As a child growing up on a farm in Highland Township, we did not go to town very often. When we did I felt like the Darlings on the Andy Griffith Show. But when we did get to town, brother and I often went to the movies. The Citadel Theater in Bloomfield was my first encounter with air-conditioning. We also went to the State Theater in Worthington. 

Brother and I would sit and wait for the lights to come on signaling we could enter the theater. We were fascinated as to how the lights on the marquee would move around. Lights at home did not move. I'm still not sure how they do that. We sat close to the front. We wanted to be as close to the action as possible. We cheered for the hero and booed the villain. Many times we saved the hero by telling him where the villain was and to watch out. Most of the good guys owe their lives to us because we warned them of imminent danger.

We nearly always went to the Saturday afternoon matinee. I remember coming out of the cool dark theater into the bright sunlight feeling and perhaps looking like a squinting ground hog coming out of his lair in the ground. 

We saw the previews, newsreel, and cartoons plus a serial. A serial was a story filmed in several episodes. Each episode ended in a cliffhanger with the hero or heroine in peril with no way to escape. A prime example is when the bad guys attacked the stagecoach. The horses ran forever. I never could understand how horses pulling a huge stagecoach filled with people could outrun a horse carrying a rider. Of course, the lovely heroine was trapped inside. 

The good guys wore white hats and the bad guys wore black hats and they shot at each other. A six shooter could be fired dozens of times without reloading.  Hopalong Cassidy, a good guy, dressed in black from head to toe and that confused me. The good guys on the stagecoach were shot and fell off; the horses continued at breakneck speed. At the very last moment the horses would break free but the coach continued its lurching approach to the canyon rim. Inside, the damsel screams in fear as the coach plunges over the edge.

To a small child, me, there is no way she escaped, so we had to come back the next week to confirm our suspicions. Next week we could see from a different angle and the damsel escaped in the nick of time. Wheeee. However, this week, the hero is trapped in a burning barn. So we returned to see if he escaped and the saga continues.

Many a Saturday afternoon for a quarter we watched our heroes Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and others as they waged the never ending battle against evil. What wonderful memories crowd into my mind as I remember the State and the Citadel.

Larry Vandeventer grew up north of Calvertville, graduated from Worthington High School and can be reached at Goosecrick@aol.com or at 6860 Sunrise Drive, Plainfield, Ind., 46168 or by phone at (317) 839-7656. He has written four books about his experiences.