the washington theater

Marco Mateo shares his experience watching a movie at the Washington Theater and emphasizes the importance of theater buildings in creating cherished memories. He recalls watching the movie "City Slickers" with his neighbor and being deeply impacted by a scene that reflects on the true meaning of life. As the theater falls into disrepair, Mateo realizes that it holds a significant place in his life and hopes others will feel the same. Bill Hunashefsky concludes by reminding listeners to preserve and protect history and the natural environment. Hello, this is Bill Hunashefsky, and welcome to another edition of What About New Jersey History. Today, I'm with Marco Mateo, and welcome, Marco. Thank you, Bill. I wanted to share with you an experience that I had watching a movie at the Washington Theater, and I'm sure many of you have your own favorite moments or times that you can recall as being your favorite or memorable, which is why I think theater buildings like this are so important, because they give you a lifetime of memories that you only share for maybe an hour and a half, two, three hours, but for some reason, those moments are cherished because they're so meaningful. I've seen many, many films and concerts in the theater building, but when I was younger, when everything was going good, there was a movie called City Slickers with Jack Palance that played in there, and I saw this with my neighbor, Tom Hendel. We went up there. We walked up. I lived in the township, and I was in Theater One on the left side, and Billy Crystal was also in this movie, so a great comedy, and they're out there in the open fields, and it's just Billy Crystal and Jack Palance. Jack Palance is the old Western cowboy trying to explain to this City Slicker, Billy Crystal, what the true meaning of life is, and Billy Crystal said, no, what is it? And Jack Palance put out his one index finger and said this, and Billy Crystal goes, your finger? And he goes, no. He goes, that one thing, and he goes, I don't understand, and he goes, well, it's the one thing in life that means more to you than anything else, and everything else don't mean shit, and I never forget how that affected me and how I thought about the true meaning of what he was saying, even though it was a movie, and years later, as the theater finally got into disrepair and its future was, you know, up in the air, I realized for me personally that the one thing, except for God and my family and friends, the theater building was that one thing, because of everything that it's done for me, my friends, and so many generations of folk from around this area and region, that I realized it's something that not only that I enjoyed, but that I knew I would be good at, and I'd be good with people to surround myself with to enjoy it as well, and when you find something somehow, and you're lucky enough, that's bigger in life than you are, you realize the true magic and the gift of life and what the meaning behind things are, and I was so glad that that moment in time is etched in my mind forever, and now it's part of my soul and my spirit, so if you do come across me and you talk about it a little while, you'll understand that that's one of those things that, for me, is going to always be a valuable, valuable part of my life, and I hope that eventually most people will feel that same way, too, and we can share it together. Well said, Marco. Again, this is Bill Hunashefsky. What about New Jersey history? Remember to preserve and protect our history and natural environment. I like that, natural environment. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.