Best, worst and weirdest assembly halls...

by Jamelle 46 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  BluesBrother

  Memories, memories...

  The weirdest in my view was an army drill hall , back in the pre assembly hall days. There was a huge field gun parked at the back and it offended my 'peaceloving' mind, even though I was only a kid.

  We had lots of Circuit Assemblys in school halls and Gyms in those days "Air conditioning?" you must be joking! Of course we served hot food back then so field kitchens were usually set up if the facilities were not up to the job. As kids we used to clean trays and dishes - had a good time too.

  Gill. I was also at Manchester City's old ground for a District Convention in the early seventies. That was OK .. The summer assembly that i remember clearest from childhood was at , I believe, Crystal Palace Football Ground , The dubs always referred to it as Thornton Heath . A freak storm blew up . Rain lashed down and I can remember watching bits of the Stadium roof being torn away by the storm . A squad of pacamac'ed heavyweight attendants held on to the speakers stand to keep it up - and the speakers carried on doggedly..
• 

  truckerann

  Let's see... the worst would be in Abliene, TX....we were downwind from the cattle stock yards....there was quite an ordor coming our way especially in the 100 degree weather when the steam is lifting off from the manure...suffice to say that we never went back to that are ever again...I can't think of a best place...I remember feeling sorry for those who would attend Yakees (sp? I am a Doger fan LOL) staduim in the muggy hot New York City weather...
• 

  lola28

  Best: Woodland Hills assembly hall, I loved that place

  Worst: whatever the name of that place in Lancaster is.
• 

  freedomlover

  that would have to be Yankee Stadium....
  
  the heat, rain, 20,000 sweaty people, the bad food, the dusty halls that blew dust on your sweaty body, cleaning the urine soaked seats before the assembly with a fire hose.....etc.
  
  it was pretty gross.
  
  then the traffic back and forth from there. the pompous bethelites who would cruise the hallways looking for girls to pass their numbers too. it was all in an attempt to get a good hook up for staying near the beach in New Jersey for a long weekend. They'd be pampered and fallen over because they were visiting Bethelites. It was ridiculous. Seriously, I know one dad that announced to a table of visiting bethelites at his dinner table one night, that the guy that married his daughter would get his BMW in the garage.....
  
  YIKES!
• 

  RubaDub

  
  
  El Kabong --> Worst: Philadelphia's Vet Stadium. Pure HELL. Between the heat, the artificial turf, and the programs, it was Pure HELL. No other way to describe it.

  You got that right brother !!!!!!!!!!!!

  That place was one of the worst buildings I have ever been it. It was never properly maintained. The playing surface (baseball/football) was actually about 25 feet below the street level which just made it a heat hell-hole. And that artifical turf sh*t just made it worse. Just like a giant bowl with no real openings on either end like other stadiums.

  I recall the field itself was so bad that the Baltimore Ravens were scheduled to play the Eagles in a pre-season football game there a few years ago and actually refused to play once they got out on the field in fear of injuries. The game was cancelled.

  When we were assigned to go down to Philly for the assembly, we usually sat up in the 700 level (top) and sipped orange juice and vodka from our coolers all afternoon.

  Rub a Dub
• 

  luna2

  But, how about Janesville, WI for Circuit Assemblies, my family and friends would make a weekend of it..

  Ah yes...that was our vacation. We'd stay at the Ramada Inn and go out for dinner at gourmet places like Shakey's Pizza. LOL I rather liked the Janesville Hall, although the blue/mauve makeover they gave it around 1990(?) made it look like a big bedroom. It was pretty, though, and the seats were comfortable. I heard they redecorated again after I moved in '92.

  The CA hall we attended for a while here in CT was in Monroe, NY. It hadn't seen a decor change for probably 30 years. It was a dark, kind of dingy, place with dark blue (not quite navy) and orange patterned carpet, orange seats, and orange curtains. It had dingy flourescent lighting that sucked all the energy out of the room. I really hated that place. It looked fine from the outside, nice landscaping, lots of trees, plenty of parking... but sitting in the gloomy, outdated, auditorium all day was torture.
• 

  Nowman

  luna4...Janesville, WI...I left in 1992 but Shakey's Pizza! Weird memories about that Pizza Place, just the little excitement I had to go to dinner on Sat night at Shakeys....crazy. What a small world. It wasn't too bad as far as comfort goes...I remember tripping in the aisle once, wearing a red skirt with a yellow shirt, tripped over my elder dad's briefcase, I think even the speaker stopped talking when this happened, I was so red, and I had a crush on someone too, he was sitting near by, it was very memorable...Ha
• 

  Alana

  Jamelle (& the others that I see also have similar memories....),

  OMG….I know the places you are talking about! I think it’s pretty cool when someone else is familiar with the area in which I grew up.

