining was obviously an "Ah…isn't she cute!" prize. She tried singing "Mockingbird Hill" but only knew the first verse of the song. When the piano player continued to play she turned and said "That's all I know." The audience roared and she walked away with a cowgirl purse. She couldn't have been happier, since she was a real tomboy at that time.

  The other feature of the Saturday morning theatre visit were "Serials" as we always called them. To the rest of the world they were continued series. We would sit in the dark, on the edge of our seats, as we watched one of the 12 episodes starring Commando Cody, the Rocket Man, Batman, or Dick Tracy. Each week we were left watching the hero go off the edge of a cliff  or crash a plane and hear the compelling message "Don't miss next week's exciting episode of Perils of the Wilderness in this theatre," or something equally demanding. Of course we wouldn't think of missing it. More than once I went to the theatre 15 weeks in a row just to see what happened to my hero. The ploy worked well on me.

Here's my musical tribute to the Lyric Theatre.

One of the options below should allow you to listen to the song!

Or This One!

"The Lyric Theater Kiddie Show"

Music Created By Tommy Towery With AI Music Generator

Saturday morning in Huntsville town

Kids get in thanks to Royal Crown

Popcorn bags and sticky hands

The picture show was our promised land

Popcorn, Cokes, candy

Kartoon Karnivals were a treat

Sticky floors and laughter sweet

Saturday morning

The magic would flow

At the Lyric Theater's Kiddie Show

Projector hums and the reels would spin

Cartoon heroes pulling us in

Velvet seats that squeaked and groaned

It wasn’t much but it felt like home

Popcorn, Cokes, candy

Oh what a feast

Our little hearts

They never ceased

Saturday morning

We'd steal the glow

At the Lyric Theater's Kiddie Show

The cowboy saved the girl again

Space invaders met their end

Every week the same old thrill

We’d race to the theater up the hill

Popcorn, Cokes, candy

Oh, what a vibe

Huntsville mornings

We’d come alive

Saturday morning

The stories would grow

At the Lyric Theater's Kiddie Show

The Wayback Machine

"Radar Men from the Moon"

 01 Moon Rocket

"Radar Men from the Moon" is a 1952 Republic Pictures' 12-chapter movie serial, the first Commando Cody serial starring newcomer George Wallace as Cody, Aline Towne as his sidekick Joan Gilbert, and serial veteran Roy Barcroft as the evil Retik, the Ruler of the Moon. The director was Fred C. Brannon, with a screenplay by Ronald Davidson, and special effects by the Lydecker brothers. This serial recycles the flying sequences from Republic's earlier 1949 serial "King of the Rocket Men." It was later released by Republic in 1966 as the 100-minute television film "Retik the Moon Menace."

The serial's budget was so tight that a stunt double was not always used for lead actor George Wallace. His nose was broken by accident while filming an energetic fight scene with actor Clayton Moore. For the camera's close-up flying sequences, Wallace was suspended in mid-air above a sound stage; he was lying on a horizontal board with the rocket suit's jacket closed around it, with a rear projection screen behind him. Wallace performed his own stunt flying take-offs by jumping onto a springboard that would send him up and over the camera rig set-up.

Jennifer Brown, Jennifer White, and Lynn Bozeman in 2000.

From Reunion To Wedding

Craig Bannecke

LHS '65

Reading over the Lee Traveller that Tommy so dutifully puts out for us each week, I was reminded of something very important to Jennifer and me.  This month marks that 25 years ago Jennifer and I met for the first time since high school.  We really did not know one another in high school, but more like knew "of" one another.  Some friends of ours who knew we both would be attending the 35th LHS '64, '65, '66 reunion and would be coming single and unattached. They decided they would play Cupid and see that we met and talked with one another.  

How interesting to find out that we both lived back in Augusta, Georgia, and had come 325 miles to meet one another. After meeting and talking Friday evening at the informal social gathering, we both went on to spend most the evening with other friends. This was the first Reunion that Jennifer had ever attended but I had attended all the previous ones. 

Saturday, at the dance we got together again and talked and had a few dances together.  Later, I told her that when we got back to Augusta I would call her but that I was spending the week ahead with family at a cabin on Guntersville Lake.  

Well, I did call Jennifer and we began to spend a lot of time together. After just a few dates we both felt there was something special developing between us. After just a few months we both felt that there was a love we had developed  for one another and would spend the next year seeing what the Lord might have in store for us as a couple?   

Well, long story short, next month, September 20th, Jennifer and I will celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary. 24 years of a wonderful and joyful marriage that the Lord has certainly blessed. We are so thankful for all those who over the years made our reunions possible and for the opportunity to meet one another. Likewise we are very thankful and apprciative for the good friends who decided to play Cupid.  

We are so blessed to have grown up and attended school with so many wonderful friends. Old friends are the Best Friends ! 

