Share Your Memories
Last Updated: November 06, 2009
The Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter will to extensive coverage in its Nov. 12 edition on the Wilson fire.
Please respond to this post by writing about your memories of the Wilson Opera House in the comment section. We will publish them in the Nov. 12 newspaper.
Linda Mowery-Denning
Editor-Publisher
8 Comments | Add a comment
| I was stunned and saddened at hearing of the terrible loss of those Wilson landmark buildings. I have many memories, as do countless others, of all the many activities through the years that were held there. I paid 12 cents to see a movie there as a child. The alumni banquet was held there the year my father, Arthur A. Jellison, had his 50th year class reunion. I am sure that many of his photos were on display in the basement museum. If anyone has photos of those, I would appreciate knowing about it. My email address is: kcpair@gmail.com. As someone else said, at least we still have the memories, and nothing can take those away......from Martha (Jellison)(Lindgren) Hole | Martha (Jellison) Hole
Nov 11, 2009 12:25 AM |
| | The first time my husband & I saw each other was when we were about 8 years old at the Wilson Opera House. I was with my parents going to a movie & Jerry was with his parents coming out from the movie.He said "I am going to marry that girl some day". That was in 1944, & in 1956 we were married. We have been married almost 54 years. So the Wilson Opera House has a very special place in our hearts & are saddened to see it destroyed by a terrible fire. We attended many movies & dances there. | Janet (Doran) Pfeiffer
Nov 9, 2009 9:47 PM |
| | My earliest memories are helping my grandmother (Mary Ellen Miller) clean the downstairs of the Opera House and of my aunt Judy Adamek working the popcorn machine for movies. Later we had school dances there and many family reunions. My saddest thought is of all the museum items lost. What a wonderful building to be lost. And losing the doctors office is sad also. My sister was born there and we went there many times in our growing up years. I walked to school by those buildings and never imagined them not being there. | Janet Trotter (Miller)
Nov 8, 2009 5:49 PM |
| | We used to go to dances there and I remember as a child having family reunions there in the basement. Us kids used to sneak upstairs and play on the stage like we were "stars". My mom (Joyce Adamek Vanek) was an usher there when she was in high school and they were still showing movies there. I remember her telling me that she saw "Gone with the Wind" there and several other movies. She knew all the actors and actresses of that era from getting to watch all the movies. It will really be strange to not have that great stone structure in Wilson> | Susan Benisch
Nov 7, 2009 2:58 PM |
| | I was born & grew up in Wilson. We went to many, many movies in the 40's & 50's. When I was in grade school, we went to the movies and sat in the front row. If it was a sad movie we set & cried. When you got to high school you moved to the balcony. I remember the year that the movie "Miracle on 34th. Street" was the movie on Christmas eve & our whole family went. Also in Nov & Dec they would have matinees of the serial "Green Hornet" & others. After that they would draw names for prizes on main street. There are so many memories of the opera house. I couldn't begin to share them all. I am sad to see it not be there anymore. | Lois McReynolds Hickey.
Nov 7, 2009 1:50 PM |
| | I have alot of memories of the Wilson Opera House in conjunction with the Czech Festival or various dances. However, my fondest memories are as a little girl back in the early 50's, nearly every Saturday evening, I would go to the movie with my grandmother, Mary Schneider and we would share a bag of popcorn. She lived directly behind the opera house/theatre and (with her flashlight in hand) we would take a shortcut; walk out her backyard, across the alley and take the sidewalk that was between the buildings to get to the entrance on the other side of the block. | Linda Weber Strella
Nov 7, 2009 12:47 PM |
| | My first memory of the Opera House is sitting in the balcony area and watching a special holiday movie. The admission cost was a dime. My second memory is attending a dance in the Opera House and being fascinated by someone throwing sawdust all over the dance floor as the adults danced. Besides remembering the weddings, dinners, and dances that I have attended, I will cherish memories of browsing through the Czech Museum and visiting with the museum's workers. Losing the priceless Czech history is beyond tragic. I am so glad that I had photographed many of the Czech Museum's exhibits and family photos. | Cherilee Shiroky Ward
Nov 7, 2009 10:41 AM |
| | Although I was raised in Ellsworth, The Wilson Opera House had held many special memories for me. Not only did I attend almost every Czech Slovak Queen Pageant held there, I was also in several productions performed with the Ford Theater Company while I was in high school. I remember my grandma walking with my aunts, uncles, cousins, and several other members of my family and talking about all the wonderful items that where in the museum below the Opera house a few Czech Festivals back. I remember attending my first Kansas Czechs Meeting in the basement where we “discussed”, not argued, plans, ideas, and the budget for the next year. The loss of the Wilson Opera House is a sad and terrible thing. Several generations have had wonderful memories made there. I can only hope that the community of Czechs here in Kansas will be able to rebuild or restore the Opera House. It was a beautiful central point for the community’s history as well as the annual Czech Festival. | Taylor Pflughoeft
Nov 6, 2009 2:02 PM |
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