40 Years ago this evening, Wilson's NEW showplace...The Parkwood Cinema opened its doors (by special invitation only) to Wilson. A state of the art movie theater managed by my father Haywood Brown. Its beautiful auditorium held 560 eager patrons, it featured "push back" seating and the back four rows contained ashtrays on the seatbacks so you could smoke. It featured 4 channel stereophonic sound, a cinemascope sized screen, and the gorgeous curtains that covered the walls and screen were a deep gold accented by the black, gold, and green carpet runners. Fully air conditioned and featuring FRESH onsite popped (NOT burned) popcorn prepared daily in peanut oil. The premiere attraction was Neil Simon's THE ODD COUPLE starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. I was 12 years old and excited to be the official doorman of the evening. There was a fancy ribbon cutting ceremony (as seen in the pic) featuring Wilson's Mayor, Miss Wilson Beauty Queen, and other dignitaries. It was one of the proudest days of my dad's life...he dearly loved the theater business and was Parkwood's Manager for about 8 more years. These years would feature a lot of changes for me and mine...but some of my happiest days were in the golden fall of 1968. Pick you up a 40 cent frosty fountain Coke...grab you a 40 cent box of popcorn and enjoy the memories. Or you could just visit the McDonalds that rests on the grave of Wilson's showplace and drop 8 bucks on some chicken nuggetts. RIP Dad.
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