Today’s topic is: “What special tradition from your childhood have you recreated with your own children?”
There are several holiday traditions from my side of the family that I plan to continue with our children (more on that later) but I thought I’d tell you about one of the childhood traditions that my husband Kurt remembers from the mid-1970s.
Kurt comes from a very large family of boys (he’s number 9 of 14). [For the record, he has one sister at #2, but the other dozen are boys.] His father worked hard and was away from the home quite a bit, but occasionally, he would come home and announce that he was going to take the boys to the movies! Kurt remembers looking in the Post Bulletin newspaper with his brothers to decide what they were going to see. He recalls that on a rotating schedule, each brother was allowed to invite one friend to go with them also. The whole group would be dropped off at the historic (now closed) Chateau Theatre in downtown Rochester. He couldn’t recall if his father actually watched the movies with them, but with a half dozen or more brothers of all ages, everyone was looked after. When the movie was over, his father would pick them up and they would all head over to (the now closed) Bridgeman’s Restaurant for burgers and malts that came with the large silver cup and a cookie on top. Such excitement obviously left an impression because even forty years later, my husband can describe the feeling of walking into the theater and sipping those icy malts.
I hope that when our girls get a little older, he will continue this tradition by taking them to the movies and then out for malts. I’m sure they’d have a great time making memories together. (And I know that there are really delicious shakes at Newt’s Restaurant.)
Where is the best burger and shakes in your hometown? Share in the comments.
~ Phoebe DeCook
Phoebe DeCook 