|
Patty Johnson has written, sharing her memories of movies and John and Helen
Cook:
It was a delight reading about school children marching single file to
the Kanawha Theatre for a ten cent movie treat and for free, if the child
didn't have the dime.
I don't remember that, as I didn't live in Grantsville at that time. My
family moved to Grantsville in the early 50's and I do remember going to
the movies at the theatre on Main Street. My best memory is of working
for Helen Cook in the snack bar at the Drive-In owned by the Cooks at
Mount Zion.
Helen was a short, rounded, busy woman whose short quick steps took her
from one end of the snack bar to the other in less time than any teenager
working for her. She supervised every aspect of the job right down to
how to peel an onion correctly. She was pleasant but firm. I really
admired her.
In later years, after John had died and they had sold the Blennerhassett
Hotel, I had many a delightful chat with her at lunch. I still have
their recipe for their famous meringue they made at the lodge at
Blackwater Falls.
John and Helen Cook are very memorable people, who put their stamp on
life in Calhoun County, at Blackwater Falls and at The Blennerhassett
Hotel in Parkersburg.
My husband, Cecil Johnson, who was famous for his ability to make animal
sounds, was in the old Kanawha theatre one night when someone in the crowd
barked
like a dog.
Helen quietly slipped to his seat and asked, "Did you bark?"
He hadn't - that time!
| 
