i have only ever been to bowes road north london an old cinema or theater , and twickenham rugby stadium the seats were always uncomfortable, the first time i went i nearly fainted or fell asleep probably and i only went one day, after that i always tried to get in a shady spot and i brought binoculars to see if i could spot friends and cute guys , i always liked singing the songs and would often start crying especially at" life without end"
Best, worst and weirdest assembly halls...
by Jamelle 46 Replies latest jw friends
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roybatty
Ah, you guys are thinking of the assembly hall at 79th. & Ashland in Chicago. I went there for years and years until Romeville was built. The hall in Chicago was very cool, esp. as a teenager roaming around and going places you shouldn't be.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”Yup, I remember the tub. That's where I took the plunge. Remeber how everyone watching would have to sqeeze into that small room? lol. And you're right about the kitchen, it was much more fun working there preparing hot meals instead of having to sit down and listen to the program.
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El Kabong
Back in the early to mid '80's, our congregation's Circuit Assembly hall was changed from Monroe, NY to the Stanley Theater. I worked on the renovation of the Stanley since it was really in the same general area as our congregation. A lot of the people were pissed when they made the change. While the Stanley was (is) a beautiful theater/assembly hall, It's in a terrible location right in Journal Square in Jersey City. Parking sucks in that area, unless you go to one of the pay parking lots. But the main thing that turned me off is that when we had the Circuit Assembly in Monroe, NY, It actually felt that we were getting away from the city and the traffic.
But, going to Jersey City, I felt that I just wasn't getting away. I thought it kind of sucked. But the Stanley was the Crown Jewel of the Society at that time. -
Virgochik
Hey, roybatty! That's what I guessed too, on an earlier post, that the old place in Chicago was at 79th and S. Ashland! So, you, me, Alana and Jamelle all went there! Small world! Did they eventually sell that old ASSembly hall because of the bad neighborhood, do you know?
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XBEHERE
that would have to be Yankee Stadium....
Totally agree, Yankee was the worst though I only went to 2 of them it was more than enough. I dont know how the hell they expected people to pay attention in that heat and humidity.
The nicest is Stanley Theater in Jersey City, NJ. Very nicely restored and clean and comfortable. That beauty came at a price though as I had heard from someone at Bethel that when it was restored during the 80's many divorces and adulterous affairs happened since people were working all weekend sometimes without their spouses.
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Dismembered
Worst: 1988 International District Convention @ The Olympic Stadium (The Big "O") In Montreal. The "removable cover" was never removed. it was 32-35 degrees Celsius, 95 degrees Farenheit. Watchtower refused to turn on the AC to save $$$. Cheap _astards. Older ones in the audience were dropping like flies from the heat! They had motorized stretchers to carry the fainted ones out, which never stopped! I vividly remember the idiot on the sound systems saying to the audience "Brothers and Sisters, we are experiencing record heat temps outside. Your patience with the heat is appreciated". That's all they said about the stifling heat. Never acknowleging once, that people were passing out non-stop. Can you believe those dumb-asses? !!!!! That was the year they released the all infamous, had to study um-teen million times Revelation Book. Those in charge were a bunch of discompassionate Watchtower sphincters.
Wierdest: Barre Memorial Auditorium with the goddam sawdust all over the basketball court so we wouldn't scratch the hardwood floor. Wooden Bleacher seats with no backs all day. Wow fun.
Best: The Assembly Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses on the east side of the island in Montreal. It was fun watching all the hicks up here have to drive in the "Big City". Some didn't know whether to crap ot go blind with all the "traffic". And the Canadian's spared no expense. The building was beautiful. I still don't understand why it cost $13,000.00 to use it for a weekend though.
Dismembered
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pratt1
Its a toss up for the worst - Yankee stadium in the summer, the smell from the bathrooms was horrendous, the transportation to the stadium, either public or by car is a bad adventure and the was no shelter from the sun of the rain.
The other horrific staduim was Veterans in Philly. I believe in 1983 the Dub couldn't afford and assembly site in the NYC area so we had to attend the assembly in Philly. It rained the entire time and it was extremely cold for July. Many of us got sick afterwards and then we missed time from work on top of the time we took off for the assembly.