Some of you might have heard my song when you found it on the Huntsville Revisited Facebook group. It had over 1,200 hits the first week it appeared there.

I am happy to say we have had more interactions on last week's issue than we have had on any other in a long time. Thanks to all who shared.

Last Week's Questions, Answers, And Comments

Dwight Jones, LHS '64, "I am trying to find some pictures of the 1962/63 basketball team. I played that year with J.R. Brooks, Ray Walker, and Walt Thomas to name a few. Since we didn't have an annual, I thought you may still have some pictures of that team. I played on it, but I didn't get to play on the senior year team because Coach McDaniel told me he wanted to try to bring in some other guys to build up his team for the next season. I had to accept his decision, though it broke my heart, and probably ended up better off since I was working part-time my senior year at Kwik Check bagging groceries. Anyway, I would like some pics. of that team if you have any."

Ray Walker, LHS ‘64, "Does anyone remember the longest working employee at Zesto?"  (Answer at bottom.)

Delores McBride Kilgore, LHS '66, "Love it! Thank you, Tommy, for the memories of the Zesto! I loved that place as did most of our school friends!"

Johnny Roberts, LHS ‘66, "Interesting article about ZESTO. I didn't know it had franchises, except for when I visited Omaha, Nebraska, about five years ago. Alice and I were on a road trip visiting states we had not been to (a bucket list item, to go to all 50 states, which we completed two years ago.) While in Omaha, we drove around the campus of the College Baseball World Series stadium. On the outside concourse of the stadium was a ZESTO store with the same logo and menu. Unfortunately, it was not open that day. Tommy, do you know if there are still franchises around and if the one in Nebraska is a part of the group?"

Editor's Note: According to Microsoft's Co-Pilot:

🍦 Zesto fans, rejoice! Here are some sweet spots where you can grab a cone, sundae, or shake:

1. Zesto Ice Cream – 2225 Broadway, Fort Wayne, IN

2. Zesto Ice Cream – 6218 St Joe Center Rd, Fort Wayne, IN

3. Zesto at Coldwater Crossing – 210 E Washington Center Rd, Fort Wayne, IN

4. Zesto Ice Cream – 5740 Falls Dr, Fort Wayne, IN

5. Zestos – 10897 Isabelle Dr, New Haven, IN

6. Zesto – 2740 Charlestown Rd, New Albany, IN

7. Zesto Ice Cream – 301 E Lewis and Clark Pkwy, Clarksville, IN

8. Zesto Ice Cream – 2180 Commerce Dr, Bluffton, IN

 There are also Zestos in Omaha, Lincoln, and Freemont, NE

Co-Pilot lists three in Atlanta, GA

Cecilia LeVan Watson, LHS ‘68, "Zestos!!! The best dip dogs ever!! No it wasn't just a corn dog it was sweet and fluffy….It came in a little paper container and the mustard oozed over it. We would walk all the way from Mckinley Avenue to get dip dogs for the family. We walked a little faster home to make sure they were still warm (no microwave).  Send that awesome song to our own Jimmy McBride.  It needs to be on the radio!!!"

Tom Provost, LHS ‘66, "I lived the Zesto Dip Cone!"

Andrea Gray Roberson, LHS ‘66, "Terry and I moved to Florida in 1968. We found out real quick that in Florida they are known as Corn Dogs not Dip Dogs! We were so glad when we moved back to the 5 Points area and got to eat a Dip Dog again!♥️"

David Mullins, LHS '64, "Zesto, one of my all time favorite places to eat and visit outside with friends. I have searched far and wide for like items for many years without success. I worked at Cheif's Sportswear from 1966 which was the next block over on Wellman and most everyday would walk up to the corner for dipped dogs. Saw Jimmy McBride frequently as he picked up mail at blue mail drop on corner in front of Chief's Menswear where I worked."

Phyllis Rodgers, LHS '65, "Love the song."

Carolyn Burgess Featheringill, LHS ‘65, "Stopping by Zesto from time to time made taking piano lessons a few streets over on East Clinton bearable. How I loved a dip dog slathered with mustard!

Totally unrelated to Zesto, I’ll add that the Class of ‘65 at Shades Valley High School here in Birmingham just had its 60th reunion.  I had occasion to look at its Facebook page, and, sadly, it was primarily a list of obituaries. The contrast with The Traveller made me even more thankful for you, Tommy, for keeping us smiling with happy memories!

Dennis Overcash, LHS '66, "Your use of the AI app to create these is very good."

Pam Grooms Smith, LHS ‘65, "Thank you, Tommy, for refreshing my memory on the history of Zesto. It was one of my favorite memories of growing up in Huntsville. One of my favorite memories growing up was riding my bike to Five Points just to get a dip dog. Thanks again for a trip down memory lane."

Editor's Note: The answer to Ray Walker's Question is "Selma". Did you get it?