  I remember going up to

  I think my choice would have to be the Romeoville assembly hall in . The words I think of when I think of that building are grey, grey and more grey. It was a boring box - no character - nothing to look at inside - the roof was so high there was no way to easily count ceiling tiles while pretending to listen to the talks. Now when a gal can't even count ceiling tiles to keep herself sane, that's pretty sad!

  And then there is …..I used to have a copy of the building plans from my Dad. He was so proud of that building and that he was privy to such information. When I moved back to the state in 1994 we went to that Assembly Hall a few times, but then my ex-husband & I faded out soon after that. I just remember spending most of my time out in the area where they served lunch, since I had an active toddler who did not handle sitting very long very well. I would get “that look” from the attendants….you know, the “please teach your child to sit down and leave this area” look.

  My favorite assembly hall's name is lost to me. I attended there as a young child - probably over 18 years ago. It was somewhere in and it was a beautiful old theatre - probably turn of the century (the last one).

  If I am thinking of the same Assembly Hall, it was on . It was a beautiful old threatre. That’s where I was baptized….in that little Jacuzzi-like pool they had downstairs. I remember working in the kitchen when they still served the hot meals…that was fun, I thought…mainly because of not getting to leave the session to work. My dad was head of the accounts department at those assemblies, and my friend and I would either help him or just hang out there…the auditing department was hidden up in the loft areas upstairs and to the right of the stage area. We would sometimes sit out on the fire escape and just watch things outside. We got to park in a reserved section, because of Dad, so we didn’t have to walk as far as most folks. It wasn’t a good neighborhood, though. Especially scary to we folks from down in rural central . We were told not to leave the Assembly Hall at all. My friends and I would hang out in the entry lobby and just watch the neighborhood. But, one day, a couple of teenage brothers that we knew decided to walk to the little drug store on the corner for some gum or something and were mugged. I did like that Assembly Hall, though….it had some character. Does anyone else remember this Assembly Hall and where exactly it was located? I just can’t remember where on is was located.

  “Alana”
• 

  Alana

  
  For some reason part of my last post didn't paste right......so here it is:

  I remember going up to South Bend for a District Convention. And, I most definitely remember going to Cicero to the race tracks. I didn't like the one with the outdoor bleacher seating....talk about uncomfortable. One time someone got shot in the parking lot of our hotel....I think we drove up there daily after that. It was nice, though, to watch over the stage area and watch the horses. I hated the drive and parking at Cicero. In fact, when my congregation would be officially assigned to Cicero, most from our KH would go down to Springfield instead, where the majority of our Circuit was usually already assigned. The Springfield conventions (in recent eyars) were held indoors and had a hotel connected to the convention center and other motels within walking distance. Back when I was a kid, however, they had the Springfield conventions outdoors at the State Fairgrounds. It was usually so hot or it would rain. Fortunately, my dad was usually in charge of the First Aid department in those days and they always had all or part of that department air conditioned, for those who got sick. Oh daddy dear....may I visit you (and your wonderful air-conditioning)? ahhhhh..........
• 

  New Worldly Translation

  The assembly hall in Manchester is really ugly, it has these circular things on the wall, and wierd tubing kind of thing on the stage, it definately could do with a make over.

  Yeah Ellie Northenden was a weird place. I think those designs were supposed to be art deco from the 20's but they looked like strange giant aspirins on the wall. My cousins grandad used to do the icecreams there every year so we'd get first dibs, which was about the only good thing about it. Oh the seats were pretty comfy as well. They were those old fashioned padded tip up seats. Did you ever used to walk down to the river on a lunchtime and look round that camping/caravaning park that sold tents and camping equipment? That's my abiding memory of Manchester assembly

  The worst assembly I went to was Don Valley in Sheffield. It rained non stop and cos only about 10% of the crowd had cover everyone got soaked and if you put your brolly up you ended up soaking the crotch area of the person sat behind as the rain ran off it.