The Summer Survival Guide continues! While this isn’t technically a Summer memory, parts of this DID indeed happen in June 23rd 1989, so I’m counting it! But, for the sake of staying somewhat accurate, we’ll call this new segment “Random Childhood Memories?” It’s lame, and took me like 5 seconds to think up, but it’s what I got. Plus, most of my memories from childhood are random and don’t always fit a category so, yah…. you still with me? GREAT!

So, back in June 1989…. a SLEW of amazing and timeless movies just hit theaters (all of which I’m eternally jealous I wasn’t alive to see on the big screen) including Weekend at Bernies, Uncle Buck, Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure, Back to the Future II and, of course, Batman! When Batman hit theaters, it was no joke as far as I’ve read and been told. I mean, what kid of the late 80’s didn’t want to see the caped crusader on the big screen?

There was something a little extra that set my area apart from others. In the little town of Saint Marys, Pa, there was a movie theater called The Diamond Theater, which is now the Apollo Theater under new ownership, that went above and beyond for the viewing of the film in June. At the time, owner Bob Knepp, who was a huge fan of Batman, fashioned his own bat symbol to display on the front of the building. And, let me tell you, this was no small symbol/sign; this thing was practically comparable to a Walmart sign, it was up very high with the help of a crane and at night, they would light it up.

Now, how is this a memory of mine you may be asking? Well, I was able to see this for myself for many years to come as the bat symbol wasn’t removed until the new owners took over in the early 2000’s, luckily enough. I remember passing the diamond theater in moms car very frequently (as it’s smack dab in the middle of town) and being so pumped as a kid to see the symbol in all it’s glory, especially when we went to the theaters. It legit felt like our small town had a Batman of our own when this sucker was lit up at night. Little did I know, this had actually been the case.

To my surprise, after reaching out to the new owners of the theater for more info about the symbol for this article, they explained that the original owner use to dress up in full official Batman gear, and stand on top of the Diamond Theater before the viewing of the film. He had also worn his bat suits to several local parades as well and HOLY SHIT; I went from being just somewhat jealous I couldn’t be there to several SEVERAL shades of downright spiteful towards whatever unbeknownst force decided I should be born literally the month before the first Batman movie had hit theaters.

After reaching out to the past owner, Mr Knepp, he was kind enough to send me several images including him in full suit as well as where the bat symbol now resides on his barn. I cannot get enough of this image of Batman standing on top of the Diamond Theater, looking down on the small town like he’s about to single handedly dismantle the Jokers plans to blow up the bank (which, ironically, is right next to the theater).

Fast forward 11 years, a little detail that the current owners of the Apollo had mentioned, there are little bat symbols and drawings all over the old theater. I assumed this was all Bobs work but he states “believe me, I didn’t put all these bat symbols up on my own” and that it wasn’t uncommon to find a few new bat symbols drawn on different areas of the theater after a crowd of kids saw the film at the establishment back in the day. The current owners have mentioned that, even to this day, they still find new bat symbols they haven’t noticed before when it comes time to cleaning or moving old equipment around.

So, what triggered all this Batman nostalgia? A friend of mine (who knows people who knows people) got word that the original Adam West Batcopter somehow made it’s way to the local airport in Saint Marys. I have absolutely no details other than it was in for repairs. I have no idea why it was here in the worlds smallest town of all places but I can’t stress enough how glad I am it was here to add to the random Batman occurrences in this small town. It’s like adding another electrical tape notch to a belt in martial arts; but with Batman. We might not be Gotham City, but we did have a Batman, a bat signal and the Batcopter at one point or another.

I hope you enjoyed reading this first installment of “Random Childhood Memories!” Look out for more of these little random prompts, as they will without a doubt make for great filler material when things are boring. Thanks for reading!

RANDOM CHILDHOOD MEMORIES VOL 1: BATMAN IN SAINT MARYS PA!

RANDOM CHILDHOOD MEMORIES VOL 1: BATMAN IN SAINT MARYS!

OPTIMUS GRIME